Fortunately the grey skies were not a prelude to rain in Tywyn this morning, so a full mornings activity was possible. Allan Black, Max Birchenough, Andy Sheffield, Charles Benedetto and John Olsen were present this morning with a short appearance by Pete Thomas to deliver the two oak pegs he had made off site, before he had to go to attend to other matters.
The cover was removed from the upturned Corris wagon body so that Max could swab it down with white spirit in preparation for a coat of grey metal paint over the primer, which was applied by the double team of Andy and Charles. Allan glued the pegs into the unwanted holes in the Corris frame then he and John got the frame onto its side to drill out the 26mm diameter holes for the brake gear shafts. They followed these four holes with smaller diameter holes for the brake lever mounting plates. Max cut through the rusted bolts holding the brake operating arms onto the shoes so that he could then use a wire wheel to remove the few scraps of remaining paint and a lot of rust. Just before our coffee break we got the Corris frame back up onto the stands ready for the bolt head rebates to be chiselled out.
We had our coffee chat and chocolate biscuits with Ann McCanna, Keith Theobald and Grace Jordan, who is helping with the mammoth task of sorting and cataloguing the MRFS ticket collection, thank you Grace.
The sun was now out in the yard and Charles, Andy and Allan turned Chippendale to cut the bolthead rebates, replicating those on the old frame. Max cleaned the brake parts with white spirit and then painted them with black Hammerite, along with one side of the drawbar. John was also applying black paint, gloss black to the undercoated door of the Gunpowder Store; a second will probably be required for full coverage and long term protection against the Tywyn weather.
The cover was put back over the Corris body and the tools tidied away and the freshly painted brake and draw gear stowed inside the Gunpowder Store until next week.
Photos by John Olsen