A window into time

Saturday in the yard

A nice gang on Saturday, which was large enough to be split into two work sites. But first, a quick trip to the bobby at Toddington, to return a photograph album that he lent us for scanning. It was full of pictures of the GWSR in the 1980s.

The scanned pictures are on line; you can see them here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73536293@N02/albums/72157715927803186

It was 08.45, and the first loco of the day was ready to attach to its train.

GWR tank loco 4270 was waiting by Toddington box for the road. The driver looked out to see when his signal became clear - there was lots of banging and clanking in the background, as the bobby fought with the various levers to get the road set.

And then on to Winchcombe to meet up with the gang.

Our doughnut supply has been very hit & miss these days. There is no regular supplier, so we are dependent on someone feeling generous, or happening to be passing by a convenient supermarket. Some days the conditions just don't gel, and we get nothing. That's a bad start to the day. 

But on Saturday the Gods smiled upon us, we had two helpings at once. Embarras de richesse! There was a large selection of raspberry, custard and ring doughnuts. We thought we had too many, until Dave spotted them and pounced. Suddenly there didn't seem to be so many after all.

We had a number of jobs on our list today, so to deal with them we split into two teams.

Team 1 loaded up a trolley and set off up the line and into Greet tunnel to replace two cracked fishplates.

Those must have been quite difficult to spot in the dark, but Dave, possibly hyper-stimulated by an excess of doughnut sugar, has the eye for them. None escape his critical inspection.

 

Here is team 1 setting off for the ground signal at the throat of the yard. A Peak and a class 37 have been seen on the same manoeuvre here...they waited for a line block, the pushed the trolley through the station and up to the tunnel.

 

Team two stayed behind to dig the trench for the new standpipe which will serve the mess coach when it is in its stabling position.

It was quite a tough dig. This is made up ground dating back to the 1980s when we first reached Winchcombe, and the back end of the PWay sidings were built up with rubble and clay.

Luckily we had a decent set of narrow shovels, but a number of large boulders were stuck in our way, so that it took until lunch time before the trench had broken through to the far side, where the mains were located.

 

 

For our lunch we decided to sit on the platform. On the way there we noticed that authentic GWR finials had been added to the Winchcombe running in board posts.

This is what the posts used to be topped with, little caps like cut off bottle ends. They have been like that since the 1980s

With the experience won at Broadway, we offered the Friends of Winchcombe some finial castings, part of an order for P2 at Broadway on which they piggy-backed.

An original finial was found in the rubble at Broadway in the early days, so we have been using that to make new ones.

 

And this is what the posts look like today, properly topped off in GWR style.

Well done those Friends of Winchcombe.

Two styles of notice board at Winchcombe. Which one do you prefer?

Yours Truly, Jim and Steve then had a pleasant half hour on the platform, and watched the trains go by. We also recovered some strength, after digging out those rocks embedded in our trench.

 

After lunch it was back to trench warfare. We put a layer of sand in the bottom for the pipe to rest on, laid the pipe, then put another layer of sand on top.

The big hole in the foreground is the excavation made by a contractor to repair a leak. The location was just perfect for a T joint to our new standpipe.

The passage of one of those new A400s is always interesting. From the sound it's hard to believe that is not a jet, but a turboprop. Later, on Wednesday, it flew over the yard at absolutely treetop level. Very thrilling indeed. Too quick to get the camera out. (or a rocket launcher, no doubt that is the point of the exercise)

Outside the C&W barn several volunteers were working on giving our SR 'Queen Mary' brake an overhaul. It will be stripped and painted, and some of the woodwork replaced. It was last overhauled at Cardiff in 1998, according to a plate on the sole bar.

It will be finished in SR chocolate brown, with a big ' S R ' on the side, and red ends. 

A story from Jim about getting GWR employees to acknowledge the vehicles from other companies:

Fred, Say 'Southern Railway':

S.......

Go on, say 'Southern Railway':

S......

A big push now, try and say 'Southern Railway':

S___Great Western!!!

Back to matters Permanent Way.

Once the tunnel gang had returned from their successful mission, we took another look at the turnout, in the C&W yard, that was very reluctant to lock in the diverging road position.

Although we have now replaced the broken bolt inside the spring, the effect was pretty much unchanged, we noted with some disappointment.

 

 

 

Nick worked on the turnbuckle to lengthen and shorten the operating rod, but to no avail.

Periodically we would stop to let a train go by, here with the big Pacific in silhouette.

Eventually we concluded that this particular turnout was probably badly assembled way back in the 1980s, when only bottom drawer material went into these sidings here, the best second hand stuff being reserved for the running lines. We think that 3 of the sliding chairs under one of the blades are either incorrect, or badly positioned, so that only the very end of the blade moves, making it stiff and reluctant to close properly. The turnout remains usable, but should be clamped for each direction.

At the end of the day we all gathered around Steve, to see the newly installed standpipe work. Just behind him is the mess coach, so now we just need a short flexible hose to plumb it in.

With the standpipe definitely working, we could fill in the trench. That took about 5 minutes, as against the whole morning to dig it!

A final item for Saturday is a short recording made of the class 24 Sulzer engine diesel lifting its 7 coach train up to Greet tunnel:

https://youtu.be/2N7n4jP8xjk

Monday - on the PWay, again.

We had a rail to replace, so a non-running day was needed for that - Monday. The Broadway footbridge will have to cope. A shout went out for a special volunteer day to deal with the rail, and 7 volunteers came. That was enough to do the job, phew!

 

The replacement rail can be seen lying on its side in the four-foot. Paul is just taking off the fishplates of the old rail. This was itself a replacement for a defect dealt with 2 years ago, but with a rail that was known to be shorter than is desirable. On Monday then we planned to finish the job.

At the other end you can see the short rail that is non-standard, between the fishplate in the foreground and Andy, taking off another set of plates.

The old short rail was then removed in the old fashioned way, with men on nips. If you have enough men, you can carry a one ton 60ft length like this.

The old short rail is now on the left, and its partner, the longer short rail, has been barred over the reddish replacement in the middle.

The replacement rail then had to be cut to length. We have two disk cutters. This is the older one, and it's rather smokey. It was also slow, and it gradually ground its way to a stop. Luckily we had bought our other disk cutter as well, so we finished the job with that.

The new length needed to be cut at both ends to ensure that they were straight, so here is Andy holding the tape to mark the spot with an 'X'.

Yours truly thought the day's job was just this replacement, but our man in charge said as we were going so well, we could replace some more rails, found below standard as part of the ultrasonic testing a few weeks back.

The next one to be replaced was this one, where the end had two 'squats', or potholes for the less technical, on one end. That increases the risk of a break, so a replacement was advisable. No sooner said than done, so we cut the longer of the rails that we took out in two - still plenty long enough for service - and used the two shorter bits to replace two defects nearer Three Arch bridge.

 

One of the offcuts has been positioned here next to another rail with undesirable squats on it. We're just measuring up here.

Once the three rails had been put into their places, we followed up with a second chance to use the new Robel tampers.

Zimmer frames for older PWayers - that's all of us, isn't it?

The Robel machines really are magnificent. Yours Truly was invited to learn on one, and it wasn't at all complicated. They dive into the ground and, when used in pairs and rocked to and fro, propel ballast under the sleepers. No digging out, no exhausting hand beating, no backfilling again. And they do a better job, we heard. We easily did the 48 tamping spots around the fishplates of the rail replacements. The job became quite a joy really.

After we had clipped up and bolted up the last of the three rails, and were about to leave, it was felt that the last rail would be better suited the other way round. There was a small lip protruding, which would cause the carriage wheel flanges to wear. So we unclipped and unbolted the rail again, and turned it round using the nips. Luckily it was only 8 sleeper spaces long, about a third of the normal length. Not too heavy then.

We ended the day with a real sense of achievement, and treated ourselves to a group photograph. Big works are also planned for the closed season, when no trains will run. Broadway will place the final part of the station canopy, contractors will effect a definite repair to the Winchcombe cutting slip (caused by and paid for by third parties), and the PWay gang will be replacing two turnouts and a whole section of worn out rail. Should be fun, why not come and join us? We could do with some more recruits.

Tuesday on the footbridge

A foul day, with heavy drizzle from start to finish. We spent a long time in the little mess room debating the next steps, hoping the rain would let off. Alas.

Nothing for it than to get on with it then.

This is where John and Neal finished off on Monday (Yours Truly supporting the PWay that day, as above).

The framework on the Cotswold side is complete, and a start has been made on cutting the boarding to size. The fitting, as before, is temporary and the boards will be removed later for painting (numerous times....)

Train engine on Tuesday was 7903 Foremarke Hall, and here it is reversing along the loop and past our signal box. The weather was so damp that there were large clouds of steam, just like in winter.

On the return from the southern turnout, the loco is framed by the starter and bracket signals.

 

 

 

 

Back to work. These downpipes need painting in primer. Not sure where they are going, possibly off the end of the last part of the roof, down one of the two posts we erected?

Neal was in a contemplative mood. What to do when you've cut a board the wrong way round?

Consolation: One board wrong in 220 cut is pretty good going.

Maybe we can use it elsewhere?

Another train comes in. They are still reasonably well filled, but these tables are empty as the passengers have got out and have headed for Broadway village. There were even two taxis waiting outside.

With John working on the treads (preparation for the risers) Neal stopped with the boards so as not to get in his way, and started with the framing on the Malvern side instead.

 

 

On Monday Neal and John dug out the area underneath the steps, but is it low enough?

We got the laser level out and decided that a few more inches could come off here and there.

 

Here's a view from the Malvern side fence, showing Neal working on the frames at the bottom end, and John on the treads near the top.

In the afternoon the platform is filled with returnees who have been to Broadway, and now want to go back to Cheltenham. As it's wet, they are mostly under the canopy, as P&O draws in.

 

The last picture for Tuesday shows the area under the steps after a last scraping and trimming.

We're about 5 ins below platform level now, enough for a type 1 base, some slabs and a slight fall towards the rear.

A wall still has o be built along the back.

Wednesday on the Usk hut.

A splendid day, not too hot, not too cold, just right. And Jules was back! We are back to full strength at last. A complicated house move has kept him away for several weeks, but all is well now.

 

The first job - Jules was on it straight away - was to sweep out the  inside, as it was full of water. 

We left a little hole under the doorstep, so Jules swished it all out through there.

In the middle is a small supply of rough stones for backing up. 

Next we decided to cut off the 'ears' from the Henwick replacement window, which we think were to fit a brick built building. These 'ears' don't work with rough cut blocks.

We will secure the frame with strips secured from in between layers of blocks, as with the door.

Today's steamy picture, P&O arriving at Winchcombe with the down train to collect passengers from CRC. We noted quite a few coach trips today, as well as school parties for the wartime experience (punctuated by sirens, and squeals from excited children).

We had another bad start with Maxie. She wouldn't get out of bed, no matter how hard we pulled at her. Then, suddenly, the pull cord snapped. Dang !

This resulted in a hunt round for a small socket set (C&W: Nil, S&T: Nil, but success with a PWay gang member, who had one in his boot).

Dave managed to re-tie and re-spool the pull cord, although about 9 inches remained hanging outside rather listlessly. These pull mechanisms are the very devil to put back together again.

Finally Maxie roared back into life, to the sound of cheers from the four Usketeers. Yay Maxie!

A drumful of mix was poured into the barrow, and we were off, now with extra help from Jules, who was on the all important backing up.

Jules made a start on the corner by the big window. We need to build this up, so that we can lay courses against the side of the window and secure it against the rising blocks.

Foremarke Hall then steamed by, and we can see the state of play on the building about mid morning. Blocks have been laid out, but not yet set in mortar due to the long wait to get the pull cord fixed.

Paul and Dave started on the corner by the door, ready to run along the Malvern side, along which we had laid a complete row of loose blocks, including around the site of the window.

Paul got the one of the windows he had made out of the shed, and erected it on the cill put in two weeks ago. Today the first row of blocks will go round it.

Then it was already time for the mid-morning break.

Returnees try to buy favour when they come back, by making offerings, here with a box of early seasonal mince pies.

The offering was magnanimously accepted by the council of elders. (That's the rest of us).

 

 

 

After tea and mince pies, it was back to work. First, we had a visit from building control. It turns out that Paul and officer had already met professionally over many years, so confidence was quickly established, and our little building passed easily. Mainly because it is not for habitation, but we were also given one or two excellent pieces of advice which will come in very useful. It left us with a rather painful bill though of £443, which sadly made a large dent in the very limited funds that we have.

Looking at Paul and Dave from the inside.

Paul and Dave carried on with the row along the Malvern side, and on the picture you can see then working towards the window that was installed earlier in the morning.

While bringing more stone up to the site, we noticed that a couple had marks on them:

Mason's marks? Runes? Roman numerals? The stones seemed too rough to us to be worthy of a stonemason's mark, such as you might see on the stone blocks in a canal lock. The two in the picture were not dressed at all.

Moving on past the window, Paul and Dave then worked further along the Malvern side in the area of the fireplace. It is here that we will place the time capsule. The capsule sponsored by a blog reader has now finally arrived (all the way from China, even though bought from Amazon) and we are nearly ready to place it, with just a few more personal details to put on the explanatory note we're going to leave inside. Maybe for next week then. It's quite chunky, about the size of a vacuum flask.

Once the Malvern side blocks were in place, our backer upper Jules followed along from the inside.

Jules is very good at conjuring up a flat (-ish) wall out of stone fragments that have not been dressed, or only very roughly.

And here is a nice snapshot of Dave and Paul beyond the window now, just completing the row of 7 inch blocks along the Malvern side.

John is with us every day, and busies himself around the site.

He cleaned, stripped and painted the big window, and currently he is cleaning the dressed blocks that we have bought up on the pallet. We managed to empty another pallet today.

We can't lay any blocks that still have old mortar on them, so the cleaning is important.

We had pencilled in a quoin for the end, but while clearing the pallet mentioned above we found a very large block, and it really needed to go in soon, as it was very heavy. It was 12 inches high, and quite bulbous on the inside.

All five of us struggled to lift it up on the corner, so no photographs of that little piece of action, sorry. But there it is, now the highest part of the building. We tested the height - it comes up to the chin of your blogger!

Our last shot of the day (well, the penultimate) gives an overview of today's progress. Backing up L and R of the big window, along the nearside of the building and behind the 7 inch row laid today, and along the Malvern side, that 7 inch row, the window put in, the heavy corner quoin put on, Maxie repaired and building control welcomed. It was a busy but very satisfying day's progress.

From the platform the Usk building now looks like this. It's most definitely visible now.

A final word from today's PWay gang:

They loaded up the Transit with a pile of equipment, including the two new Robels, pan jacks and slueing jacks, concrete blocks for the warning boards and bars, all heavy kit.

A 3/16th plate was fitted at Dixton where Monday's gang had changed some rails, but only had an 1/8th plate with them. All the plates fitted on Monday were also re tightened - they shake loose after tightening with the passage of just a few trains, and need a second tightening after that.

They then went on to Laverton, several miles back north, and dealt with a twist by the bridge which seems to keep recurring.

Here the Robels came into their own, what lovely tools they are.

You work in pairs. First you work them down until the bit disappears into the ballast.

Then you swing them back and forth, together, a movement which causes the ballast to be compacted under the sleeper. 

Four or five movements like this, and the job's a good one. So much faster, and easier than before, and it does a better job too.

Finally, a couple of snaps showing the rectification of the twist by Laverton bridge.

The L hand picture shows a slueing jack being used to move the track back into position, the R hand picture shows the level being checked after packing with the Robels.