Two Usks for the price of one

Last Wednesday on the Usk project

Dave was kind enough to send some pictures of last Wednesday's activities (while yours truly was travelling on the cushions), so here we go:

 

To stop us wading around in deep mud we laid some heavy duty rubber mats around the building when we started. They work fine - up to a point. We're not sure what they were for, but they are fitted with hooks along one side, so must have hung from a wagon or something once.

Those hooks proved to be a problem over time, because we kept tripping over them or snagging the hosepipe, or a heavily laden wheelbarrow.

John took a great initiative by trimming those mats with a saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the ground under the mats was also uneven, so John decided to roll some of them back and hack away at the mounds that made it difficult to work on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the finished result.

All is nice and neat, and no more frustrating hooks tugging at the hosepipe just as you are trying to pull it round the corner.

The team made 3 mixes last Wednesday, and it looks as if they have finally got the measure of Maxie, because the dust cover is on, and that means she was puttering away. 

Last week we changed two things at once, and that made the diagnoses of her petering out extra difficult - changing the carburettor, and also the stand. The new carburettor fixed the original problem, but the new stand introduced a new problem, of leaning too far back. So the interruptions in her running continued.

A couple of battens tied to the legs sorted that one out, so that she is now a bit more upright.

The laying activity last Wednesday was mostly backing up, as all the blocks we laid before that along the front left a lot of air behind. There was also a big hole behind the fireplace. This is where we want to put the time capsule. It's ordered, but the delivery is much delayed. Tracking the item revealed that it wasn't coming from some 'fulfillment centre' in the W Midlands, but direct from Shenyang! So it could be a while yet.

An incredible report from the gang tells of a bag being thrown from a passing train. Investigation discovered it to be full of doughnuts!

Feels a little bit like Tom Jones having underwear thrown at him on stage... we ate them though!

It is nice to dialogue with your supporters. It gives pleasure to both sides.

Of course, at the end of this blog you'll get this Wednesday's report, so that's two in one!

Saturday out along the line.

A good gang of 8 on Saturday, including Ade, a very welcome returnee after the Covid crisis. Welcome back, Ade ! We missed you.

The survey done last week has been completed, and today was a day driving up and down the line looking at various things that could be improved.

You know what, Guv - it needs a new unit.

We fired up the old White Landie, and while pausing by our cars it was noticed that a puddle was forming underneath. Not a good sign.

The preliminary diagnosis is a fuel leak in the region of the fuel pump - either a gasket, or the pump housing itself. Just then and there we couldn't go any deeper than that, as our diagnostics supervisor was doing his track walk to Gotherington today.

As we needed two vehicles today we took the blue Transit , and loaded up the trolleys that were still at Toddington.

Other gang members were new to this vehicle, and praised its ease of operation and large loading surface. On the other hand, the ride was felt to be rather jarring (we can advise that it improves when loaded with a goodly cargo of rescued bricks!)

New at Toddington was the disappearance of 'TINA', our former loco dept. mess coach. We now have superlative messing facilities in the new goods shed extension, and this former Mk.1 SK has found a new owner, who plans to turn it into a cafe on the south coast.

This GWR riding van that has been parked in its place does look rather good as a substitute.

Formulating a 'Plan de campagne' between Bert Ferrule and Jim. The Blue Landie bonnet is just the right height.

It was also a pleasure at Toddington to find a pair of reconditioned turnout levers on a pallet. One of these is due to be used in the C&W yard at Winchcombe, the other is possibly a spare. It's good to get some decent kit for once.

The unwrapping - new point levers, mmmmmmmh!

The whole gang then repaired to Broadway to examine a track fault reported there, and, more importantly, to have our picnic on one of the trestle tables in the sun.

Jim kindly treated us to a round of teas. As were were now 8, that was quite expensive and needed a large tray.

Another useful part of the Blue Landie is the front bumper, which makes an excellent seat.

Then on to Bishop's Cleeve to install a temporary speed limit (reducing the speed from our maximum of 25mph to 20 mph, which seems a small change, but hey). As we discussed our next move from on top of the road bridge, there was a shout from underneath 'Oy, get back to work, you!' and we very sincerely hope that that was a wind up from a friend of the railway. Cheeky lot.

A final check on a reported fault in the Defford cutting completed the day for us, a good one we felt, as it was quite warm and we were in good company with the usual lots of banter.

Monday at Broadway.

Just two of us on Monday, but good progress still.

Being Bank Holiday Monday meant that the 'no trains on Mondays' rule didn't apply, so life on the canopy/footbridge job was a bit more interesting, as there were people about, and trains rolling in.

Here is the first one. Dinmore Manor slowed down for the turnout, then put on steam to pull into the platform.

The last puff of steam came just as it drew by the station building, and station staff were ushering people 'well back'.

This is what they have all been waiting for, a GWR steam engine, smokebox first too.

We've seen it all before of course, but still stop to take it all in. Will there be lots of people, will they help the railway recover from the Covid blow?

Neal spent the day fettling the framework for the P2 steps, and getting on very nicely, now that we are allowed back at work after lockdown. Yours truly spent most of the day checking that all the nuts and bolts were done up on the treads, finding two holes with no bolts in (one of which was blocked by a wayward screw) and dealing with that, then painting them all in primer so that they don't rust in the future.

Got any firewood? We've run out of coal!

It's always fun having the loco crews dialogue with us. Last week one actually stopped and offered us a ride! Another demanded an ice cream from us, just as we were enjoying our Magnums.

We like these 'dialogue' pictures, with a bit of human interaction.

What might they be saying?

 

 

 

We're not quite happy with the immediate terrain surrounding the steps, and might dig it back a little. One of the things that's been staring at us is this original Broadway slab, one of many that were collected during the demolition, then bulldozed over up the slope. It's broken, but still heavy. The best way to deal with it is to use it as fill, so Neal rolled it into the pit. It was covered, under the grass, by about 9 ins of ash, so the original ground level here, before demolition, must have been that much lower.

Neal moving the broken platform slab.

No Exit - wozzat?

 

Nearer the end of the day we noticed the activity level in the 'new' railway car park, and were pleased to see that it was quite busy. Because the Station Road entrance is narrow and the sight line out of it poor (the road is obscured by the bridge abutment) the traffic is requested to exit by passing right through it, coming out at the other end. A sign says 'Entrance only' and 'No Exit' but it still confuses many people. Here two cars are trying to leave by the entrance.

 

 

 

Re-entering the station via platform 1, we were disappointed to see the abuse of our reproduction cast iron GWR lamp posts. Sadly this happens regularly, we dare say daily. The legs of our wooden benches, even the entrance to the disabled toilet - seen today - have been peed on by dogs.

 

This fresh one on Monday was particularly graphic.

Dog owners - Please watch what your mutt is doing. If you love our Edwardian station, please don't do this to it!

 

 

On a brighter note, Neal is coming to the intermediate landing here.

 

That's how we left it at the end of the day, with the last train to Toddington just leaving in the background, headed by the mighty 47 105.

Tuesday at Broadway

Another busy day at Broadway, with the cafe well filled. Still the two of us, but we spent the day well.

Here we see Neal working on the intermediate platform, cutting timbers to very unusual angles.

In fact a spectator from P1 commented how this was very professional carpentry.

 

 

P&O was the first loco in, always a spectacle due to its size and interesting, slightly off beat 3 cylinder sound. The off beat sound is caused by the middle cylinder being positioned at a different angle to the other two.

Past Broadway signal box, on which work to activate it should take place this winter.

Here's P&O just setting off, always with a crowd of spectators around the loco.

One of our favourite views is this passing shot, with the bracket signal (which has only one doll now)

Meanwhile, back at the farm, while Neal was doing his carpentry, yours truly was extracting 4 of the edging slabs placed some years back. These are not actually required under the steps, which is an area that will be slabbed, with the platform, as it is on P1. We still need to work on this area to get it level, and the right width.

We've had a report of smoke...

The sound of a lorry manoeuvering on the forecourt got us to wander out to take a look-see. It was a fire engine, a real one!

It turns out they were doing a bit of driver training, and dropped in for two coffees. Every bit of custom is welcome here. We had a nice chat, noting that we had an acquaintance in common, the chap that lent us the E. FINCH, CHEPSTOW worksplate to make the 4 copies for the bridge and station canopy.

While digging under the P2 steps we came across a well developed seedling of the Scots pines nearby.

It's been an ambition of ours to grow some of these 'children' of our station pines, but so far we have always failed. Seeds did not germinate, and 1 inch high seedlings found in the gravel outside the building died as soon as we transplanted them into pots for further growth.

But this was a biggish seedling, say 6 inches high. We had read that the Scots pine likes poor soil, and the seedling was certainly growing in that (mainly ash). So we scooped up a bucket of Broadway platform ash, and transplanted the seedling at the end of the platform slope at Hayles Abbey halt.

Let's hope it does well there, it's a bit of a barren place.

Wednesday on the Usk project.

Getting colder, we had to start the day with our jackets on. We soon threw them off again when the sun popped out.

A week ago Dave and Paul did a lot of backing up, so today we could devote more time to laying external blocks.

Dave started with a short row by the door, linking the quoin on the door with the quoin on the corner.

In the background is Paul, trying to coax Maxie back into life. With her new carburettor and more level stand she has been muttering away sweetly, but has an annoying new habit of stopping at random intervals.

Out in the yard the PWay gang had asked the shunter to get a bogie flat out so that they could load some rail.

The rail was covered in squashed greenery, and the train very heavy, so there was lots of skidding about, but eventually the little freight train arrived, pulling a number of wagons, including the bogie flat of interest.

Back on the building, here is an outside view of the blocks that Dave laid first.

 

You can see how we are dealing with the varying sizes, building in little steps, but always coming out flat in the end.

 

Left of the door Dave did a similar infill between two quoins, but this time using two straight rows, and with staggered joints.

Here's a slightly set up picture of the height of the wall obscuring, partly, a passing train. We're getting quite high here is the point. 

On the right John is doing a marvellous job levelling the mats laid round the site, by bringing in extra fill. They were a pill to pull the heavy sack truck over, and their hooks on the corners a trip hazard as well as an annoying trap for when you pull the hosepipe around.

We nagged Paul a bit about cutting those 23 engineering blues to make up the new cill for the big window.

Paul finally suggested we put the window in on two of the bricks, then add the others underneath it to get a perfect fit.

With the big window in, Dave returned to the platform side of the door to back fill what he laid this morning. With a level surface we can then try out the next course.

Out in the yard the bogie wagon was in place, and the gang were sorting through a pile of Bullhead rails. We need one to replace a defective rail at Broadway, found by the ultrasonic testing gang.

Picture credit: Andy Smith

 

And the new sponsored Robels have arrived! There are two of them, and they were unwrapped today, we just had to have a look. We checked the oil and fired one up.

First impression: These are light, and can easily be handled by one person. Despite their intended job of tamping, they are actually very quiet and there is virtually no vibration. Amazing! We can't wait to try them out in the field.

Once again we would like to thank the two very generous sponsors who made this possible. The company is having to count every penny, and we would never have had them as a straight company purchase.

Thanks again from the whole gang!

Then here's a picture of Dave just completing the backing up of the bit to the left of the door.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but that wall is really thick (16 inches) and it feels very solid and massive.

 

Wonder how many tons we've already incorporated in it so far?

After dealing with the first fitting of the big window, Paul spent most of the day working on the fireplace. It's partly built out of blue imperials, and partly out of sandstone originals, like this backing piece to the grate. It still has original soot on it.

Paul also back filled the gap in the foreground. When that has gone off next week, we'll be able to add a course here.

 

 

 

We then had a bit of a discussion about the cill for the big window. As readers will recall, it's actually a different one, a gift from the SVR who also had a weighbridge hut project, but were unable to build it. The Usk original had rotted, and when it fell in on itself the whole side of the building that was resting on it came down. Our contact at the SVR added recently that theirs is from Henwick, not Minehead as we first said.

As the replacement is bigger than the original, the cill will be too short. Our first plan was to build a completely different cill, out of engineering blues, to match the blues in the chimney.

But today we went and had a look at the original cill in the long grass. It is in such good condition that we felt it a shame not to use it, so we've had a change of mind. So we are going to use it, and achieve the extra length required of 14 inches by adding blocks at each end.

That huge lump of stone is 65 inches long, and too heavy for one person to even lift one end alone.

When the PWay gang had their lunch we were able to borrow the Telehandler. We weren't sure how far it would stretch, and the first plan was to put it on trestles in the middle of the room.

In the picture you can see Dave manoeuvering back and forth to try and get the ideal angle, given the restricted space behind with all the crates around.

To our amazement and relief, the boom stretched out just far enough for the tip of the forks to reach the wall in question.

Then all we had to do was drag the heavy cill off, and onto some battens prior to pushing the bedding mortar underneath.

Here is the cill in place, on its battens. Now to disentangle Dave in the Telehandler, and give it back.

We then had a triumphal lunch to celebrate.

This week, no doughnuts, but an amazingly rich fruitcake baked by Mrs. Dave. We really liked that, can we have some more please? It even had some brandy in it. We felt like kings.

After lunch we pointed up our work, including the cill, now with its window for another trial fitting. The blocks left and right are still temporary, we will put the definite ones in next week, and then the window can go in for good. Today we dropped it down again and covered it with its tarpaulin.

We also had a go at a second layer to the right of the door. Remember the little infill first thing? It was on top of that, coming off a new quoin by the door frame. Dave also back filled the foreground here. A further quoin for the corner by his elbow has been sourced, and will be lifted in next time.

On diesel duty later in the day was our favourite loco type, the class 37. Here it is crossing with Dinmore Manor.

While Dave and Paul were tidying up for the day, we picked out a quoin for the other side of the door, and laid it in place dry. To the left of it the previous blocks are still wet, so we couldn't lay out any further.

Just before washing up and changing, we had a quick peek in the C&W paint shop, which is always interesting. Alex is turning out lots of A boards in period style, to get a uniform signage at Winchcombe instead of the randomly accumulated set of all different ones we had before.

In the foreground is the new leaflet rack for Broadway. The carpentry shop made up the parts for it, Broadway built it, yours truly stained and varnished it, and Alex (we hope) will letter it in gold.

We made a bid for an original in a local auction a few weeks back, and were easily outbid with a top price of £1000 plus costs. So we made our own, from a photograph.

 

A look over the fence - The Scarborough Belle

Mrs. Blogger indicated an interest in visiting Scarborough, and quite by coincidence we came across the news that Vintage Trains, an hour away, were doing a day trip by diesel, but with Pullman dining. That should earn a large supply of Brownie points, we thought.

At Tyseley at 8am in the morning we came across an old friend of the railway:

 

This is Cadbury No.1, the 0-4-0 shunter that pulled our first train of one Mk1, repainted on the platform side only, along our first 750 yards of track towards Didbrook.

There's a 5ft tree growing out of its footplate now...

Photograph by Steve Hill

This is Cadbury No.1 at Toddington, on one of those first days. The platform is only a gravel one, and the second platform is just a pile of bricks.

Photograph by Garry Owen

The picture of Cadbury No.1 crossing Didbrook No.1 bridge, with the Mk1 coach still in BR blue on the other side, shows the maroon paintwork with gold lettering off to its best advantage. The chimney is copper capped too.

The early days of the GWSR weren't all optimism: one PWayer was known to mutter that we'd never get past Didbrook 1. But we did. Got to Broadway too!

What now of our little pioneer engine? Will the tree grow much higher? On a plinth in Toddington wouldn't be much better, it would just exchange one outdoor storage location for another.

Our excursion train of 6 Mk2s, two Pullmans and a Mk1 First was waiting for us at the platform in the engineering works (Tyseley is no longer a museum, but has specialised on engineering and steam tours). We had pulled our finger out and lavished £179 on Mrs. Blogger for a luxury Pullman seat, with two cooked meals, to include breakfast, and dinner in the evening on the return leg. But you could spend as little as £49 in a Mk2, if you brought your own sandwiches and a vacuum flask, so there is something for everyone.

Crisp white napkins and white wine - let the feast begin!

The journey to Scarborough took 4hrs 20 minutes, and we were hauled by a BR green class 47 and a 'worry engine' class 20, which wasn't fired up during the day though, as not needed. The diesel haulage was an insurance in case steam haulage was prohibited due to a fire risk at the last minute, but most such trains by VT are steam hauled. We didn't really mind, as what mattered to us was the destination, and the pampering along the way there.

47 773 'The Queen Mother' in the bay at Scarborough.

What amazed us during the journey was the sight of clumps of photographers on the platforms of virtually every station we passed. Even a diesel hauled excursion seems to generate a lot of excitement.

Class 68 Trans Pennine service

Scarborough is a pretty coastal resort, with two beaches, elegant terraces, a port and a ruined castle. It must have been very important to holidaymakers during the industrial revolution, as it was clearly laid out to cater for large volumes of people to arrive and stay. Scarborough station had long platforms, and the building is grade 2 listed. There was even a second station a short distance away called Londesborough Road, where additional trains of holidaymakers could be dropped off. That second station may be closed now, but the town was nonetheless busy, with many trains coming and going, next to ours.

Our first impression walking into town was one of poverty in the city centre. There was a large Poundland store in the centre, and a woman halted in the middle of the pavement, on the phone and surrounded by no fewer than six Poundland shopping bags. Six bags!

Descending towards the cliffs the atmosphere changed. There were sweeping terraces, two cliff railways (there used to be five), elegant buildings, and an enormous grade 2 listed hotel with 365 rooms dating back to 1860. It was built in a 'V' shape to honour Queen Victoria.

Scarborough's Victorian Cliff Bridge

 

 

What struck us the most was this 4 arch viaduct across a valley, which did not carry a railway line as you might think, but was purely for pedestrians. It was built in 1827 and is a rare example of a multi arched cast iron bridge. It is also grade 2 listed. It's a fabulous structure.

View north from the Cliff bridge, with the Grand hotel and castle on the plateau.

The busy South Beach

After dropping down from the footbridge, visible in the distance here, it was into the commercial maelstrom on the main drag. Amusement arcades, fish and chips. Fish and chips, amusement arcades. Never seen so many fish and chip shops, the demand must be huge.

A haven of peace was the outer harbour, where a former ocean survey vessel was moored up. Up on deck were barrels and bar stools, and excellent Capuccinos were available. The harbour had a genuine fishing fleet, and yours truly treated himself to a fresh crab sandwich. (he resisted the temptation to say 'and make it snappy')

A half hour walk around the headland will take you to a completely different sort of Scarborough: the North Bay. That is still very wild, with a long windy beach and severe warnings of strong waves. A single block of flats hides a 1931 pleasure park with a lake and an 18 inch gauge railway round it. That is the North Bay railway. Well talk about that in a future blog post.

The departure station of the North Bay Railway at Peasholm.

In the meantime, here is the starting off point called Peaseholm Park. Flashing our VT tickets, we got 20% off the price of the ride, but it was modest anyway.

The Scarborough Belle ready to leave again.

After what seemed like a very long, weary slog of about 1 1/2 miles we arrived back at Scarborough station, ready for a soft comfy seat and a decent meal. We got those OK!

Here is our class 47 ready for the off. D1755 was built by the Brush Falcon Works at Loughborough in 1964 and is now a respectable 57 years old. It was named The Queen Mother in 1982, but does not currently carry those name plates. The two tone green was super, and it behaved impeccably throughout the day. The class 20 played no role at all, except as a reserve.

Take a seat, no, go on!

We slumped into our Pullman seats, but we could have sat here: the longest station bench in the world. It was built in 1883 and is 139 meters long, another sign witnessing the enormous floods of people that would come here from the industrial heartlands to spend their holidays by the sea.

We left perfectly on time, passing the beautiful Kirkham Priory ruins in the narrow valley that is shared between the railway and the river Derwent. Soon we reached York, after which it became dark as we munched our chicken salad and profiteroles. The table service was exemplary. We seemed to rocket along, and that was the moment to test the newly loaded speedometer app on the blogger mobile: 79.2 mph! A helpful comment at the bottom of the app advised that this was dangerous, and an advertisement asked us if we needed a solicitor. Creepy.

Customers of Vintage Trains may park in their very secure looking car park on the Tyseley site, so when we arrived back it was just a very short walk back to the car, and we were home within the hour.

There are other Seaside Belle trains (Skegness, Llandudno etc) so we may well go again.