Restart the dining area

It really seems I have less and less time for Clarabelle these days but I did manage to spend half of Saturday out at St Kilda having a bit of a fiddle.

I'd decided that I was getting bored with the bathroom so thought I would divert my attention to the dining area for a while. This needs to be finished off so the first step was to strip out the seats and table to clear the area.

The dining area with the seats and table stripped out

I spent quite a bit of time fitting a glass into the right light fitting. This was not as straight forward as I had hoped with there being very close tolerances between the glass and the surrounds so I had to spend some time and effort chipping out some ancient putty that was preventing the whole thing from sitting properly. I left it like this with some new acrylic sealant setting the glass into the surround ready for mounting in the ceiling next time I go out.

Glass fitted to the correct base. These are becoming very difficult to come by and I still need a few more. Please contact me if you have one!

I also took a chisel to the old paintwork in the ceiling. Multiple layers of paint over the years masks some nice detail that can be easily scraped back to an approximation of its former glory. A messy job with lots of flecks of paint flying around the joint but the end result will be worth it.

Detail where I've scraped the paint out of some channels in the ceiling. A messy job but worth the effort.

Finding a short

This weekend was mostly fixing up a mistake from a couple of weeks ago when my mate Sol installed some lights in the bathroom. They looked great but, at the end of the day, somehow we had created a short in the system. There was no time to sort it out then so agreed to meet there yesterday and get to the bottom of it.

... and it was my fault! Turns out that a screw I had used for a light switch was too long and it pierced the wiring behind creating the short. That sorted we were able to tidy up the new lights and switch, almost finishing the installation of the western wall in the bathroom

Finished and tidied up - and looking good even if I do say so myself!

More bathroom stuff

Managed a night on Clarabelle this last Saturday so I could tinker all afternoon and into the next morning. Mostly I'm still adding lining to the bathroom in 12mm plywood but I did add a few details that I've picked up along the way.

Building in the sink unit and making room for the plumbing

I don't think the toilet roll holder is original but it is cast bronze with "GWR" moulded into it. I know this isn't the Great Western Railway but I couldn't resist! And I don't think the soap dispenser was ever used on Queensland carriages but again, I could pass this one up either. It still works with a simple gimballed arrangement and a metal slug inside a tube that automatically dispenses a dose of liquid soap. I think this one dates from around 1910 and it still works perfectly!

The soap dispenser picked up in Toowoomba in 2009

Another Luggage Rack

Spent most of Saturday working in the bathroom. Managed to line the area under the sink and install a small shelf - eventually this will be a small cupboard.

You can just make out the undersink cupboard area as well as the new rack and wiring

I also put in a luggage rack above the mirror and wiring for some lighting. Not bad for a day's work!

Selfie with close up of a day's work

Mirror, mirror

It’s been a while (and why do most of the entries in this blog for the last year or more start like that?) but I managed a day out at Clarabelle yesterday pottering around in the bathroom installing an original QR mirror. That is all!

 

Wider view with sink closed

Close up, you can see the QR logo in the mirror. Can't wait to have a shave now!

More painting and a pull down sink

After over nighting on board with Chester last Friday night, I got up and into Clarabelle early on Saturday. I was intending to start with some painting and set about sorting out the finishing touches to the gutter on the northern side.

She probably hasn't looked this good since 1980!

But then the weather turned a bit iffy so I went inside and worked there for a while as the weather made up its mind and cleared up. Then it was back outside to topcoat the western end. A quickish job with the spray gun.

Note the white tap handle on the air valve - a detail I picked up on last week in Ipswich

Working inside for most of the morning and early afternoon I installed the first of two pull down sinks. I actually purchased this one in Dorrigo NSW not long after I brought Clarabelle in 2005. It comes off a NSW car but these were standard fittings and I know this type was used in Queensland because I've seen them on display in the Ipswich Workshops Rail Museum. The second, identical sink I purchased at a sale at the National Rail Museum here in Adelaide so it probably came off a SA or even Commonwealth carriage!

The newly installed pull down sink

Yet to be plumbed in, I know it works because I gave it a test run, emptying into a bucket underneath.The bowl doesn't have a drain at the bottom. When you've finished washing your hands (or whatever), you simply close the whole unit and the water drains out the back.

When opened, the interior is dazzling!

The Easter Weekend

It’s been a while! Mind you I have been overseas and otherwise occupied with the new house so Clarabelle has been missing out on the care and attention she deserves!

The bathroom wall; lots of filling and sanding here before a coat of PSU!

Last weekend, being a long weekend, I finally managed to get stuck in and make some progress. I actually camped in the carriage staying three nights so that I could devote every waking hour to working on the old girl. 

The aisle wall, sanded and painted

And the nights were also useful times to get things done inside the carriage. I was able to fill, sand and undercoat one of the walls in the bathroom and the opposing wall in what will be an aisle leading to the main bedroom. Much of that sort of work can be done by the light of a halogen lamp.

Selfie with the end sanded off (most of which ended up on my face!)

But most daylight hours were spent stripping back the western end, filling and sanding then repainting in undercoat. This took much longer than planned but I decided it best to work at a pace that got the job done properly rather than rush it. As it was the painting on the last day was in a strong and gusty wind which threatened to blow me off the ladder on several occasions! Definitely not the right conditions to put on a top coat. So that will have to wait for another day!

Primer/Sealer/Undercoat on and looking good!

An oblique view with a western end that seems to glow!