The Malcolm Moore loco we use as a guard's van, lives outdoors, permanently-coupled to our small passenger rake. We have another on display.
Like many things scattered around a struggling heritage line, it's been a slowly-deteriorating eyesore for many years.
Over the last 10 years, we've come a very long way in cleaning up and improving our museum and station site. A cosmetic restoration for the loco will make another improvement to our public image, and help preserve the loco for another 80 years.
This will involve stripping all paint back to bare metal, a few minor rust repairs, patching up those holes cut into the roof for headlights, (that were never fitted) re-instating the original headlight on the bonnet, and a total repaint.
Oh and, we run every other Sunday, so this loco can't spend months in the workshop. I have to do this outdoors, and work in small sections so that no bare metal is left exposed to the weather between Saturday work sessions.
12/10/21
When we acquired the two locos from the Australian Army in the 1980s, this tin of NOS Army Green was supplied with them.
We're not going to use this museum piece (likely lead paint anyway) so after much faffing about with Bunnings, I had it colour matched.
The slatted timber driver's seat has since been fitted with a pair of old bus seat cushions we used in a carriage in the 1990s. Makes our volunteer guards' lives more pleasant. These cushions however are blue, look entirely out of place, and are badly weathered besides.
I took a spare cushion to a local upholstery shop and had them make a pair of replacements in brown marine vinyl.
For whatever reason, they only made one complete cushion, and one cover. For what they charged me, I'll finish the second one myself.
20/08/22
Back when I bought my car in early 2022, I started working on the loco in earnest. "I can come down here every weekend now, I'll get it knocked out in a month or two!" - This of course was before I learned what a pig I'd bought.
In the meantime, I still occasionally made it down to Woodford over 2022. Spending most of a day stripping a panel with wire wheels, then frantically trying to get it primed and packed up before sundown. Trying to get the loco done for our 50th anniversary day in September.
Well, that came and went. It's still not finished.
Since finally getting back on the road in February, and down to Woodford most weekends, I've been giving the workshop a decades-overdue cleanout. Frankly it was in a deplorable and unworkable state.
Hard to (or want to) get anything done when you spend 90 minutes a day scouring the site for basic tools.
That's just about done, so at the end of tomorrow's running day, the 'Moore will be shunted into the workshop for the 3-weekend gap before next running day. I'll have the roof off with the gantry crane, weld it up, and get it stripped and primed.
I'd even like to get it topcoated while it's out of the weather. See how I go..
More photos tomorrow or Monday..
