Change of plan - the operational 'Palvan' had gone back to Peterborough during the weekend so the repaint of that will have to wait a bit longer. This means that a major bugbear of mine, the appallingly shabby 'Esso' fuel oil tanker has been bumped up the queue.This tank wagon is currently used for boiler washouts so permanently lives in Wansford yard. As a consequence, it is a wagon that is very visible to the visiting public, and its current state does not give the best impression.
A couple of hours on Wednesday were spent examining it and experimenting to decide the best course of action. After playing around with a scraper and chisel, it became apparent that needle-gunning and full repaint was the best course of action to take, as the existing paint is not as stable a base for repainting as it initially appeared. Being a smooth-sided vehicle with large expanses of 'flat' surfaces, it will also be much less forgiving in terms of paint finish than some of the timber planked wagons.
As I only had a couple of hours available, I made a start but didn't get very far. The rotten timber baulks need replacing but will be left for the time being as new hardwood means £££! For the moment I will work on a decent cosmetic repaint, leaving the timber for now. In future, it is hoped to replace them and bring the wagon up to operational use in the demonstration goods train. A newer, larger tanker standing at Ferry Meadows would then become the washout tanker (after cosmetic restoration to 1960s condition of course).
The proposed new washout tanker currently out of use at Ferry Meadows station. This is a 32 ton tank, No.5181, built in 1965 by Metro-Cammell of Saltley.
Back to the 1941-built tank, there is clearly still a long way to go!
