A winter sunset.

Friday at Broadway.

The day started with a puzzle. On Thursday Neal noticed that the station's exterior lights were on at four o'clock - 23 lightbulbs in all, including down the station approach. They were still on when he looked on the webcam at 18.00.

Checking with a station staff member, we were told that they would go out by themselves, as they were on a timer. 

On his way home from a pub meal, Yours Truly checked at 22.00hrs, and all the lights were still on. The station was a blaze of lights.

Friday morning, on arrival, they were still on, but were eventually turned off at 11.00am by station staff. 

 

 

During the week John managed to instal another arch, the fifth of the 8 along the front. Three to go, then the rest of the front wall (mostly the corbelling.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neil spent the day working on the north end.

Here he is cutting a profile into the end of the fascia board, so that the second cross member of the triangular end can be fitted.

 

 

 

The profile that Neal cut into the end of the fascia board.

 

 

 

 

Next, Neal cut a sloping joint into the LH end of the board, so that it could be mated with the similar board on the other side. Here he is doing a test fitting.

 

 

 

 

This is what that board looks like when fitted - temporarily. Unfortunately it is lower than the already low truss, so with the board in place we are now obliged to pass under the two on our hands and knees. 

During lunch we were joined by a young local artist, who it turned out, was also a Trust member and had known Fred Lea. His speciality is landscapes, unfortunately not yet charging steam locomotives.

You can see him on the footbridge, chatting to Neal. 

Given the fine weather currently Neal asked us to undercoat the steel structure - again. Let's hope it stays dry for that.

 

 

The sun sets early now, so this is Neal at about 15.30 with the board in place.

Although bolted on at both ends Neal has made two additional brackets to stabilise it against the truss. One can be seen +/- in the middle of the picture.

These brackets are the sort of thing Neal would make with the remaining lengths of angle that were inadvertently skipped at Toddington. 

 

 

 

We left at 16.00 to buy another paintbrush. The one used on the first undercoat of the roof had completely worn down.

You can see the triangle of boards on the end. The one at the south end is already fitted. They will support the dagger board ends, which Neal was mulling to fit in the near future.

 

S&T have taken out a two week section block in the second half of November, and it's agreed that we can use the same block to work on the platform side fascia boards, fitting the supporting woodwork, dagger boards and guttering. Good news, that! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday on the PWay

 

A one off day out, ballasting along the Gretton straight. Pictures by Paul and Walt, with thanks. 

 

 

 

 

 

Four PWayers were out to do some spot ballasting, using dumpy bags.

The bags had been loaded ready for use and lined up alongside the track at Gotherington Skew yard. 

Once enough bags had been loaded on to STEVIE's trailer they headed south, where some unsupported sleepers ends had been identified.

Doing this with the bags instead of fully loaded Dogfish is much more practical, and cheaper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bags can be lifted one at a time, and the contents dropped where they are most needed.

This picture shows the issue - not enough ballast at the sleeper ends. That situation often arises after a previous lift from the tamper, and the ballast then needs replenishing.

We use second hand dumpy bags. Some have a tied up opening at the bottom and can be re-used. Others, like this one, need to be cut at the bottom to get the ballast out. They are then discarded.

The dumpy bags in any case have a finite life, as they quickly degrade in the sunlight. 

 

We also had a Telehandler training day at Winchcombe. One a refresher, and one for a newly trained driver. Paul and Sam watch the training session going on in the background.

On the previous Friday a small gang with STEVIE went to Gotherington Skew.

 

Here they unloaded the last of the 64 sleepers removed from Stanway viaduct that were at first stored at Toddington. It's part of the 'tidy up' operation by the greenhouse there.

STEVIE then took the rail lifting beam and placed it on the ELK wagon at Hunting Butts. This is part of a proposed rail drop that is on the cards. On the way back the little group rearranged several rails that were lying lineside, all part of a juggling act for future operations.

 

Wednesday on the PWay saw the gang change 3 timbers in Toddington yard, amongst a number of other smaller jobs.

This is one of the timbers, and it shows three faults: It is split, the throughbolt (on a 1902 chair!) has come loose, and the chair has dug into the wood, softened by decay.

 

While the top of a timber might look OK, the underside definitely wasn't. Sometimes second hand timbers would be turned around, and re-used. 

Here one of our new electric sleeper drills is being used. We are very pleased with these tools, bought by donations from kind readers to our tool fund, as well as the remarkable success of Andy's rail end selling. 

 

 

The main gang on Wednesday was at MP 8 1/2, where the ballast boards around an underbridge were insufficient, due to the track level slowly rising after tamping.

 

 

Sunday, a quick go on the paint.

We've kept a careful eye on the weather, and the forecast for Sunday afternoon suggested there would be a few hours of sun, after a foggy start.

The forecast showed a change from 'FOG' to 'MIST' mid morning. A subtle difference. In the end we dropped in at 14.00, after the first rays of the promised sunshine appeared. 

 

 

 A Halloween dressed Bubble Car was waiting in the platform.

After an hour's sunshine this was the state of the steelwork. Wet ! Luckily we had thought to bring a towel, so we rubbed down the areas of interest, and waited for the sun to dry those out completely.

We did about an hour's worth of painting, but it was hopeless really. Unless we get several days of hot sunshine, any more painting looks unlikely until the spring.

 

As we painted a gentleman called up from the platform to offer us a takeaway tea. How kind ! It turned out to be a supporter, blog reader and donor. We had a nice chat on the footbridge.

Soon the sun went down again, but now we are moving into the season of early evening winter sun, and a glint on the incoming trains. 

It was 3850 today, steaming off into the setting sun.

Beautiful.
 

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

All four of us today, on a cold and blustery day. No heating in the Pagoda, and the insulation capacity of Edwardian corrugated iron was discovered to be low. We kept warm with hamburgers.

 

 

 

 

Before arriving at Gotherington we had a short detour to Winchcombe. This was to source some second hand 100mm pipe, and a few assorted planks that might fit the gaps in floor of the ground frame hut.

We arrived on site an hour late, beyond the traditional coffee, cake and the usual 'organ recitals' of our various age related ailments. 

 

 

 

 

The lads were already hard at work, here fitting the first of the new boards to the front of the cabin.

While Julian carried on with that, Paul and Dave were cutting the skirting boards to length. We hadn't even finished putting the primer on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a surprisingly short period of time Julian was up to the penultimate board in the corner, banging his hammer loudly.

Inside the cabin it was like being inside a drum, causing some unkind remarks being addressed to the hammerer outside. 

In the foreground is one of the scavenged second hand lengths of wood, that was found to be perfect for the missing floorboard here. 

 

 

 

 

 

In the above picture you can also see evidence of the knotting carried out at the start of the day.

Paul and Julian then measured up for the last length of board, and can be seen here cutting it to size. 

 

 

And there you go - it fitted perfectly.

After a bit of professional hammering.... 

The front still needs putting in primer, but at least it's knotted now. Bryan will put the final coat on himself, he likes to be in control over the actual colour.

It's in - sort of. Where's that hammer?

Lunch time was Paul's opportunity for some sophisticated gastronomy. (not)

A large frying pan was produced, 4 hamburger patties, and a packet of cheese slices.

There was hamburger relish, and even some gherkin slices ! Mouths were beginning to water... 

This was the finished product. Want one? You'll have to join the Usketeers. Behind it is the pudding. There was a choice today - lemon drizzle cake, or early season mince pies. Wash everything down with coffee.

Still left to do after lunch were the other two holes in the floor, one on each corner. They were cut to allow the corner braces to be fitted.

In the meantime Jules had dug a trench for the 100mm drain pipe to be laid, underground. The far end still looks a bit high, maybe excavate a bit more next time, to continue the fall to the edge of the embankment.

Here is our end of the day shot. It shows the little cabin lifted off the ground, stabilised, vertical, and with the front boarding restored.

 

Still to do: The skirting boards, fitting the downpipes and linking to the new drain, refitting the footpath wires (removed to allow work at the back) and reinstating the lever/signal mechanism. 

On the way home we called in at Broadway, to see the work Neal had done on Tuesday, and work going on today.

What couldn't be seen through the CCTV camera was that Neal had fitted the heavy duty framework for the daggerboards at the southern end as well. It shows even more how the (former) toilet block on the end was not under the canopy, but was open to the elements above. We have fitted a hidden roof inside, to make this into a store room, without changing its appearance.

 

 

 

 

At the northern end Neal had fitted half of the dagger boards already. These had been cut to all sorts of different lengths under the glass at Toddington, knotted, numbered, primered, and painted, ready to go.

 

 

This will surely cut a lot of the wind out, from which we suffer up on the scaffold. Also, when we fit the roof we don't want the wind to get underneath it, with the risk of subsequent storm damage.

 

 

 

 

 

One drawback of fitting the dagger boards is that it will deprive CCTV viewers of a lot of what is going on up there. Oh well.

 

On Monday John did a great job in constructing the sixth of the eight window arches along the front, and on Wednesday he and Neal fitted the seventh. 

 

One more to go ! Nearly at the end now.

 

 

 

 

 

 Wednesday with the PWay gang.

'No sleeper changing' was promised. and there wasn't, it was changing point timbers at Winchcombe. At least they didn't have far to go, and the nice warm mess coach was just a few yards away.

 

Pictures by Pete, with thanks. 

This was one of the timbers in question, being extracted. This one is on the main line, but there are no trains for a while now, so it's our chance to get on with it, undisturbed.

 

 

 

 

And here the new timber is in. It's only a short one, being very near to the heel of the turnout.

Notice that the gang is using the Robel obstruction free jacks. They are a bit harder to raise (turning the big T spanner can be difficult for one person) but they are much easier to load into the van and carry around the site, because they are a bit lighter than the solid Duff jacks. Also, as they have a lower profile, they are rather easier to insert under a rail.

 

 

 

 After back filling the crib, the new timber was robelled to pack it securely.

 

 

 

 

Another timber was pulled out of the same turnout, but a bit further along. You can see straight away what is wrong with that one. It's also on the main line.

 

 It too was Robelled, after shoveling.

In the background you can see the welcoming mess coach. With only 10 degrees C and a biting northerly wind, it was certainly very welcome. Shame only that without running services we can't go to the Coffeepot for the traditional end of the day cuppa.

 

 

 

 

Two storms.

Two storms.

We had those over the weekend, and worked Monday - in another storm, a third, and this one without a name. It blew hard, and poured with rain all morning. However, we could not change the day as we had a possession, and that can only happen on Mondays. So here goes.

There were 3 jobs on the list, a maximum if all went well.

 

 

 

 

The first job was to move the last of the three office Portakabins that used to stand next to the Halt at Toddington. When we bought Churchward house all the office staff moved there, and the cabins became redundant. This last one is also falling apart, so it's due for demolition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We off-railed STEVIE and placed the jib over the cabin. But how much did it weigh? Walt asked AI, and once the strain was taken the gauges showed that AI was pretty much on the money. And it was within STEVIE's capacity - just about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEVIE manoeuvered slowly backwards, and all went Okay-ish, until a new factor came in to play. The wind! The cabin swung this way and that, while two of us ran round and tried to stabilise it.

 

 

 

 

And here it is - gone ! The vacated area would make fine seating for our summer customers. You can also see what a fine job was done of repainting the cafe.

 

 

Have you ever seen a dog trying to get a bone through a narrow picket fence? That was the situation that we faced next.  STEVIE could carry the cabin OK, but to get up the drive it had to be end on, and that was too much for the jib to reach. So Dave was drafted in with the Telehandler, to get a tandem lift.

Tandems of course depend on both cyclists pedalling equally hard, and at times STEVIE was pulling harder than Dave in the Telehandler was pushing, and his end nearly slipped off the forks. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here they go, push and pull. Once they had their rhythm it was fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were asked to place it in the corner, where we had stored our chaired sleepers. These had to go as the re-sited road was going to go through there, although now it may not be.

Watch this space therefore. 

 

And there it is, in its new place. It looks as if it is going to be demolished, as the ceiling has come down in one corner, and some of the fascia panelling has fallen off. They have a limited life span.

That was job No.1.

 

 

 

Job No. 2 was to pick up this container and move it to the PWay yard in Winchcombe. As it was shorter than the cabin it was a simpler job for STEVIE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This container was not quite so ready to move as the cabin, where everything had been disconnected beforehand. We were surprised to find a sturdy steel wire bearing an electrical cable connecting it with the side of the toilet block. Another cable ran from it to a blue container.

We connected the to cables together, and removed the container from in between them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carrying the container was not so difficult. We got down the drive sideways on, and were soon over the car park and by STEVIE's trolley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here our little train is ready to trundle off to Winchcombe, using the possession that we had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A few slightly disturbing pictures from the station area:

 

 

The original window frames are in a shocking condition. A stationmaster told us that you can see through the frames from the inside out. Unfortunately the company is not well off at the moment, we gather.

 

 

 

Behind the toilet block we found this - an original internal door from the station. How did it get there, and why?

We suspected that this might be the original door from the toilet adjacent to the waiting room, but that was still there, albeit with its original brass fittings removed. Behind it was now shelving and a pile of miscellaneous items, nothing like the historical toilet that was there once.

After the 'train' left for Winchcombe we addressed job No.3 - the removal of two pallets of GWR throughbolt chairs for the 2807 group. We put these chairs to one side when we come across them.

 

 

 

The boot scraper gang for 2807 are transferring their scraping activity to the balcony end of the S&T building at Winchcombe, so this is where we dropped off the fresh supply.

 

 

Passing by the signal box we were saddened to see that it had been defaced once again. Next to the three security cameras fixed to one end, and the recent large LED security light and plastic cable run, the box from Hall Green has now been decorated, right in the middle, by a modern sign for a fire assembly point. Could this not have gone to a less conspicuous place, and leave our heritage fabric respected?

 

 

 As we waited for our little train with container to arrive, we inspected the location where the container was going to go. Two concrete sleepers have been set into the ground to carry the container.

 

 

 

Then, at last, STEVIE arrived and handed over the token, to allow the signalman to set the points and let the RRV reverse back into the sidings.

After derailing, STEVIE picked up the container, and we slowly walked it up the yard to near the spent ballast pile.

 

Here it is then, waiting for its new uses. There is a work bench inside, and it has a power point (if connected). PWay are very happy, and that's one more item removed from the tatty garden centre.

 We put STEVIE back on the rails as it got dark. The newly arrived container can be seen right at the back.

 

 

 

Tuesday at Broadway.

A full canopy gang of three on Tuesday, the first calm day after the storms.

 

 

We've had several days off due to the wind and rain. Although it was sunny on Tuesday, the heavy rain and wind during the previous night had left everything soaked, so no painting was possible up on the steelwork. Persistent puddles of water remained trapped on it all day long.

 

On Tuesday Neal resumed drilling holes and bolting on the supporting woodwork for the roof sheets. He's done the rear fascia woodwork, the rear purlin, the ridge, and on Tuesday he all but finished the platform side purlin. That leaves the woodwork for the platform side fascia board.

 

 

Last Wednesday Neal also attached most of the structural woodwork for the southern end paneling. This involved one of the complicated steel brackets last seen in the container after the green primer was applied. We quickly applied an undercoat (tin of paint in the picture), although the rust had already started again during the storms.

 

Tuesday is S&T's special day, and they were busy all over the station, getting ready for the big switch over to operation from the signal box.  The target date is November 27th ! There will be a two week line block for the Broadway section before the big day, so that everything can be connected and tested. During the Santa season test trains will be sent up the line for testing and crew training. It's all happening.

 

 

The Broadway cafe was busy on Tuesday, and, with a different crew, we were made very welcome for our coffee and cake. We noticed these boot scrapers and rail ends for sale. Ever the innovator, PWay Andy is now offering for sale rail ends that have been shotblasted and powder coated in different colours. He will also sell you lengths of FB rail for variable lengths on order, just give him a chance to cut them to length. There's even an old telegraph insulator for sale there.

 

 

Tuesday saw two steam locos on duty, as it was half term and there were lots of grandparents with grandchildren out for the day. After making paper dolls at Winchcombe, the ice cream at Broadway was much in demand.

 

We were delighted to see John back on brick laying, after rectifying two arches with which he wasn't entirely happy. Tuesday saw him complete a new arch, the fourth out of eight to do. 

 

The first four arches, two windows, a doorway, and a window.

 These are the completed arches, seen from the south end.

 

This shot shows a doorway and the newly built fourth arch. Pointing was still do do at the time of this shot.

 

We took this picture to show the woodwork that Neal is bolting to the top of the ridge and the purlin. The roof will sit on these angled timbers. On the right is the fascia board, suspended in the air over the loop road. That should have woodwork bolted on from the outside.

At the end of the day Neal was bolting down the second to last timber on to the platform side ridge. One more bit to go, he told us. Notice also the timber running L to R at the level of his knees, which is new and which will support the end boarding here. Also the suspended fascia board, with no scaffolding under it.

As the light began to fade we walked back to car car, and noticed how shabby the Broadway exterior window frames were starting to look. The paint has completely gone here, exposing the naked woodwork underneath. 

 

Inside the station it was all go. It really was quite busy on Tuesday, which was good to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers at Gotherington.

 

All four of us on site at Gotherington today, perhaps one of the last fine days of the season. We actually sat outside, although we have made the Pagoda our home for now. 

 

 

 

As it was dry, we got out the paint and started primering the wood - new T&G that Bryan bought for the hut, and some second hand planks that Dave managed to scrounge. Dave has managed to produce a lot of second hand wood for the team, not only at Gotherington, but also for the platelayer's hut, where it is much in evidence.

 

 

 

 

Julian (above) was using a sander to smooth down Dave's rough sawn planks, while Paul gave the T&G the bevelled edge that was missing. The platform outside the Pagoda was just the right height for a work bench, if you stood on the track.

 

 

 

 

The T&G was very new wood and unfortunately none of us had thought to bring knotting fluid, to seal the knots, at least at the front. So we primered the rear (inside of the cabin) and will do knotting next time.

 

 

 

The Black 5 was on duty today, together with 2807 during this half term holiday period. 

 

 

 

 

 

After dealing with the wood we took off the rotten panels at the front. The sides and rear are also chewed along the bottom - due to the hut's low position, half in the ground - but not so bad and we think we can just cover up the damage by fitting new skirting boards.

 

 

 

 

Taking off the original boards revealed the true extent of the decay of the front frame member, and also its - dare we say it - slightly bodged construction. It was in 3 bits, bolted together.

 

Here is the bottom frame member extracted, with the end turning to fine dust, as you can see. 

 

 

This is the middle bit of the three piece frame, bolted together, but not very stiff. Bryan recovered and repaired the hut originally, but has no recollection at all of this makeshift repair. He was amazed.

 

 

 

Today we were able to fit the replacement timber, a length of 4x2 that we found in a wood pile at Winchcombe. We gave it two coats of fence preservative first, some of the black stuff left over from the platelayer's hut job. With a stiffer construction now, and with the hut off the ground and away from the damp, this newer piece of the frame should last a lot longer.

 

 

As winter approaches Paul got his trusty electric frying pan out. Paul loves cooking for us; he used to be the PWay gang's regular cook in the mess coach for years, until COVID put a stop to his gastronomic productions. We miss that! But not the Usketeers, and it was a priveledge to enjoy his home made baps with thick slices of bacon in them, ketchup and Daddy's sauce.

 

Note the angle iron at the back supporting our selection of Cup-a-soup packets. We look after oureselves. 

 

Mrs. Dave baked a fruitcake, so we actually had the option of a three course meal in the Pagoda (but settled for a mains and a pudding).

During a sunny spell we were able to actually sit outside in the warm, and enjoy watching the passing trains (and waving graciously like three old Queen Mothers).

 

Mid afternoon we called it a day, as without the well knotted and primered new boards we were unable to close the gap at the front again. Luckily we had a tarp that was just the right size, so the hut is at least weatherproof, until next time.