Laying the floor.

Saturday on Didbrook 1.

Ten of us on Saturday, another good team. We got plenty done.

 

 

 

 

As we are only running one rake of carriages at the moment (the other train is a DMU) it is crowded at Winchcombe, and getting our tools out - all very heavy - is now very tiresome. Everything has to be transported down this narrow corridor, and beyond, to one of the trucks. 

The place of action was a run of wooden sleepers on the approach to Didbrook 1 bridge. These are almost certainly the original sleepers laid by the GWSR pioniers in 1984, and were second hand even then. Now some are at the end of their life.

We brought replacement sleepers to the site, also second hand. They don't make them like this any more.

 

 

There was a lot of digging on Saturday then. 12 sleepers were dug out and then back filled after replacement, and another 3 were prepped (also dug out).

The ballast here is very shallow, and the old sleepers were resting on a bed of gravel that had become hardened like concrete.

Braveheart and the 3 car DMU ran the services on Saturday. They looked quite well filled, we were pleased to note.

Here's our little gang, inn the middle of the day. Sometimes we had to stand to have a breather. Old sleepers were piled up against the bridge parapet, and the replacement ones were dragged into their beds with the nips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We chose this one to represent the sort of sleeper that we were removing. It looked OK from on top, but that is the art of the track patroller - spot the sleeper that is bad underneath.

 

Come the end of the afternoon - with a sharp shower added for good measure - and we were stacking the old sleepers on the forks of the Telehandler. They then went on to a growing pile in the yard at Winchcombe.

Nick and Steve still have a bit of energy left at the end of the day.

At the end of the day we had our traditional mug of tea outside the Coffeepot. At 10 past 4 the trains cross here, and that is always interesting to see.

 

75014  BRAVEHEART trundled in alongside platform 2. It's still got that melodious whistle, we were pleased to hear. And a loud clank.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Alex was beavering away inside the C&W shed, making things beautiful.

We're going to have a lovely GWR freight train for our gala, don't miss it! It's on 12th - 14th May, the Cotswolds Festival of Steam, with Pendennis Castle.

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

A very wet day, with non-stop rain all day long. Three lucky Usketeers worked indoors on the floor and finishing off an interior wall; the fourth, unlucky one stood outside and made mortar. The three inside wanted a lot of that.

 

 

On arrival  we were greeted by the B&R tamper parked under the signal box.

It wasn't long before its crew arrived. It was started up and set off through the tunnel, to work on the section between Bishops Cleeve and Cheltenham.

A few additional pictures can be found at the end of the Usk report.

Inside the Usk hut -we're talking 08.20 here, they don't hang around - Jules was on some snagging jobs. Here you can see him finishing off the interior stone wall above the fireplace, so that it meets the underside of the roof.

 

 

Paul and Dave resumed laying the flagstone slabs. 

 

 

 

 

Last week, you will recall, they did the first row, so that has now gone off and is safe to stand on. We promptly moved the table on to it. Later we moved the table off that row, and even later still, we moved it back on again. Tsk !

All those slabs to lay - we did 15 today, with about 10 still to do - that takes a lot of mortar, so yours truly was busy outside with Maxie in the rain. Maxie did OK providing you kept her on half choke all the time - not ideal. Dave will look into the jetting, she's not getting enough fuel we think.

In the foreground is the dry cement. Well, sort of dry. It not only got rained on, but the big oak tree overhead had great big drops of water run-off coming off it. The little depression with the brick in it filled with water between jobs.

The first row didn't take very long to lay, pauses for tea and biscuits excepted. Paul is doing a magnificent job, on his hands and knees all day. And he's no spring chicken.

Here is is starting the second row.

There were moments when Jules and Dave couldn't help, so they sat on last week's hardened strip and made useful comments. Well, they thought they were useful.

We have a small problem with the sash locks. We've got one original installed, but the second is missing its counterpart (whatever that is called).

We bought a new one, but it's too small. (top right)

A supporter gave us two of those second parts, but they are also smaller, and on top of that the locking triangle is too wide. It should be long and thin, and fit the triangular shape seen in the original below.

Has anyone got any more of these for us to try out?

Around lunch time we finished off the third row (second of the day) and here you can see Paul and Dave fit the first slab of the last long row, before we have to make allowance for the fireplace across the corner.

 

 

 

 

Of course we have to select the slabs in such a way that they overlap, and we can't have one joint opposite another.

 

Next to the third row Paul laid the start of a fourth, leaving a triangle in front of the fireplace.

Now we can see what sort of a gap remains in front of the opposite wall.

Here we're looking the opposite way. We brought all the remaining slabs in and laid them out dry to see what would work. Then we stacked them in the corner, ready for next week.

Finally, at the end of the day, we got this far. Ten more to lay then, plus a few odd bits around the edge. Next week then we will have a much larger area to stand on when it's gone off. It was a bit cramped in here today, with all the new slabs on green mortar.

There was a discussion about the interior today. Some want to limewash the interior, leaving a few of the larger stones on display. Others prefer all of the stones to be seen. When we demolished the hut the inside was lime washed, but that wasn't necessarily done when it was new.

What do readers think?

Here are a couple of pictures of the interior, just prior to demolition:

Tamper on the line.

Paul sent us a few picture of the B&R tamper on our line yesterday to share with you:

The tamper at work on the newly relaid section at Didbrook.

 

Sidewards detail of the tines at work.

 

A lovely shot of the tamper just completing the 4 panels at Hayles Abbey halt.

 

 

Finally, a reminder that the GWR Trust, our supporting charity, has launched an appeal to raise funds to waterproof and repair Stanway viaduct.

Stanway viaduct is one of the larger viaducts on a heritage railway. It has no fewer than 15 arches! It was built nearly 120 years ago now, and there are clear signs that the waterproofing on top of the arches is no longer doing its job. When was it last waterproofed? No one knows, but bear in mind that the railway closed in 1976 and you can bet your bottom dollar that it has been at least 50 years since it was last done.

 

Take a look at the white streaks in this picture. They bear witness to water percolating through the structure, and that is bad news when it freezes. It's not going to fall down tomorrow - we have it inspected regularly - but if you don't do something now, the problem will get a whole lot more expensive soon. So it's time to act. Just look at the broken bricks on the corners, that is frost damage. 

Yours truly will help remove the track, and help to put it back again, and of course make a donation. Will you help us make it possible? We'd be very grateful.

The Trust website tells you how to help. Being a charity it will also make your money go further through gift aid. Isn't that great?

https://www.gwrt.org.uk/donate/stanway-viaduct-appeal

Thank you!