Glazing bars

Monday on the canopy.

A damp and windy start. Cold hands, and everything wet.

Look, this is what you do....

 

 

We repaired to one of the containers and worked indoors for a while.

Neal had a special job for us. We needed to turn out about a dozen lead flashing plates for the corrugated iron where it meets the glass.

We set up a jig in the container, cut off 1.5m lengths of lead flashing, and folded them. They had to be folded two ways, in opposite directions. All mysterious, but Neal knew what he was doing.

 

 

 

This shows the 40mm fold that we were expected to make. It was held into place by two pieces of timber, with slots cut into the end.

We folded this upward, with a special hammer made out of a piece of wood from Neal's garden. It was just the right shape.

 

 

And, hey presto, here is one in situ, so Neal knew what he was doing alright!

The 1.5m lengths fitted perfectly against the top of the corrugated iron sheets, where they join the bottom of the glass panels to be.

While we were doing that the wind and rain reduced, and Neal was back on the canopy platform., this time fitting the base for the mop handle, a round length of wood which shapes the lead flashing that folds over the top of the canopy glazing here.

And here is the top, with mop handle added, ready for the lead flashing (once the glazing is in).

John then started on the lead flashing at the top of the corrugated iron sheets, on the car park side. This involved a lot of banging, which became rather tiresome after a while. We must suffer for beauty.

The banging continued, now with added bits of older mop handle, which was just the right shape to hammer the lead into the valleys.

Neal really got going then, and started screwing down the aluminium extruded glazing bars. In 1904 these were made of steel, but rotted over time.

Seen from down on the platform, the new glazing bars give an excellent impression of what the new bit of canopy will look like, still without glass, and the scaffolding still there.

Neal cut himself a standard length of wood, and used this to space the glazing bars equally along the top of the purlin. We tested the spacing with one sheet of glass - the fit was OK, phew!

 

 

Here are the Malvern side glazing bars, all in place.

The row of glazing bars from the existing kitchen end looks interminable. Well, the building is 50% longer than original, with all those extra toilets.

That lead flashing, folded into the corrugations, looks really professional.

Here's a picture taken mid afternoon, showing most of the Malvern side glazing bars in place.

Neal still has an extra job to do, which is, how do you finish off the row of glass panels at the north end?

The answer is, fit a piece of timber, with extra bits cut off at an angle, on the end of the run of glazing, and this will accommodate one more narrow piece of corrugated iron sheet.

This view shows Neal working through the last glazing panel, with room for one more piece of corrugated iron sheet beyond.

Here we are at the end of the afternoon, with light fading. A number of glazing bars have also been fitted to the car park side, so we are nearing the day when we can fit the glass.

Tuesday on the canopy.

Neal kicked the day off by fitting a moulding to the dagger boards on both sides, which we were then able to undercoat liberally.

 

With all these dagger boards on 3 sides, and the roof more and more present, our only entrance/escape is now this mousehole in the middle. You crawl around on your hands and knees, with another low point whether you turn left or right.

Stand up too soon, and you bonk your head something good!

 

 

 

Neal then sent most of the day fitting the transition points between corrugated iron and glazing, and vice versa. 

This timber (times 3) plays a big part in the scheme. It has to be cut just at the right angle, so there was quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with a pencil and the saw.

Here is the end piece being trial fitted. At this point we have glazing, but it reverts to a corrugated iron sheet for the very last panel. This overhangs the end, to keep some of the weather off it.

Another timber was fitted to the beginning of the glazing, where the corrugated iron stops. A first glazing bar has to be located here.

The third timber can be seen clearly in this shot, already in place. Just a narrow strip of corrugated iron now needs to be placed up and down the end. All the glazing bars are now in place.

The whole of the end, as well as the daggers and mouldings on the two sides, were undercoated in light stone by yours truly today.

This picture shows Neal hammering down the lead flashing leading up to the transition point. A last sheet has been cut to size to fit.

Here Neal is doing a trial fit. When in place, the two LH corrugations are pushed under the end of the previous sheet.

This view shows the car park side, with all glazing bars now fitted, and the final (narrower) sheet fitted in the foreground. The overhang can be seen as well.

The last picture for Tuesday shows the interior, which is getting a bit crowded now, and looking more built up, with all those glazing bars in place.

 It was hoped to lift the glass sheets up to the platform on Wednesday, for fitting soon after.

This week is week 5 of our dedication to this project, working 5 days a week throughout! We will keep this up until we can sign the canopy off, then we have another interesting project, of which more later.

PWay progress at CRC.

Our gallant PWay gang has also thrown a lot of hours into their project, which is actually one of several being worked on at the same time.

In these pictures by gang member Walt, we can see progress as of Tuesday on the replacement of the damaged turnout at CRC north.

 

 

 

 

The largest components are now back in, resting on top of the repositioned timbers, themselves on top of the refreshed ballast.

Here Andrew and Bob are looking over the day's work.

 

 

 

 

Looking the other way, against a rather atmospheric setting winter sun, the turnout looks finished, but the stock rails leading away from the turnout still need to be put back in.

 

 

 

 

 

This picture shows the very neat job that has been achieved so far, after a lot of effort shifting the components around, replacing most with new, and digging out and then refilling the ballast bed.

Work is also continuing in the Dixton cutting, as well as at Toddington, both under the management of our volunteer gangs. The big job at Toddington, replacement of the crossover at the south end of the loop, is a very big job and is being handled by contractors. This job, it's good to report, is now almost completed.

Hear nothing, say nothing, eat a doughnut.

Finally, a big 'Hello' from three members of the gang, who are sunning themselves during the lunch break by the new booking office.

Their works site is behind the signal box in the distance, so that's a bit of a walk, so they need refreshment and a few energy giving calories. That job is in hand!

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

Yours truly was forced to self isolate today, following a positive Covid test this morning. Well, they say it will eventually get us all, and it certainly got this person. Wisely we have taken all the shots and boosters the NHS was able to give, so the symptoms are relatively mild. Plenty of time now at home to paint a new poster board, and to write an historical article or two. Self isolation is required for 5 days, if followed by consecutive negative tests, or 10 days without tests. We shall see on Sunday. Hopefully back on site next week.

The Usk project does not stand still of course, and Dave, Paul, Jules and John carried on regardless.

We did get a phone call at 09.30, enquiring from inside the corrugated iron hut when yours truly would come and pick up the slice of Coffee &Walnut cake they had reserved. Well, next week, sadly. Patience then.

Here is John, our doyen, preparing a block for laying, using the little sack truck that we have. It's very basic, but John made it better by giving the bearing surfaces a little shot of oil. It certainly gets a lot of weight thrust upon it.

 

 

The area of activity today was the southern facade, and the rough stones behind that and the fireplace. It consumes quite a lot of rock, it's a big triangle, with the time capsule somewhere in the middle of it.

 

The team built a trestle around the corner of the building, using the new yellow guard rail posts.

A test block of 5 inches can just be glimpsed through the rails.

In this picture you can see some of Jules' handiwork in backing up. We can't lay more dressed blocks without it, and we need to get up to the top of those windows. A couple more courses should do it here.

The replacement lintels in 10mm steel were picked up last week, and a solution has been found to galvanise them, without resorting to special trips to Wales. They should be back next week.

In this picture Dave (thanks for the snapshots, on a dying phone too) has stepped back to show the relative heights behind the fireplace and by the southern window.

The darker cement shows what was laid in the morning, Jules having to absent himself in the afternoon.As the weather improves, we can stop worrying about the frost effect on our mortar. We covered up well, so as far as we can determine, it has all hardened very well.

The last picture shows Dave's handiwork on the southern facade. They put a 5 inch course on here, John helping to sort out appropriate stones. It's getting ever so slightly more difficult to do, as the choice slowly narrows from the shrinking piles.

So, due to your flying reporter isolating to protect his fellow workers, it may be a week before we can report again, unless a correspondent calls in.