Thursday with the Usketeers.
Another Thursday, not a Wednesday. Apologies to those who clicked in vain last night (and yes, we've had comments!) but sometimes personal circumstances dictate a different day. Back to normal Wednesday posting next time (we think...).
Hello from Dave, and his commanding position. Be respectful of him, as he is holding a powerful hosepipe!
The job today was to find out what exactly was causing two leaks we've been having on our gutters. They are of course second hand, and that comes with the downside that they don't necessarily fit together very well.
In this case here it was the brand new stop end that was leaking. An easy fix would be a squirt of jollop, or so we thought, but it kept on leaking.
On the other, platform side, the cause of the leak was clear. We had two female joints, and the union inside was of a slightly different profile.
The result was wetness underneath, and some splashback against the stone as well.
Paul spent an hour or so on this one, basically squirting it liberally with more jollop. We'll know next time if that worked.
On the stop end side we eventually found the surprising cause - it wasn't the stop end with a different profile at all, but a crack of about 5 inches running along the gutter from the bolt hole in the middle.
We had to chew the fat over this one. We didn't have a spare gutter for this, as they are an unusual profile and the source is exhausted. A new one wouldn't fit the rest of the gutter line.
Eventually we decided to take it down and try our luck with our friends at the C&W shed on the other side of the tracks.
Would they be willing to help the Usketeers?
They would, phew! Brian very kindly agreed to cut off the area with the crack in it. As the crack looked new and came from the fixing bolt hole, we concluded that the crack had started either when we drilled the bolt hole, or when/if we had tightened it up too much.
You can see the crack in this picture.
To avert the risk of a second crack we decided not to use a bolt to fix the stop end, but to use plenty of mastic to hold it in place.
On and off at the same time we were also clearing the corner site by the yellow shed. We had cleared it once before; but it had been filled again, this time with a lot of old pallets and some second hand timbers. These all went on the Telehandler and got transported down to the PWay yard, where, we ascertained, they were very welcome.
At the end of the day both gutter leaks had been fixed (we hope).
We could hear the screaming children from inside the hut.
Inside the building John was completing the staining and waxing of the new counter.
It really feels wonderful, and when you rub your hand along it, it's very silky.
We've acquired another office item for the coal merchant, a Bakelite dial up telephone, thanks to Dave, who used to work for BT. We're still on the lookout for other office items, like blotters, ink wells, an in tray, clips for holding paperwork, and some chunky old fashioned coat hooks for the wall. (We're currently using a rusty nail)
There was a moment when the counter top was free of the usual debris that we leave on it, so we took the opportunity for a quick photograph to show you how beautiful it is.
Outside behind the grassed area the drainage gang had arrived with the definitive top for the catch pit that they raised last week.
This took all three of them to lift into place, and it's a fine quality product, purchased by the railway at considerable expense for this deep pit below.
We now need some topsoil and a scattering of grass seed to finish this area off. The ground level is still a tad low.
The roar was quite spine chilling!
That was the end of the day for us. With a bit of time still to spare we went to Toddington for a couple of odd jobs.
One was to record the entrance and station building as it looks today. Look out for an article 'From the Archives' in the next Cornishman, where we compare the scene with that from 1959. Did you know that the original entrance to the station site (with its fat square cast iron posts and wooden gates) was actually half way down the building? And what is wrong with the chimneys in this picture?
Make sure you subscribe to The Cornishman...
Then it was a quick visit to the canopy gang site under the 'greenhouse'
More steel has been brought in from the Macaw, before that vehicle is sent back up the north carriage siding where it will be out of reach.
This is a pile of angle. In the distance are the fascia boards, ready for removal of the millscale.
Just outside the 'greenhouse' is the pile of RSJs that will become the uprights for the P2 building, hidden inside the cavity wall.
Funding has now been released for the gusset plates for these, as well as for other elements of the canopy structure.
And here are the purlins that we have made, quite a bunch of them. If we get the opportunity it would be an idea to protect the primer with an undercoat, given that wet weather is now before us.
You heritage-minded folk might have a view on this topic. On a 'Railwayana' Facebook group a couple of days ago the subject of the Winchcombe Railway Museum came up, and I commented
ReplyDelete"The last time I visited the Winchcombe Railway Museum, which must be at least five years ago, everything was looking sad and neglected. Not such a problem with outdoor items such as cast-iron signs, but wooden and paper treasures were in damp and unheated environments and visibly suffering. My feeling was that it would be a win-win if the collection could be displayed somewhere on the adjacent Glos-Warcs Railway."
The reply was
"Tim offered it to them but they said tourists wouldn't be that interested !"
My response was that he perhaps asked the wrong people.
Any views?
Hasn’t the Winchcombe Railway Museum long since closed?
ReplyDeleteWinchcombe Railway Museum finally closed around 2015 if I recall correctly, after a few years of a rather haphazard on-off existence which included other periods of closure. The artifacts from the museum are now at the Vale of Berkeley Railway's HQ at Sharpness Docks.
DeleteThe museum was basically one enthusiast's personal collection of railwayana, which filled an entire house and garden. It was all owned by a chap called Tim Petchey, who was a Winchcombe Town Councillor for a few years. I remember his name because in the 1970s I attended Prestbury St Mary's Junior School with his niece, Sharon Petchey. This connection didn't get me free entry to the museum, though!
I think it's fair to say that running the museum became a bit too much of a job in the last years of its existence. I'm actually surprised that it stayed open, even in a rather on-off way, for as long as it did. If he's still with us, Tim Petchey must be quite elderly now....
Again, if my memory serves, it was first suggested at an early stage that Winchcombe Railway Museum could be relocated to Winchcombe station or perhaps Toddington. This may have been as early as the 1980s, or perhaps the 1990s.
It sounds like a logical idea. But at the time the GWSR was at a very embryonic stage of development. The reason I recall for the museum not coming to the GWSR was that there was nowhere to house the collection.
Winchcombe station was still a building site, and Toddington wasn't anywhere near being fully developed. The best option would have been to shove everything into a couple of carriages in a siding somewhere - really just glorified storage. And at the time there weren't any spare carriages, or any spare sidings!
Even now I don't know where you could put an entire museum. It would really need its own building, which would have to be at least as large as the Flag & Whistle.
Possibly, when the Flag & Whistle site is redeveloped, which I think is the long-term plan, there might be scope for putting a bigger building on the site, which would have space for a museum - something which the GWSR has never had of its own, of course. But that was, and still is, the problem: lack of space.
It's not really fair to characterise the situation as a disagreement between the 'tourist' side of the GWSR and the 'heritage' side. The necessary logistics just weren't in place to make taking over the museum possible, and frankly they still aren't there.
My understanding is that the Winchcombe Railway Museum artefacts never moved to the Vale of Berkeley Railway, although this was planned it fell through, and are in fact still at the original site in Winchcombe. They are still owned by Tim Petchey, supported by a number of volunteers although the Museum is no longer normally open to the public. I know someone who was and maybe still is involved, I'll ask him for an update on the current situation.
DeleteThe above is largely correct.
DeleteCertain requirements were attached, that the GWSR is unable to fulfil.
Jo
From a dedicated member of “The Heritage minded folk”.
ReplyDeleteAndy, I sympathise with you.
If only there was a recognised Heritage Director and a team with executive powers to sign off on the appropriate developments.
We need to protect stations like Broadway – potentially the jewel in the GWSR crown, from the commercial degradation of sheds, slapped up electrical paraphernalia, inappropriate barriers and notices etc.
We need to recognise the excellence of the main building, canopy, footbridge and other parts sympathetic to it’s Victorian /Edwardian past.
Mike Rose.
I totally agree regarding Broadway.
DeleteIt must be so frustrating to do the research, source the correct materials, take time to construct artefacts in the traditional style only to have others spoil the whole effect by adding modern appendages. Unless individuals are paying for these themselves then I assume that both traditional and modern are being funded by the same source, GWSR. Graham
DeleteI also agree that there should be a Heritage Director who can approve developments, additions, & alterations to the Railway's Buildings. This is most important for the Stations, whose volunteers spend time to research materials and styles, as Graham has noted, then find anomalous additions to their work.
DeleteOne could imagine that a 'Heritage Railway' supported by a charity dedicated to that end would have an officer overseeing any heritage developments, and not allow development in a random way.
DeleteAny update on the Broadway platform 2 building ? Earlier in the year it was going ahead but with winter on the way I assume it will be started next year ?
ReplyDeleteWe are currently waiting for approval for the amendment to the planning consent. At the same time we are constructing the steelwork for the building's canopy.
ReplyDeleteJo
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI do recall that the museum’s total collection had to be purchased and there were many duplicate items of signs and signals which we had no buildings to house them .
ReplyDeleteThese should havebeen offered to other HR’s to enhance their stations and if that could happen now , the GWSR could create an outdoor display area at say Toddington and Winchcombe to enable our visitors to enjoy viewing them ,but not to house them in a modern building as proposed by the Non Exec director 2 years ago which we cannot afford nor want .
John M aka Daily M