Start digging.

Thursday at Broadway.

Neal and John worked on Wednesday, and John completed the first row of corbelling along the back. So now the back, basically a substantial brick wall without windows, is pretty much completed.

On Thursday there were three of us. The day was grey, and it's getting cooler.

John spent the morning on the northern end, and put down two courses. No work was done in the afternoon.

 

 

John also worked on this corner, keeping up with the courses on the northern end. 

If you look carefully, you can see that he has reached the special brick on the corner that changes the bull noses that make a rounded corner to plain bricks, which make a right angled one.

Another milestone. 

 

 

 

The day's timetable was 'PINK', meaning one steam and one diesel.

We were working down the embankment near the box, clearing brambles, when we heard the Plod-Plod-Plod of the class 26. It was so far away that it was actually out of sight. But the noise is so distinctive that we climbed up to see - nothing to see yet.

Finally the class 26 rolled into Broadway station. Wonder what they know about the strength of the forthcoming winter?

2807 was the other locomotive, on quite a popular train, we observed.

We spoke to a couple from Berkshire, who travelled on the line and thought it was wonderful. 

 

 

Saturday, out with the gang.

Seven of us, but the right size for us, we felt. There was a lot of ribaldry, the best bit at the start of the day when we meet in the mess coach over tea and buns. 

We wait patiently.

 

 

 

When we finally left the mess coach, it was to head south, up the Working Lane approach, and to turn right for several jobs around the MP 13 mark.

 

 

 

 

Standing aside while we wait for the train to travel down the long strait.

 

 

 

The first job was the largest - a kink in the track, followed by jacking and packing. This is the longest stretch of wooden sleepered track on the line, and one we intend to relay, so for the moment spot resleepering is the order of the day.

We then let 2807 by, just 15 minutes after the train above. Enough for a bit of jacking and packing.

 

 

Again, spot releepering is what we do in this case, but a relay in concrete is the better solution along here.

After replacing the sleeper and back filling the ballast, we tightened up the chair screws. Thanks to our new Milwaukee electric tools, we can do this much more easily than with the heavy Bance impact wrench. They are lighter, always start, and we no longer have to bend over while carrying a heavy weight. We call this one 'The Pogo stick'. 

 

 

So that you can see how quick and easy it is we took this little video. A voice is heard to say 'Don't overtighten it, Dave'...  He didn't.

The next job was a broken chair, then several spot sleeper replacements. 

The digging out has not yet been replaced by anything electric, sadly, it's just as hard as before. Here we are waiting for the second train to pass our site.

 

 This was Foremarke Hall, with a train that looked quite well filled, certainly for this time of year.

 The next job was simpler, it was an impacted sleeper, the first sign of failure.

 

 

It took a bit of banging to get out. Being impacted means that the sleeper underneath has softened up, and allowed the cast iron chair to sink into it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is, a bit more zoomed in. The chair is in a little wooden depression, and needs a bit of winkling out before you can tap it sideways.

 

 

 

 

 After that, we replaced three more wooden sleepers, and dug out a fourth.

2807 then came to visit us again, making a fine sight as the regulator was cracked open a bit after slowing for the TSR.

As we were digging out the fourth sleeper for replacement, we suddenly noticed the time. We need to be at the Coffeepot before 4 o'clock, if we want any tea before putting away the tools. Aaaargh!

There was a hasty scramble to throw all the tools back on the truck, drive up the track to retrieve the advanced warning board, unlock and lock up again two farmer's gates, and race (ahem...) back to Winchcombe. 

We screeched to a halt outside the station, and galloped into the cafe.

Seven teas please ! 

 

While we supped our brew the class 26 rolled into the station.

Those Sulzer engined locos make a strange sound (as opposed to a class 37 for example).

They idle at low revs, get the green flag, pull away slowly but still idling, engine revs increase imperceptively, followed by almost stalling, then reduce back to slowly revving and spluttering into the distance.

We rather like it !  It has character. Three of the 13 preserved are currently operational, so come and see (and hear) this one. 

 

 

 

As we put away the Transit we saw our new (additional) Ranger for the first time. It's rather bling. Where the black Ranger has black plastic, the new white one has chrome.

The GWSR is unusual - almost unique - in that as a former double track main line it has a haul road almost all the way along it.


 

 

So rather than use rail mounted maintenance vehicles such as a TRAMM (Track Renewal & Maintenance Machine), we get about with Transits for the tools, and two pick ups (now 3) to get men to their site, up to 8 miles away. The black Transit became very popular, and there were days when only a 3 man Transit was available for certain teams, so this second Ranger is very welcome. The hurried sale of the Baguley-Drewry rail car and its trailer made it even more so.

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

Two of us today, with Dave at home on domestic duties. Today we set out to prepare the site of the platelayer's hut, but first came some ferreting around the Winchcombe station site.

 

 

As Paul is going to repair the weighbridge triple window we need some timber.

This random stuff under a stored coach should be well seasoned.

Paul found what he was looking for. 

We also noted a pallet of red bricks, which would be suitable for the chimney. 

Armed with two shovels and an axe, we set off towards the advanced starter signal, which stands adjacent to the site of the hut.

It was a pink timetable day, so one steam and one diesel train.

Here is the first steamer, setting off from Winchcombe with the first train south. 

https://youtu.be/smBz8mNpnDo

A couple of hours later we were able to film it, this time from the site of the platelayer's hut. The heavy freight loco  produces good sound effects, and whistled as it entered the tunnel. Hope you like the video.

 

When we reached the site of the hut, we were delighted to see that our lineside clearance guys (we shook hands last week) had done an excellent job of brush cutting the site, and also removing the debris to a pile several yards away, well out of the way.

So this grassy knoll was our starting point. 

 

It wasn't actually too hard - a good shovel full would clear a square foot at a time. Underneath was a concrete base, an excellent starting point for the hut.

By lunch time we had nearly cleared the base, and measured it. It proved to be slightly smaller than that on the drawing that we are using as a guide. We will need to narrow the hut slightly, for it to fit within the 7'6'' base that we have. The length is fine. It will give us about a 4' space in front of the door, for a sort of verranda. It's ideal really.    

Less ideal is this tree stump that we found. After we had cleared the floor, this was left behind. It was rather like an octopus, with tentacles of root going in several directions. We hacked at it and got some big roots off, but the main stump remained quite immobile.

We need to think of another solution here. 

Mid afternoon the site was clear, and we felt really pleased with that. It's all ready to go, except for that d....d stub.

In the foreground are some finds from the site clearance - a large hinge from a door, and a very rusty keyhammer head. No GWR china teapot, nor King class whistle this time, sadly. 

Back at Toddington, we found some more progress on primering the dagger boards, and the car park and access road for our neighbours already in use.

This is earning us rent, so is a good thing.
 

 

 

 

 

 Here's shot of the Growler setting off for Broadway today, seen from the field at the top of the cutting.

 

 No photographs from the PWay gang on Wednesday, except this one:

 

'This is the life...'

Some say this is at last truly representative... caught out having coffee, in a coffee bar in Bishiops Cleeve. How the other half lives.

  

 

The next Project

The next project.

It looks like a quiet week this time.

We had a rainy day end of last week, then a stormy day, a family weekend, and Tuesday some necessary repairs to the car. 

Monday though was ideal for brick laying. Neal was back from buying a compressor, and joined us in the morning. He reported that last week he had also spent a day painting dagger boards at Toddington.

 

Now that John has reached the top course of plain bricks at the back, it's time for a course of corbel bricks. To allow these to turn the corner - they go right round the building - there's a special big square corbel brick that goes on each corner.

In this picture you can see it on, with two of the normal corbel bricks joining it.

John also added to the north wall to make this possible - see the darker mortar.

 

The corbels were quite slow work. The setting out takes time, and a number had to be cut specially at the back to fit around the stanchions.

In the picture John is already pointing his work, which was also slower, he reported. 

 This is how far he got on Monday, just over half way along the second half of the back.

 

 Rumours dept:

- We are looking for a full time S&T department head. The previous one has retired.

- Our Baguley Drewry rail car is said to be for sale. That was the news earlier in the week.

 

 

 

Then we heard today that not only was the rumour true, but that it had already been sold. For a very modest sum too.

The sale was seen as rather hasty by many volunteers, who would have liked the chance to make a bid, and have it stay on the railway. 

It's going to the P&B Railway. 

 

 

 

There's a film of it here at Broadway in 2018, if you are interested:

https://youtu.be/rvY5hzS5z10 

 

- We have been offered a parachute style water tower. It's not complete, but within our competency to refurb/complete it. Recovery is scheduled for later in the month - watch these pages, as Yours Truly has been volunteered to help... 

- We've had an offer to reinstate the Broadway station approach gate posts. These were ripped out prior to the Broadway re-opening, and not replaced, despite a plea from Yours Truly. They were then taken to CRC. The replacement posts on offer are originals from the line - they used to be at Earlswood lakes. Should we do it then?

Broadway camera: Out of action, since the storm. Unable to fix the issue, dismantling showed a camera body filled with ladybirds. Did they stop it? On Wednesday it was back on line, much to the relief of many. 

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

A busy day, with lots going on, and tidbits of news reaching our ears, so interesting as well. 

 

 

The day started with the arrival of two coach loads of 'wartime evacuees'. The one on the right was the biggest coach we've ever seen - 15m long, 15 tons weight, and room for 71 on board.

It had some difficulty in performing this 3 point turn, which turned into a 10 point one.

Our entrance canopy leads a miraculous life, with all these manoeuvres going on around it. 

 

 

 

 

 

The railway was ready for the huge influx.

One of the most popular activities for the children is working these stirrup pumps.

We used to have just the one, but now there are three, waiting for their eager customers. Unfortunately we are not allowed to photograph that. 

 

 

 

After coffee and a dome nut - sorry, did we say doughnut - Paul trimmed off the two longer studs at the base of the lamp post that we planted.

 

 

 

Here is one of the dome nuts. We felt this gave a better looking finish to the base.

As we mentioned last time, this lamp post is a late model, and is mounted on a concrete base with studs and nuts on top.

Yours Truly sponsored a bag of dome nuts to finish the job. Hope you like it. 

 

 

Five men inspect a hole in the ground...

We then had a quick chat with the C&M guys, who are preparing a consolidation repair on the southern part of the P1 platform, which has suffered from a sudden bout of subsidence. This will be dug out and professionally re-tarmacced next month. A bit of left over tarmac will go in front of the weighbridge, to finish that area off.

 

With the lamp post sorted (as far as our involvement stretched) we returned to the weighbridge, and started looking at the window. Paul is an adept carpenter, so this sort of job is right up his street.

The window, we think, is a 1905 original, with two sliding parts, and a fixed centre. Over the years the sliding parts have been disused, and in an effort to keep out the rain, they have been heavily painted over. Their closure mechanisms are missing, although traces remain. Unlike that on the Usk hut, the windows do not use rollers, but simply slide, wood on wood. The weak point is the bottom, where water gathers and here there is a lot of rot. The upper parts of the window are not bad. 

 

 

 

As you can see in this picture, the mechanism placed in 1945 that Paul is leaning on is much larger than before, and prohibits an easy approach of the windows. It is likely that this is when the sliding parts fell out of use, and the weighbridge operator simply exited the building, if he wanted to talk to the driver that was being weighed.

 

 

 

Today's job was to loosen everything, so that the windows can be repaired one by one. It took us ages to get the fixed, middle one out, as it was secured by hidden nails, and of course we didn't know where they were.

To give you an idea of the extent of the job, here is the corner of one of the windows. We don't really have a budget for this, so we'll have to see on the day how we pay for the new (hard?) wood. 

 

After lunch we went to do a bit of a survey of our next Usketeer project. 

 

This is the construction of a sleeper built platelayer's hut, on the approach to the Winchcombe side of Greet tunnel. We chose this site because it's walkable from Winchcombe, has an existing concrete block base, and would appear in photographs of trains emerging from the tunnel. We have a design, so now we need to calculate the number of sleepers involved.

 

 

There's not much to see yet, as it's rather overgrown. The site is one of a number of concrete block bases we've seen along the Honeybourne line, so that makes it ideal for the rebuild project.

We have asked the Lineside Clearance guys to brush cut the site, so that we can make a start. There's a tree stump in the middle, so that could be a problem. 

 

 

 

 

Recent PWay activity.

During the rather successful Rail 200 weekend on the GWSR the PWay dept was one of a number of departments who had representative stands out.

 

This was done to raise general interest in what volunteers on the railway do, and perhaps interest one or two potential new recruits to join us.

If you look closely, you can see not only one of the new Milwaukee electric tools (the 'pogo stick') but also a screw type track jack, such as used in the very first days of the railway at the beginning of the last century. This was lent to us by the Railway Archiving Trust. They have this sort of thing. We, as professionals, have had to move on and tend to use hydraulic ones, although they are not nearly as reliable, we have found.

 

 

 

Last Wednesday was nice and sunny, and saw the gang on the Broadway extension, where we have had to make repeated visits due to shrinkage following the extensive dry weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Robels make packing so much easier and faster, but that just means that we get more than one job to do.

Here all four of the ones that we have are in use.

This work used to be done with beaters - a sort of pickaxe. That was awful, terribly sapping. 

 

 

This old relic is down near Stanton yard. Wonder if the Worcester exchange telephone number still works?

 

The PWay pictures are by Paul, with thanks. He caught the class 47 at Broadway, across some decorative ironworks that make our railway so homely.

 

Brick laying like mad.

Thursday at Broadway.

 The weather is still kind to us, and we're making hay, laying bricks.

John is now on the north end, and on Thursday he worked on all three walls of this end. If only we had those specials, then we could work on the front, and build up over the windows. We are now as high as we can go along the front, without more specials.

 

Most of John's time was spent on the north end itself. He built up the corner to very close to the top, then filled in the middle. He also worked along the back for a while. But that was because yours truly was making huge clouds of pink dust, cutting bricks, and on Thursday we had a northerly wind, which blew the dust straight at John.

We had both steam and diesel on Thursday. As autumn nears, we got the impression that there were slightly fewer passengers, despite the good weather. But Auntie Wainwright's did well, it's a nice place to hang about and hear the story of the station rebuild (and maybe buy a second hand book?)

 

 

 

 

 

The second half of the back is now also getting near to the top, maybe another 3 courses to go?

 

We were curious to know how the wall would end, so below is a peep at how it went on the main, P1 building. 

  

 

On the first half of the rear John laid the first row of specials, forming the beginning of the corbelling.

We can see here, from the P1 building, that there are three more courses to go. We do have these special bricks. 

 

 

 

Friday at Toddington.

Again using the reasonable weather, we started actually painting the dagger boards on Friday.

 

 

 

They've had two coats of fungicide, and now we are on primer, the first coat of paint.

We sorted ourselves a little production line, with Yours Truly on painting the ends with a brush....

 

 

 

 

 

 

... and Neal, on painting the flat surfaces with a roller.

He laid the boards out in a line, all slotted in with the tongue & groove, so that paint would not stray into the grooves. 

 

 

We were at it all day, treating the 184 boards on pile No.1. Pile No.2 has the ones with increasing lengths, which go on the gable ends. We're about half way there as you read this.

 

 

 

Sounds of a chainsaw alerted us to a tree surgeon removing two conifers in the boundary between us and the housing estate being built next door. There is now a gap (the taller trees are unaffected).

After enquiries made we have ascertained that this is a temporary access to the area behind the featherboard fence, where the builder next door will park his vans for 9 months - and pay rent! That can't be bad, an unexpected source of income for us. 

 

 

Monday at Broadway.

Still good weather, so another day of laying bricks at Broadway.

 

A course of headers, and half a course of stretchers were laid on Monday. A similar amount remains, before we hit the top of the plain bricks, and switch to the corbelling.
 

 

 

Tuesday at Broadway.

 

Idem ditto. Just two of us again. Neal is in Kent, buying a compressor (thinking ahead for the roof assembly and rivetting) and making a tiny holiday of it, visiting a couple of railways in the area. We hope he enjoys himself - there are several GWR engines to see on the K&ESR.

 

On Tuesday John completed the second half of the rear wall of the building, as far as plain bricks are concerned.

 

We received a request from him for a corbelling cornerstone. This is it ! It is likely to go on with the next course, the bricks with the rounded off ends, and upside down.

 

As you can see on the main station building, there are two courses of these bricks, separated by a plain course, and an angular corbel.

In 1904 the roof rested on the top of this, which was several courses wide of solid brick, supported by a thick padstone. Today we can't do that, because of the requirement for insulation. So the trusses sit on a hidden frame. 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

 

A full complement of three today. It was the base of the lamp post that got most of the attention.

 

Paul and Dave replace one of the 3 x 2 slabs that were there before.

Yours Truly was dispatched to cut the second larger, then the two smaller slabs to size. He got a compliment from Paul! They fitted perfectly.

Paul, fitting the last slab around the base.

There it is, all done. Just a small bit more pointing to do next time.

 

A heritage minded PWayer in a passing truck felt that using paving bricks here would have looked better. 

On reflection, we felt that he had a point there. However, we only put back what we found (three concrete slabs) and we were rather too far down the road to change now. If only he had spoken to us last week.

 

 

While Paul and Dave were doing that, we raked out the crack on the inside of the hut, resulting from the shifting of the corner (since underpinned). There was quite a lot of space in there, and lots of loose mortar.

The bit sticking out is just a lump of mortar that was pushed in there; we will replace it with half a brick.

Next time we'll have a look at the outside. (we could see daylight through the crack) 

 

As is our wont, we had a look in the skips after lunch. There has been plenty to save in there as of late. Today it was a bunch of old telephones. Could these not be sold to raise funds?

Dave couldn't resist having a good rummage in there. (Dave is a former BT engineer). He vanished with a cardboard box full.

On our way to the Coffeepot we noticed that the door cill had been refreshed. Previously it was made out of some sort of cardboard, and had almost completely worn away. Now it is made of hardwood, and has brass, slotted screws. Well done, that team!

And a small but interesting fact: We had two coaches of school children today, and in an idle moment the driver of one mentioned that he liked coming to the GWSR, because he got a £5 voucher for our cafe. When he drove to Harry Potter he got a complementary entry ticket (worth over £50) but nothing for the cafe. That Coffeepot voucher is a good ambassador for our railway.

 

 

 

More modern plastic at Winchcombe.

Sadly, we have to report that once more, people aren't singing from the 'We are a heritage railway' hymn sheet.

The early volunteers who built Winchcombe signal box in the 1980s, would spin in their graves if they knew what we would do to their efforts years later. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of years ago this modern LED was attached to the bricks above the locking room door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was followed by these CCTV cameras.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then a modern plastic light was screwed to the wall next to the signalman's door.

Just off camera, on the other corner, is an existing small Windsor lamp. Could those functions not have been combined in a believable 1905 style? 

 

 

 

 Then, last week, a tower scaffold was positioned next to the box.

 

 

Our mission: to be 'a living museum'

 

 

Its purpose now revealed: To screw a large plastic LED spotlight to the car park side wall. 

Could extra lighting have been added in a sensitive way? Yes, of course. Here is an example that you can buy today: 

This is a copper Windsor lamp, with a corner bracket, as used on the Toddington goods shed extension. The steam boys took the trouble to get it right.

 

And what is this, on the platform side of Winchcombe station, in full view? A modern, plastic fire alarm box has been attached.

We are not singing from the same hymn sheet here - our chairman has stated, in public, that we want to be the best heritage railway in the UK. These thoughtless, modern appendages are not part of what we aim to be.

 

 

A look over the fence - EA, and the Yeo Valley Trust.

An important shareholder meeting took place on Sunday, to vote on transferring the assets of Exmoor Associates to the Yeo Valley Trust. All former shareholders of EA will now become life members of the trust. The vote in favour of the transfer was carried by a very large majority. This move enables the YVT charity to control the assets of the company that it supported. The previous, private limited company structure needed to change to fit in with its supporting charity.

We dropped down to the meeting early in the morning, to find a wonderful scene of valleys filled with clouds in the early morning sunshine. Chelfham viaduct is just visible centre left.

The meeting took place in the Grow Forward site under the viaduct. 

Much of the damage done by vandals while the site was unoccupied has been made good, except the main admin building, which remains as a shell at the moment, after being set on fire. The site has become a nice place to be again. Grow Forward are keen to work with the local community, and this includes the preservation group looking after Chelfham station, as well as the YVT. The car park filled quickly, with cars from both EA/YVT, as well as volunteers at the station.

 

 

 

The meeting had a long agenda, and lasted for most of the day.

One item was the presentation of this clock, thought to be the original from Bratton Fleming. It was bought by a supporter, and repaired by the YVT.

 

 

 

 

There is no immediate news of trackbed purchases. Two are close to fruition, but have suffered from delays not the fault of the YVT. One vendor died; the other couldn't find the deeds! Both are now on track, and could close any day now. Several others are in various stages of advancement, but further details will not be revealed until something concrete has been signed.

Meetings have been held with Bratton Fleming Parish council, Barnstaple Council and North Devon Council, and all are very supportive of the land purchases, and the possibility of a railway returning to Barnstaple. 

Negotiations continue with th L&B Trust at Woody Bay for the YVT to take care of Chelfham station, but so far without anything positive emerging. Chelfham was bought many years ago, and is living a lonely existence, far from the current operating line, and does not seem to figure in any future plans there. A sale or lease to the YVT seems a sensible move forward to unlock the station's potential. Chelfham is pretty much in the middle of the three miles that EA/YVT have secured in trackbed purchases so far. 

From the meadow on the other side of the viaduct we were able to take this picture of Britain's highest narrow gauge viaduct. It is indeed a lovely structure, all built in white brick.

The viaduct is not in the care of the YVT though, but by the Highways Agency Historical Railways Estate (if we read this right). Sadly, although the parapets were put back in place some years back now, it was not waterprooofed, and this is now beginning to show.

The issue is the same as that of Stanway viaduct - water leakage is seeping down the structure, and is causing bricks to spall.

We also took a snapshot of the water wheel, which is now revealed after clearance of undergrowth.

Behind the main original house there is a pile of lightweight 2ft track. This could be used to install a temporary, say, contractor's style railway, to show to interested parties what the YVT is about, and what the potential is for the local community. After the vote to transfer the EA assets to the charity, the YVT will have 3 miles or so of trackbed, so thoughts are evolving what could be done with that to make it useful.

The house itself is in poor condition, and has not been addressed by Grow Forward yet.

The YVT is looking to recruit volunteers to:

- Run, or populate its website

- Raise funds for trackbed acquisitions, and in the longer term, rebuild bridges. 

- Raise the charity's profile with PR

- Run its 100 club

- Support the charity's engineer

If you think you can offer your services, please get in touch. 

Meanwhile, work has started at Bratton Fleming on erecting the good shed, just prior to the expiry of planning approval. This is now locked in.

 

The site has been cleared, and the old garages removed.

Footings have gone in, and a contractor engaged to put up the shell of the building. The sides will have 6 - 8 courses of bricks, and then timber cladding. The roof will be insulated corrugated iron. 

The YVT has, opportunistically, acquired a Ruston diesel engine, and a carriage, which will be kept inside. There will also be a workshop, keenly anticipated by the working members. 

 

The 6 - 8 courses of white bricks will be in the L&B house style, all being recovered from the demolished Chelfham parapets, which were found lying in heaps on the trackbed downhill from the viaduct.

One member has started cleaning them. Three thousand are needed, and 500 have been cleaned so far. Some help would be nice.

 

Here is a picture of Bratton Fleming station, as it was on Sunday, in brilliant autumn weather. If you want to stay here for a spell you can, but not until next year.

The original station, like Chelfham, was just a modest two room affair, but Bratton Fleming was added to, in order to become a residential home. One room, being very damp (on the left) has been taken down again, the other room (a bathroom currently) has been refurbished, and the conservatory is still in use. The whole building is getting more refurbishment, but next year it should be available for letting.

A panel of track has been put down, for demonstration purposes. The area off camera on the right belongs to an adjacent house, which has been for sale for some time now. The YVT would like to come to an agreement with any owners to split off the former trackbed. As this is at the bottom of a steep hill, it seems to have little added value for the house.

 

It was noted during the meeting that the goods shed is not yet fully funded by its appeal. That was a surprise to your blogger, so here's hoping that they can raise the difference (about £50k if we remember right)

If you want to help, you can by donating here: 

https://yvt.org.uk/donations/donate-bf-goods-shed/