Although our railcars do not normally work any passenger services during December, we have this year been asked to prepare one for some 'Sion Corn' services later in the month. Sion Corn is the Welsh equivalent of Father Christmas or Santa Claus. The class 108 passed the audition for the role and has, therefore, been dressed accordingly. Further information about that and some of the other work that has been carried out on our railcars can be found in the 'Unit-specific' section below.
The last two panels for the luggage rack backing were cut and fitted. The lengths of aluminium beading that run up to the ceiling on the driver's side were cut and one length was fitted. The other two pieces were put up temporarily so that measurements could be taken for the timber beading for the ceiling panels at the rear of the unit. The lengths of timber beading that were subsequently produced were then taken away to be drilled and painted as homework.
The following picture shows the panels that were fitted to complete the green walls and was taken while the aluminium beading was still in place...
The secondman's door was removed so that a start could be made on refurbishing it...
The first step was to remove the fixtures and fittings including the wooden panels, lock and handle, and scissors, all of which will be dealt with as appropriate...
The next step was to make a start on removing the various layers of paint...
Following a final dose of needle-gunning on their framework, both battery boxes were painted with white primer on the inside and black primer on the outside...
As mentioned above the class 108 will be used for some 'Sion Corn' services in the run up to Christmas so it was festooned with fairy lights, tinsel, baubles etc...
The team that carried out the final stage of baubling (is that a valid verb?) claimed to have considered the use of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and 3D-modelling software to determine the optimum positions for the baubles but instead used up some of its 'artistic' spelling licence for a more pragmatic approach known as B.O.R.B.L.E (Bash On Regardless Before Lunchtime Endpoint).
Whether or not the external tinsel will survive the Welsh weather until it needs to make its debut remains to be seen.
Two members of the group set about confiscating the driver's desk from the power car (50416) on the grounds that it had passed its use-by date and needs to be replaced by a new one...
The desk had been made out of medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and was several times its original thickness in places due to swelling up with moisture...
The doors on the driver's side of the power car (50416) were flatted down and glossed, and the lining touched up in places, in readiness for it all being varnished at a later date.
Work on the roof of the trailer car (56171) continued with the completion of the re-riveting work and the application of primer on the central section...
Over at Butterley, the loose driver's door frame was secured and a repair was made to the frame on the secondman's side.
Some adjustments were made to the wall panel securing timbers in the rear compartment and some more panels were fitted including the one that sits above the luggage rack...
The heater ducting had its fastening brackets fitted and the top ones were fitted to the wall panels...
The lower ones will be fitted next time.
The framing for the wall panel that fits in front of the water tank was fitted following extensive repairs that had been carried out as homework...
Thanks to Allen Chatwood, Dewi Davies, John Joyce and Martin Plumb for supplying the pictures that were used in this edition.