Week's roundup

 Friday in the loco shed

 Another day fabricating the final pieces of the Broadway canopy.

 

As we need to vacate our shared area of the loco shed, we have started moving some of the completed pieces out into the future workshop area of the goods shed extension, which is not yet in use.

In the picture you can see the two purlins, which now have two coats of undercoat in dark stone.

 

 

One team today spent most of the day wire brushing down the final truss, which will sit on two posts over the bottom of the steps at Broadway.

 

On the left is the truss, as it has been for two years now. As it has been stored outside due to its size, it is starting to look a little care worn and needs freshening up.

On the right is the truss after a day's work with the rotating brush, sandpaper, a dose of Kurust and a pot of anti corrosive primer. On top of it are two of the angles we have recently manufactured. They also received a coat of primer. The good weather at the moment is really helping with this outdoor work.

Inside the loco shed we find Neal at work on one of the larger supporting angles.

Where the curved a straight pieces join a very shallow angled cut is required, so some time was spent setting up the saw up to achieve this.

Neal also rigged up this table, on which the large angled brackets can be laid out, measured, cut and welded.

Another piece that needs cutting is this diagonal. Here Neal is inspecting the angle, using a large fabricator's protractor.

Saturday out along the line.

Where were we on Saturday? Out in the sticks is the answer. Because of social distancing we are now required to go to the work sites in our private cars, so this leaves yer executive saloon parked in the middle of nowhere, no roads visible, and the arrow pointing at a railway line.

 

Something interesting on this SATNAV is how the line skirts round Winchcombe.

It seems that a straight line starting by the petrol station symbol and passing round the back of Winchcombe was an option once considered for the route. That straight line would have come out at Southam, just short of CRC. The enormous tunnel required made the option far too costly though, so today Winchcombe is some distance from its station, and we have the much shorter Greet tunnel.

 

 

The job site was right outside the tunnel mouth, but the spare sleepers were a few hundred yards away. Sling them on the back of the Landie then. But no can do, as there is a line of extracted drainage blocks in the way. What now?

Bert Ferrule is not one to be stopped, and he had thought ahead with two wheelbarrows among the many tools we brought up from the yard. All that was required the was a good heave and a steady balancing act. Soon however the inevitable happened, and the sleeper slid off. This happened several times, but we got them down there.

'X' marks the spot where three sleepers needing changing had been identified by the trackwalker.

While we got the replacement sleepers, Jim had already started with the shovel to dig out the first one.

We had a line block until the first service train, which left Toddington at 10 am. No pressure then...

 

This morning's 'pleasant' surprise was the size of some of the boulders hidden in the ballast. They are impossible to shovel out, a pickaxe is required to shift them. Normally ballast size is carefully specified.

What were they thinking when the laid this track, back in 1989?

We made it - now we're going to hide those boulders.

Here's a picture of the gang as they came out of the tunnel on May 14th 1988. You can see the boulders in the cess at the bottom of the picture. Somehow they ended up buried in the 4 foot, or middle of the track.

We decided to replace two of the three sleepers marked. Once the sleepers have been dug clear of the surrounding ballast, the chairs are removed and the perished sleeper is pulled out with the sharp end of the pick. 

By whom?

Why, by the smallest, oldest ganger on site - Pete! Way to go, Pete! He did it too. Proof that regular physical activity is good for you.

The compacted bed of the sleeper is then dug out, to make sure the replacement doesn't ride too high when we pull it back in.

Then it's time for the nips.

 

 

 

 

 

A sign of the 1988 times are these two cast iron chairs - marked GWR - that were used on one of the sleepers we pulled out. The are 'through bolters' secured by two nuts and bolts, and impossible to remove once a few years have passed.

Today we no longer use them, and any we find go to the 2807 boot scraper manufacturing facility.

But enough idle chatter, time is pressing!

The first train is due off Toddington in 10 minutes, and we haven't finished digging yet...

At this point also two orange clad shapes emerge from the gloom of the tunnel - it's the Winchcombe - Gotherington section track walkers.

We exchange greetings, they move on. It's a long way to Gotherington.

 

We finished off the sleeper replacements by the tunnel mouth, returned the line blockage, and soon Dinmore Manor was heard to enter the tunnel at the other end:

https://youtu.be/ULjHaPcisyU

Then on to our second work site, which was up on the embankment at Gretton. In the 1980s new houses were built close to the foot of the embankment here, and we noticed that garden waste was being dumped on top, right next to our ballast.

The garden waste is just 4 - 5 ft from the running line. How does it get there?

A closer look revealed a gate on to our property at the foot of the embankment, and a new set of steps had been cut into the soil and reinforced with slabs, for an easy walk to the top.

The next house along also had a gate in the fence on to our property, and a fresh pile of builders waste has appeared on the slope.

 

A look over the gate in question revealed a new garden path leading back to the house.

To make our work site safe we set up site boards to allow the loco crew to identify where we are working. They also get a message with our location when they sign in.

These sleepers, for some reason, were tougher to dig out, as they sat on a sticky black base that was like hacking at toffee. We got one sleeper out OK, but when we dragged in the new one, it was proud, so it went into reverse with a heave and the bed was dug out a second time, this time round with success.

We got both jobs done, and then stepped aside to allow Dinmore Manor to return from Cheltenham. The train looked quite well filled, and we got lots of waves.

Then it was time to drive home, but a situation of 'They shall not pass' arose. Which Landie would give way to the other?

Eventually the blue one had to reverse all the way back to the site of Gretton halt, where the embankment is a bit wider and the white one could to a three point turn (well actually a five point one, the undergrowth is thick and you don't want to reverse too far into the unknown).

Monday at Broadway

Another warm, sunny day. Great conditions to finish off painting the Paxford GWR bench.

 

 

It was a final top coat of chocolate, and it didn't take long.

Here it is, completed, and basking in the sunshine. This then is the former Blockley platform shelter bench, found rotting in a bus shelter at Paxford and with one leg missing.

 

Once it was dry enough to move, we took it to the mess room where it can be usefully stored until required.

The final destination is under the canopy on P2, but thanks to COVID that build seems to be delayed at the moment, unless a big donor comes along.

During the day we were entertained by the angry buzzing of chainsaws, and the crashing of falling trees. There's a man right in the top.

More of the iconic pine trees at Broadway are being felled.

 

 

 

 

On a brighter note, the replica 1900 GWR stationmaster's hat has now been taken into use by Mike, one of our new stationmasters.

 

Here he is standing proud at Toddington, and on the left is the inspiration at Broadway, the 1935 stationmaster William Barber. The hat is the same! The uniform of the GWR stationmaster gradually relaxed over the years, from a formal uniform with gold GWR buttons in 1900 to a plain looking business suit in 1947, but the pillbox hat with its gold braid and 'GWR' lettering at the front remained unchanged. This pillbox hat is what you need if you want to look like a GWR stationmaster.

Tuesday at Toddington

An early (well, 9am...) arrival at Toddington saw Foremarke Hall pull off shed in brilliant sunshine.

Bit lucky with this shot, the rods are down and the drain cock steam wafted away a second, before enveloping the loco completely.

A day wire brushing the Broadway truss had to be abandoned, so we joined the Usk team at Winchcombe, who had brought their usual Wednesday session forward by one day, as Tuesday promised to be dry and sunny, and Wednesday wasn't.

 

The morning was bright and sunny under the oak tree at Winchcombe, as these 4 pictures from Julian show. Dave and Paul (RH) fired up Maxie and made themselves a barrow of mix.

Joining on from the 21 blocks laid last Wednesday they carried on down the platform, adding extra ones from the trolley parked on the tracks.

Soon Foremarke Hall trundled by with the first train, apparently astounding yours truly and John standing by the bricks. Well, we're always interested to see how full the trains are. About 75% it seemed to us, with fewer people on the earlier and later departures. But Tuesday is not a peak day, we think.

Paul was laying them on fast today, easily overtaking the 21 we laid last week. Well, last week was our first block laying day, and we had to prepare the ground and level the blocks, which are a bit low here and there. But today, we were going full tilt. There are something like 250 to put down.

Jules was back again, albeit taking it easy what with his cracked ribs. He's in contemplative mode by the barrow here, while Paul lifts the blocks on, and Dave does the pointing.

Jules finally found his calling by following up Dave's pointing with a small trowel and a brush, with which he tidied up the joints and made sure the diamonds had no mortar in them, so that they stand out.

From time to time a train would pass by, sometimes through P1 and sometimes, as here, through P2, just to keep the rails shiny.

We wandered over to record the token exchange.

Chris, driver of 7903 today, was once a fireman on 9Fs banking goods trains up Campden bank ! What would you have given to join him on one of those trips?

Meanwhile Paul was approaching an important milestone in our block laying - the Heras Fence line! How far would he get today?

Come on Jules, we won't get the wall built like this!

Although the Coffepot isn't open to passengers at the moment, we have noticed that you can sneak in and buy an ice cream....

Who says you can't lick an ice cream while pointing bricks?

Look, this is what you do - one handed, no problem!

 

 

And then Paul breezed past the Heras fence line - it's what you can do on a sunny day when you are well prepared.

Round about 3 o'clock the sun suddenly disappeared, and it got decidedly cooler.

We left Dave, Paul and John mid afternoon to complete a small painting job at Toddington (the two angles recently fabricated). Paul was intending to reach the area of the bucket on the left, which would mean about 40 blocks laid today. A record!

Here's the end of the day shot of the platform wall so far - doesn't it look neat!

Wednesday at Toddington.

Steelwork has arrived for a fire escape and bridge to be attached to the end of the goods shed extension. It was due to go up today, but could not be progressed as the expected scaffolding did not arrive.

 

 

Part of a kit of parts for the steel structure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The steelwork will go into this gap, providing a fire escape for the door on the first floor, and a bridge to a second level of containers planned on the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 It was too wet to do anything to the truss outside today. 

 

 

 

Luckily Neal was around, and together we turned the ridge purlin for Broadway the other way up, to give the primered side a first coat of light stone undercoat.

 

 

The truss (primered now on the reverse) was moved out of the way of the planned steel construction, and turned the other way round so that we can wire brush the rust on this side as well. We are hoping for a dry day on Friday to do this.

 

 

 

P & O is now repaired and was back earning its keep, and we had an interesting chat with people in the know about the draincock operating system that was broken a few days ago. It's steam operated (Mr. Bulleid likes to do things differently) and not by a mechanical linkage as in most other steam locos. One of the parts was twisted quite out of shape, but has since been repaired/part renewed. A brilliant rapid intervention, which kept this big locomotive in service.

Now, which lever shall I pull....

We had an interesting chat with the Toddy signalman as well.

Toddington box has the usual comfy signalman's chair, but in this case, it has two! You just can't get comfy enough...

 

 

A detail we noticed - next to a brass plate marked 'BROADWAY' under one of the bells - was that the level leads were Traffolyte ones, but one was a brass one. In our view, brass looks so much better, could we not have more?

The story with the lever frame is that the original one was stripped out - legally - by another railway, even as early GWSR was negotiating with a different BR department to take over 15 miles of line.

It would be nice to have our original lever leads back, if they were brass. Wonder where they are?