A second cill.

Saturday

No PWay work, due to holidays of key people. They are allowed a few days off, you know.

Monday at Broadway

Another 55 T&G boards were given a topcoat on one side on Monday. All 110 of them are now ready to go on. They can't go on yet, until we have fitted all the risers though.

Fitting second hand risers is slow work. They need stripping of all the rusted screws that held them on before, and some of the treads have also got little bits of left over screw sticking out of them.

The two pictures show a 'during' and an 'after' view on Monday, during which the top half of the steps was done, and a bit more.

The  Monday Broadway Maintenance team has also been busy making the dagger boards for the last part of the canopy, as you can see in this picture. Using the jig illustrated earlier, they have been very productive, and soon it will be their turn to paint everything in 5 coats of paint and one of preservative!

Tuesday at Broadway

One man down on Tuesday, due to personal commitments. Quite a lively day at the station though, apparently it was the first day of the school holidays, and it was busy.

 

We've got an earlier train on the timetable now, it arrives from CRC at Broadway at 10.39, whereas previously the earliest arrival was 11.49.

There was actually a small queue out of the booking office, and more people were coming up the drive. Great!

 

 

When that 10.39 arrival, headed by 4270, trundled in, the platform was pretty crowded, more than we've seen for a long time. There wasn't even a coach party to account for this.

At the moment, this earlier train, which we think was designed to help passengers from CRC, is actually more attractive to those from Broadway. Whatever! As long as it sells tickets.

We asked the station staff how many tickets they had sold, and heard that most people had booked on line and walked straight through the booking office, holding their phones. So those at Broadway couldn't say how many passengers they had, although someone at HQ probably does.

Painting of the T&G panels continues. This is the lot from Monday, which is now (mostly) dry so can be turned over and done, once again, on the other side in topcoat of light stone.

Up on the centre span is effectively our workshop, so where will we go if we start letting Joe Public up here? We still have the other side to do, with all its cutting, and painting.

This is the view you get when painting, 4270 reversing up to you and rumbling by underneath.

In the foreground a tongue & groove board and the relentless paintbrush. The topcoat is nice and shiny though. We have bought the sealant, and as soon as we have finished with the risers, the boards can go on. They will be attached with galvanised nails and sealant, to stop water getting in between the boards and the supporting wooden frames. This outside wooden framework is not ideal from a conservation point of view, but it's what we have inherited.

Neal had a good tidy up On Tuesday, it really made a difference. Here he is clearing the space below the Cotswolds side steps, which was full of tanalised woodwork for an aborted bin storage place.

Here is a shot near the end of the day of the tidied up area under the steps. Neal's principal reason wasn't the looks though, it was that he couldn't get underneath the steps to fit any more risers. At the end of the day we had 5 more to fit.

Another busy train was the 15.06 arrival, here hauled by Foremarke Hall, with, as we discovered, a growling class 37 on the other end. No need to run round then, and the train soon left again, with the Hall being dragged along at the rear.

Why won't he wave his flag?

The Heritage Herald isn't strictly a diesel enthusiast, but if we have to admit to liking one of them, it would be the class 37. The way it bellows, as the engine adjusts to the movements of the controller. Noise we like!

37 215 - one of two class 37s at home with us - bellowed a little bit as it dragged the heavy train out of the station, and if you are patient, you can hear it open up as it accelerates out of the station limits once it reaches the Childswickham Road bridge. We recorded that here:

https://youtu.be/hMkwwuq2_fE

Wednesday on the Usk project.

A day of rain and sunshine, so we were glad of the Oak tree's protection to dive under.

While there was a bit of sun, we gave the big window a coat of undercoat to protect it further.

We put the big window in its future place again, so that we could work out what needed to be done to the blues that we are going to use as the replacement sill (this window being wider than the one that collapsed at Usk). A wedge will be sliced off each brick, to give a level edge on top for the window to sit on.

Why won't you run for us, Maxie?

We had big problems with Maxie today. She would run only for very short periods, then stop. We got the experts round for a diagnosis. We spent a lot of time at the start of the day trying to work out what is going on. Fuel contamination sounds like the most likely cause.

While the experts gathered around Maxie, Dave decided to do a bit of very necessary back filling. If we want to lay another course on this side, the back has to come up first.

Remember, every new outside course needs an inside one first.

To help Dave along, we got him lots of smaller stones, all saved from the Usk demolition.

Jonathan also got some from elsewhere on site, which was very helpful. When back filling, you often need a little stone that is - just so. So it's nice to have some choice.

Near the end of the morning we got some serious rain, so we really couldn't lay any more mortar in that. We decided to have lunch during the rain, to make good use of the time wasted. The nearest dry place was in front of the 40th Anniversary exhibition, where we had to scratch around for some dry seating. We were allowed to borrow one folding chair from inside, which was very kind, as Jonathan complained bitterly about having to sit on a wet trolley.

After lunch there was another dry spell, so it was back to work, but without Maxie. We had to resort to the basics, and prepare our mix on a piece of plywood. Having had a petrol mixer all this time, we had almost forgotten how to do this!

The mixing by hand gave us another hour or so of work, so we had a go at another layer on the western side, the side where we put on a 4 inch layer last week. This time the stones that fitted best were about 4 1/2 inches high, bearing in mind that we had to level off at the 700mm mark along a line drawn between the two quoins on the corners. This will be the level of the sill here. A last course of similar height will achieve that.

In between times John and yours truly were block cleaning. The old mortar has to come off, but not too hard, as it's a softish sandstone that we have. The ideal tool is this 'brickie's hammer', which has a renewable edge on the left.

What is the matter with you, Maxie?

Jonathan could be seen investigating Maxie, and eventually he produced a carburettor that not only oozed a remnant of petrol with impurities in it, but also evidence of a choke that wasn't actually connected to its lever. This allowed the choke to flutter, which wouldn't have helped at all.

Backing up completed, Dave joined John with this next course, which we had spent most of the morning fetching, bit by bit, from the 4 inch pile. It took a long time to get it somewhere near level, with uneven blocks as a raw material. You can see the line we need to reach here - another course to go then. Those dollops of mortar indicate where the cill is going to go.

In this picture Paul and Dave are cheating a bit, as they have started the next course (the one touching the line) only along the bit where the cill will sit. They want that on today. It meant we had to find 5 inch blocks on the hoof to fit, pressure! All while respecting the overlaps between the joints.

Work always stopped when a train went by. Waving is obligatory, it seems to keep the passengers happy, they always wave back. Foremarke Hall and 4270 were doing the honours today.

And here is Foremarke Hall's partner just pulling out of Winchcombe, and you get an overview of the site as it is today. Note the hole on the right, that is where we have used up stone now in the building. On the left is John, block cleaning today. You can also see that two of the walls are waist high now.

During our elevenses we popped over to the joinery shop in C&W with a humble request: Did they have any scraps of wood that we could use to make another copy of the GWR leaflet rack? Plastic leaflet holders don't fit in with the 1904 image we are aiming for at Broadway. The reply was that they probably could help us, but did we have a cutting list? Not really, but we did have the copy made by Dave at Broadway, based on a photograph of an original.

At the end of the day we were called back over to the joinery, and those lovely chaps had made us a sort of flat pack of the leaflet rack! There were little taped up piles marked 'Front', 'back', dividers' etc etc. Now all we have to do is assemble it, it was no trouble for them, but generated a lot of happiness. And by the looks on their faces, they enjoyed doing it too.

Thank you, guys!

Our kit of parts, and two happy 'artistes'.

Here is the row of 5 inch blocks Paul and Dave laid to support the cill.

As you can see, we have a few more of them to lay left and right of them, but that shouldn't take too long next time.

The actual cill is on the ground, it's the long slab with the bottle on it.

We can't show you the cill actually going on, as by that time of day there were only the three of us, and no one to hold the camera. But there it is, it's up. Now John and Dave are pointing their work.

The last deed of the day was the pointing of the backing up inside.

You can just about make out the cill, now in its place.

 

 

 

 

After a bit of discussion, we have ordered a SS time capsule to bury in the stonework. This was paid for by a blog reader, who sent us a link to the relevant website. Thank you, Sir!

What to put in it? There will be a sheet with the names of those who built the hut, a description of where it came from, some 2021 coins, some GWSR tickets, perhaps a COVID mask and perhaps a newspaper. It depends a bit just how big this time capsule is when we get it.

 

 

 Derek's 1967 steam pictures

More 1967 steam pictures from Derek, this time from the North Wales Narrow Gauge, 54 years ago:

These photographs where taken on a visit to the Ffestiniog Railway on 4th August 1967.

  The first is of Prince refuelling at Porthmadog. [A18.01]

 Fuelling completed. [A18.02] 

 

 Earl of Merioneth attaching stock at Porthmadog. [A18.03]

 Prince and Earl of Merioneth double heading the 12:05pm ex Porthmadog. [A18.04]

 

The same train between Penrhyn And Tan-y-Bwlch. [A18.05]

 

Finally, Earl of Merioneth and Prince waiting to depart on the return journey to Porthmadog. [A18.06] 

 

Remember that you can order full sized scans of any of these slides (about 5Mb) through breva2011 (at) hotmail.co.uk.

Halcyon days

Saturday in Toddington cutting

Having connected the through road to the replacement crossing last Monday, the Saturday gang was tasked with connecting the diverging road. This did not meet the crossing ends, being three inches or so out.

We took the tools up to Toddington. Being a tad early - we can't do anything until 10 o'clock - we had a look in the diesel shed.

A rather beautifully painted class 47/0 sat in its shiny blue and yellow coat.

Bert Ferrule and Mike got a bit carried away, and tried to push it outside for a better look. Some resistance though was offered by 112 tons of the class 47/3 behind.

Finally the 10 o'clock train left for Cheltenham, here collecting the token from the Toddington signalman. We were then able to ask him for a line block for a trolley with which to push our kit up to the work site at the north carriage siding turnout.

Here it is. Bottom left is the joint that is 1 inch out; the other end of that was 3 inches out. In the centre is the through road, already in use if you can read the shiny wear mark correctly.

The southern end of that mismatch wasn't too hard. We just moved the first base plate to the side by an inch, re-drilled and re-bolted it. Fishplates on, job done.

The second half of the job was for the northern end, and that was a lot more work. The siding and the new crossing were 3 inches adrift. A major digging out of sleepers was required, to shift things into a better position.

Over a 10 yard length the chair screws were removed, and the base plates with a rail moved to one side. This exposed the old screw holes, which were then plugged.

 

 

The plugs then had to be sawn off, here done with great enthusiasm by Nick.

Getting down and dirty like that got Nick - very dirty. There was oil everywhere.

Trains ran of course, today with Dinmore Manor and as here, with P&O. Allowing for COVID seating restrictions, they seemed quite well filled, but this is our peak month too, under normal trading circumstances.

Things changed on Tuesday for the better, after the removal of legally required social distancing.

We look up at him, and he looks down on us. The driver of 35006.

We also had to slue the start of the siding over by 3 inches. This was done with 3 slueing jacks, and a big Duff jack against the running line (which we prayed would stay in place.)

Luckily the track moved, and the main line didn't.

After lunch, things really began to hot up, and we reached 29.5 degrees C. But - we had broken the back of the job, we were almost done.

Here is the 'end of the day' shot. Look how smoothly the two rails in the middle meet the (orange coloured) new crossing in the middle, and emerge in a straight line on the other side. Wasn't like that in the morning. The TSR is still in place, but should be removed after some minor jobs remaining on Wednesday.

The effect of the heat can be seen on the two volunteers on the right. By mid afternoon the small amount of shade to which we could escape (granted by the small tree on the right) had moved around, and we were completely exposed to the merciless sun.

Seven Magnums, please.

On the way home we stopped at the Spar shop, and treated ourselves to an armful of ice creams. Bert Ferrule was the generous buyer of todays' round.

Monday at Broadway.

 

 

 

 

More painting - will it never end? On Monday the 110 T&G boards were treated to a coat of undercoat on one side (55 specimens) and a coat of topcoat on one side (another 55 specimens).

That took pretty much all day, and left the centre span full of sticky bits of board all over the place, blocking all movement.

 

Neal had a good tidy up in the morning, and in the afternoon started fitting the risers on the Cotswolds side steps. 

Dealing with bent, old wood sometimes means using a G clamp, with a long stick and a hammer.

Monday was a non running day, right?

A distant 'bee-bah' woke us from our heat induced slumbers, to find the blue class 37 trundle into Broadway with three redundant PWay vehicles. Not so 'non-running' after all then.

The Growler ran round the little consist - a Mermaid, and two Dogfish - and then pushed them into the north headshunt.

We took a little video of the manoeuvre, but it wasn't exciting enough to put on YouTube - we don't want lots of 'dislikes' because a video is a bit slow.

The class 37 running into Broadway for the second time on Monday

We then resumed out undercoating / topcoating / riser fitting, when a short while later there was another 'Bee-bah' and the class 37 was back again, this time with a rake of 7 maroon coaches in tow.

With a higher weight in tow, this departure ought to be a bit more spectacular, but it wasn't, so that's another video we won't upload. The loco just sort of muttered off, and the driver only gave it some beans once it reached the Childswickham bridge, by which time any sound was already overwhelmed by the passing traffic under Broadway bridge. Oh well, maybe next time.

The second train, we learned, was a positioning move, to get the loco at the right end of the rake. With the Toddington South turnout currently plain lined, a run round possibility at Toddington is out of service for a while, until we get a new or repaired crossing for it.

 

 

Tuesday at Broadway.

An interesting day, the first operating day under the relaxation of the Covid rules. We celebrated with an extra train from CRC, which turned up at Broadway at 10.39 instead of the previous 11.49. We had a look at the population movement, and it seemed that as many people got off as got on from Broadway itself, about 30 of each. It looked quite busy.

Of course this first train is not necessarily significant, as it will take time for people to adjust to new possibilities. It was also very hot indeed, and perhaps people were thinking that this was not the moment to walk the 800 yards under the hot sun into the Broadway village centre. We did hear one couple ask where it was - still a mystery to some.

 

 For the three of us on the footbridge it was another day of painting undercoat on the T&G boards (for yours truly), while Neal and John spent the day fitting extension pieces to the treads, and, as in the picture, fettling the risers which need to go on the back.

John was underneath dealing with rusted off screws from the treads' time at Henley in Arden, while Neal was cutting the risers to fit.

Because it was judged necessary to raise the height of the HIA footbridge at Broadway to suit NR requirements (the subject of some debate), our treads have become wider and the rise higher than before. This is to accommodate the extra height it now has.

At the end of Tuesday quite a lot of risers had been installed on the upper part of the stairs. Not easy, indeed very time consuming, in view of all the old screws sticking out.

Traction for the day was 4270, 7820 and in the latter half of the day, also 37 215.

We are still getting passenger praise for Broadway station, almost every day and this 3 years after opening. People love the building, they are charmed by it, and some think it's an old building that has been carefully restored. Their eyes pop out when we reveal that everything they see, everything, is new, and that the site was levelled in 1963.

A recent anecdote was caught by a volunteer in the shop thus:

John told me that you want to know about the lovely compliments about Broadway and the railway that I received last Thursday when I was working in the shed.  I had just finished talking to some people who had been asking questions about rebuilding Broadway and was standing in the door way  to the shed when a small group of people came over and one lady (obviously from Merseyside)  said she just wanted to tell me that she thought we had done a wonderful job at Broadway.  She then added that she, and I assume the people she was with, were on holiday and returning home the following day and that “today's visit was the highlight of our holiday”.

The praise, even years later, underlines the value of going for a faithful recreation of a 1904 Edwardian building. It's worth it, even if it costs a bit more. At the time of the build some people tried to force through a building that 'looks OK from a distance', arguing that 'all people want is to go for a ride' and that 'people don't look up'.

We're proud of Broadway now though, aren't we!

Yours truly was very lucky to be offered a brief cab ride in 4270 today, his first ever on the GWSR, after 10 years of volunteering.

We found the regulator arrangement interesting, perhaps you will find this too?

It was the little cam on the RH side at the top of the red regulator handle that caught our eye - what was that all about? When you fully close the regulator by pushing the bottom to the left, the other end at the top actuates a linkage that works back down to  a valve at the bottom. What's that all about then?

We learned that the lubrication system works off regulator steam, and ceases when you close the regulator. When you coast with the regulator closed, the valve at the bottom ensures that oil is pushed through the system nevertheless.

Very ingenious. As Michael Caine would say: 'Not many people know that'.

 

 

The penultimate train from Broadway was headed into the station by Dinmore Manor, but that engine didn't run round. It nearly caught us out, as the train didn't stay long, there was a large blue class 37 on the other end, and that bellowed it back out of the station.

Here it is passing Hayles Abbey halt, where we were about to refit a 40 Shillings trespass notice on that vacant post in the foreground. The one we put on in 2017 soon rusted, so we had it professionally shotblasted and zinc coated - it's not going to rust again in a hurry.
 

 

Wednesday on the Usk Project

This must have been the hottest day of the year so far, with the thermometer reaching 31 degrees C in the afternoon. We were lucky to have the shade of the oak tree nearby.

Down boy, down.

We are now slowly getting through the pallets, indeed, we got through two more today, although mostly for storage by size, rather than laying.

Consequently, we decided to bring in a few more of the pallets of blocks and fill that were in the main PWay yard.

Jonathan directed Dave to where they should go.

We used up some of the old cement we had by making a weak mix, and using that and some old bricks to back fill behind the fireplace. We're not using valuable stone blocks for that! No one will ever see it.

Once again we had several visitors during the day. Paul always has the time to explain what we are doing, but from the faces of the visitors left and right of him, there was some scepticism of what we were up to.  Hmmmmmmmm.....

There was more good news too, as one Gentleman from C&W sauntered over and gave us a cash donation for more cement. That was followed by a completely unexpected telephone call from a blog reader, offering us a donation to buy several more bags. Brilliant! Aren't people kind. Thank you, Paul! And Richard!

We decided to work in the shade as much as possible, and this meant working on one of the sides, along which a row of 4 inch blocks had been laid in a suggested pattern. However, they needed backing up first (for support from behind) so that is what Dave is doing here. We also got out a quoin for the corner, which has been rolled away centre left for the backing up work. The top of the quoin is the 700mm cill level for the window on this side.

 

About lunch time the 4inch course we were laying was complete down the Malvern side. We had a line from the quoin on the right to the new quoin on the left, but it was tricky sticking to that, with all the uneven blocks that we find.

In the foreground is material for back filling the fireplace.

 

 

 

During the day the trains looked quite well filled, but the first one off CRC not so much. The same train arriving somewhat later from Broadway (and still earlier than it used to leave from there) did seem to be quite well filled. Let's hope people's travel patterns settle down once they see how the new timetable works.

The photo exhibition in the Winchcombe visitor centre is now open, and well worth a visit. Every department tells its story of the first 40 years of the GWSR. The Coffeepot seemed quite busy, and there were lots of cars in the Winchcombe car park, a sight we hadn't seen for 18 months.

When 4270 stopped at Winchcombe the stay seemed somewhat longer than usual, and here is why: it was an exceptional water stop. Chris, by the hand wheel for the water valve, explained that the loco had been thirsty. Not the only one around here either! The Usk gang repaired to the Coffeepot for a refreshing mug of tea after work. Best part of the day, that is. The Coffepot is now open until 4pm, and it had customers even without any trains being around.

During the day this arrived in the yard.

Eventually the trailer was manoeuvered down the road to a spot next to the goods shed, where the container was off loaded using the HIAB. We ascertained that this is to be a store/workshop for the restoration of the Mink van round the corner. Sounds like a good idea.

Derek's 1967 steam pictures.

In 1967 steam was now coming to a halt, and Derek turned his attention to the nascent Welsh preservation scene.

These pictures are 54 years old. The rolling stock looks pretty spic and span though. Love the station mistress in traditional costume!

A visit to the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway on 31st July 1967 and a view of 822 Earl with train at Eithiniog. [A17.24] 

 

 Then three views of the same train at Caereinion. [A17.25] [A17.26] [A17.27]

On 2nd August 1967 at the Ffestiniog Railway here with Prince crossing the road at Penrhyndeudraeth. [A17.34]

On 3rd August 1967 at the Talyllyn Railway Douglas is approaching Dolgoch Station. [A17.36] 

 

Then at Abergynolwyn the Station Mistress is about to return on the last train of the day. [A17.37] [A17.38] 

 

You can obtain full sized scans (about 5Mb) of any of these pictures from breva2011 (at) hotmail.co.uk