Every Little Helps

I managed to drop by Wansford this week for an hour or so to get some updates and do a little bit of work. I was very pleased to find that Gordon had fettled and temporarily fitted the one remaining plank on the south side of Vanfit B759852 - saves me a job! I just need to cut and fit a backing plank to provide the full thickness of timber - this will probably have to wait until mid-December unless somebody does it for me in the meantime.


I spent a few minutes painting the newly-fitted plank with white wood primer.


General view of the van. I must admit I didn't notice at the time, but thanks to this photo I see that the left-hand door catch, removed when replacing both the lower planks, has also been refitted during my absence - thanks Gordon!

I've now decided that the left-hand side could do with some more spots of white wood primer before applying undercoat. Pity I didn't think of that before putting the paint away!

To finish off this unexpected (and very brief) working session I moved a badly broken trolley that was by the Southern TPO off of the platform and hid it away out of public view. This area leaves a lot to be desired but even just doing this two minute job makes a bit of a difference.


Before...


...and after. Amazingly the trolley held together for its short journey to the trolley restoration 'in-tray' (more on that soon when I get a chance). I believe the TPO windows are currently being refurbished as they were leaking, and when they are reinstalled, the TPO should get a deperately required repaint of its current livery. (Nene Steam Issue 98, Summer 2010).

The rest of the platform equipment seen here (various weighing scales etc) would also benefit from some attention with a paint brush - anyone up for doing what would be quite a nice little job, that would make a huge difference to the general appearance of the site? I have found volunteering to be extremely worthwhile and would recommend anyone thinking about becoming a volunteer to go for it - you'll find a dangerously addictive hobby and great cameraderie. You will need to become a member of the railway if you're not one already (the form is in the timetable leaflet, or use the contact details on the NVR website) but that is the only requirement - there is a great variety of different jobs to do, and many jobs can be done on an 'as and when' basis if you have a very busy lifestyle. As a well known Supermarket chain says, every little helps!