Week 12

There's a shaft of daylight in our lockdown from the railway, as, subject to strict conditions and risk assessments, some essential maintenance has been permitted on the PWay.

We have therefore resumed the measuring of our track assets, a job that is required as part of documenting what we have on the ground. It's an outdoor activity, which can be achieved by small groups, with currently a maximum of 6.

A first day was held on Saturday, covering Broadway station up to the northern breather near Pry Lane.

Just three of us went out today to continue this, but what a milestone. It felt good to be out again, free, in the fresh air, and physically active. Productive too.

Here is the kit we took with us to Little Buckland  - the Bance track gauge, spray paint for numbering, and a box of tricks.

Coincidentally there was also a lifting gear inspection, and we took delivery of a number of new speed restriction signs for our TSRs when we go out and maintain the track.

This is where we started today - the breather at the end of the CWR section from Stanway viaduct. What was new to us too was a number of new signals, erected for the day that Broadway box becomes operational. You can just about make them out in the distance.

Here we are at one of the newly reinstalled GWR style mile posts. The tall trees in the distance are adjacent to the Peasebrook farm stud.

What's the track like after 3 months on non-use?

It's rusty, with bird droppings on it.

The weedkilling contractor has also been, with clear beneficial effects as the track was weed free, and many of the probing brambles from nearby were truncated.

Our job here wasn't too difficult, as the track is obviously new, and in excellent condition. It is of course also walked regularly for inspection, as clips etc can fall out.

We measured the distances between the welds, took the gauge and cant, reported on the number, type of sleeper and fittings.

Everything was in pretty fine fettle really.

We marked the position of the welds, and numbered each rail in sequence, between 1/4 mile posts. Every 22 rails we started again.

Robert had a spread sheet, the contents of which are uploaded to our data base in due course.

While the rail showed zero wear after 2 years, it was slightly rusty and Robert had to have a good hard stare at it to identify its manufacturing details.

The weather was kind to us - cloudy, no burning sun, but no rain either. Brilliant. We took a picnic with us each.

We received a visitor that scooted along under the Cotswolds edge. Not sure what it was though, a largish military helicopter. It returned from the Broadway area a minute or two later, and hovered near us to see, presumably, what we were up to.

Peter on the right was the second man in the team today, with yours truly No.3 and later in the day we were joined by stalwart Jim, who had accompanied the lifting gear inspection earlier in the day. That went well, we were pleased to hear.

While pausing for an 11 o'clock cup of coffee, we noticed these chunky droppings, which we take to come from an owl. They were made of feather fur balls, with little bird bones in between. Nature doesn't stop just because we do. Indeed, a large deer crossed the line right in front of us. We also came across a very prominent badger run across the line - a little tunnel in the vegetation on each side, and a well worn and slightly discoloured track across the ballast and the rails in the middle.

Mid afternoon we reached the cars at Little Buckland, and decided to call it a day on the Toddington side of the bridge. After 3 months of not doing much at all, our bodies need to get back up to speed again, and wasting muscles built up again. We did 3/4 of a mile today, an acceptable performance for the 3 of us. No doubt there will be a further stretch on Saturday.

The PWay gang in 2016.

While scanning the next batch of John Lees' historical PWay pictures we came across this one, which happens to have been taken at the county boundary, just where we were measuring today. How time flies.
In the picture L to R are Jo, Chris and Neil, the latter clearly surprised that we have got this far.

Just another mile to go, Neil!




2874 news item

From a correspondent on the SDR we received this interesting pictures of the driving wheels of 2874:

Picture by John Brodribb, with thanks.

This axle is mounted in an interesting box of rollers, which allow the wheel to be rotated in situ.

Over the years the balance weights on these wheels have become loose. SDRE have removed the old rivets and replaced them with temporary bolts. New rivets have been made and are about to be fitted in the picture.





Gotherington slip

The works are complete. The contractors have left the site, replaced, as one correspondent termed it, by 'mini contractors' i.e. rabbits who are now taking an interest.

The sheet piling is in and finished off with railings. In the picture you can see the soil nailing that was used at the northern end of the slip. That's covered in chain link fencing, so they little so-and-sos won't be digging there.

At the Manor Lane entrance to the line quite a large area has been cleared, and it's now easier to park our cars here.

This is the view from the lane, showing the entrance gate, which has been re-hung.

There's a small tear in the eye of yours truly, as this used to be a tranquil scene with a grassy slope, where we have had many a mid day picnic between jobs in the shade of a cool tree on the left. Bliss!




Bratton Fleming

Breaking news here is that the agents for the station have once again put the 'under offer' banner on the listing. Surprise! This was discovered by one of the supporters.

Astonished at not being approached, the EA team called the agents, to be told that there was a 'proceedable offer' made and had been accepted already. It seems very odd that twice now, the agents have posted that an offer had been accepted, without reverting to another potential buyer to see what they proposed to do.

EA are philosophical, noting that this has happened twice before, and that the offers did not lead to a sale in either case. They propose to wait and see. Only an exchange of contracts will confirm that the sale is definite.

In an email seen by yours truly they propose to return donations to those that want them back, should the sale to the other buyer become definite.  However, for our part we do not want to see our donation returned, as EA will be making other purchases in the future, as they have already done successfully several times in the past, and such donations will make future purchases all the more possible.

We shall wait and see, it's all we can do.




An interesting video about social distancing

We came across this fascinating video, originating from a private Dutch pressure group that is concerned about the negative effects that social distancing has on our society:

 https://youtu.be/asjKXK44fN4

The principal driver of contagion they say is through micro droplets, aka aerosols. Large droplets fall to the ground within a minute, but the micro droplets remain suspended in the air for 20 minutes or more. This means that the risk of contagion is much greater in enclosed spaces that are not ventilated, and those social distancing of 2m (1.5m in The Netherlands) is not effective. On the other hand, the risk is very small in well ventilated areas, or anywhere outdoors.

The blanket rule of social distancing for 1.5m or 2m is therefore not an effective measure, and indeed has uncomfortably negative consequences for our society and the economy as a whole. So do we really need it?

Take a look at the video.  We have found it very helpful in learning how the virus spreads, and how to adapt our behaviour in response. Knowledge is power!