Beware of what you wish for!

Saturday retrieval

On Saturday we were off again on another jolly with two Transits to our mystery location. With a mystery cargo, can't say what it is until we have completed the job. Another trip is planned this Saturday. Then maybe a last one the week after that.

On the return trip we passed the Toddington entrance, and our intentions are clear to the public:

We are open !

So welcome back, and do pay us a visit. Saturday was a sell out, but visibility over the next days is not so clear as people are leaving the booking until the last minute. That also makes it hard to plan train capacity.

Back at Winchcombe we saw the first commercial train after the lockdown, and it felt as if things were back to normal. The bell rang, the train came, the signalman exchanged the token...

Foremarke Hall was on duty with 5 compartment coaches, and one open. We were pleased to see people behind every window, and all compartments had clearly been taken up, one even by a sole traveller.

At Broadway a small group of spectators was milling about outside the station, but the gates were shut as the train can only be boarded at Toddington. One car screeched to a stop to take a picture of the Hall crossing the bridge, it was business as usual...

Passing Toddington yard on an errand, we saw this set of wheels being worked on behind its own little enclosure.

It's the wheels of 2874, just come back from being re-tired. Steady progress there, on 2874.

The two period lamps on the goods shed office, recently fitted in place of two modern ones, have been further improved with the removal of the third modern one over the door. It turns out that the two period lamps give out enough light to cover the whole area quite adequately.

 

 

Hayles Abbey halt

It's had some tlc. Until the day before it was like a jungle out there, with uncontrolled grass growth and weeds.

After a first pass with the strimmer.

Martin at work with the strimmer

 

The bank is clear again.

Although trains do not stop here at the moment people do look out of the window, and we want to show that we care about the place.

At Broadway on Monday

The former Paxford bench was taken out into the sun for further scraping. It's a bit dark in the container to do the finer bits of paint removal. The old paint is very tough, and gums up the sandpaper, but it's almost all off now.

Underneath the bench wasn't painted, and you could clearly see evidence of the previous owner - see the stamp above the coffee cup.

There's been a slow but steady delivery of spearhead fence panels from our production line in a container. They are intended for P2. We make these ourselves out of component parts you can buy direct, which is cheaper than the finished product off the shelf.

Another two panels were walked up to the signal box. About 25 are being made.

Terry, one of the Broadway stalwarts, gave us this 1936 Bradshaw's map of UK railway lines. The sole advertiser on the leaflet was BUMSTED's, who sold salt. What a lovely name, Bumsted. And we like the idea that you can put their salt on your food, in your bath, or if you really have no better use for it, you can throw it in the garden. That seems to cover all the options.

Take a look at the above extract from it. It's a list of recently closed lines. In 1936! Under the 'B' you will find Barnstaple - Lynton, and of course that is true, as the L&B closed in 1935. You may be able to increase the size of the picture by clicking on it for more detail. Notice also Whitstable to Canterbury, (locomotive Invicta), Alton to Bastingstoke (Oh Mr. Porter), Sandgate to Hythe (that long ago?), Machynlleth to Corris, Welshpool to Llanfair Caereinion, and Quainton Road to Brill. All closed by 1936 already.

 

 

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You may recall that we have commissioned a replica GWR stationmaster's hat, to show what it was like and what can be done. It has at last arrived, after some difficulties in sourcing the specialist decorations, which were finally made by a company by appointment to the Royal House:

Isn't it fabulous! Gold braid all around, a little beehive decoration on top, and the pre-1935 GWR emblem. Just about visible is a hatband of black lace oak leaves. When a GWR stationmaster wore one of these, you knew he was a person of some importance.

Today, all that is available to our stationmasters is a generic, BR type cap. We have commissioned this to show what a GWR stationmaster really wore, and what is achievable. It's undeniably expensive, so we clubbed together with one of the stationmasters, who will be the actual wearer. That may be the way forward if other people would like one - a user and a sponsor. Further details of the source are available on request.

(breva2011 at Hotmail.co.uk)

Wednesday out along the line

Gee, it's been so hot, wish we had some rain! Well, we got that today, in stair rods, all day long.

 

We're not allowed to meet in the mess coach, and it's no use standing around in the rain waiting for others to arrive, so we moved over to the station canopy until our group was big enough for a briefing. As we waited the doors of the Coffeepot opened and even though they said 'No Entry' we were able to secure 11 coffees from the catering staff, who smiled kindly upon our damp and miserable condition.

Seeing that a large bunch of us were assembled in one place, Steve from the loco dept took the opportunity to test a number of us who were interested in a future role as lookout. 'Tommy' played pinball while deaf, dumb and blind, but lookouts, annoyingly, have to be able to see and hear to a certain minimum, so flags and arms were waved at us from a distance.

Then the first down train rumbled in, headed by Foremarke Hall. You can see how much it rained by the stripe across the end of the tender. That was a raindrop passing before the lens of the camera.

In the picture the catering staff have come out of the cafe and are ready to load onto the train the picnic packages that passengers have ordered. There were only about 5 of these for this train - is this because people didn't want one, or because they didn't know about them?

The fireman stepped on to the platform in an enormous greatcoat, which was all wet down one side only. Hope the passengers realise the effort the footplate crew are putting in to keep the wheels moving.

Here is Foremarke Hall just moving off again, in the direction of the tunnel. Smoke and steam, just like in winter!

After the train had left, class 37 D6948 appeared out of the gloom.

The signalman came down from the box and, rather than just hand over a token, asked the crew to stop.

 

 

Words were exchanged, then the big diesel reversed into the C&W yard.

Here it waited with the second 'COVID' rake of 6. It is believed to be a test train that went to CRC, as it was not spotted at Broadway during the day.

As there seemed little hope of the rain abating, we threw some tools in the back of the Landie and headed out to Laverton.

Here we re-ballasted the outside of the footpath crossing. The ballast had dissipated a bit, leaving a trip hazzard for walkers.

All sorted now, after some energetic shovelling.

A second crossing nearer Little Buckland was also on our list, but this was about a mile further up the track in driving rain along an open embankment.

Enthusiasm waned rapidly, and we decided to call it a day.

At least we got to see Foremarke Hall again, this time as it approached Laverton bridge. This was the site of a run round loop at Laverton halt before we started the final part of the Broadway extension in 2015, but you'd never know it. It's quite overgrown now.

The full story of the Broadway extension, as seen by PWay stalwart John Lees, can be seen in his photographs, which we have put on line here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73536293@N02/albums/72157714804883022

With these last few photographs of early 2018 we have now posted on the Flickr site all of the photographs John took during a 37 year career with the GWSR.

The Flickr site therefore carries the only photographic record of the building of the GWSR (as far as we know). We have no museum, nor publicly available archive of the Honeybourne line, and its successor, the GWSR.

The Flickr site now has to be paid for, and while we don't mind doing that, it does mean that when yours truly steps in front of a bus, payment will cease and the archive will be lost.