Work in Progress: 14th April

posted by Roger Bye on Fri, 15/04/2016 - 02:58

Another fine spring day at Woody Bay Station.

Our thanks to Roger Bye for this week's bumper photo report.

The signalling crew start work early at Rowley Moor Farm!

1. Dick Gunn at work...

1b & 1c. ...fabricating a square holed spacer for the signal - a skilled job ...

2. 3 & 3a. ... while Don and Trevor drill round holes as they fit the many components of the signal together.

4. Back at Woody Bay, other members of the Thursday gang erected a marquee in advance of the large group of visitors arriving on Sunday via an HST excursion from London to Barnstaple.

5. Today's Catering Team: the ever-smiling Irene Cross (left) and Judy Williams, L&B Catering Manager.

6. By mid-morning, there was a steady flow of visitors. Some are seen here watching AXE being coaled.

7. The new sign to inform visitors where to cross the line.

8. Trainee Guard Andy was assisting Bob and also being put through his paces today.

9 "CHARLIE" and ISAAC were shunted out of the shed...

10. ...where Dave and Nick worked on replacing the hex-headed bolts in ISAAC's cab floor with countersunk ones - removing the risk of crews tripping over the bolt heads and also making it more comfortable underfoot.

11. & 12. The difference can be clearly seen in these "before" and "after" pictures.

13. Although it may disappoint his fans, there is no picture of Jim Pounds painting carriages this week. Instead, we can see the magnificent results of his (and others') intensive work.

14. John Uphill was applying his usual engineering finesse to replacing the valve handles on ISAAC.

15. The lever type handles seen in the top right of this photo are being replaced with specially cast wheel handles.

16. The end result is to make the controls look more like those of a steam locomotive and less like those for a central heating boiler!

17. Using more basic engineering techniques, Kevin and Don "dismantle" redundant equipment removed from the wooden shed so that it an be used as an oil store.

18. Dave, Don and Mike sort out the various oil containers ...

19. ... before Kevin (driven to his knees!) arranges them in their new home.

20. Jim Price, reclaiming timber that he just could not bear to see used as firewood ...

21. ... and later, in supervisory mode, watches as Dave Evans fits the newly recovered front panel in the first class observation compartment.

22. There was a steady flow of visitors all day. Here Fireman Andy Foster stands back while a visitor takes a picture of her partner about to have a "Footplate Ride". Meanwhile Nigel is still painting the railings.

23. Graham Varney and Dave Bloomfield look on as Driver Pete Williams brings the train back from Killington Lane.

24. The last job for the Thursday Gang today was clearing the ash pile and using the material to form paths in the woodland - a task that gets harder as we extend the paths further down the hill!