A day of consolidation.  Only Bernard and I were there most of the day till Stephen joined us howefer progress was made.  We screwed the monitor ribs down into the cantraisl adn then fitted the upper roof rails to the tenons on the end of the roof sticks.  These were then clamped in position and we had chance to check the body for shape.  It turned ou that the centre pillars had bowed out by about 20mm with the pressure from the roof structure.  Load straps have now been used to get it back into shape and thee are going to be left in place for a week to let things settle.  Only mm of bowing to correct now. 

The first of the rubing rails was then trial fixed and after some trial and error about drill sizes the first few securing screws were dry fitted. 

Here is a picture of what the car looked like when we took it out last week.

 

Another good day.  First task was to lay two old pews down in front of the shed as 'rails', then level them and pack them so that they were level with the garage floor.  Once these were ready we very gently rolled the tram out of the shed.  The bulkhead just fouled the doorway so we stopped and removed some packing from the temporary bogies which then gave us about 9mm clearance.  the tram then slowly emerged into the sunlight and looked well with it's platform and waist rails installed along with completion of the panelling since it last saw sunlight. 

The roof structure was then carefully carried down from the front room of the house.  Placed carefully alongside 107, then after a quick tidy of the interior we hoisted it up and propped it into place.  This revealed that we couldn't fit it wotout taking the 'false ribs' off the back of the bulkheads.  This meant digging out the heads of 20 screws and removing them from the bulkheads.  Once this was done the roof started to drop into place.  After lunch a little gentle fettling in several corners got all the monitor ribs settled into their notches.

Measurement reveled that the monitor ribs appear the have 'relaxed'  a bit and the centre of the car is bliging slightly.  A spanish windlass has been put across the centre and left tightened up see if things go back into place by next week.  All in all a very good dayand the first one for several months that have been warm enough not to need a jumper under my boiler suit.  Pictures to follow in due course.

A very good day with a lot achieved.  A full turn out of the core team plus three LTHS committee members.  Paul Jim and I concentrated on drilling and countersinking the first two rubbing strips that go round the window rail.  This took till well after lunch but by afternoon coffee break we had got both of them cleaned off, de greawed and painted in primer.  They may get fitted next week. 

Bernard and Stephen carried on bending the waist rail rubbing strips and got one finished and the first bend in the other. These need bending in two planes as the outside face of the waist rail isn't vertical but the return along the end panels is horizontal.

After Coffee Jim and I got the D end platform floorboards fitted and masticed in place and then fully screwed down with 42  2" No 12's.  they shouldn't shift and they are now nice and tight after 2 weeks drying out at Jim's house.    It's great to get the floor fixed and to be able to walk on it. 

Next week, weather permitting it's hopefully going to be the day we refit the roof structure.  I just hope my camera has been mended by then.

Well how long will the Wedneswdays stay cold.  Snow still on the ground but work went on with a full turn out.   The morning was spent putting the last wedges in the roof structure and ddrilling the platform floorboards.  These had been dried out over the intervening week and had shrunk a full 14mm in width.  So two new ends boards had to be cut.  In the afternoon we spent time marking and drilling the two waist rails, while Bernard and Stephen started bending the first of the rubbing rails.  The roof structrue is now ready for refitting so some time was spent working out how this will be done.  We are now hoping for a fine day next week asw we have to pull the tram out of the garage to refit the roof framing.

Yet another cold but productive day.  on Tuesday we went to Crich and spent a good day researching door gear and axleboxes.  Hopefully Bernard now has enough information to finalise the axle box design. Today Jim and I startedby trimming the platform floor planks (It's much faster with a proper power saw we found).  These were then numbered and taken home to dry for a fortnight before fitting.  Then it was back to the roof structure and we refitted the last two monitor ribs that had been fitted with new tenons by Paul.  This means we can fit the last two roof sticks next week and then hopefully refit the roof structure as soon as the weather allows. As you can see from the picture it was cold.