A start on the reds

Friday at Broadway.

A lovely sunny day, and more blues got laid. 

We're on the final row of blue plinth bricks now, all the way across the front. The sunny weather made this an excellent day for laying bricks.

Over on P1 Ben and Neal were installing (for the second time, the first time the hands ran at unequal speeds) the station clock. At the end of the day it ran correctly - result !

Yours truly spent the day on sorting and crushing bricks. There is a vast pile under the stairs, so it will keep us happily occupied for weeks to come. From the detritus we have already filled one pallet with cleaned and recycled bricks, originally in the P2 waiting room, or built into one of the platforms that were demolished in 1963.

 

We suddenly realised that among the bricks and stones was one with letters on it - this one. It says 'B III'. The top is flat, with a slight slope to one side and a drip strip underneath.

Neal diagnosed this as coming from the top edge of the Gents toilet, where a stone cap sealed off the brickwork at the top. It must have been part of a kit.

 

 

At lunch time we ate our sandwiches in the signal box, accompanied by George from S&T.

There was a Gold Fire & Drive train today, and you see George here watching P&O trundle into Broadway with  the (almost) empty coaches, but one happy driver.

George showed us how the future Broadway signalman could see where the incoming train was, and he lit up the display for us. There was a buzzer too, which the train activated a bit south of the Childswickham bridge.

P&O then ran round its treain.

This was the view from inside Broadway signal box, as the big Pacific ran round. Photography is miraculous - you can't see the thick spider's webs.

Maybe next year?

At the end of the day John had laid 71 blue plinths. He was over half way down, so one more day should sort that. We, in the meantime, started stacking reds at the back, so all is ready for the big transit from one colour to the next.

At the end of the day there was an interesting conversation with a visitor from Warwick, who was a builder, starting to wind down from his business, and looking for something else to do. We sang the GWSR's praises, so here's hoping that it leads to a new recruit.

Meanwhile, 30 lengths of 98lb and 113lb FB rail has arrived from Bicester, on top of the sleepers (in the corner) already delivered. A second load of concrete sleepers is still pending.

Excellent work by our PWay manager, who arranged this for us at little or no cost.

Saturday, out with the gang.

Prescott today, a lovely part of the countryside.

This view is at Middle Stanley. It's a complex of holiday cottages, with a smashing view - our railway! But it's certainly very charming.

We let the first train through, just as the early morning rain was clearing. Here's P&O, heading for Cheltenham at 10am.

After the first train was through we set out our work boards, and met up with the rest of the team, and David, recently qualified, in the Telehandler.

This was needed to pull out a defective concrete sleeper, one of several earmarked along this stretch. They look to have had their various faults for a long time, probably since they were laid in the 1990s.

While Nick clears the last of the ballast out of the crib, David in the Telehandler pulls out the defective sleeper.

By this time the second train was due, now headed by newly restored 3850.

This is the defective sleeper. It's missing one of its hoops, but seems to have been laid anyway, in the rush to the south.

Dave, still with us today, was on the team that day, but remembers 'nothing'. Very wise.

After the replacement sleeper had been inserted by the Telehandler, the defective one was dropped on to our new Transit.

After some calculations, we discovered that because of its Palfinger tail lift (meaning extra weight) the net loading capacity of this truck is very modest, only around 645 Kg. That means after its crew and their equipment, it can only carry one sleeper back to base. Not really enough for our gang.

Some of the SHC clips in this area seemed very loose. A newer, stiffer clip did not help, so our suspicions moved on to the pad that was underneath.

This was it - a thin, ruined bit of pad that looked nothing like the new ones we use today. It resembled an offcut of carpet tile.

We put a new pad underneath, and after that the SHC clip went in tight, as it should.

In view of the clement weather we ate al fresco on the Prescott Road bridge. A train came by at a snail's pace as we sat there, having been slowed by our advance site board, but we weren't working. Sorry !

 

 

We weren't really geared up to change a lot of pads on Saturday, and anyway that job wasn't on our list. So we did what we could with the handful of pads that we happened to have with us.

More work is needed here.

One job that was on our list was to deal with a sleeper with a bent hoop, so no SHC clip was fitted. These hoops often get bent during transport and stacking.

We tried to bend the hoop back, with our two 'most muscular' team members on the ends of two bars, but without success.

The next idea will be to heat it up with an oxy-acetylene set, and try again. It would be a shame to waste the sleeper otherwise.

The passage of trains, and some surface evidence told us that some sleepers were pumping, so we had a go at that too, with all 4 machines:

Little Freddie

Big Al

Bill, and 

Ben

And then we found two hats along the line, but soaking wet, and possibly there for some time now.

If you recognise one of these as yours, let us know - Dave has them.

And don't look out of the open window with a hat on. That's our advice.

Andy's stock of rail end cut offs has shrunk, after his successful sales of quite a few now. People use them as anvils, or door stops etc. We still have more to sell, and may even add to the stock, with future cut and shut operations. You can buy one from the Cafe at Todington, or via our PWay group. We can accommodate different length requirements, with a bit of notice. One chap wanted to make a table out of 4 bits - we were happy to help. It brings in vital shekels for our tool fund.

Tuesday at Broadway.

The end of the plinths? Not quite. Just part of the front left to do, after a damp day on Tuesday.

Twentyfive blue plinth headers laid on Tuesday, about 20 remain to be done.

News has come in that the GWSR DMU group have indeed sold their working 3 car set L425, to the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. It's going to leave in November.

Currently set L425 is still running services for us. Here it is entering Broadway on Tuesday, so take a last look. Or even travel on it one last time. It'll run on the blue timetable until the Autumn gala.

On the P1 build we had a little milestone too - John laid the first red brick, by the door to the future store room (ex GENTS).

The ample blue plastic sheeting is there to protect the 6 courses of blues from mortar dropping down. It will be pulled away when the top course of reds goes on.

While John and Bob, both of whom laid many of the bricks on the P1 building, discuss the start of the red brick section, the class 117 prepares to reverse back out of the station.

The SRPS have posted a video of their acquisition of the class 117 from the GWSR DMU group. The set is of course privately owned, as is all motive power on the GWSR.

https://youtu.be/dg9cWYl6lCE?si=g-RdKS3zR70TUjsw

We await with interest news of how the DMU slot in our blue timetable will be filled next season. The same owner group also has a class 122 'Bubble Car', which would be an interesting alternative, but at the time of writing its restoration wasn't completely finished yet. DMU 51372 was also sold, as a source of spare parts.

As we are now definitely within the autumn period, steam heating is being used. You can just see it leaking ourt from under this carriage.

Having laid 25 of the front plinths remaining to be done (the rest will be done next time), John turned his skills to the end wall of the future store room.

The first course was stretchers, so with English bond the next course should be?

Neal and yours truly debated on how to break the news to him gently.

At the end of the day John had duly taken down again all but the first course, and started again. We aim to get things historically correct.

Always a pleasure is the passing of the light engine running round, here in the form of newly restored 3850. We often get a toot (little wisp of steam by the bridge) or a friendly wave from the footplate crew.

A few moments later 3850 was back at the head of the train, and ready to leave. Now is the time to put some of that coal on the fire...

 

We were amused to discover a small toy left on the pile of blocks for us, presumably to inspire us as to the shape of the new waiting room.

It's going to be better than that !

Later in the day Neal came to help us out.

Here he has brought a barrow load of half bricks. As we are laying to the English bond, rows should alternate between headers and stretchers. As the outside wall is only one brick wide (to allow for a cavity inside for insulation purposes, which the original building did not have) the header course has to be in half bricks, which we cut on site.

In the background John is rebuilding the three courses he initially built all in stretchers...

 

Broadway progress.

Friday at Broadway.

A sunny day at last, and brick laying resumed at Broadway after a week's pause.

 

John was working to finish the plinths on the back.

As you can see, the end and the front still need to be done.

 

It was also diesel driver experience day. The green Growler was out, with a rake of seven.

It feels strange to have an empty train. None of those passenger surges that hasten down the drive to go to Broadway village. A train arrives, the loco runs round, it leaves again.

The first driver really gave it the beans on the way out, so we lurked to record the second one. Nothing. That crept out at idling speed - dang !

Here is the Growler running round, past our P2 build project.

 

Once he had completed the plinths along the back, John went to the front to lay a second row there, on the fifth course.

At the end of the day only a short stretch of second row remained on the front. Plus the plinths on top of it. That'll be for next time, weather permitting.

There were three driver experience trips on Friday. Here is the Growler running round the third trip, seen through the pine trees planted to continue the original line along the lengthened platform. They were planted say 10 years ago, and most are doing really well.

Here's a last look at the site at the end of the day, seen from the footbridge. The five courses of blues are quite clear now.

Saturday, out with the gang.

A sunny day at last, so a good gang of 11, and plenty of people on the trains.

 

 

We were greeted by the sight of the new FO that has come to the railway.

The bodywork looks to be in very poor condition. (to the untrained eye)

PWay pundits reckon its got ETH and air brakes too.

 

Saturday's work was to be at Gotherington Skew yard. Lots of kit was assembled - the Ranger, the new Transit, a trailer, the mini digger and the Telehandler. And 11 volunteers, a good number. The sun was at the rendez-vous as well.

First we had to let the down train pass, which was headed by Dinmore Manor as it came off the Dixton straight.

This straight is very long... as experienced by Yours Truly. He drove all the way along it to place an advance warning board by the Preston Road bridge. Here there is a turning area, but it's on grass and that was also wet. The Transits are notorious (with us, anyway) for no traction at the rear end, so a three point turn was too risky as the Transit could well get stuck, with its nose against the track. So back to Gotherington Skew it was, all the way in reverse. And the same again at the end of the day, to pick up said advance warning board! What would be nice here would be a ballasted turning area, with a bit of a slope towards the track. A transit will spin its wheels even on ballasted ground, if level. (experience made at Didbrook...)

 

We split into two groups on arrival. One was to fill dumpy bags with ballast for later use, the other group was to change a number of damaged concrete sleepers and pack any dips that were spotted.

The first damaged sleeper was in Skew Bridge yard itself, under the haul road crossing. It was handy that the mini digger was there, as there was a lot to dig out.

We let the machine do the hard work.

After a while Dinmore Manor came back, with what looked like a well filled train. In fact catering reported a poor week, followed by a boom on Saturday. It's the autumn sunshine that brings them out.

Chose your weapons, men !

The sleeper (with a broken hoop) was hauled out by the Telehandler, and a new one half dragged in. That is as far as you can get with a Telehandler, which can only work forwards or backwards, but no sideways. The rest of the way it was heaving with bars. We got there in the end.

The hole was back filled and robelled, then move on.

Skew Bridge is a lovely area, with no signs of housing estates.

 

We then let the second down train through, this time hauled by 35006 P&O.

Lee, Simon and Yours Truly were sent as an advance guard to the next sleeper, which needed digging out. 

Here there was no mini digger, it's not what you know, it's who you know...

We dug a trench each side of the sleeper, and then the Telehandler came to yank it out, and pull in the replacement.

We just got this job done, when Dinmore came back out of the cutting.

Meanwhile Dave and Mike had been filling dumpy bags. These are tied at the bottom, so that they can be used to drop ballast in smaller amounts, rather than a whole Dogfish at once. We needed to create a new stock.

Then, another sunny picture of a passing loco. It was P&O, emerging from the Dixton cutting, with the Three Arch bridge behind.

 

 

With the train gone, Simon (newly qualified) used the Telehandler to move the bags to a storage area, from where they can be picked up by STEVIE when needed.

The gang then moved closer to Gotherington station for another sleeper change, and then cured a few more dips until it was time for tea at the Coffeepot. We made it, with 2 minutes to spare.

Looking across the scenery, it struck us that the field on the other side was suffering from a slow landslip, a phenomenon not unfamiliar to us. We have just had to deal with one, at some expense, in the Toddington north cutting, not the first one there either. It seems that even natural slopes will slip around here.

 

 

Monday on bricks

A last minute decision, in view of a very uncertain weather forecast. Whichever weather app you consult, they all seem to have a different point of view. Would it rain on Monday? Many thought yes, but maybe later in the day.

In fact it never rained at all, it was a glorious day, all day long.

 

 

 

We made a modest day of it though, as rain was expected in the afternoon, and we didn't want to get stuck with half a barrow of mortar, unused.

Another thing that slowed us down was the construction of this corner, which needed a lot of measuring and brick cutting.

It's an inward corner, followed by an outward one.

 

 

 

Having sorted the corner (s), John started to finish off the fifth row of blues at the front. Just a 5 yard stretch remained to be laid here.

 

Here is the corner at lunch time, when it was roughly completed. Still to come at that time: the pointing. It looks a lot neater now.

 

 

At the end of the day, and without the slightest drop of the forecast rain, the front stretch of blues was complete, and the plinth had come round the last corner and was starting to head down the front. John also made himself a lot of mini towers to work from, so that next time progress should be much faster.

Neal advised that another 65 rivets were inserted into the 4 project trusses (not 3 as we reported earlier, all that steelwork looks the same....) and what remains to be done now is to fabricate the two sides on each truss, each with a kink in it, and drill a lot more holes. That is poor Neal's fate - drilling holes all day long.

 

Wednesday with Usketeers at Broadway.

A mizzley day, but ideal for laying Thermalite blocks, which need to be damp when laid.

Three Usketeers came to Broadway to do the block laying. This has always been the intention, once the two fences at Toddington were constructed.

 

The first thing to do was to fit some 4ins insulation, starting in the NW corner. The blue plinth was high enough for two courses of Thermalite blocks.

 

 

These blocks are very lightweight, but have good insulation qualities. Hence they are easy to cut with a big saw. One end has to be reduced to fit inside the stanchion.

 

After quite a bit of discussing and experimenting, the first blocks were laid down, and it was already time for tea.

At Toddington we got into the habit of sitting in the cafe for this, and luckily there is one at Broadway. So we went there, and watched the DMU come in. Just two adults were on board, plus a few children.

 

The coffee at Broadway is very nice, and if you have a Cappucino, you get the company crest sprinkled in cocoa on top of the foamy milk. The shape for this was home made by a volunteer.

Perhaps a last look at the three car DMU that is for sale? There are no official news about it to write about though, we shall have to wait and see what the plan is.

The Usketeers weren't the only ones to sit by the cafe, the Broadway maintenance gang was there too.

With coffee consumed, we got back to the blocks.

Here you can see insulation and blocks going in.

The next train was rather larger, and fuller too. Our departmental director was on the footplate, and waved at us enthusiastically

 

Once round the corner, blocks were laid across the end, with concrete blocks along the back of the fireplace, as these will need to support the weight of the chimney.

Neal also came to support us, and busied himself with the making of a former for the two doors. As we don't have the door frames yet, these are being put up so that we can lay bricks around them.

By the middle of the afternoon one set of formers was up. The sky then began to darken, echoing the forecast which said rain at the end of the afternoon.

Neal came and double checked the work.

We got the end wall done, up to two blocks high, when it started to rain, so that was that for the day.

 

 

 

A look over the fence - EA, Northleigh Bridge 

As an add-on to the EA update at Loxhore two weeks ago, a fascinating presentation was given by Chris Duffell on the disconnected L&B railway bridge 19 at Northleigh, and an option for reinstatement.

With Chris's kind agreement, we give below a number of his slides taken from that presentation. The thought behind it is that, yes, after 90 years each section of trackbed has its challenges, but they can be overcome, one by one. This is one way that the road bridge 19 could be reinstated.

 

Copyright: Google Maps

Bridge 19 is where the L&B trackbed, in the bottom of the Yeo valley, starts to climb after Collard bridge. On the map bridge 19 is to the right of the word 'campsite', and after that the trackbed continues south of the road to Chelfham. EA own this part of the trackbed.

 

 

This is Collard bridge, just to give you an idea of what the buried road bridge looks like, which was in the same style. EA also own this part of the trackbed.

 

A few yards uphill from Collard bridge the trackbed curves right, and where it used to pass under the road there is now a pile of infill.

This 1904 map shows how the trackbed did an 'S' curve under the road, while the old road did a rather more acute zig-zag over it.

This old photograph looking downhill shows the zig-zag in the distance, with the trackbed rising towards Chelfham on the left.

Chris also had a useful screenshot from a film taken just before closure. You can see the resemblance with Collard bridge. (we think he means bridge 19, as bridge 17 is a river bridge)

 

 

After closure the old road bridge was blocked off underneath with a rock wall, but left intact.

This 1960s map shows how the road was moved over onto the infilled trackbed, while the original road alignment became a layby, and the bridge was left to one side.

This shot of the new road alignment shows how the original trackbed, in a cutting here, was infilled and used to make the road straighter.

But the old roadbed is still there. It's gated off, and used as a council storage area.

In 1971 it was in use as a layby, and you could still see the bridge parapets, recognisable by the white coloured bricks, also used on Chelfham viaduct. (and some houses on the Goodleigh road out of Barnstaple)

That the original bridge was still there was unknown to the volunteers, until they had a little archaeological dig on their side of the fence.

This is what they found. A retaining wall at the top of the cutting leading to the bridge, and at the end of the trench, the head wall of the bridge itself. It was still there.

The retaining wall did not go all the way to the bottom of the cutting, as the geology here is solid rock. So the retaining wall was only necessary for the upper portion.

This is a close up of the arch with four rings of bricks, and the bottom of the parapet wall.

Further digging revealed the white brick abutment, and the infill of rough stone, visible in the black and white photograph further up. It's all still there.

Now that we know more about the site, and what remains of the original structures, Chris has made an informal proposal to show how a reinstated road over rail bridge could be built.

Using the original road bed through the former layby and council depot, the road could cross the railway on a more diagonal path slightly downhill from the original bridge. It could be built while the current arrangements are still in place, hence with little disturbance, and it would leave the original brick bridge intact, although unused.

This is a very elegant solution. Please note that it is not a formal proposal, and it is not funded. It is merely an idea, to show how a problem could be overcome, in an elegant way.

No doubt once EA have assembled a sufficient length of trackbed, then more thought could be devoted to reinstate the bridge, and look for funding to do it. A legacy for example would go a long way here.