A quickie

Yes, yes, we're supposed to be on holiday, but it's not until Sunday and in the meantime there have been 2 more days of events.

A trip to Tyseley

On Thursday a select few from the drainage gang, C&M and yours truly took two Transits to Tyseley Locomotive Works to recover a number of useful bricks.

At Tyseley the bricks were stacked in a rather inaccessible area near the yard throat, far from any road. To get them out we had permission to use a Permaquip trolley, which we took with us from Winchcombe, where you can see it being loaded here.

Once at Tyseley we assembled our little rail vehicle and started pushing, meeting another, larger, rail vehicle on the way.

We had 4 wheels, and that big green thing had two more, i.e. six.  Show off!

Arrived at the end of the yard, we found our stack of desirables.

It's a big pile of diamond patterned edging bricks. We were interested in about half of them, the other half being of a different, bigger type that was in rather less attractive condition.

Also of interest to us was a pile of engineering blues, bull noses and some double ended bull noses (they probably have a special name for them too) and this is why we had the drainage gang with us, who have a particular use for them.

Many hands make light work!

We learned that a lot of the special bricks arose from the demolition of the Tyseley roundhouse.

The whole site had interesting corners, such as this one: spearhead fencing, a spearhead gate and a ball topped posts such as in use at Broadway.

This little bijou set was right behind a buffer stop, so not serving much purpose, we felt.

We ran several trolley loads down the line, blocked for us and with all the points set the right way.
Much banging came out of one of the boilers in the background, but hey, this is a locomotive works.

Here is a trolley load just arriving at its destination, where you can see the corner of a Transit with a partial load on it already.

Both Transits were filled with about a ton of material.

In the foreground the diamond pattern edging blocks are being loaded. These will come in useful for both the goods platform at Winchcombe, and the future turntable pit. We need quite a few of these, and the 128 collected today play a (smallish) part in this.

Here is all the material safely unloaded and stacked on 3 pallets at Winchcombe.




Friday at Broadway.


Given the fine weather, we had another painting day. We'll leave the manufacturing to days of less clement weather, which will arrive no doubt quite soon.

Neal and john have been quite busy on the P2 steelwork, which was well advanced at the end of the day. Just a bit of topcoat to go on the tower legs.

You can see in the LH picture that they are dark stone now. In the RH picture the team assembling the bridge a few years back now were a bit too quick, and painted the legs, a structural thing, in light stone, except for the top surrounding the panel. This anomaly is now being addressed. It also gives the towers another 3 coats of paint, covering up the many nicks and scratches they have had as the station building was going on around them.

The GWR painted structural things (legs, frames etc) in dark stone, and the bits in between (panels, infill etc) in light stone.

This lovely light shows today's footbridge to great advantage..

Note in particular that the fencing in front is now complete. What a great piece of design, to get this far from a bare, weed covered demolition site.

Still do do then:

- The sides of the steps, in T&G wood with cross bracing timbers
- The treads, risers, and hand rails
- 'Passengers are requested to cross the line' etc on the two rail posts by the entrance
- The canopy extension, which will reach to just past the end of the P1 roof over the stairs. This will be a job for next year.



A bit more Broadway history

Following the publication of John Lees' pictures of the 2007 clearance at Broadway, Roger Bush was kind enough to send us three more. Roger was part of the gang, and has fond memories.

This gateway gave access to the track for a long time. We're looking diagonally south here, with the fire seen in John's pictures burning near the road bridge on the left.

The gate is approximately where the southern entrance gate to the platform is today, but the platform level today is round about where the white hard hat is!

Looking north.

Looking south, with the far parapet of the road bridge visible on the left.

Those catch pits remained opened for quite a long time, until Jim H made them a set of plywood lids. It didn't stop various delivery lorries from putting a wheel down them though.

P2 on the right was extended almost up to the bridge, so a lot of material was dumpered up to it in due course.

Stevie gets the mini digger out

We had a day with Stevie today, who made himself useful in and around the Usk project.

We've had a bit of a kerfuffle with the type 1 ballast we put in the foundation pit last week. It's too large, but we didn't notice until it had been tipped, and now it's too late.

We decided to use it nonetheless, as additional drainage behind the platform, so Stevie came to dig a trench behind it.

You can also see the piles of engineering blues that will be used in front of the block wall.

Steve dug the trench very smartly, emptying the earth into the waiting bucket of the Telehandler, driven by Dave P.

While this was going on Paul and Jules finished off making the 4 shuttering pieces, and cutting stakes to size.

In the foreground some blocks have been put over the rebar, to show how the return will come together here.

Later in the day these blocks were actually laid, and no doubt there will be a C&M blog to show this and other stuff the gang did.

Stevie dug the trench for about half its distance, as this is the most we can fill with left over type 1 and ballast that we have spare.

Every now and then we paused to let the trains go past, and wave. Well, not Stevie, he had his hands in his pockets.

The trains were quite well filled. A bulletin from the chairman today confirmed that we are nicely on budget as far as passenger figures are concerned, which is good to hear.

Most of the rest of the gang today - non-Uskovites - went out to continue measuring up the track, today between Manor lane and Bishops Cleeve. While doing this a double broken fishplate was reported, and the same gang quickly changed this, so that services were not unduly interrupted. A possible villain is the King - a heavy locomotive - but this is leaving us at the end of the month.

Hellooooooo....

Paul, Dave P and Jules dropped tools as well, to wave to the passing trains. The passengers seem to like that.

What is it about waving, that people do it so easily? No doubt some inbuilt drive to communicate, to be sociable. It's one of the first things that little babes in arms learn too.

After digging the trench Stevie helped with the unwanted ballast in the pit, which Dave in the Telehandler then tipped into the gap a bit further along.

Between trips, Stevie 'nipped' over in the mini digger to level out what had already gone in.

Once the pit had been scraped more or less clean again, Paul and Jules measured the depth once more with the laser level, the base unit of which was parked way out of reach over by the platform end, so that the mini digger and Telehandler wouldn't knock it over.

If the reading didn't come out right, Stevie came over to scrape the bottom a bit more.

Jules found that the branches of the oak tree came down so low, he could leave the stick standing upright, caught in the leaves.

Hope they don't interfere with the roof of the building later.

In the middle of the day we heard a loud drone, and it was these two planes that flew over. One was a biplane, but we couldn't say what they were, nor what they were up to. They were following each other, which we hadn't seen before.

Once Paul was happy with the pit levels, we started hammering in pegs. The rumour that your blogger does some work between photographs turns out to be true, as he was caught in 'action' here by Jonathan. Well well.

Then it was Jonathan's turn to be caught by the camera, as he helped Jules set up the first length of shuttering.

This was held in place by stakes, until the corners had been nailed together.

No jokes please about 'you nod your head and I'll hit it' - we heard that one abundantly today, thank you.

It wasn't long before all 4 lengths of shuttering were up, some 5m by 5m long. This size base will give the hut to be rebuilt about a 6 inch space all the way round.

Getting the shuttering up wasn't as simple as it looks on this picture, in which the diagonal is being measured. Of course the two diagonals didn't match, and this resulted in much triangulation, geometry, and discussions on the merits (or relevance here) of Archimedes and Pythagoras. They pushed that box this way and that, we shall spare you the whole series of near identical pictures that would have produced.

Finally Paul was happy, the shuttering was in. The rebar mat etc for the inside is now on order, after quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing about from where, and how much. We do try very hard to keep costs down, that's why the actual placing of the order took so long. But we are rolling now.

A better truck load of type 1 has been ordered from a different supplier and it will come next week. However, everyone is allowed a holiday and so is this blog, which will be off line until mid September now. So you won't see it actually arrive.

Now you see it....

Now you - dang, this steel is tough!

During our rootling around in the bottom of the foundation pit a length of steel rodding emerged. This tuns out, we were told, to be the ground end of a telegraph pole stay. Of course the GWR pole route must have come through Winchcombe station, and it did indeed run along the Malvern side.

Dave P volunteered to cut the length off at ground level with a hacksaw. After all, the stay is designed not to be pulled out of the ground, there is a big plate underneath it.

Unfortunately the stay won, the hacksaw lost as the blade snapped half way in. Undaunted, Dave wrenched the half cut stay this way and that until it gave way, and he emerged from the pit with a big smile and holding aloft his prize.

Here's our end of the day shot. In the foreground good progress is being made with the concrete blocks across the end.

In the background is a huge discussion under way between the Usketeers. It broke up immediately when someone yelled 'Tea'!

We went to the Coffeepot, where the measuring gang was already installed.

Andy and his gang did 2/3 mile we heard, a commendable effort especially as time was taken off to change the broken fishplate.

It also started to rain, another reason for the parking of the tools for the night. It was forecast OK so we weren't too surprised when the rain did indeed come. But it was certainly wet, we only just stayed dry under Winchcombe's little canopy.

Back mid-September then, after a fortnight in better climes, delicious food, and a visit to the Moto Guzzi factory !

Ciao!

Deliveree - deliveroo.

Monday at Broadway

The scaffolders came to clear the scaffolding around the P2 steps.

While they were working - it took all morning - we couldn't do very much, except perhaps sit and watch.....

Work - we love watching it.

Meanwhile, the scaffolding came down on P2, and the lorry started to fill up.

To fill the time, we had a good root round the site to see what building materials were still available for a possible P2 building. There's quite a bit, as it was over-ordered for P1.

In the foreground are the bricks for several door and window arches.

After lunch the scaffolders had gone, and we did a bit of painting in the time that was left. Neal is painting the temporary canopy supports at the bottom, while John is doing the upper half of the stringers. It's much easier now that we have room in which to work.

Neal spent a while painting the remaining lower steelwork in dark stone, while yours truly hastened to Cheltenham to get another gallon of light stone undercoat. We are getting through a lot of this GWR paint. It's made specially for us.





Our beautiful footbridge is emerging from its chrysalis.

This is what it looked like near the end of the day, with all the scaffolding finally gone, both sides.

Next our thoughts will turn towards the treads, and the woodwork for the sides.

But we really must try the Broadway cafe:

Do drop in if you like this sort of thing!



Wednesday at Winchcombe.

A more modest gang, but this is August and people are on holiday.

Helloooo - are you listening?

As Andy valiantly tried to pass on the knowledge gained on Saturday as we measured up the track, something seemed to draw the attention of the others away. Was it the tea? Was it the doughnuts? Was it the big pile of railway magazines?

Ah - so that was it!

Free cake! Who could resist. Possibly a birthday, but in the scrabble all eyes were on the cake.

Thank you John. (for it was he)





Six people were available to walk the track from Gotherington loop southwards, to record what track we have there. We need to do the whole line. About 2/3 of a mile was done today, slightly more than Saturday. So that's two track survey days done, bit more of a mile so far.

Rob, Doug and Alan in great spirits. It's probably the sugar rush after the tea and cake.

Four others went off in opposite directions to inspect the track for defects, a regular job.

Got your spanners, chaps? Then off you go.

The little Usk team was out again today, manufacturing shuttering and getting ready for a delivery of 8 tons of type 1 ballast for the bottom of the foundation pit.

After quite a wait, this eventually arrived mid morning.

It was dropped off a few yards away, and then brought to the pit for distribution.

While Jules and Paul did the physical work, Jonathan signalled the Telehandler this way and that.

If you didn't blink, you might even see him with a shovel.

Luckily the camera has a very fast shutter speed, or we could miss this moment.

Once the bottom of the pit was pretty much covered we borrowed Willie the Wacker and ran him up and down over the type 1.

Willie put on a great show, but the type 1 did not compress at all and we ended up with it 3 -4 ins too high.
Luckily Stevie with the JCB is passing next week, and we will ask him to scrape it out a bit. We tried shovelling, but that wasn't realistic we soon realised.

There were 3 trains about today. The King having failed yesterday with a broken spring, we had the Growler today, and two steamers: 2807 and 7903.

Great stirrings were happening by the entrance to the yard, where two supplier lorries arrived at once. A bit like London buses.
The first was Easy Mix, with some concrete mixed on the spot for the base of the return around the stop block.
Right behind was the 8 tonner from Elliots with our type 1. (OK, the sharp eyed among you will have noticed that we were already using the type 1 a few pictures earlier, but this order helps to tell the story)

The Easy Mix lorry was coaxed backwards over the barrow crossing to the stop block, where it ground into life and spat out enough concrete to fill the hole for the back of the wall.

Rob hovered at the business end to make sure the mix got into all the corners.

Not long after the foundation hole was full, and Rob was able to vibrate the mix down with an electric vibrator.

Meanwhile, six dumpy bags of recycled bricks arrived in 3 loads, and were dropped off with the Telehandler. The bricks, we heard, were found in undergrowth near to a demolished bridge close to our southern boundary.

And the trains kept coming - here 2807 runs into Winchcombe, where 7903 is waiting for its token.

And then the third delivery lorry arrived. This was a general delivery firm - anyone for earthenware garden pots, or French render for walls?

In between was a pallet marked ' Gloucester' and this contained an order for lifter fishplates, bolts and the plastic insulation that wraps round insulated fishplates (which is fragile).

The Telehandler continued to be busy, as next it appeared with a heavy pallet of blues, which it loaded on to the blue truck.

It then took a second pallet of blues, and drove it round to the goods platform wall. The blue truck hovered in the distance, under the tree, with the first pallet.

As we could do no more for the Usk foundation pit, we had an early forray to the Coffeepot, where 2807 soon rolled in. PWay member Doug was spotted on the footplate, getting a free ride and keen to make sure we knew this.

Tea, and the trains crossing as you drink, make for a very enjoyable experience here, at the end of our day.

The last thing we saw was a mysterious single diesel that appeared - the class 24 from Toddington. Where were its carriages? Did they know?

George the signalman knew though, he was expecting it and stood, ready to receive the token.

Shorts and short sleeves show what a balmy day it was, although there is a nip in the air in the mornings now when we set off.