Out on the track, and a new look over the fence.

 Saturday on the PWay.

It was hot, and we were outdoors most of the day, without shelter. But it's part of our routine, so we slap on the sun lotion, cover up and think of rainy November days.

Saturday was the first of the ghost trains, trial runs to see how our new COVID arrangements would work - only two round trips a day, mostly compartment stock, social distancing, some limited catering. They went well, we understand, so August 15th we are off, trains will rumble by again.

 

Saturday we were out along the line checking up on various aspects brought to light by our track walkers, prior to the resumption of the trains.

Here we are on the bridge at Little Buckland, where we came to fit a set of blind fishplates to a weld that we considered unsatisfactory.

 

 

 

 

 

   Steve can be seen with one pair of plates fitted over the weld on the left, and on the right he is doing up the other set. In the background Nick seems to be having his laces done up with a spanner.

That should stop them coming undone ! 

 

Next we went to Stanton yard to have a look at the Broadway extension southern breather, as it needs to be in tip top condition with this heat we've got at the moment.

Great was our surprise when we found that someone had wrenched the gatepost off. It was bent in half at ground level, by what appeared to be a big vehicle, coming from the inside. Mystery. Can anyone clarify this?

 

 

 

After giving the breather a liberal does of PWay grease, we skipped the planned replacement of an end post at Toddington (too hot to undo the insulated fishplate in question) and went to Winchcombe to check up on a number of small issues reported by the track walkers.

Here we were able to enjoy the sight of the first post-lockdown train passing through. It was Dinmore Manor, with 6 on (instead of the usual 8) and filled with volunteer 'test dummies'. They did not stop, slowing only to pick up the next section token.

 

Numerous catering volunteers sat under the station canopy enjoying the breeze (they were there to practice loading the refreshments ordered by passengers) and we availed ourselves of a Peppermint Magnum, which went down extremely well. We recommend!

Then it was on to join the gang, which was at the southern loop turnout, in the distance on this picture extra social distancing chairs were in evidence.

 

 

 

 

This southern turnout is motor operated, and as we wanted to inspect both blades we phoned the signalman to ask him to move them from one side to the other, remotely.

That was a bit spooky, as we sat and waited - see Steve in the picture- and then suddenly it whirred into action.

 

 

 

 

 

Inspection of the blades complete, we headed back to the station to eat our sandwiches in the shade.

After a jolly cold collation we headed off for Bishops Cleeve, that station that isn't a station any more.

We parked by the nursery (formerly the British legion, before that the goods yard) and then walked south to two Hedges Bridge, where we inspected and greased the southern breather of the CWR that goes through the former station area.

 

Here we came across several regrettable instances of casual vandalism and littering.

Because we have a virus crisis, the litter now includes face masks....

 

... empty plastic bottles tossed into the trackbed by the foot crossing...

.... a telephone handset, and (not photographed), an almost new set of trainers. What were they doing there?

Also not photographed, the indestructible wetwipes people are flushing down the toilet these days. And, reported by a colleague, the pedestrian crossing gates first vandalised twice in succession, then blocked open with cable ties.

What's going on at Bishops Cleeve?

Then we walked the half mile north to the other end of the CWR, to check and grease the northern breather.

By now the second down trip from Toddington was getting nearer, so job done we walked back to the cars to await the train.

These trains have been so rare over the last 5 months that even a tender first photograph is worth the while. Nick took a film of the train passing, and collected a wave from the fireman.

The high, dark pines in the background mark the actual site of the station buildings, knocked down in the early 1960s.

After that we called it a day, on this very hot day. We decided to treat ourselves to a cold drink outside the local Goughs brewery, where they had installed a little terrace and a bar, no doubt with a supply pipe leading straight back into the building...

After tidying up the tools, we had the chance for one more shot of Dinmore Manor, this time near the end of its second journey, here passing through Winchcombe again.

Reports are that everything went swimmingly, so now we need those trains filled as much as is allowed, for us to glean a small profit. We need you! So do come and book, electronically through our website.

See ya !

A look over the fence - Statfold Barn railway

An invitation to an enthusiasts' day tempted two of us to visit this remarkable little railway centre, which is actually on a working farm, near Tamworth. It's a private affair, open from time to time, so keep your eye on events if you would like to visit. We paid £13 for a day of unlimited free rides and a cup of tea in their cafe. More food is in the form of burger vans by the main entrance.

We put the postcode into the SatNav but that took us, from Broadway, on a slow crawl through Tamworth, and it's better if you go via the M42, overshoot a bit and come off at Appleby Magna, then go back down the B5493 to the SBR for 5 miles.

As you come in, this is what you see straight away - three platforms busy with NG trains (one is almost hidden by bushes on the left). Who could imagine that this is a farm? It's actually a seeds business manufacturing extracted oil, so one side of the site is devoted to pure commercial stuff, while the other side is devoted to the railway, and a long, newly laid railway line goes off across the fields and almost out of sight. It must be over a mile long, and who can say that they have that in their garden!

There were at least 4 if not 5 trains in operation, most topped and tailed or double headed. One was a pure freight train, just for fun. A double decker tram also had its own line, but when we tried to board it we were told it had gone back to its shed 'for lunch' and we took this to mean recharging its batteries, as there is no overhead wire. The people we met were very friendly.

The gauge is basically 2ft, but to meet the needs of the vast collection of NG locos there are several other gauges in evidence, which leads to interesting pieces of track, such as this one, leading away from one of the loco sheds.

There is also the biggest collection of cast iron signs we have ever seen, mostly in the main exhibition shed, but also on various walls such as here. 

All the older looking outhouses seems to be replica new builds, done in period style and incorporating various bits of architectural salvage. Very well done.

SRAGI No.1 from Java

Many of the engines are from sugar railways, so you get not only a large variety of manufacturers, but also of interesting wheel arrangements. Almost all were immaculate and indeed in working condition. Sragi No.1 was not working on our day, but the firebox was still warm from recent use.

We are dyed in the wool GWR enthusiasts, but the SBR site is fascinating if only for its engineering aspects, with many things we had never seen before. It's well worth a visit.

In the middle of the site is the (private!) farmhouse, with a back garden that leads down to a lake. This lake (of course) had a 2ft gauge railway right round it, and you could ride on it, or take a charming picture of it from various viewpoints:

The motive power here is a little Kerr Stuart saddletank, which has its own little engine house, complete with '1895' date stone over the arch.

The whole site has an air of quality about it. Everything works well and is thoughtfully executed.

The little Kerr Stuart had an interesting motion, which you don't see very often. It is round in section, instead of rectangular. And why not?

Shortly after the three platforms a viewing area has been created, which gives a great place to watch the comings and goings, which are very frequent, and signalled too!

Here's ALPHA, a little 1922 Hudswell with special SBR stock. The signal gantry is larger than anything we've got on the GWSR.

Coming back out is a double header with JACK LANE and WENDY, a donation of 2019 and already in service.

The signal box is a little gem, very busy and with its own little locking room down some steps. That makes sure that it is more in scale with 2ft gauge.

One of the stars was the Garratt of course. There are more engines running than trains, so every now and then there is a swap and the retiree goes and takes water by the viewing platform. K1 was just joining the service trains again.

A Garratt? This we have to see. So we made this train the one we were going to take to the end of the line across the fields, where there is a balloon loop. We're just off in this picture.

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are in the rear of the Garratt hauled train at the balloon, just about to be overtaken by a saddletank whose name we couldn't read, and which had a humungous whistle.

The red tent is for a signalman, who coordinated the very busy arrivals and departures at this location, where there could be three trains at once.

 

After the train in the previous picture overtook us, we followed on round the tight curves, safe in the knowledge that every vehicle was on bogies.

On the way back we stopped half way along at Oak Tree Halt, which is the entrance to the cafe, shop and exhibition hall with turntable.

The pointwork is interesting again. This is also the stop for the shuttle tram (when it's not 'having its lunch')

 

This is the first of two large indoor areas. It's the shop and cafe area, with a viewing gallery linking it to a workshop that you can also see (see below).

Under COVID arrangements you sit at very large tables, 2m apart, even seated. You are asked to wear a mask indoors and on the train, but you can take it off when eating here.

Yours truly availed himself of an overly crumbly lemon tartlet, which immediately went the wrong way down the throat.

 

The resulting coughing fit, quite impossible to suppress, caused some rather worried faces all round. We might have said: I have a bomb! It was the same effect....

 

Here is the view of the adjoining hall from the viewing gallery

Everything is very neat; it looks as if you could eat off that floor.

To think that we walked in the ballast in the David Page shed for 20 years at Toddington, until we received a kind legacy to pay for a floor.

If you want to see the exhibition shed (or roundhouse as they call it, although the Barn in Statfold Barn was a better description) you pass by this amazing exhibition piece, high up under the ceiling.

It's PAKIS BAKU No.1, a 120 year old O&K well tank which is in working order, but not going to run anytime soon from up there. It's parked on a wagon chassis. You can still see the brake reservoir.

Finally you get to the main hall, which, despite the fact that during this enthusiasts' day many engines were out and running, is packed with interesting, mainly 2ft gauge locos from all over the world. It's fascinating stuff. Again there is a viewing gallery, and in the middle there is a home made turntable which is in regular use. Among interesting items that we saw, not always easy to photograph well, were a WW2 searchlight on a NG wagon, a 'Galloping Goose' half bus, half truck on 2ft bogies, two steam engines converted to electric propulsion, and an 'as found' WW1 Baldwin on a truck.

 

 

JATIBARANG No. 9

 This 1930s Mallet, erected by Jung from 'Jungenthal bei Kirchen an der Sieg' (who needs a postcode when the whole address is on the worksplate) was so beautifully painted it was almost good enough to eat. It was operational too, but not today. It was formerly on a sugar mill in Indonesia.

This Peckett inspired us too, with its long, lowslung outline. It was built fairly recently in 1944 for Harrogate gasworks and is, like so many others, an operational loco.

Going back to the centre we found a number of engineering workshops, and these have become a useful revenue earning sideline for the complex. It's becoming a centre of expertise.

The range of services include boilerwork, as can be seen from these outer firebox sides on this 1931 example, with another one being worked on behind the hook at the back.

Another workshop, not open due to COVID circulation issues, was full of metalworking machines, and outside that we came across a pair of very large con rods, much too big to fit anything on site. These turned out to be a new set for the Patriot project, at the SBR for some additional work. Who'd have guessed!

 

An item of personal interest was this anonymous standard gauge industrial 0-6-0. It's on temporary bogies here, off the turntable by the main gate.

HASTINGS after

 

This is a 1888 built Hunslet, which was bought by the K&ESR, life expired, in 1964 and was thus one of the first locos they ever had. Originally named LIVERPOOL, it last carried the name HASTINGS on the K&ESR. According to the notice it was fired up once in 1965 to half boiler pressure, but what they saw was so worrying that they never used it again.

It has now been bought by a K&ESR supporter, and after extensive boiler work is not far from running again, finally, after all these years.

 

 

From your blogger's personal collection is this picture of HASTINGS below:

HASTINGS before.

It shows HASTINGS in the late 1960s at Tenterden, after repainting in the then K&ESR house colours and after its aborted steaming. Parked at the buffer stop end of the siding, it already looks as if the next steaming date is some way in the future.

In front of the engineering works was this interesting vehicle, belonging to an employee to whom we spoke. It's a 406 series Unimog, once an aircraft towing unit and as such fitted with a double cab. It is due to be paired with a beautiful showman's caravan, which can just be glimpsed behind. Thanks to the double cab, the whole family can be accommodated in front.

A parting shot before we go, here is CLOISTER and SYBIL MARY just setting off with a freight train. It earns no revenue, it's just for fun.

Wonderful.

The signal is 'off' too, you can see the box in the distance.

By the main gate our attention was drawn as we left by this interesting lorry (the railway also runs road and rail events).

This is a barn find that was in pretty ruinous state, as the brand new cab can witness. It' a 1920s Godfredson with solid tyres, made in the US.

What struck us particularly was, like the modern tipper trucks we receive with stone from the local quarries, you can open the rear door remotely from the cab with the green lever in the picture.

 

What must have been quite an innovation at the time was the tipper mechanism in the centre of the picture. It is unlike anything we see today. The hydraulic cylinder points up, and as it expands it drags the leading edge of the bed with it via a cable over a pair of rollers. How much simpler is today's ram underneath the bed! 

 

 

 

All in all a very impressive collection, with great touches of quality throughout. We enjoyed ourselves, and were sorry we didn't invite our ladyfolk. Next time better!

If you want to know when they are open again, here is a list of events:

https://statfoldbarnrailway.co.uk/events/

Other business

Another batch of John Lees' PWay and Broadway extension pictures has been published on the Flickr site. This is the link if you would like to look through them:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73536293@N02/50087065921/in/dateposted-public/

There are about another 100 to go, then that is the whole span of his career with the GWSR.

 

                                  ++++++++++++++++ ***** +++++++++++++++++++++

The canopy completion and footbridge team at Broadway have found a way through to resuming work. We've had the necessary risk assessments done and received the approval to go, and we think we can start in the very near future. A minor obstacle remains, so have patience. We all want to get going again!