Another good day and getting distinctly cooler.  I needed my jumper for the first time since last winter.  A full turnout meant that many jobs got done.  I had collected a variety of mouldings that we need to finish the exterior of the  body from Tattersfields at Heckmondwike.  Andrew, there, is now doing all our major joinery supply as Keith Robinson of Phoenix Joinery has retired.     Ian carried on painting the various bits of metalwork and then spent the afternoon trimming mastic from round the staircase that we fitted last week. 

Jim and I trial fitted the B end staircase and found that it needed shortening by 14mm.  Jim set to work on that while I spent some time finalising the saloon seat design.  Jim then started fitting some of the bodyside mouldings. These cover all the joints betwen the door/window/corner pillars and the bodyside panels. I spent the afternoon in the workshop shortening bolts and drilling brackets for the B end staircase.

Paul spent the day angle grinding the brake beams so that they fitted the brake shoes.  This work was necessary due to a design error on my part.  Jim also brought back most of the saloon monitor vents which he has glazed and varnished. They look great after all the work Paul and Jim have done on them. 

Stephen also called in and spent some time rubbing down filler at B end.  I've now got to do the final drawings for the seat frames and various parts of the brake columns. 

Quite a good day even if it was the first rather Cold Wednesday of the autumn. (I'll have to remember to put another layer on next week.)   Ian spent the day painting more steelwork in either primer or undercoat, including the cross rods that I took up last week.  Jim and I spent the day on the staircase at D end.  First of all we dry fixed it and after a struggle got it correctly aligned (it's just awkward to handle). Then we drilled the various bolt holes in the landing and took the whole assembly apart so that mastic could be applied where necessary.  We then offerred it up again and started bolting it into position. After lunch we finished off and tightened all the nuts up. It all fitted and then I tested it and apart from some slight flexing it took my weight without any problem.

Here Stephen tries the stairs out.  The first time anyone has been able to climb stairs to the upper deck since October 1901 when the tram was withdrawn from service and converted to a mess hut.

I suppose it's all downhill from here.  After that we spent an hour measuring the platform and working out the position of the dash and the gate that proteccts the offside of the staircase.  Next week the stairs at B end will be fixed.

Not a huge amount of progress to report but a lot of work got done.  Jim spent the day finishing off the beading for the window pillars whilst I finished shortening the bolts for D end sraircase.  Jim also took 14 mm of the bottom of the D end stairs after a trial fit.  When these jobs were finished we offerred the staircase up and it fitted nicely under the landing.  I then retired to the workshop again to drill the brackets for attaching the stairs, using the lathe.  In the afternoon we fitted the brackets at the top of the stairs and tighetened the bolts.  Jim then got on with finishing the nosing on the canopy at B end and I routed the nosings on the two landings.  Paul appeared in the morning with the first batch of refurbished frames for the monitor vents. Jim has now taken them for glazing and varnishing.  I collected the cross stay rods that connect the underframe with the tie bars that go between the axle boxes.  Hopefully we will be able to have a trial fit on the chassis next week.  Hopefully next two weeks we will be able to dry fit the first staircase. Tomorrow I'm off to Crich to measure up various things on Chesterfield 8 so that I can complete the drawings for the brake column/dash assembly and various other parts such as the lamps.  A steady week overall.

Wednesdays are getting cooler but we still worked on.  The second coat of varnish has dried well but is soaking into the new pitch pine and ash much more than on the older wood so at least another two coats are needed.  Ian spent the day painting the wheelsets which are now in Signal Red and look good against the black ironwork.  In the afternoon he started filling the glazing beads ready for painting. Jim spent the day finishing off the brass screws in the window beads and then started on the mouldings that go on the window pillars.  I was only able to do half a day but managed to turn and thread 8 more bolts for fixing the stairs.  In the afternoon Stephen and I offered up the D end staircase and worked out what trimming was needed prior to a trial fit. Nothing spectacular but all necessary work. We took delivery of the new cast brake handles which look superb after being polished. These now have to be machined as soon as I finish the drawings for the ratchet mechanism. 

Another day so soon after Saturday.  Warm and Sunny so Jim spent the day rubbing down the interior, masking up and then putting a second coat of varnish on the ceiling and window frames.  This really brought out the colours and looked great.  There will be at least another coat in due course. 

In the morning I had been to Halifax to take delivery of the brake blocks.

Here are the four brake blocks and one of the brake beams.  These were all weighed and Ian spent the day priming the brake blocks and some other ironwork then painted the inside of one wheelset in bright red.  This looks good.  We are now having much discussion as to whether the outside of the wheels would be black or red as the B & W photos don't differentiate.

I spent the day setting up Bernard's lathe to start cutting down bolts to the size needed for attching the stairs.  On advice from a friend I made a holder so that I could hold coachbolts in the lathe and managed to cut and thread one bolt to size (it's over 30 years since I went to engineering night school.) 

David Smith, who produces a lot of the graphics for Crich, came up and spent the morning sorting out the lettering and transfers that we will require. Then as he was up for the day spent the afternoon putting brass screws in the glazing beads on C side. All in all a good day's work.