An expedition.

Thursday at Broadway.

Two of us again. Neal put the last staircase panel back on; and Yours Truly painted window frames, raked the platform and had a go at clearing out the construction container.

 

 

 

 

The third of the three roof panels needed a slot cut for the stanchion, with the edges turned up for the flashing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fitting the last panel was tricky to get right. It ended up one corrugation out, a very difficult thing to rectify, as all the other panels are holding the one you want to move into its place.

A lot of levering, and a sharp tap from the outside finally persuaded the panel to hop along one row. 

 

 

 

Betton Grange was out today, twinned with a diesel on the green timetable. 

 

 

 

 

Some of the stone ballast from the 4 Dogfish had been dumped further along the platform, but in a bit of a hurry.

Together we shovelled and raked the easiest part (it was 28 degrees on Thursday) so that it was +/- level. The bigger pile in the distance will have to be shifted with a mini digger, or several volunteers on a colder day. 

 

 

 

The Sulzer engined diesel ran round mid afternoon, with a plop-plop-plop that, if you closed your eyes, could have come from a tramp steamer.

 

 

 

At the far end of P2 we were surprised to find this bicycle, cut in half.

 

What could it be doing there? 

 

 

 

 

 

Having spent some time in the construction container we decided to explore further into it, as there seemed to be several items in it that made no sense ( - any more).

We extracted a goodly pile of stuff. Some is for the skip, and some might be turned into cash by the RATs trust shop at Toddington.

Here is the wooden, temporary signal box name plate, now replaced by a proper metal one. If it is of interest to you, it'll be in the RATs shop. The box in the foreground is empty except for some shelving. It is marked BR AMBULANCE but inside the lid it says 'LMS'.

It will also be in the RATs shop.  Let's turn it into cash to support the railway!

 

 

 

Saturday - an expedition.

This was with 4 members of the RATs trust (which supports GWSR railway heritage) to a field near Pewsey. The field used to be part of Pewsey GWR goods yard, and has two huts in it with could be of interest to our railway.

The field is under threat of redevelopment for housing, so the owner would prefer to pass the huts on to a sympathetic museum. The expedition was to determine what it was that needed to be done to move the two huts, and whether they were suitable candidates on the GWSR. 

In summary, these are the two huts involved, after clearing of undergrowth. This one is a classic lamp hut, currently in use as a chicken shed. It is from Pewsey station itself, and was moved into the field several years ago.

 

The other is a concrete panel PWay yard hut. Pewsey was the local centre for the area's track gang. It was built in the early 1950s, so is now 70 odd years old.

 

 

 

This is how we found the lamp hut. It was covered in chicken wire, a chicken coop kept by a boat resident on the nearby Kennet & Avon canal.

 

 

 

 

 

The hut is not exactly immaculate, a bit as one might expect. Some sheets are moth eaten such as here at the corner.

The door & window are intact and not bad.  

The roof has been replaced by sheets at right angles to the usual direction, and the ventilator is gone (possibly found in the weeds nearby) 

 

 

 

 

The interior was very chickeny... this was all turfed out. The hut had a raised floor, which (like one at Broadway) is not authentic.

Under the floor was....well, what did you expect? 

 

Found under the floor, a previous resident. Now wash your hands, please.

 

Keith and Mike from the RATs trust bring out the false floor.

In the background is the concrete panel hut. 

 

 

The false floor was laid on bits of S&T troughing.

The area around the hut was cleared of brushwood, some agricultural equipment and more bits of S&T troughing.

After an exploratory dig in one corner we determined that it should be an easy lift on to a HIAB lorry parked next to it, after a short journey across a field. 

The concrete shed was carefully examined, so that we could agree on how it was put together. In this more distant shot you can see that the roof consists of 5 concrete panels each side. Each panel has a downward facing rim around it, and this hooks into the 6 trusses in such a way that any rain in between the panels is guided down the roof and away by a central groove in each truss. The ridge is hollow, and covers two upturned grooves at the top of the panels. The bottom end is loose. So it's a sort of self locking construction kit. There were no leaks inside. The size is 12' x 15'.

The sides consist of panels which fit between the uprights, and are locked in by wooden frames.

The uprights stand on a ring of shaped concrete plinths. The three windows are Crittall type, with brass furniture. 

This is a truss, seen from the end. The hole in it was used during assembly. A crane would be needed to disassemble the hut, as many parts will be quite heavy. Not all the concrete is in good condition, with evidence of spalling and some cracks found.

 

 

 

 

We observed very few nuts and bolts, the hut was mostly held together by gravity and interlocking.

The roof area under the ridge did have fixing straps, which held the ridge down from inside. 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the 3 Crittall windows.

The floor was tiled - possibly an afterthought?

There was a substantial stove inside, but with some missing pieces (door, coal hole cover etc). It was marked 'The Nelson'.

We found the picture on the right in a 2024 Facebook post  - so this is what it would look like, if restored. The asking price at the time was £120, and it was described as the type used in Signal Boxes.

 

Our information is that, on the GWR at least, Romesse stoves were used. So the railway origin is not definite, although it did come from a railway hut. 

 

 

After a very hot day digging in the bramble covered corner of a field we treated ourselves to a pint at the local hostelry on the Kennet & Avon. 

 

Bliss ! 

We are now going to debate the next move on the concrete hut - it has concrete issues, and a move/re-erection will require cranes at both ends, plus the cost of the transport.

Monday at Broadway.

 

Another hot day. Yours truly on brambles elimination and some painting; Neal on fine tuning the stanchions, and making sure that everything is going to fit when the big lift comes. It's pencilled in for sometime in August. Scaffolding, crane hire, a lorry for the steelwork waiting at Toddington, it all has to coincide.

 

Measuring up for the big lift meant that Neal had to dig up the bottom of the middle stanchion again, for that final tweak with the bolts.

Luckily he was in the shadows - just about.

Later he measured the height of the stanchions again, with a laser level on the building, and the exact distance of the stanchions from the building.

Although we are not aware of any problem, when we put the roof on the P1 building we noticed that the building was not only out of square, but that the support beams along the front had a tendency to zig-zag. To a degree this can be compensated while drilling the fixing holes. But we recall when on the roof placement job for the P1 building how off putting the zig-zag along the front was, because you didn't know where to place the first truss. Which one was right - the zig, or the zag?

Lets hope that the waiting room (built by a different team) comes out straight. 

Just a reminder at this point of our diesel gala on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

There's a big poster for it at the bottom of the Broadway drive. Featuring Broadway station, of course.

Note also that we have finally cracked, and are running diesel hauled trains this week, due to the very dry trackside. Another lineside fire on Saturday was the clincher.

 

 

 

 

 

PWay on Saturday

... saw the team dropping ballast at Toddington North (amongst other jobs)

Picture: Pete Lightfoot, with thanks.

It looks like double track here (you wish...) but the actual running line is on the right, while the RRV is on our North Carriage Siding.

Extra ballast was dropped in the cess, to make it easier for guards to climb into the brake carriage. 

Usketeers today.

 

Three out of four today. We started the day with a slice of sugar tart from Paul, then walked up the trackbed to the new hut. It is basically finished now; we are in the snagging phase at the moment.

 

 

Dave spent the day fitting a gutter and downpipe. The material is plastic, OK, but it's second hand and black, so not too noticeable. We have no funds for this project, so are doing what we can. The idea of the gutter is to collect the rainwater from the undulations of the wriggly tin, and guide it sideways on to the trackbed, not in front of the door.

 

Paul made himself a small mix and plugged the holes in the back, as well as some pointing of the chimney brickwork that was still outstanding.

 

 

Due to the dry trackside we are now running diesels.This first train from CRC looked pretty thinly sold, but things improved later as the day went on. There seemed to be some group travel, as one carriage had tables laid.

 

Isn't it just easier photographing diesels? If this train was steam hauled, you would be able to see that the driver has shut off steam and is trundling along to see if the inner home was pulled clear.

 

With the class 37 it might be doing 100mph, you just can't tell. 

 

So enjoy the picture, and see for yourself this weekend. It's our diesel gala.

 

 

 

 

 

The crossing train was pulled by the Sulzer, putt-puttering along. They make sure the back of the train is clear of the Winchcombe South points, and then give it the beanz once it's in the tunnel.

 

 

 

Having fitted the gutter, and testing it with some water to check in flowed in the right direction, Dave started on the downpipe.That was a bit more complicated. How would it run, was the puzzle. Also, what second hand pieces did we have in our arsenal?

 

 

 

Paul stood right back, and gave Dave his opinion on whether the downpipe was straight, or not.

 

 

 

Then we got the class 37 out of the tunnel again, but this time looking in the opposite direction. How fast was it going? Hard to tell here....

 

 

 

 

The next visitor was 24 081. In fact all the trains trundle by slowly here, as they can see that the inner home is on. 

 

Our little hut is looking quite smart here, don't you think? Freshly painted, chimney pointed, locks on the doors operational. But there are still minor issues to address. That'll keep us going for a while yet. 

 

We need to find that next project in the meantime.

 

 

 

The last picture shows Dave with the gutter fitted, and the downpipe in place. We're debating what exactly to do with the end. We want the stormwater dropped as far away as possible, but not have the pipe too long, and therefore vulnerable to a kick or an attack with a strimmer.

 

We're giving it some thought until next week.

 

Notice also the foreground. A small change,  but it took Yours Truly all day to get this far. We dug out the compacted ground by the damaged footpath, and placed two second hand blocks to make it wider. The blocks, being second hand, were scavenged from Winchcombe yard and were half filled with concrete. That made them hard to make fit due to excess concrete, and hard to manipulate, as only one hole to hold onto was available.

 

Next week: More concrete blocks on the path.

After our usual cup of tea in the Coffeepot we went to finish off the tarmaccing around the GWR lamp post that we planted a few weeks back. We wanted to let the ground settle first.

The FoWS have de-rusted the post, and applied a coat of primer. Today we finished off the infilling, by topping it off with instant tarmac. Hard work again, but luckily in the shade.

The post still needs its top coat, and the lantern fitting. This is in store. 

There was a slightly unusual manoeuvre at Winchcombe, as the yard shunter came out, ahead of the southbound train, and waited for the northbound train to come in.

The shunter then ran round the back, and drew off the first class coach on the end (ABIGAIL-CHARLOTTE) . Reason not known to Yours Truly, but interesting to watch.

Then on to Toddington, to deliver some more second hand sales items to the RATs hut. They are very happy to receive them, as they need the stock for the diesel gala this weekend.

In the yard, on the unloading (or is that loading?) road was Manston's tender, going home.

 

Then a quick peek at the P2 platform extension job. It's been steady progress, with a planned completion date before the gala.

It's all back in place now,  just the tarmaccing to come.

PWay today.

 

STEVIE was out at Toddington, clearing the lineside at Gretton took place, and a group at CRC was packing dipped joints. 

 

 

Picture by Simon.

A van load of expired sleepers was collected from the lineside in the Gretton area, and taken to Working Lane for LT storage.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Walt on STEVIE assisted the Construction & Maintenance gang with clearing up after near completing the platform extension works.

 

 

Pictures by Walt.

 

Some fine infill was brought in the pink bags, while at the end of the job all the remaining excess materials were taken away.

 

 This included the PWay's blue cube, our mobile site safe. It's now back in our yard at Winchcombe.

 

 

 

Finally for today, Walt took a picture for us of the Hymek that arrived for ther weekend's diesel gala.

 

Hope you enjoy it, hope to see you there! 

A train for Broadway.

 

A train for Broadway.

Thursday was a quiet day, being the first of the 34 degrees C days. Friday will be the next one. But two of us carried on regardless. John is still off site, being not well.

It's not too bad inside the building, where Neal suggested that we cut to size the Thermalite blocks that will fit between the wooden joists that he laid out. They have a gap of 35cm between each of them, shorter than a standard block. 

The block cutting saw, stuck in a block.

So each block will need cutting. How many then, Neal?

Er, 72..... 

Better get started then. We managed half of them by mid afternoon.

 

 

 

We lost track of Neal for a while, being in the building, while Neal was out of it. It seemed suspiciously quiet....

We found him uunder steps, and an exxtension fitted to the stormwater pipe. 

He has plans to backfill this section. 

 

 

 

 

Hinted at in the previous blog post, Neal was replacing the short self tapping polts with longer threaded bolts, drilled and resined glued into the concrete.

 

 

 

 

 

The best place to be on Thursday was under the P1 canopy - in the shade, with a slight breeze. Sadly, the cafe was closed due to the above illness, and we had to get a refreshing, ice cold can of Coke from the garage down on the road. 

We heard French voices, and chatted to a family from Guadeloupe (!), who were new to the idea of railway preservation. We explained that the locomotive would now appear at the other end of the train, and that they had the time to go up and see it. In French.... 

 

Neal, returning from Toddingn to source some nuts for the threaded bolts, reported that a lorry at (already) knocked down the height restriction bar that he had made. Murphy's law, unfortunately. If it can be knocked down, it will be. Our aim is not really to restrict the height of large vehicles, but their weight.There is a big gas main under the approach road. How do we stop heavy vehicles, and guide them down the original approach road??

 

 

Friday, with a special train.

The second of two hot days, but progress marches on. Two of us on site, getting ready for the arrival of a train of 4 Dogfish, loaded with surplus infill from the Cleeve slip works. 

 

 

 

This is where (some of) the infill is going. Neal has cleared some of the building materials stored here, so that the height of the platform infill can be brought to nearer where it needs to be for future tarmaccing.

 

 

 

 

At 11 o'clock the train with the Dogfish arrived, headed by 24081. Chris was the driver; Steve second man. It was lovely to talk to them, and they had some useful heritage tips, of which more later, if we are lucky !

 

 

 We won't deprive you of this lovely enlarged freight train shot in front of Broadway signal box.

 

 

 

After pausing to discuss tactics, the train was pulled ahead until the last wagon was next to the start of the raw platform.

This was back filled about 10 years ago, and has settled since. It now needs beefing up a bit, and the left over spoil from Cleeve was just the thing we needed. 

 

 

 

Neal started on the last Dogfish. The hired in digger was just the right height to see into and empty each wagon, or nearly so. Some remnants will remain in the bottom, and these will be emptied at Toddington.

 

 

As the Dogfish were emptied the train slowly advanced. 

It's a fairly realistic shot of a 1960s freight train heading for Stratford.

 

 

 

Experience learned showed that we needed some boards to stop infill cascading down to the trackside.

Neal shovelled out the ballast and spread it along the platform to bring the level nearer to what the tarmaccers will want, or as here, to permit the laying of 3x2 slabs. 

 

 

 

 

 

Round about lunch time the class 24 left us to go to Toddington, where it was due to collect two recently delivered carriages and take them to Winchcombe.

Here you can see how Neal was able to scoop out the Dogfish.

 

 

 

 

 

The 24 was then caught a couple of hours later by Paul at Winchcombe. Unfortunately he just missed the two carriages, just off camera on the left.

 

 

 

 

A good part of one Dogfish went into this area here, the future circulating area at the foot of the steps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the area after filling. It will be paved, under the canopy extension.

At the back will be a wall of blue brick, to hold back the rising terrain here. The building sits exactly on the change from cutting to embankment - the other end is made up ground already.

 

 

 A view from above gives a good idea of Friday's activities.

 

 Later the train was moved down further still, now propelled by the returning 24081.

 

 

 

 

Inside the building Yours Truly spent most of the day sawing Thermalite blocks.

On the left is the pile generated; in the foreground the pile of offcuts.

The shortened pieces will go in between the joists above. 

 

At one point the train was split in two, with two Dogfish opposite the old office. This is also a low area of infill. Behind are two of the 5x P1 construction containers that will have to be cleared off the site in due course.

Mid afternoon the temperature reached 34 degrees, but fortunately Neal by this time was working in the shade.

The surplus building materials will also need to be cleared in due course, although some of the blues may be used on the retaining wall at the bottom of the steps.  

When P1 was opened for business in 2018, everything was hoisted off the trackbed and on to P2. Now that's our disposal problem to resolve.

 

 

 

PWay on Friday.

On the same hot day a small group was out near Prescott, to deal with a number of kinks that had developed on the track. There was uncertainty over whether this was a thruppenny bit curve (older members) or a 50p curve (the younger ones).

Either way the correct curve was successfully reinstated, using a bit of mechanical muscle, given the high temperature of the day. David provided the picture for us.

Shovelling tools are stacked against the bridge over the lane, but our guess is that they may not have seen that much use on the day... 

Monday at Broadway.

Two members of the canopy gang present.

The hire company came to pick up the digger again, and much of the rest of the day was spent dealing with the aftermath of erecting stanchions, and spreading ballast.

 

 

We completed the last of the 72 cuts to Thermalite blocks, so these are now ready for fitting.

The offcuts were carried to the base of the stanchions, where they will be used as infill.

Up above Neal is refitting the dagger boards, taken off to allow the stanchions to be erected.

 

 

 

 

Three sheets of corrugated iron were originally taken off for the erection of the stanchions. The middle one was easily put back in place; while the other two needed cutting in order to fit around the columns.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day two of the three sheets were back on. It needed a lot of pushing about and cutting to size.

We also gave the 8 small window frames a coat of undercoat in the building materials container.

 

Neal had a go at levelling the ballast emptied from the Dogfish, but it's a big job. Maybe later then. 

 

Not much joy with the suppliers of the canopy glass. We have been offered a size that is thicker than we want, and with a colour that is not further described other than its name. More work is needed here. It doesn't help that John is off sick at the moment, as he was good at ferreting out suppliers.

 

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

Three of us today, with the weather hot, but pleasantly breezy. It's very nice sitting in the lineside hut, where the temperature is much more measured, thanks to the thick sleeper walls.

The jobs for today were to give the roof a second coat of bitumen paint, and to fix the upright sleepers to the concrete floor, just in case they ever think of moving.

 

We got to the site a little later today, after organising a little generator, and a locating rare connecting cable.

By the time we got to the hut the first train was already back from CRC. Trains today seemed emptier than usual - Mrs. Blogger blames the football. She is always right.

Note the two sleepers - these will become benches inside. They came out of the tunnel after a sleeper changing exercise. 

 

 

 

 

The heavy sleepers stand upright on the concrete base, and we think it very unlikely that they will ever move. But just to stop any possible creep over time, we decided to fix them to the floor anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

3850 and Betton Grange were out and about, both fairly open locomotives, in view of the heat.

 

 

 

 

 

We tried this shot from the opposite side of the cutting. It's quite effective, don't you think? The two locomotives today faced in opposite directions, so trains that passed were both tender first at one point, with two smokebox first after that.

 

 

 

We seem to have plenty of the bitumen paint, and its cheap too, so we decided to apply a second coat to the corrugated iron. That's on top of the etch primer, so all in all we hope that the wriggly tin is now waterproof.

 

 

Here's Betton Grange coming back out of the tunnel, this time seen from the opposite side. Quite a pleasing shot, with all those trees about.

 

 

 

Here you can see why we needed that generator - it was to drill fixing holes into the concrete floor. The strip at the bottom holds the sleepers together, and the scews going into the floor will stop any potential creeping.

 

 

 

Having one side of the interior clear of building materials, Dave and Paul brought in the first of the two sleepers destined to become benches.

What would they sit like? They were going to find out.

The verdict: Height OK, but too close to the wall. They need to come out another 4 inches. 

 

 

Betton Grange came by, as seen from the inside of the hut

Dave had brought a length of spare carpet. Before you say, now you're going to far with that replica linesman's hut, the carpet is to protect our bottoms when sitting on a hard, rough sleeper. It's inside, no one will see.

Both jobs (second coat of bitumen on the corrugated iron, and fixing the sleepers to the floor) were completed today.

We are thinking about our next job. What could it be? (there is no money....) 

A view of the  externally complete linesman's hut, with one padlock in place too. The other one needs a bit of fettling, the door seems to have shrunk in the dry heat.

After Usketeering (and a mug of tea with an ice cream in the Coffeepot) we went to Toddington to check up on a couple of items in the news.

The first one was the demolition of the height barrier, put up by Neal to stop heavy lorries from running over the buried high pressure gas main here.

As we know from our Brroadway bridge, it is only a question of time before someone hits your height barrier. And so it was - it took about a month. 

 

 

 

 

 

At the same time we note that work has started to adjust the station approach. An area has been cleared here, and we believe that this is part of a longer held wish to move the newer station approach right up to the fence line.

 

 

 

 

We would also like proper gates. At the moment they are temporary, being made of Heras fencing panels.

This is where the final location of the new station approach might be. 

Note the red and white striped gas main marker, centre right. The new road would be well away from it. (currently running next to it) 

 

 

 

 

Next, we took a look at the Toddington platform, where modern notices have been planted to indicate buried cables.

 

 

 

This does not match our policy of being 'a living railway museum'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a suitable design was found, copies of a BR-WR notice have been made, and the first two examples planted.

Not so garish, and more in keeping with our GWR style. 

You see, it can be done, with a bit of thought and care. 

 

 

 

 

Finally, STEVIE was out Tuesday and Wednesday, helping the team lengthening the Toddington platforms.

 

The attraction here is that STEVIE can not only do the heavy lifting of the slabs, but we own a scissors sleeper lifter which was just right for placing the slabs as well.

 

These pictures come to us from Walt (for STEVIE) and Paul (for the Pway). 

 

At the end of the day the platform end, now lengthened and with new steps, looked like this. It was hoped to complete the job for the diesel gala. Almost there now.

 

 

PWay on Wednesday.

A slightly smaller gang today, no doubt a combination of the heat and the football. Yes, it affects volunteers too. 

 

The job, as so often, was resleepering along the Gretton straight. Between the tunnel mouth and near Prescott we have a long stretch of original second hand sleepers of the early 1990s. These are all starting to go now. Nine sleepers were changed, an excellent performance given the hot weather.

The team watches Betton Grange trundle by.

 

 

 

 

 

The day was also an opportunity to assess our newest Lookout recruit - David R.

He qualified. 

 

 

 

 

A smart 26043 was on the diesel service at the end of the day.

 

 

Finally the sleepers removed from the track have been placed next to the roadway, waiting to be transferred to one of our LT storage sites.

In the meantime they can enjoy the view towards the Malverns, as we did. (Or is that Breedon Hill...?)

 

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Technical note - the page view counter is going crazy. Monthly views of this blog would average around 15 - 20.000, when they suddenly rose to 100.000, then fell a bit, and last week shot to 197.000!

Perhaps we should engage the Google Ads function - that would raise money for the railway, but readers might not find it so pleasant. Any thoughts?