A beautiful crisp sunny morning in Tywyn, just the sort of weather for resumption of wagon works in the yard.
Allan Black, Charles Benedetto and John Olsen were on hand to get things moving, in the first instance shifting the grounded metal basket of the GWR 1 ton slate wagon. This was too close to the running lines to work on safely so needed to be moved. We co-opted Keith Theobald when he came across the tracks to discuss museum matters, and in a single lift moved it the required distance. To work on it comfortably we proposed to lift it on sleeper piles and a swift reccy of the works train standing in the yard revealed some life expired Jarrah sleepers, perfect. Fetching the station trolley we brought six sleepers back and raised the basket up by about 18 inches.
With the heavy lifting achieved we stopped for our morning coffee in the cafe in the company of Tom Place, Mike Green, Andy Sheffield and Keith Theobald.
Allan received a phone call that called him away on urgent business so Charles and John took on the task of preparing the old wagon chassis on the station approach slope; this will have a metal wagon top attached once the timber has been preserved and stabilised against rot and decay.
The first task was to lightly brush the surface of the frame with wire brushes to remove lichens and rotted areas before applying a liberal amount of wood preservative, especially in the most damaged areas. The metal work had loose rust knocked off with a welders hammer and the draw gear, axleboxes, dumb buffer straps and tie bar end plates were cleaned up with wire brushes. In the future treatment with wood hardener and then conservation wax will further protect it from the elements.
The temporary explanatory sign was re-attached, squared up and the fixing screw tightened to complete the mornings work.
Photos by Allan Black and John Olsen