Extra, extra, read all about it.

We had an extra day today, to see if we could get a bit more speed into the repainting of the shelter. The opening day is getting closer and closer, and there are lots of coats of paint and drying days needed still. So an extra day; possibly another small gang will have a go tomorrow, depending on who can do which day of the week.

We chose Friday, as it was forecast to be dry. Ha! It drizzled all morning. Plan B then. We worked indoors, and here you can see Paul and Dave cleaning the interior of spiders' webs, and their occupants (there were many, which fell down on your head when tickled by the brush).
Dave then cleaned the interior framework with a rotating brush, so that it is now ready for a coat of primer.
While cleaning, we saw that the steelwork was provided by Lilleshall.
Still inside, we suddenly heard a furious rattling, and this turned out to be a heavy rain shower. So that's what it sounds like, from the inside of a corrugated iron hut. Loud.

While we were working indoors in the rain - see the wet platform slabs - this train came by, twice. It seems that the wagon contained wartime stuff that was being taken back to Toddington.
In the foreground, a bit of the newly sown grass is already beginning to show, but so are the weeds. A dose of selective weedkiller might help here.

When, eventually, the weather dried out a bit, Paul was able to have a go on the rear. This has never had a coat of paint on it, so the galvanised sheeting was getting a bit rusty below. The whole side was rubbed down with sandpaper.

Dave is still inside, but he's there alright, don't worry. There were just the three of us today.

After sanding down the rear side, Paul treated the rusty lower end to a dose of Kurust. This is amazing stuff, which converts the rust and can be painted over after only 3 hours. That seemed like a plan to us, so we put it on as early as we could, for a dose of primer on top the same day.

Lunch was three of us outside the cabin, with a carrot cake to share between us. It went quite a long way, as this fourth (?) member of the gang today wouldn't eat any, and in fact he seemed rather taciturn, keeping himself to himself all day.  At the end of the day he had vanished, without a word. Some people.

The day brightened up progressively, and this allowed Paul to put on said coat of primer at the back, or at least over half of it. It was quite slow work.

On top, Dave has started wire brushing the roof. This has had a single coat of something during its lifetime, but now it is rusty and mossy.

Here's where we got to at the end of the day. The roof is now part painted in Hammerite black, but we quickly ran out of the paint, and another 4 sheets need wire brushing. There is hope for another small gang tomorrow, or else it will be the main gang on Tuesday. We shall see.

Your blogger dug the post holes for the trespass signs, and one of the two holes for the running inboard, which is almost finished in the B&S shed. The holes are now as deep as an arm can reach! Two other holes remain to be dug.

In this overview you can see the rail for the trespas notice, and nearby, the post hole for it. It will take 6 - 8 people to lift the rail in, that's not something the three of us could have done today.

One last shot near the end of the day. Now it's dry at last, so Paul and Dave are both working outside.

Notice the progress with the chippings. This was the result of an extra day put in by some members of the loco dept (the Heritage Group is multi disciplinary) on Wednesday. Excellent work, chaps.