Easter period - we keep going.

Thursday at Broadway.

No trains on Thursday! That was a surprise, and a bit of a disappointment, as it is always a pleasure to spend 20 minutes in the cafe after the first train has left. So it was vacuum flask coffee only, not  Cappuccino.

 

 

 

On Thursday John returned to the rear , where you see the first course of the day going up.

That was No. 16, with No.17 applied in the afternoon. 

Besides making mortar for John, and shuttling backwards and forwards with supplies of bricks, we also continued dealing with the large (but now substantially reduced) pile of broken bricks under the footbridge steps.

These broken bricks, mostly from the original waiting room but no longer useable, are reduced to rubble bit by bit. This rubble is then used around the building to improve the ground under foot. We will be grateful in winter, when the clay gets sticky again.

 

 

 

The other daily activity is the cutting of bricks into halves, for the make believe headers.

Thousands are needed. But we do 50 - 100 a day, and have so far kept pace with the laying of them.

Specials also need cutting. This is to make them fit around the doors and windows.

 

At the end of Thursday John had reached course 17 on this half of the back (the end is up to course 20).

It's starting to look quite enclosed in there.

 

Good Friday at Broadway.

There is no stopping the canopy gang, even on public holidays. For yours truly this will be an exceptional 6 day week on the railway. Is that what retirement is like? We only worked a 5 day week before... It must be because we enjoy working in a team that achieves something (this includes PWay and the Usketeers BTW). Maybe you would too? Come and find out during one of the Trust volunteer team events, which take place every month - https://www.gwrt.org.uk/volunteering/volunteer

Heavy rain was forecast by the Met Office, light rain in the afternoon by the BBC. Who was right? We thought we would make a cautious first mix, and then see. In the end we made three mixes, one more than normal, and no real rain ever came.

 

John continued along the back.

In the distance we heard the first train of the day coming, by the fact that it was blowing off.

It blew off past the goods shed, and into the station. 

It blew off at the end of the platform...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ... and carried on blowing off on the loop points.

 

 

Safety valves finally closed again, 3850 trundled past the P2 work site.

While John was laying courses 18 and 19 along the northern half of the back, Neal busied himself around the site, and we see him here with a laser level on the corner of the building.

This was, we ascertained, to check the height of the two columns that will be planted at the bottom of the staircase. (replacing the two temporary RSJs there at the moment.) 

At the end of a long Good Friday John had laid an exceptional three courses along half of the back, matching the 20 courses of the end. You can see the newer bricks by the damp mortar, which is darker.

Looking at the building - for that is what it now is - from the end, we can see quite a substantial wall on the right. This will be fitted with poster boards in due course. It will be the first thing you see when you come down the stairs.

Being Easter, the station was quite busy during the day. We took this picture to give you an idea of the crowd waiting for the incoming train. 

We couldn't help noticing this Mk.1 in red and cream, with its authentic BR 'Ferret & Dartboard' crest. Isn't it wonderful? It's beautifully restored, a real credit to our C&W department. First class too.

Saturday, out with the gang.

Just the six of us on Saturday - this number will have been impacted by grandparent duties. It was Easter Saturday, and the 'Easter Eggspress' was out and about.

Here it is, picking up the token from Toddington signal box, watched by an assistant.

 

 

With the section of track on siding 2 cleared on Wednesday, we were able to start digging out the bed, and relaying with the Didbrook economy sleepers.

It's great to have mechanical aids, but in the end it's Joe Soap (or here, Jim Soap) who has to finish off the excavation by hand.

You can't escape the shovels...

 

 

 

Getting ready for the relay were Leigh and Dave (in the Telehandler). They brought supplies of economy sleepers from the garden centre site down to the ash pit, from where they could be loaded on to the RRV trailer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Dave in the Telehandler, loading what he had previously brought down on to the RRV trailer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon the first sleepers were being laid into the scraped out trackbed. (missing is a lengthy period of scraping, where we tried to work out if we had scraped deep enough)

 

 

 

 

 

 

While getting some more tools we deviated via the loco shed to see what was new:

Neal has bought himself a new (s/h) mag drill, after the other one was stolen from his workshop (sadly, together with a lot of other kit).

Over the last couple of days he has been happy trying it out on the 4 trusses for the Broadway waiting room.

 

 

 

 

 

Once the ends of each truss have been bent to the correct angle, the parts have to be drilled, bolted together, and eventually riveted in situ.

Once assembled on site, together with the purlins and fascia boards, they will be further rivetted all together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit further along is a Great Western cab being made.

Is it for children to practice on, or is it for a locomotive being restored from a Barry wreck?

The green rings around the window cut out are originals, all that could be saved from the cab, after all its years at Barry and a hillside in Blaenavon.

 

 

 

Behind that is our own Bubble car. It's got a lovely coat of paint on it, but the interior still needs completing.

Working on it on Saturday was a man from C&W who specialises in Mk1 door locks. All the locks need revisiting. Too loose, or need a boot to open them. That won't do, but they are in experienced hands.

When will it be ready then? Some time in the autumn, was his unofficial opinion.

 

 

 

Then back on site, where more scraping was going on. The first 8 sleepers were down, but after that the ground seemed to rise. Or did it?

Unfortunately we do not have a laser level for this sort of thing, so it was done by eye.

 

 

 

Time for another shot of a departing train. Here it's 7903 Foremarke Hall, having just picked up the token for the next section to Winchcombe. It's a cautious departure, as the station limits section (max 10 mph) is quite long.

 

 

Finally we had a full length of sleepers in, although these rail lengths are shorter than usual for some reason. When they were laid back in the 1980s they came from all sorts of places, but mostly sidings, where they were already well worn.

We lifted the first pair of rails back in, always a satisfying moment.

Construction is better than destruction. 

In the background STEVIE is scraping out the next section.

At the end of the afternoon on Saturday we had completed the first length, and laid out half of the next, with the trackbed ready to receive the remainder for the second length.

 

By this time in the afternoon it was the turn of the daily diesel locomotive to take the train south.

It's a nice human moment to see the signalman handing the token to the driver, with a second person in the box looking on.

 

Tuesday, back at Broadway.

An additional day of brick laying, with just the two of us on site.

 

John was laying on the second half of the rear. He put down two courses, but has not yet reached the height (20 courses) of the northern half.

Keep plugging away, John !

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

 A full complement, plus visitor/supporter Mike.

 

 

 

Most of the day was spent fitting the slates to the skirting board level, and then around the inside of the fireplace, which also had symptoms of damp - possibly from above, through the open chimney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went around the bottom of the fireplace, before doing the rear and sides. 

This shot shows pretty much how far we got. Just the sides still to do, then we can mortar in the bricks that will form the bottom (stacked on the right). At the same time we can do the doorstep.

Dave and Paul made their lunch extra delicious, by toasting their sandwiches. The verdict was - very tasty, but too hot to eat.

Well, you only had to wait a bit !

Two steamers were out today, 7903 and 3850. This is the 2-8-0, just about to exchange tokens at Winchcombe.

We also rescued an enamel sign from the old shed being demolished. We heard that the old Building & Services shed was actually put up by the builder Cook, who used to occupy the yard before we sold him a parcel of land on the forecourt, on which he then built his own offices. These we (much) later bought back again, and the building became our new HQ under the name Churchward House.

In the picture is visitor Mike, admiring one of the trusses for Broadway, now complete and fully rivetted. Well done, Neal! (and friends)

 

PWay on Wednesday.

These pictures were taken by Walt and Paul, so thank you both.

 

 

 

The gang was in two halves today. One was sorting out sleepers in the garden centre yard, and loading them, the other was busy extending the relay along siding 2.

Here is a trailer filled with economy sleepers, ready to be trundled down siding 1, and the rail head.

The rail head was where we left off on Saturday, with 1 1/2 panels laid. During the day a further 3 panels were laid in, and the excavated trackbed considerably extended.

Of course work had to stop when trains came by. The RRV would drop its jib as a sign of submission...

 

With the train out of the way, work could resume - digging out in the background, and filling in the old ballast again in the foreground.

STEVIE (operated by Walt) had quite a sucessful day. The RRV not only dropped in all the sleepers and rails for 3 panels, but also dug out a large part of the formation, almost back up to the goods shed. This is where the panels that we relaid, together with the new stop block, stopped last time.

Based on the experience from Saturday a few adjustments were made to the MO, and  one of these was how to test the correct depth of the trackbed. Here a short piece of concrete sleeper is being used to simulate a sleeper in place.

Near the end of the day the green Growler came by on the main running line, ready to take up position at the rear of the up train.

Over in the old garden centre the other half of the team was dealing with the dismantling and sorting of the worn out wooden sleepers that we lifted out. They also helped the Telehandler load itself with supplies of economy sleepers, which it took down to the ash pit for loading on to the RRV trailer. It was all go.

 

Finally, a quick peep into Andy's car boot, to show more supplies of rail ends that we sell. It is amazing how popular these are, they are still selling well, and these sales (plus some generous donations that we have had) are making it possible to order several Milwaukee PWay tools. We can't wait to start using them. 

You can buy the rail ends from the Cotswolds Halt lobby. They generally come in door stopper or anvil sizes, and come waxed or painted.

Making hay while the sun shines.

Thursday at Broadway.

We're getting quite a few comments now on how well the waiting room building is progressing. Of course we've been at it for quite a while now, and things like foundations are not very visible, but since the window frames went in, people suddenly started to take notice of what we are doing. 

And they like it!

 

 

Work at the moment is along the front, and the northern end. It's slightly slower than along the back, because of all the measuring and cutting to size of the specials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neal had brought a supply of fixing points for the window frames.

The height of the north wall is also evident here.

John was on the 18th course of reds there today.

 

 

 

He also built himself a tower on the corner, ready for the next course towards the left. These bullnoses are so much prettier than banal square plain bricks.

We also had the visit from P&O, sharing alternate appearances with the DMU. Soon we will switch from the blue to the purple timetable, which means two steam rains, and the bubble car will then go back to the C&PRR. We saw 30 people in it today. Some say it's just the 3 car DMU squeezed into one, but we think the bubble has actually been more popular. With the 3 car unit you feel you are in a train, whereas in the bubble you feel that you are in a special vehicle, and can look out of each end.

The garden chair was illegally dumped in our Grundon bin (for which we pay!), and was retrieved for further use by the canopy team.

The weather got quite hot under the sun on Thursday, and, inspired by a passenger with an ice lolly, we treated the team to some Magnums.

Treats for the hard working canopy team, on a hot day.

 

 

 

 

This is as far as we got on Thursday - quite a bit of infill around the first three windows, and a start made on the fourth.

 

 

 

 

Saturday out with the gang - a new project!

It's that siding 2 at Toddington again, the one where we added a stop block to the end. Having seen the poor state of the rest of the sleepers, we decided this would be a good place to use the wartime economy sleepers recovered from Didbrook.

 

 

But, first thing in the morning, a demonstration of PWay tools by a team from Milwaukee.

As readers will recall, we are interested in some electric tools, and have saved up some money, i.a. by means of generous donations from an appeal made by our PWay manager, as well as rail end sales.

We didn't think that the electric rail saw would work for us, so this time we were looking at impact wrenches. Our current models are unreliable, and very heavy to use.

 

 

Milwaukee tools, we heard, are used on the national network, and are very robust.

This picture shows an enormous power bank (battery), which is on wheels, has a tool box on top, and on a third level, a batch of 12 chargers.

You'd never be short of a charged up battery, but this is a bit too big for us. A smaller, double terminal fast charger also exists, which sounds more like what we need. A battery will last all day, so would suit our needs fine.

 

Here is Pete, trying out the heavier of two models of electric impact wrenches. It was lighter than our petrol model, and had plenty of torque. A pistol sized model also exists, lighter still, and very handy.

Also of interest is a chairscrew wrench, in the form of an upright model that resembled a pogo stick (which is what we immediately called it). No more bending down with that. They even do an electric impact torque wrench. That could be interesting too.

We liked what we saw, and testing the wrenches on siding 2 went well. We'll take another look on Wednesday, then come to a decision.

 

 

An interesting new element on Saturday was the railway's new youth group having a day with the PWay. They're trying out various departments.

We stepped back a bit, to let them have a proper go, and they took all the keys out of the half of siding 2 that we are now relaying.

Some keys, having been in there for a very long time, wouldn't come out. 

 

 

 

 

We showed them the trick of using two keying hammers. You can hit the first keying hammer with the second, as hard as you like.

The Mills key shot out, without breaking the cast iron chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By this time the Milwaukee demo was done, and we went straight up to the mess room balcony, from where we watched the goings on at our leisure.

The youth group did really well too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a bit of an interplay between young and, er, a bit older.

 

We had our hands in our pockets, but we were asked to stand back and let them have a go, after all. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see the reason why siding 2 needs some attention, finally.

GWR throughbolters, rotten sleepers, two bolts per fishplate. Not our usual standard.

All this was hidden underneath long term storage wagons, so no great panic, but one day we needed to give this some attention, and the availability of all the economy sleepers from Didbrook gave us the impetus. 

Storage is what those sleepers were designed for, after all.

 

 

Trains were running on Saturday of course, now both with steam. Here is P&O accelerating away after picking up the token from Toddington box. Did you know it's one of the few an original buildings with us, but with a replacement lever frame? Someone had it away, days before we took over the line. All part of the game, in the 1980s.

 

 

 

After lunch the youth group changed to measuring the running line, and our gang got going. We took off all the fishplates, and here you can see a start being made on removing the wooden sleepers.

 

 

 

The youth group was now measuring the levels on the running line.

Feedback was that they enjoyed their day. Maybe some will join the PWay in the future?

Here's an overview of the site, taken when we advised the signalman that the main running line was clear again. Siding 2 is on the far right. Siding 1 ( a misnomer, in our view) is the former up line, occupied by the RRV, which today serves as the main exit from the loco yard in the direction of Toddington station.

Turning the other way, we have a fine shot of newly resstored 3850 pulling away from Toddington, and about to pick up the token.

 

 

 

That is handed over by the signalman. It's easy - just lean out.

Not possible at Broadway of course. There's not going to be a token, and also the platform is in the way.

 

 

After the up train had passed (on the old down line of course...) STEVIE returned from the Parlour Road, where the first lot of sleepers had been unloaded.

A third panel was then addressed. The rails are just lifted to one side, as they will be put back afterwards.

At least some of them are very old indeed. We could make out ' BLAENAVON   1896   GWR ' rolled into them.

The afternoon diesel then rolled out towards the station, this time using the main line, as STEVIE was occupying Siding 1.

It's 47 105, with a temporary name: MARK HARE on one side, and MAMBO on the other. 

We packed up our tools, and exited through the (work) shop, where we found evidence of a busy Neal for Broadway.

The angles along the upper sides of the 4 trusses for the waiting room have had slight bends applied to the lower ends, as evidenced the the traces of heat. The far sides still need to be done, then the whole lot has to be painted.

 

 

Monday loading sleepers.

'Just a short day - any volunteers?' was the siren call. And you know what the sirens did...

 

 

 

 

The job, for a small band of 4, was to load the remaining sleepers from the Didbrook 2 relay.

We were expecting the Toddington yard shunter on the Warflat, but due to circumstances, what we got was a pukka class 47. 

 

 

 

 

Before the Telehandler arrived we spent an hour or so replacing a number of loose Mills keys.

These had manifested themselves, once trains started running again, and over our relay.

Loading the sleepers - half economy concrete, and half original woods from the 1980s - was very slow, mainly because in our haste to clear the trackbed for the contractor, they has been stacked a little roughly.

First we stacked 56 concretes in two layers over the Warflat.

 

 

That left about 60 wooden sleepers with chairs, which we put on top.

As you can see, the site is now almost completely clear.

One or two (random?) concretes remain,  and a few wooden sleepers here and there. These can be picked up without the use of a train.

Although the sirens sang sweetly and said it surely wouldn't be all day, in fact it was. We finished at 4, and here you can see the class 47 start to push the wagon back to Toddington for unloading. There were 115 sleepers stacked on board.

 

We puzzled, by the way, over this banknote found on the trackbed at Stanton. At first we thought we had a stroke of luck, and found a fiver, but sadly not. It must have been a visitor from afar standing on the Stanton road bridge, who dropped his Ringit when he saw a steam train. That's what they do to you, if you're not in the know.

Tuesday at Broadway.

School holidays. Busy trains, screaming kids, yapping dogs. 

Over on P2 all was quiet.

 

 

 

It was another day of brick laying, while Neal was at Toddington, working on the trusses.

In the morning John added two courses to the north wall. These were courses 19 and 20.

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon, with the second mix, John transferred his attentions to the front. Here, as you can see from the picture, he is filling in between the windows, those on the right being well bedded in by now.

 

 

Slow and steady, but results are being achieved. This is two more courses in the middle, where you can see an expansion joint appearing.

At the end of the afternoon we had a chat with some German visitors. They visit a lot of UK heritage railways, all over the country, staying in Kidderminster as a base. They loved Broadway, and its station. They have followed us since 2006, and well remember the bare trackbed then, and some rubbish dumped on it.

We have certainly achieved a lot. That was our thought, as we watched 3850 draw a long rake of well restored Mk1s, from the Henly in Arden footbridge. We've come a long way.

 

 

 

76077 news.

You've probably read that additional boiler costs have arisen, due to the discovery of some laminations in the steel of part of the firebox.  That unexpected discovery was however followed by two bits of good news:

1. First of all, the chassis with cab and smokebox is coming to Toddington for display for a three week period, covering our Cotswold Festival of Steam (24 - 26th May) as well as our shareholders' evening on 6th June. Railway Support Services are sponsoring the transport, at no cost to the project.

2. An anonymous benefactor has made a very generous proposal: During a three month period - June, July and August 2025, he will match any new donation, up to a maximum of £75.000. However, any donations/share purchases you make now will also count towards the offer.

 

Help the project with a donation or shareholding, and the benefactor will make a similar payment. That's an amazing opportunity for the locomotive! So don't delay, if you want to help, and double the funds raised.

How to help is here:  https://standard76077.com/support-76077/

 

76077 - the latest view.

Photo: Ian Crowder

 Any questions can be addressed to Dawn, the shareholder liaison/ registrar:

 loco76077(at)gmail.com

 

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

 

 

 

 

Dave was back at last today, after a minor health issue. He brought cake as a peace offering, which we accepted grudgingly.

 

Here are Paul and Dave, chewing thoughfully on a piece of walnut cake.

 

Thanks, Dave, it's good to see you back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put Dave to good use straight away. 

Here he is, measuring up the last piece of the damp proof slate skirting that we are putting up along three of the sides of the building.

 

 

Paul was outside, cutting the slates to size and cleaning them up. As that was a rather dusty activity, he put a mask on.

 

 

 

 

During the day we completed the slate skirting along the two most important sides. 

We then sat back and admired our work.

 

Next week we will address the side with the door, including a lining of the fireplace, which showed evidence of damp.

The floor of the hearth also needs bedding down with mortar We have a bit of cement left over from the Usk hut, after clearing out our lamp hut storage shed for further use as a (more suitable) oil store for the C&W department.

 

 

 

Wednesday PWay work on Siding 2.

Pictures thanks to Paul and Walt.

 

Milwaukee came back to give the demonstration to the other half of the gang.

Here the 'pogo stick' chair screw impact wrench is being tried out.

No more bending down, and heavy lifting!  Will we buy it, can we afford it?

 

 

 

 

 

The work today was mainly about lifting out the remaining rails (started on Saturday), and then the rotten sleepers (see foreground of how bad they were).

 

Not much work for all of the gang, just Walt in the RRV, and some slingers on the ground.

 

What to do with the rest of the gang? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They'll just have to have endless cups of tea in the mess room, watch from the balcony, and shout down helpful advice.

 

As one commentator added to the photograph, they were

'Ready to spring into action'.

 

Yes, quite..... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the sleepers taken out, and stacked in bundles of 8 ready for disposal and /or storage.

 

At the end of the day the section of siding that we had been given (half of what needs doing, the stored stock will be moved to the relaid half when that job is done) was cleared of both rails and sleepers, an excellent achievement that day, especially after part of the morning was spent with the second Milwaukee tools demonstration.

 

There were two trains out on Wednesday, 3850 and here, Foremarke Hall. They were well filled, this being the Easter school holidays.

 

 

 

 

Here's the RRV over the ash pit at Toddington, allowing 3850 to access the coaling area at the end of the day.

 

 

Scilly Isles Railways.

Yes, it was an April Fool, there are no real railways on the islands, although centuries ago, when sea levels were lower, they were all connected once.

The 'launching pads' of rails leading into the sea were the life boat stations of St. Mary's and St. Agnes.

The one at St. Agnes was no longer in use, but particularly interesting for ferro-archaeologists, as this photograph found in a local pub shows.

The remains of the rails that we saw was a proper railway track, and indeed even in GWR bridge rail! Quite possibly it might even have been 7 1/4 gauge. There was even a proper turnout at the top.

Here is the situation today - not much change, except that the rails have gone.

A fact that struck us as odd - the St. Mary's lifeboat launch is actually only a little RIB that goes down the ramp, out to a much larger boat bobbing about in the harbour. 

Why can't we have a proper lifeboat launch, like at Tenby?

 https://youtu.be/9LlRNW26dGQ?si=3E5HXKe5idiCjam8

 Engines roaring, sirens blaring, whoooosh - now that is a proper lifeboat launch!