A rather grey cool morning in Tywyn, but it was dry so Allan Black, Charles Benedetto, Pete Thomas and John Olsen took the cover off the frame of wagon no. 136 and laid out the short slats and door of wagon no. 117 for painting.
Leaving Charles and Pete painting John and Allan went inside, Allan to assemble a rear cover for the Tyers key token instrument to cover the exposed (low voltage) wiring on its rear and John to set Gerald Gudgings up to paint the plywood panels that the Centennial and Sesquicentennial loco headboards will be mounted on. While Gerald painted John prepared the scaffolding tower and strapping for the job of affixing a large ‘Welcome to Towyn’ sign to an overhead beam.
At coffee time in the cafe we were joined by Anne McCanna and Max Birchenough and a little later by Tom Place. Coffee, chocolate biscuits, chocolate mints and chat refreshed us for the second half of the working party.
Allan continued with his rear cover assembly, Pete painted the new milestone stand and display notice post in museum grey and Charles joined John on the scaffold tower to secure the sign. In between being our gopher Gerald put a second coat of white emulsion paint on the plywood panels. The sign was bulky but with two men on the job it was safely screwed into position without a hitch.
By the mornings end Allan and John were able to fit the new cover in position on the Tyers instrument, which will not only keep small fingers safely out of the wiring, but also tidy up its overall appearance. The final job was to put the cover back over no. 136 frame and stow the freshly painted slats and door back inside the Gunpowder Store.
Photos by John Olsen