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!

Another coat

This weekend, the first of two top coats on the bathroom ceiling. While I can reach the whole ceiling without a ladder, this work is literally a pain in the neck!

Same shot as last week but with the first top coat on.

Selfie with ceiling in the background. One more coat and that mottling should disappear.

2014

It’s not that I’ve been slack over the last few months, just not working on Clarabelle. I have been moving into a new home and setting that all up is taking quite some effort. Then there’s the whole Xmas/New Year thing and not much time for working on carriages!

But I did get out to her on the weekend and began slapping a bit of paint around. This is the ceiling of the bathroom area where I’ve replaced the original light fitting with a vent from an old NSWGR carriage. That actually vents to the outside – I thought that will be a useful feature in an area that will occasionally be wet and steamy. This is only the undercoat with sealing of old joints and cracks. There’s at least 2 coats of gloss white topcoat to go on yet but already a lot of the former beauty of the original pressed tin ceilings is shining through. 

The ceiling of what will be the bathroom

And this will be the year to put the effort in and get her into shape. October this year will be her 90^th birthday and I plan a big BBQ to celebrate with anyone who is interested. Would you like to come along?

Otherwise busy

Recently I've bought a new house and have been preoccupied with sorting out bits and pieces prior to moving in. That's my excuse for not giving Clarabelle her usual amount of attention over the last few weeks - a situation that is unlikely to change for the next month or more. But I have managed to get out to her and potter around doing odd small jobs and painting. A few weeks back I had both my mate Ben McHenry and Steve Salisbury visit and help out. Ben's a local but Steve is from Brisbane and I particularly appreciate him making the time to come and play trains.

Steve proved a dabbed hand with the spray gun!

Finishing the East End

One last crack at the east end and it's done! I started late on Saturday and stayed over night so got back into it on Sunday.

Sunday Morning: the previous day I had some paint but still a way to go

I have modified the livery a little, adding a black line under the gutter where there is an open cavity between the exterior roof and interior ceiling. This helps keep the carriage cool but looked untidy when I painted it red. The black hides most of that untidyness!

Midday Sunday: windows lined out, red all over

I've also painted the gutters red for the first time and again, I think it looks a lot tidier for that effort as well.

Oblique view, north-east corner

I had intended to keep going and do the whole side but the wind got up a bit and I was uncomfortable being on the high scaffold so finished up here and went around the other side to work in the lee of the wind.

Same view circa 2004: She's come a long way!

Rebuilding Windows

Picking up where I left off last week, it was time to rebuild the windows under the end toplights

Work begins - a light sanding

First up was a light sanding and an investigation looking for any rot or bad joints. Once identified, the bad timber was chiselled away or scrubbed out with a wire brush. Once again, the damage was not as bad as I was expecting.

Top corner - bad timber chiselled out along the grain of the wood

Bottom corner - more sanding and attacking with a wire brush

The other bottom corner needed a similar treatment

The bottom margin of the windows require special attention because the timber here tends to be in bad shape due to water running down the window. Three of the four windows worked on this weekend required the old margin chiselled out (very carefully!) and a new margin added using 6mm quadrant. These were embedded into a deep layer of acrylic filler which was also squirted into the two upright margins of each window to reseal them.

A new bottom margin of the window added from 6mm quad

Then out with the Builders Bog, slapped onto the holes and exposed timber and sanded back into shape.

One window, filled and sanded, ready for painting.

This end of the carriage had simply been painted over after the graffiti attack last year. In this area the vandals had used a particularly nasty silver paint and the overlaying red had not adhered to it very well so, when I started sanding back, the red came off in sheets. So I had to sand right back to wood in most places and start the painting process all over.

At the conclusion of the weekend's work, the end of the carriage was painted with 3-in-1 Primer, Sealer and Undercoat

Last of the Top Lights

Now that the weather is clearing up and it's more pleasant to work outside, it's time to sort out some jobs that have been waiting for all Winter.

Top of the list was installing the last four toplights. I have covered these before so I won't go into the whole process again except to say that the rot was not as bad as I had feared and only one of the four needed major surgery.

The last four toplights installed.

Hopefully the weather will continue to improve and I can work my way around the carriage patching up some minor problems on the sides and sorting out both ends. I also need to get another coat on the roof. Anyone out there want to lend me a hand?

The whole carriage showing the eastern end that has not been touched since I got her in 2005.