Restoration work on Russell is actually taking place in Cambridgeshire this week. Our restoration engineer David Pritchard (Daffy) is back at home near St Neots doing drawings for the smokebox and brake cylinder -two of the next jobs.
But things are still happening in Porthmadog. We've produced a newsletter which was picked up from the printers earlier this week. Another stuffing party took place to get it into envelopes, ready for dispatch to donors.
At the railway itself, there's now a fresh supply of nameplate prize draw forms in the museum. Like all small jobs, getting them there was a task which expanded to fill the available time:
17:00 - get to printers just before they close to pick up forms. There's two hours left until we have to be in Penmaenmawr for dinner with friends.
17:15 - get to railway after spending far too long stuck in traffic jams in the centre of Porthmadog - it's not even high summer any more!
17:30 - get sidetracked realising that there are several small jobs to do around the shop, including putting up posters at Porthmadog (WHR) station.
18:00 - arrive at the museum laden with stuff. Realise that the Russell leaflets have been left in the car. Go back and collect them. Put Russell leaflets into the rack and realise that the rack has been smashed up so it has one side missing.
18:01 - spend a minute wondering whether to just leave the leaflets in the broken rack anyway. Decide that the first person to take one will probably deposit the whole lot on the floor, and something needs doing.
18:02 - spend a further minute remembering that Penmaenmawr is an hour's drive away and we're already late.
18:03 - resign self to being late and think of how to keep leaflets in three sided rack
18:09 - trying to find a piece of wire in the depths of a toolbox. Spend a further five minutes cutting wire to length and tying round the remains of the leaflet rack to hold it together.
18:15 - remember the other job that needed doing before we can leave site (topping up the rag bins).
18:25 - shut up the museum. Get to the car and can't remember if we did or didn't lock it. Go back and check. Guess what: locked!
18:35 - remember the front gate needs locking before departure.
18:40 - leave Porthmadog at speed heading for the North Wales coast. Call people who are expecting us and hint that we're somewhere near Caernarfon......
If you do happen to be passing the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in Porthmadog, then please take a form for the nameplate prize draw, even if only to make our efforts worthwhile.
R
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