Building a turnout.

Friday on the CRC turnout.

 A compact crew of three spent a day on assembling the bits for the replacement turnout at CRC south.

 

 

 

The previous Friday we had set out all but three of the largest timbers. Hence three more were required from the pile - this one didn't make it all the way though.

It was cold; those puddles that you can see are actually frozen, and there were worrying sounds of cracking as the Telehandler drove over them.

But it was just the ice. 

 

 

 

 

As Dave in the Telehandler dropped off the extra timbers, Paul was arranging the timbers in a line, following the edge of the road (the reason we had selected this exact spot).

They also had to be spaced at 18 inch intervals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the timbers in their correct positions, we were able to drop in the first of the steel components.

Here, Dave is bringing the centre of the turnout, the crossing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the crossing hovered over the timbers, last minute adjustments had to be made to their exact positions.

Frost remained on the timbers, even with the sun out. 

 

 

 

 

Here is the first piece of the puzzle in place - the crossing. Dave is about to offer up the next item, a check rail.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the working day - now quite short as the winter draws in - the two check rails were in as well, but work was in suspense at the other end, where the switches would be. This was because the length of the turnout build would exceed the space you see, and cross the road by the red barrier. With the Santa specials now in full swing we will await a better opportunity to do that.

Once the turnout is fully assembled we will take it to pieces again, and take it to CRC as a kit, ready for quick assembly again. 

 

 

 

 

Monday at Broadway.

We came to give the bench a second coat of varnish, but failed to do so. The reason was that a pipe under the sink had burst, and soaked the cabin. This was the mess room during the P1 build, but it is now largely disused. At some point all the 5 containers still at Broadway will need removing, as the construction of the station comes to an end (in a year or two !).

Dave and Ian remove the sink and draining board from the cabin.

As a result of the flooding, the Broadway gang decided to reduce the function of the mess cabin to that of a simple storage room. It is in poor condition, with a soft floor, and a leaking roof (currently addressed with corrugated iron sheets). Given the soaking floor, Ian had very kindly put the end of the bench where most of the water was on a strip of wood to protect it.

The two benches currently in the cabin are likely to remain in it for another year or so, given the delay in mounting the canopy on to the P2 build.  

We did make a call on the upholstery firm to agree the colour of the replacement seat covering (the old oil cloth has been punctured with a knife in several places, and many of the buttons have been ripped off). Collection of the bench is likely in a fortnight. It will be gone only for a week though. It will come back with beading around the seat covering, something that is currently missing. 

 

 

 

Bridge strike at Broadway.

Sad to report, but someone unknown has hit our road bridge at Broadway - again. 

 

The picture above shows that an object about 2ft wide has hit the collision protection beam, and then bounced along underneath, and finally hit the opposite end collision protection beam from the inside. The damage looks to be mostly to the paintwork, with the exception of the wasp stripes, which are almost torn off.

According to nearby residents the collision happened on Friday morning, and involved something like a flatbed lorry carrying a load. They did not stop to leave their details. We currently do not have CCTV to record such incidents, although there are cameras all over our replica station. 

Nearby, we found a decorative strip, and the end of a 3 inch ratchet strap. This was torn off - something we have never seen before. Those straps are tough, it must have been a heck of a bang.

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

Three of us in the cold today. The day started at minus 2.5 degrees, but with a bright sun, it was soon almost pleasant, until the rays of the sun melted the ground, and at Hayles the resulting mud became a nightmare to walk on. Large sticky lumps formed under our feet.

 

 

The godfather posts planted last week have gone off now, so today we planned to fit the wooden gate receiver post, and its mate that held the end of the fence.

 

Holes were drilled into the wooden post through the concrete godfather post, while Dave kept everything straight and level.

 

The inside edge had to be flush, to receive the closing gate, so we countersank the nuts on the end of the threaded bar.

 

 

The second post (on the left) was needed to reveive the three rails from the fence, which did not quite reach the receiver gate post. Some fumble back in 2017, and today we are still dealing with it. Luckily we had a spare post, left over from the fence we built along the Toddington drive. This helped to bridge the gap between the end of the rails and the gate receiver post.

 

To further protect the two posts we fitted a lead cap on top. With the posts now also off the ground, they should last for a very long time. If ever there is decay somewhere, it will be a simple job to unbolt them, and fit a new one.

 

Here is the new gate receiver post set up, almost finished. It could do with a coat of Creosote (or similar) but we don't currently have any.

The identical original gate post is steady as a rock, which is strange. One posted rotted after 10 years, the other did not.

 

The last job was to attach the new latch. A test swing of the gate showed that it closed easily, with a satisfying click.
 

Here is the job, finished. We felt very good about that. The main thing that is driving us is the sense of achievement, and we certainly had that today.

 

On the left you can see Dave hopping about on the grass. He's trying to get his clay covered boots off, without making everything else dirty as well. 

 

Here is what one scrape of two boots left behind. It was like walking around with two potatos stuck under your boots, all high up and wobbly. And very sticky. It's that time of year again...

 

 

 

 

Back at Winchcombe, we checked out the building materials that we need for the platelayer's hut. We found half a pallet of recycled reds, which is ideal. We will arrange with STEVIE to take these and the rest of our kit up to the tunnel, as soon as our diaries can be made of overlap. We will be starting with the chimney, after repairing the ring of damaged concrete blocks around the concrete base.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday at Toddington.

 

Tuesday was a nice bright day, ideal for a bit of painting. Our plan to apply a second coat of varnish to the bench at Broadway had to be abandoned, as the first coat has so far not completely dried, given the cold and very damp atmosphere in the old mess cabin at Broadway. We'll have another go next week. 

 

 

 

The afternoon saw us at Toddington to paint rivet heads. Neal has been very busy with a small gang and further rivetted three of the four trusses. They are otherwise ready. During the P1 build at Broadway these rivets, now being done, were done on site, after the trusses were lifted in. This time round we are doing the work in advance, so that there is less to do on the day. That should also save on scaffolding costs.

 

 

 

 

PWay in the dark today.

 

 The gang worked in Greet tunnel today, changing sleepers and a cracked chair.

 

The southern portal of Greet tunnel.

 

 

Out of sight, out of mind, you might say. But our track walkers check everything, even in the dark.  And so a number of failing sleepers were reported in the tunnel, despite the fact that it is a relatively dry one.

 

 

 

Here a sleeper has been identified, and the gang is busy digging out the adjacent cribs. There were no reports of the cold, as digging warms you up real good...

 

The gang is using a pan jack on the left, and a Robel jack on the right. 

 

 

 

The reason for digging out this sleepers is clear in the picture above. Surely these sleepers should last forever, as they are in the dry? On the other hand, they did go in there already second hand, 40 years ago, so there must be an end to their life, as with all good things.

 

We used to do this work with petrol powered generators. But today we have batteries and head torches, which makes for a much more pleasant atmosphere.

 

As so often, it's one man does the job, and 5 stand by and watch him. 

 

The electric 'Pogo Stick'  lies nearby. It's such a handy tool, so powerful, yet lightweight.

 

We're very pleased with our electric tools, and grateful to those that helped to sponsor them - thank you! 

 

 

 

 

Picture by Dave Price.

Finally, how about this for a fantastic picture of an A400 banking over Cleeve Hill? Usketeer Dave took it while walking his dog. 

 

You have to be lucky! We have had numerous goes at Winchcombe, but the planes are never quite close enough. They come from the Sudley Castle direction, then make a steep turn over Chicken Curve, to head further south. Just a bit too far away for us.