Canopy progress

Friday at Toddington

A day with the Wagon Restoration Group.

Neal was also at Toddington. He's under pressure to remove the Broadway canopy kit, as it's in the way of the new workshop. 

 

Here is where have managed to hide the components away so far. This is the workshop extension, under the new mess room extension of the goods shed. We spent a year manufacturing this, all put together with real rivets.

That wall behind the plywood leads to the original goods shed, and our current workshop.

 

 

 

 

Neal and Steve moved the construction kit with the forklift. This picture gives you a better idea of the size of the final part of the canopy. This is a 6m long fascia board.

 

Here is where it all went. It's under the glass roof of the former garden centre, an area which we plan to redevelop.

On the bottom is the final truss. It's good to see this under cover at last. It was too big to hide in the new workshop area, so has spent quite some time outdoors, but with a new coat of paint to protect it.

You may also recognise the arched ridge purlin in there. 

Back to the Wagon Restoration Group.

Last week we cleaned up this 1944 built GWR open wagon.

This week it's going into undercoat, and later in the day, into a first top coat.

Notice the gap in the foreground, that is (was...) a rotten plank.

Richard on the right is also involved with the restoration of the Mink van at Winchcombe.

 

 

 

We don't sit still, so here is Ant, our friendly carpenter making up a new plank for the gap in the picture above.

It's not just a case of sawing a plank to length, this one has a cutout to make it fit, and that is what Ant is chiselling away here.

Towards the end of the day we were even able to apply a first of two topcoats. This is a dark grey. Now it may be that this dark colour was chosen so that Alex' lettering would stand out better, or maybe it was because the GWR did it that way. 

 

We have also had a useful discussion about the identity of the next vehicle, but we won't lift the veil on that yet.

Saturday on the shovel

We've been re-arranging the ballast on the north carriage siding at Toddington these last two PWay working days. Saturday was a third go on this long siding, fit for no fewer than two full rakes, or 20 carriages.

 

 

There were seven of us out, of which one doing a track walk, so a net six on the shovel.

As the distance between where the excess ballast was (at one end) and where it was needed (at the other) we had a trolley with collapsible boxes, to give us a bit of extra capacity.

The previous team had left the boxes at the far end (of course, natch) so before walking all the way to the buffer stop to collect them, we thought we'd already fill the trolley once, to save on walking.

Here we are at the Stanway viaduct end, and you can see that this is a spot where the sleeper ends are not boxed in to stop them moving. The worry was that if we had something heavy parked by the stop block (the one time haunt of a kit of heavy parts aka 76077) the bit in the middle could deform in the summer heat, if not well boxed in.

We didn't have to have a line block, or even stop work whenever a train came by, but we did stop. A good excuse for a breather, and wave back at people, who seemed to love waving at us.

We were very charmed by one lady, who acknowledged our weary faces with a hearty 'Thank you for doing this!' That was most kind, it's rare for us to get a compliment, and as we mentioned in the previous blog, it has even happened that we were criticised for using the Coffeepot after another tiring day.

During the day it got progressively warmer and quite sunny at times, so those who hadn't brought a hat had to improvise with a hanky. For some reason Bert (on the right) found this incredibly amusing.

'This is your captain speaking'

Well, it certainly provided plenty of material for banter, for which our team is famous. In fact we received a WhatsApp that very morning from one absent team member, who said he missed it!

During the day we filled four of the trolleys with boxes, we reckon about a tonne in each. Of course what we shovelled in has to be shovelled out again, as there is no tipping mechanism. We pull the boxes off, and then shovel the pile into the cess, such as here, where the support was not yet adequate.

We finished the job mid afternoon, and even if we have to say so ourselves, we did a fine job, because the carriage siding now looks like a well ballasted down line, along which heavy 800ton iron ore trains might pass. But it's a siding of course, and it stops by the viaduct, where the up line slews over to the middle, in order to run down the centre.

Foremarke Hall was looking good today, with its Red Dragon headboard. This was taken by the trap point at the beginning of the long siding. We have to be careful here and park our trolley on the outer side of the insulated joint, otherwise the signalman will get a surprise.

The meeting of man and machine - there is often a quick exchange of words between the men on the footplate, and those on the ground.

Business looked quite good today. The car park had lots of cars in it, and there was a coach in evidence. But with the social distancing required we won't be making a lot of money, sadly.

To get back to our cars by the loco shed at the end of the day we need to roll the trolley through Toddington station. For that of course we need the signalman's permission. This came in the form of a genuine shunt signal - the road was set for us, and off went our little 'train'.

At the end of the afternoon we treated ourselves to a round of ice creams from the shop on the corner. Sheer luxury. They went down so well.

Monday - a special on the PWay

We have an issue with the nose of the recently installed turnout at the south end of Toddington yard. You may remember that a couple of years ago we put in two turnouts here, which were fitted with point motors and which will release yard locos directly on to the main line, for entry into the station platforms.

This is the turnout in question, in the picture above.

And below is the issue:

The surface of the crossing nose is peeling off, leaving an old rusty deposit behind. We installed this crossing in apparently good condition (there was no wear at all on the rails) but the nose would appear to have an old weld on it, which is delaminating. There's a temporary speed limit on it at the moment, and we decided that the best way forward would be to replace the crossing with a plain rail, and then look for a solution for the crossing element.

We had a gang of 7 who came out specially, on this Monday, which is not normally a working day for the team.

We couldn't use mechanical equipment for such a heavy component at this distance from the road alongside, so it was decided to use bars and 'all hands on deck' to bar the crossing over into the four foot of the diverging track.

With the crossing having been encouraged to vacate its place,we measured up an appropriate length on a replacement rail of same type and similar wear.

As the base plates on a crossing are quite different from those on a plain line, we had to fit a completely new set. To get this drilled and bolted down in the right place we used a line and a sample piece of FB rail to get the correct position of each one. It was also checked with the track gauge off the other rail.

The work was of great interest to some volunteers, who watched from a safe distance.

The forks of the Telehandler also make useful supports for elbows of tired volunteers.

They did muck in for the next job, which required some heavy duty barring.

The replacement rail, or plain line, was barred into pace with some ingenuity and leverage, but we got there.

The job took a whole day, but we did it, and the track is fit for use again at normal speeds now. You can see the damaged crossing on the right here.

Whatever solution is found, it will cost money and that is awkward, as we are still running a service structure limited by Covid precautions, and hence partially empty trains and very modest cash flow. Asking the FD for money at the moment will not make you a popular man.

Harry Houdini, man of mystery and chains.

At the end of the day we had a huge volume of tools to empty off the Landie and take back into store.

And how do you transport a long length of chain?

Chris had the answer.

Previously chained and locked inside the box, he was already half way to freedom...

Tuesday on the Broadway canopy.

The plan for Tuesday was to get the third and last pair of 'bat wings' on. These items were made off site in the Toddington loco shed, so some last things have to be made / adjusted on site to make sure that they fit.

 

Here is Neal measuring up for the fixing bolts. The holes were then drilled through with the Mag Drill.

The wing, one of a pair, was then wrestled up on to the post, where, upon final arrival, we found that the holes were a few mm out as the cap on top had been overlooked in the measurement.

More wrestling then, back down on the ground, then back up again.

Neal greets the crew of Dinmore Manor, as it rolls in with the second train.

This took pretty much all day. Remember that the post had to be perfectly vertical - a few mm out at the bottom translate into lots of mm out at the top. But we were actually OK on that scale, both posts are an excellent fit.

Then we had a surprise visit from both the Chairman and the Finance Director. Best behaviour now! They climbed up the steps and were seen peering over the side of the centre span at the station below. 

Our work got an unreserved approval, which made us very happy, and boosted the morale no end.

We also got a real boost from this bus on the drive:

Local company Marchants have 'stickered' one of their buses with a GWSR theme. What a wonderful idea. This remarkable sight will certainly boost both the railway, and the bus company.

Several GWSR dignitaries were on board, and the bus toured a number of of our GWSR sites for photo opportunities. You can even rent this bus.

At the back is a shot of 35006. You need slightly more imagination here, as the rear window needs to be left clear, and our address is where the buffer beam should be.

At the end of the day the last pair of 'bat wings' was on. The last 12ins of the footsteps roof will be lopped off, and then you'll see the truss running across on one level from L to R.

Truss, fascia board and ridge purlin are waiting at Toddington for final assembly, pencilled in for January 2022.

Some more views of the posts and their brackets. The angle iron post in the foreground will be removed in due course, revealing a ball topped newel post behind.

Wednesday on the Usk project.

Another fine day with warm, not too sunny weather for us - just right! We had three volunteers laying blocks today, with another making the mixes. Yours truly went round with the tape measure and picked out appropriate blocks to be laid next. It's quite a challenge to keep to a level line on a course, when block sizes vary all the time. Like: 'Give me a 6 inch block, 10 inches long, and a bit thicker at one and than at the other'

Er.....

This was our opening position today. The place was flooded out, it must have rained heavily overnight. We left a little gap under the doorstep for the water to be brushed out. In the middle is a pile of 'sundries' without any dressed faces, and these serve to complete the back filling, which is much more variable than the front.

Maxie the mixer irritated us a bit too much today, with her constant muttering going on all the time. This ought to shut her up!

Dave then made a start on the platform side. That's a long face, so we wanted to use some 6 inch blocks up, as we have those more than any others. We started and finished with 8 or 9 inch quoins, so some ingenuity was required to integrate the course with these.

Here we are using a 'sneck' to allow a course to come down to another level. The upper course is a 5 inch one, the next stone will be a six inch one.

Stepping back a bit, we can see the sneck on the left, while Dave is working up to it from the right. Dave does the actual laying, while yours truly hunts around with a tape measure, and lays out what should fit.

Paul continued with making the fireplace in the corner. The grate is now in, and Paul spent the day laying engineering blues around it.

Jules was on backing up today, and was very productive. He backed up the south and platform sides today, as well as a corner by the door.

Here is Dave coming to the end of the course he was laying today along the platform side.

The first few blocks gave us a lot of trouble, we were just not happy with the fit. We decided to have a cup of coffee over it, and that worked. When we got back on the job we worked it out straight away, and the course is nice and level now, as you can see.

John spent all day cleaning up the big arched window. He's done one side, and half of the other. Once the old paint is off, we can put it into primer. We have started thinking about how this window will actually go in, given that it is larger than the original one (which collapsed at Usk, and is unusable). As it is larger, the cill we have will be too short for example, and it will also be taller, so will we put an arch over the top, as it once had?

Here's another sign of progress, we have actually emptied one of the cages of random stones. Jules put most of these into the inner, backing up wall.

And here's another one of Jules' good deeds, he's backed up the corner by the door and made it nice and level, ready for the next quoin. It's on top there, ready to go in next week.

We only lay one course at a time, as putting blocks on top of something just laid wriggles them about too much.

When Jules had finished with the corner by the door, he backed up the outer course that Dave laid during the day.

We then made an appeal to his strong arms - we needed help with lifting in the next major quoin on the corner.

This quoin was 28 inches long and so big that we thought, we'd better get this one in soon, otherwise we'll be struggling to get it up on a higher course.

It took four of us to lift it. We got it to the corner on a sack truck we are using, then put it on a little platform we built on the corner, so that we wouldn't have to lift from right down on the ground.

Looking good, or what?

Here's the last picture of the day, an overview of what the site looks like now as we broke up.

We had to have a little sit down at the end, for some reason the work seemed a lot more taxing today, than last week. But we did get a lot done, and this was recognised by one of the Wednesday PWay volunteers, who gave us a nice donation. This was very welcome, as in these cash strapped times we are having to fund the cost of this build between ourselves, as we go along.

Derek's 1960s steam

Now we're moving into 1966, and steam is getting scarcer. But even so, this next picture is a lovely one:

On 5th March 1966 at Honington Station is a 2 car DMU on a Grantham to Boston train. [A13.02]

 At the time Derek took the picture, Honington station was already closed, so this DMU is not accelerating away, but barrelling through.

Regular passenger services ceased at Honington in 1962, and after handling a little bit of freight traffic, the station closed completely in 1965.

The line still remains open though.

On 4th June 1966 West Country 34023 is approaching Oxford Station with a Poole to York train. [A13.23] 

 

A quick bike ride along the Thames towpath, over Sheepwash Channel, and through the Oxford MPD to Walton Well Road and another shot of the same train having left Oxford with 34023 still in charge. With Oxford MPD having closed to steam five months earlier, it's on to Banbury next stop. [A13.24] 

West Country Pacific 34023 was BLACKMORE VALE, which hauled the Padstow portion of the last Atlantic Coast Express in September 1964. It was unrebuilt, and was one of only two Bulleid pacifics that went directly from BR into preservation (the other was 35051 WINSTON CHURCHILL). At the end of steam only two unrebuilt Bulleid pacifices remained still in service, and Blackmore Vale was the better of the two, so was selected by the Bulleid Preservation Society. The loco is currently under overhaul at Sheffield Park.

Still on 4th June 1966, Black 5 44942 is passing Wolvercote on a York to Bournemouth train. [A13.25] 

These inter regional trains could produce a colourful consist, here of green SR and maroon MR carriages.

This Horwich built Black 5 remained a southern area engine for most of its life, and was shedded at Banbury when it passed Derek with this Bournemouth train. In September she moved to Shrewsbury and 6 months later to Lostock Hall, from where she was withdrawn in 1968, one of the last survivors. 44942 was nonetheless scrapped in January 1969.

Now here is a bit of a puzzle. Three photographs taken on 21st June 1966 of iron ore trains. 

The first two are of No.9 and then with 38 wagons is No. 57. My notes say S&L Minerals Ltd. But no mention of a location. Fiftyfive years on and my only thought is that it was somewhere near Wellingborough or Irthlingborough. Over to the readers at this point I think. [A13.26, A13.27, A13.28]
 

Remember that you can order full sized scans (about 5Mb) of any of these slides from breva2011 (at) hotmail.co.uk.