External renovation of the Speyside Signal Box at Aviemore over 5th to 10th October.

 External renovation of the Speyside Signal Box at Aviemore over 5^th to 10^th October.

With the autumn weather setting in, a great push was needed to finish our remaining tasks before the weather changed.   The biggest hold up this time would be the completion of the windows, both glazing and painting, so with 12 panes of glass to be fitted a start was made to remove the old putty (which was very stubborn) along with the damaged glass, and then fit the new glass.

There was still quite a considerable amount of painting to complete, with more gray and white undercoats to apply before the final top coats where painted.  So a shout out to our friends in the p’way team was made, and they stepped up to help, which was very much appreciated.

From the top level down the final gray undercoat was applied, which allowed the ‘brown’ top coat to be finished, and this was followed by the remaining top coat of ‘pollen’ to the walls.  

This just left the white undercoat on the window frames before, the top coat of ‘banana dream 6’ could be applied. Three members of the Ellon squad joined us for the weekend when the vestibule was also sanded down and repainted to match the remainder of the box.

The windows were completed and on the Monday when all had departed, Ray and I did any touch-ups that were needed, and the window glass was scraped down and cleaned.  

The original paint colour on the window frames was dark brown, so this cream colour brightens up the appearance of the building, and also matches the North Box at Boat of Garten.

Thanks to the team; Mike Tough, Neil MacQueen, David Getliffe, Bob Vincent, Simon Hinsley, Jim Hardy, Nick Courtier, Jim Pittendrigh, Ray Kenyon  and Colin Frost.

The final work to complete the renovation of this box is planned to take place in March 23, before the running season commences.  The replacement stair case, which is currently stored under cover, will be fitted along with the handrails and associated timber work. 

 

Finally scaffolding will be erected on the west side – which will temporarily block access to roads, 6 & 7 of the Roy Hamilton carriage shed, but this will give us access to the west side roof and wall to complete the painting.