On the way to Broadway.

On the way to Broadway.

A significant day on Friday, as Yours Truly and Neal moved the three roof stanchions from the garden centre site, right up to the bottom of the P2 stairs at Broadway. These are the first pieces of the canopy construction that have reached the site, after manufacture at Toddington. 

From the point of view of logistics, it was quite complicated. Pick up Neal from Broadway, leaving his van there with the tools for later options.

 

Go to Winchcombe, pick up the white Transit and a trailer, and take it to the field beside Toddington station.

Retrieve the company digger from its P2 lengthening site (see below), drive it to the field and on to the trailer.

This photograph gives you an update as to the state of the P2 project at Toddington - it's been excavated, and the first bricks are going back in. 

 

 

 

 What are they doing to P2 at Toddington - now you know ! This is from a Heras fencing panel.

 

In other passing news from Toddington, this rather battered SO has arrived. Possibly for spares (good tyres) but check the C&W blog for an update.

Blog update:  a pub conversation with 'an expert' produced the view that this was in fact a resto, which would fill a gap in our rakes. There's pub experts for you, but do check the C&W blog.

After that, we took the mini digger to Broadway, unloaded it on to the platform, then returned to Toddington to collect the stanchions. In the trailer, or on the truck? Neither was long enough, but with the truck the tailboard can be removed, so we unhooked the trailer and loaded the Transit. The sticky out bits were adorned with a bright orange flag - Your Blogger's HiViz vest! 

 

Before we loaded we had a quick survey of the production site under the leaky glass canopy. As you can see Neal has spent more hours here painting. It's mostly been on dagger boards, but it looks as if the trusses could do with an undercoat too.

Loading the Transit with the Telehandler at Toddington.

 

Arrival at Broadway, with warning Hi Viz vest (can we have it back now please?)

 

 

 The stanchions were unloaded, one by one, and wheeled round to the P2 site on a trolley.

 

This is where they are going. Just about visible as well is the fact that the end door is in place, although not yet fitted.

The canopy extension, for which the three stanchions will be used, go from the other end of the building to the bottom of the steps.

Together with the main canopy, the overall impression of enclosure will be the same as on P1. The idea was that passengers would always be in the dry. It won't be Snow Hill, but the overall effect of enclosure will be striking, unique on our railway.

 

And here they are, safely on site! They are numbered on their bases as they are not all quite the same.

You won't see them go up quite yet, as the bottom of the stairs has to be prepared first. The bottom roof panels need removing, the dagger boards, and the temporary RSJs, which the stanchions will replace.

The LH stanchion needs to have holes drilled in its concrete block, and threaded bolts fitted. The centre two already have threaded bolts, but still need a few additional holes drilling, something that was not possible without a temporary fitting on site. 

The crane operator has been to check out the site, and prepare us a quote. 

 

Finally, a railway snapshot: 

 It's 3850 with a long goods train, just setting off again on a gold Fire & Drive session.

 

 

Monday, digging in the sun.

It's getting hotter, 29 degrees on Monday, and 35 degrees or more (depends on who you ask) for Tuesday to Thursday. 

Who remembers the headline in the Sun: 'Britain sizzles in the 70s' ? We now have 95 degrees Fahrenheit forecast. Little did they know about Global Warming...

Due to the expected heat in our Mk1 carriages, and heat on the footplate, the railway has advised that there will be no trains until Saturday. All PWay work on Wednesday, including Usketeering, is alas cancelled, hence no news on that front.

 

On Monday Neal and Yours Truly used the mini digger brought up on Friday to start digging a ditch for a stormwater drain.When the footbridge was rebuilt at Broadway the drains to take rainwater away from it on P2 were not laid - the downpipe ended in the ground. Other downpipes still have to be fitted, after the canopy has been installed, so there will be other ditches to dig. Prior to this we created a central pit (where the tape leads to) that goes under the platform and joins the track centre drain. So that bit is ready.

A general view to show where we were digging.

 

 

 

About mid-way past the canopy overhang we installed a junction. This will pick up stormwater from the roof of the steps, and the rear corner of the building. Those ditches still need digging.

 

 

 

 

 

Going to wash our hands, we found this in the Gents. At the same time we learned of an apparent intention to replace Broadway's Victorian taps with modern push button ones, as careless people leave them open.

However, the push button taps are also left open, because after a while they stick. So either way, people leave our taps running. Station staff have been asked to pass by the toilets and check from time to time.

So we would prefer the Victorian taps to remain, as they we carefully chosen to match the basins and create that Victorian atmosphere. The best and cheapest way to save water is to pass by and listen, with either type. Modernising the taps won't save water.

 

 

 

 

 

After a while we were able to lay in the first 10m long pipe, which was kinda satisfying. We checked that it had the right fall, then packed it with ash all around.

The ash infill comes from the embankment in front of the goods shed, which we used 10 years ago as a quarry with infill.

The ash itself came from Cheltenham Spa. (St. James)

We know this because of the porcelain shards found in it, including a lamp glass in pieces, and a fragment with 'SR' on it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeking shade for a lunch break from the hot sun, we ventured inside the building. Here you can see the interior concrete lintels and blocks laid to full height, which now support the rafters. The outside arches in brick still need completing (one is done).

 

 

 

 

After lunch we put in the second length of pipe, which takes the stormwater drain to the central collection point.

This is quite a deep pit, and unfortunately during the digging a fair bit of infill ended up at the bottom.

Neal lay down and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d down, but it was no good, the muck was just out of reach. 

Thinking caps on !

 

 

 

 

 

 What 'thinking caps on' looks like...

Erm.......

 

 Mid afternoon Neal had to leave for a dental appointment, and in truth, the hot day was rather wearing.

 

 This is as far as we got, seen from the other side.

 

 

Wednesday - a quickie.

Too hot for the gang to turn out, but our manager Paul was there, with a quick job in the yard. The trouble with PWay is that we generate old stuff, have to take that away to keep the place neat, and then more stuff turns up.

 

 

 

Paul spent a half day sorting out the depleted CRC point timbers, which have all been replaced by newer second hand.

The old ones were pretty far gone, but is there any life left in any of them?

Paul sorted them out with the Telehandler, into 'rubbish', and 'maybe useful for someone'.

 

 

 

 

Out of curiosity he put our rail temperature gauge on the platform track at Winchcombe station.

 

The result, accurately measured with a professional instrument: 54 degrees C !

Ouch! 

 

 

 

 

 

A look over the fence - The Jersey Railway.

It seems unlikely now, but 90 years ago there were two railways on this little 9 x 5 mile island. Not one, but two ! Sadly, both succumbed to the internal combustion engine in the 1930s, and buses now take you everywhere on this lovely island, an hour's flight from our shores.

 By Cnbrb - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64558257

Here is a map, showing the Jersey Railway (which is about 50% cycle track), west of St. Aubin, and the Jersey Eastern Railway, east of St. Helier, of which very little remains. The two did not meet, being of different gauges.

Given the reported issues with pictures size, we'll do this bit with larger pictures - hope that works.

You can cycle from St. Aubin to the Corbiere lighthouse, and there is a handy cycle rental shop in the short St. Aubin tunnel. The initial railway build was along the esplanade from St. Helier to St. Aubin, but pressure from a quarry near Corbiere resulted in this extension from the St. Aubin esplanade up the hill to the top of the plateau. Initially the 3'6'' line skirted round this lump with a tightly curved deviation on the right. At a later stage a short tunnel was dug through.

We expected to find the rental shop in the tunnel, but were met by this thick concrete wall, with a machine gun hole in it. 

 

Oh, here it is ! It turns out that St. Aubin tunnel was the subject of German fortification works, of which there are scores all over the island, particularly along the coast.

 

Inside, the tunnel had been widened to twice its size. These rails are surely the originals, but no. The line was lifted in 1936, and on the occupation in 1940 the Germans rebuilt the line to transport materials, this time to metre gauge.

 

Inside the widened tunnel a second system of rails can be seen, this time to the smaller 60cm gauge. It leads to a large complex of side caverns, carved out to store amunition.

 

 This sketch, amazingly from 1944, shows how the new complex of tunnels quite dwarfed the original railway tunnel (marked 'B'). Not surprisinglyy, the document is marked 'secret', but in English.

 

 

The rather hazy photograph here shows the new tunnel system overlaid on to Google earth.  The original railway tunnel is the short bottom bit. If you are lucky, they will show you round.

We cycled along the original trackbed around the rock, and paused by the other entrance here. From here onwards it is a steady 1 in 30 for 1 1/2 miles, until the line reaches the plateau of rock on which Jersey sits. Everything here is made of granite, the island's natural material.

 

The line goes up a cool, rather tropical tree lined valley. The rise from the sea shore is 200ft.

In 1923 Sentinel was invited to see if their steam rail cars could run on the line (more cheaply) and that is how the exact incline is known, as they measured it. 

 

Three Sentinels were ordered, supplemented by a fourth from the JER when that system closed. Interesting snippet here: JER's second Sentinel, Brittany, at closure had the passenger end cut off, and as a loose 0-4-0 was converted to a shunter and used in a mainland brickworks under the name 'DOM - Dorking, Oxted and Merstham'. It then went to the fledgling K&ESR but never ran there, after which it was dismantled. Parts may still exists somewhere!

The Sentinels were a success and this amazing little line, only 7 3/4 miles long after extension, carried over a million passengers in 1925. There was a slight worry though. The Sentinels only had a screw handbrake. This could retard the rail car on the downhill trip, but not bring it to a stop. There is a sharp curve at the bottom... The chief engineer pleaded with the line's superintendent for a proper steam brake, but was given short shrift due to the expense. Fortunately there were never any fatal rail accidents on the line. (although several related ones)

 

Once on the plateau the line becomes level, and runs in a straight line to the coast (which is never far away).

 

This junction marks the site of the original terminus at La Moye, where the granite quarry was. A short  extension off to the right was built to serve a more touristy destination, a hill top overlooking Corbiere lighthouse.

The remains off Cobiere station platform are still there, as is the granite built station building. The line only ever had 4 station buildings, three of which were terminii. This one seems rather excessive, with hardly any houses nearby
 

 

The original building has been enlarged using a lot of glass, a popular choice on the island.

 

You can just see the two chimneys stick out centre left.The buffer stop was on this end of the line embankment, which was turned into some sort of defensive structure (the line having been dismantled in 1936). Behind the camera the terrain drops away sharply, ending in the Corbiere lighthouse on a promontory.

 

 

 

Corbiere lighthouse is automatic (the light is a clockwork operated one) and the lighthouse keeper lives in a cottage just off to the right. The lighthouse is reached by a causeway, which is dry only at low tide. And the tidal range around Jersey is the third highest in the world - an amazing 12 metres.

 

 

 We watched the tide come in and cover the causeway, but heard nothing. So don't rely on that!

 

 

Jersey has been part of the UK for 800 years thanks to William the Conqueror, but only 100 years ago it was fully French speaking. Today that is less than 1%, but many names are of French origin, like this one. The name refers to being the user of a crossbow. (eg Archer in the UK)

 

Carrying a few metres on straight at the junction, we get to the granite quarry. 

 

 

 

 

 

 It is now filled with sea water, part of a pumped storage system for a (back up) desalination plant.

 

 

 

 

In the day the rock was transported out along this track, which was part of the railway and 1 in 4 steep. One day a loco and 4 wagons escaped downhill, as secured by only one brake. The JR summoned their other 3 locomotives to pull the whole lot back up the hill again.

 

 

 

We thought this adjacent structure was the former boiler house for a beam engine, but it turns out to have been a granite crusher. It is made entirely out of local stone, with huge quoins, which was quite impressive.

 

In the distance on the left is a former German range finding tower for an artillery battery. 

 

 

 

 Back to St. Aubin. Here was the earlier terminus of the original 3 mile railway along the esplanade.

 

 

It's a surprisingly big structure for a three mile railway. It's council offices today. You can pay your taxes here, we heard a flat 20% income tax rate for everyone.

 

 

 

 

Sadly, today the only train you will see is this one. The extension railway (via the tunnel) swung right round the building, crossed the forecourt here, and disappeared up an alleyway on the LH of the picture.

We were intrigued to catch part of the commentary as the tourist train puttered by that the reason the railway closed in 1936 was that all its carriages burned down in a big fire here. This is true, and it was an unsurvivable event. 

 

 

 

Half way along the bay to St. Helier is the only other station building, Millbrook. The coastal line is now part of the pavement, and he who walks there must keep his wits about him, because cyclists share it, and hurtle by at breakneck speed.

 

 

 

 

At the St. Helier end the terminus also survives, and was equally large. 

 

 

 

 

Hope the bigger pictures worked for you. In fact the Blogger loading process was impeccable today, very strange. Why should blogger users (and readers) suffer it's unpredictable moods?

 

For those readers that are still interested, we recommend Elizabeth Castle in St. Helier, as it has an excellent museum about the evolution of artillery.

 

For example, this deck gun was originally desinged for a type VIII U Boat, but ended up on a trawler, which sank. A private diver recovered and personally restored it. A fellow traveller fiddled with it, and to his astonishment the elevation wheel actually worked!

There are several artillery bunkers in the grounds of the castle, a 20th century version of the muzzle loading canons that were lined up along the battlements. After the war all the metal from the many bunkers on Jersey was removed, sometimes with explosives, but a few remain and Elizabeth Castle has one that is pretty much intact as far as the armament is concerned.

 

 

 The breech has been removed, but it looked something like a 10.5cm caliber to us.

 

 

There was a semi circular screen around it, so that the crew was always protected. Empty shell cases went down a tube to an adjacent room; where the full ones came from wasn't clear. Sadly there was no explanation about any of the 20th century armaments at all. 

Check out the graffiti above the gun. There is a close up of it below: 

Clearly the crew have busied themselves on quiet days marking out all the objects of note across St. Aubin bay, and the range associated with each one. Fascinating, and possibly unique.

If you want to know more, this looks like a good website:

https://www.jerseybunkertours.com/bunkers