With H.H. waiting for the warm dry painting Saturday which must be around the corner, we put in a day at Ruddington. Most of the team spent the morning untangling donated cable. While this is invaluable, the task of untangling a few hundred metres of it and winding it onto a fresh drum is not enviable.
Elsewhere, work has been progressing on the refurbishment of the trailer that matches our Permaquip Personnel Carrier. The good news is that the chassis is now completely stripped, and primed, and has had a coat of safety yellow paint. The bad news is that one of the axle ends, where it fits the wheel hub, is badly worn. It seems to have been running on bodges and borrowed time for a while, so we're thinking about how to do a solid repair. If you happen to know of anyone who might have spare parts for such a thing, do let us know! They are sadly much less common than the smaller push-along trolleys.
Over by the miniature railway, a few of us helped-out, setting up a new sign to direct visitors. While not very exciting it itself, it is these details that make the difference between "transport museum" and "transport graveyard"!
Lastly, a photograph of the window hardware from Hotchley Hill, from which we have scrubbed a thick layer of dirt and corrosion. There are scratches and pits that cannot reasonably be removed, but they are solid brass, and built to last in the finest railway tradition. These (and the new rubber buffers for the sliding casements) will return to the windows shortly!
