Thursday at Broadway.
A very pleasant day with Neal, down the hole in the platform.
Having installed two conduits under P1, Neal made a little inspection pit out of some spare large diameter pipe. This will reveal the point where the electrical supply will branch off for P2.
It took quite some measuring and cutting to get that offcut to stand square over the criss-cross of conduits at this point.To make it more stable we put several shovelfuls of weak mix around it.
Neal also brought a spare length of armoured cable, with which we will make ourselves a temporary electric supply for the other side.
We try to be as economical as possible, so as not to call unnecessarily on the Trust's precious funds. (The viaduct appeal is still well below its minimum target)
We received a 'clean' approval from the planning department for our P1 ammendment request, but there were a number of stipulations concerning the surrounding area. One is that the adjoining trees are separated from the building site, and we met this by erecting 4 panels of Heras fencing. The furthest extent of the site is the stake in the centre of the picture. This will be the modesty screen post for the 'Gents toilet' store room.
The site is extremely muddy after all the rain we have had. Just walking around with fencing panels produced this additional clay 'sole' to our boots - the largest wodge of clay like it that we have ever seen.
The heavy rain of course fell on the roof, and exposed blockages in the guttering and downpipe system. Selecting a guttering and downpipe size during the P1 build smaller that the GWR original did not help. Neal very kindly stopped work on the conduits for P2 and went to troubleshoot the water cascading from the trackside canopy gutters.
Several buckets of water into the gutters revealed that the blockage was in the downpipe. After hunting round the site for suitable rodding he eventually hit on the idea of using the armoured cable from underneath. That did it.
A large ball of pine needles shot out of the bottom, followed by several buckets of water.
You may recall a similar blockage last week with another downpipe, also caused by pine needles.
If they are not caught by a blockage in the downpipes, these needles will enter the undergound stormwater drainage system, where extraction will be much more difficult.
A quick scan of the guttering outside revealed large heaps of pine needles peering over the edge of the guttering.
These needles need to be caught above the gutters, before they enter the system.
And now the latest finds, revealed when the heavy rain washed down the top of the pile of mud in the middle of the site.
It's a pint bottle of Cheltenham Original Brewery, with original stopper still in place. On the front is the tower symbol.
Cheltenham Original Brewery was founded in 1760 as Gardeners Brewery, and became Cheltenham Original Brewery in 1888. It became Whitbread Flowers in 1963, the year our station was demolished. The bottle has a seam down the side so is not too old, maybe one of the last ones made, and tossed aside during the demolition?
Next to it is a telegraph insulator, stamped GWR. We have the missing piece, so these two can start off our proposed museum in the waiting room.
Saturday with the gang
Eleven of us, a good turnout. The job was (more) cutting and shutting, a job with lots of variety and visible signs of progress, so it was relatively popular.
No doughnuts on Saturday, but rather tasty pains chocolat, which were very moreish when washed down with tea.
We then assembled outside, trying to get used to the new stabling arrangements. They are not yet ideal from a logistic point of view, as we couldn't get our truck alongside for loading.
But load we did, and we were soon on site at the Manor Lane entrance, where we resumed the work started on Wednesday. One issue was left over, requiring an adjusting cut at an insulated joint. As we have only the one operative disk cutter at the moment the others stood and watched.
Leigh is our specialist hole driller, a complicated task due to the variety of fishplates that are possible. We have a template for the spacing, but it too has options.
David took an interest and so Leigh showed him the ropes, with the aim of increasing the number of experienced operators of this useful little machine.
Leigh suggested that after the first set cut that it was advisable to try them out with a fishplate, as an error in the spacing at the beginning can ruin a whole day's work.
In the background the next rail is being cut. The gap between the rail ends is getting larger now.
We got the insulated fishplate back on, and after tightening the bolts with the impact wrench we do a final tightening with the torque wrench, to get the tightness just right.
Then the Telehandler came in to move the cut rails back together. That's a good moment to take a rest and watch the goings on.
Annoyingly, we now have a joint right on top of this brick built underbridge. Ideally, this should be welded to avoid any damage from hammer blow. We'll need to discuss this, as part of a larger welding plan.
Lunch was taken 'al fresco', as is often the case with our gang. We can sit inside the crew cabs, but many enjoy the outdoors and the greater room that offers.
Cutting and shutting is a slow job. Each pair of rails involves four cuts, and 8 new fishplate holes to be drilled. On Wednesday 3 pairs were dealt with, and on Saturday another 4, or almost. We hope to become more efficient as time goes on, as there is a long road before us to Bishops Cleeve.
One reason that progress is not fast is that little hitches keep cropping up. In one case a sleeper needed digging out and moving, and in the case below the next rail, when moved, ended up with a random weld right on top of a sleeper.
Finally, here is a picture of the viaduct works that we can share. Paul took it for us. Unfortunately we can't just turn up on site and take personal pictures for the blog.
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| Photograph by Paul Fuller |
As you can see there is progress, as the concrete here is being pumped up in the distance (18m high) and poured over the arches as in the foreground. We are standing on the south end of the viaduct, looking north.
We think that the steel hoops along the sides form part of the parapet stabilisation design. You can see that the parapet stands on red bricks, and it is this joint that failed. In the picture the joint has already been pointed with mortar.
Note the parapet on the left of the picture. It is newer than the rest, and a slightly different colour. It looks like an earlier repair by BR.
Monday at Broadway.
Bitterly cold now, mostly due to the northerly wind, which blows down the platform at Broadway.
The presence of the Broadway maintenance gang made it possible to de-activate the alarm, and gain access to the store room, where the conduits come out.
We got a drawstring through one of our conduits (the other will be connected outside, under the platform) and also pulled through an armoured cable, which will serve to provide the P2 site with power for the duration of the build.
Neal also scavenged the railway and found us two rolls of water pipe, one of which we pulled through the trench and then the platform wall. Just behind it is another water pipe, to which it will connect.
Again, no money spent so far (although we will have to buy the connectors...)
With the conduits now joined to the building and the water pipe in, we started to back fill the platform, at least as far as the middle of the hole. The rest needs to wait until Neal has made the water connection.
Having marked the site of the conduits with yellow paint, we started back filling the trench, up to a point a bit beyond half way. That dealt with the pile of ballast on the P1 road, and it now looks very neat. It will need the attention of the Robels though, to make sure there are no voids under the sleepers.
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| View of the back filled trench as seen from P2. |
Thursday is pencilled in to set out the site of the the foundations, and Monday next week for the start of the dig.
As luck would have it, the dumper is needed at Winchcombe on the Tuesday, so we will have to run it down and back up during the week, just when we are moving spoil around.
Wednesday with the Usketeers.
A nice winter's day - the thermometer said 0.0 degrees, and the ground was firm and dry, being frozen solid overnight.
Here is the site first thing today then. Two more fence panels left to do. The posts are already in place, so putting up 8 rails didn't take too long.
Here are Dave and Paul on the second of the two remaining panels.
Yours truly had the job of cleaning the 8ft length of rail cut last week. It is a very used length of rail, which of course is why it was on the scap heap. Lots of rust and pockmarks.
We cleaned the entire rail with a rotating brush. It's impossible to get all the rust off - this is only going to be a post, after all - so removing loose rust was the mission. After that we painted it black with Hammerite. That should stay on, and not require painting for some time.
Ad interim here is another picture of the work on the last fence panel, as Dave and Paul finish putting on the last of the intermediate uprights. They stand on bricks, to keep them off the wet ground.
John offered to give the erected fence a second coat of Creocote. Let's hope this weakened version of original Creosote also does the job of protecting the wood. We're giving it our best shot.
The tops of the posts will also be protected by lead covers, as at Hayles Abbey Halt.
During the morning RRV 'STEVIE' rumbled by with our site safe container on the trolley. It was off to Manor Lane, where we will now be working for quite some time.
Mid afternoon and under a lovely sun (but with only 3 degrees centigrade) we can see Paul inspecting his handiwork, as the fence is now all but finished.
Here then is the border between the future public area behind Winchcombe P2 and the Usk hut, and the PWay yard, which is not open to the public. Not a lot to see there anyway, unless you like concrete sleepers.
There will be two items of signage. One modern, warning people not to enter the yard, and one heritage, a cast iron GWR 40,- trespass notice on the rail.
Dave asked where the rail post is due to go, and then started to dig a 2ft deep hole. By next week it should be able to go down the new hole and be concreted in place.
We won't put the cast iron sign on though until we have finished moving the soil around, as there is a risk of hitting it with the Telehandler. The area behind Dave needs to come up a bit more, then the topsoil under the tarp needs spreading out, ready for seeding in the spring.
Behind the LH part of the fence is still a small spoil heap, and that also needs to be moved so that the FoWS bins can be moved there. Once all that has been cleared we can install the gate retaining post.
In other news....
Here is our weekly shot of the site where the new S&T building is going up.
The blockwork around the floor slab is complete and the site is being made ready to receive the concrete for it.
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