Stanchions go up.

Friday at Broadway.

Thursday was rained off, so Friday was our next working day. It was a lot friendlier, although with the better weather came much lower temperatures. Fine, as long as you kept active.

The dumper is loaded again, with very sticky mud.

 

 

 

After review, it was felt that the centre of the site could be a few inches lower still. Just an extra scraping really.

 

Neal got down to pure grey clay again at the northern end, and unloading the dumper started to become a challenge, as after tipping, the contents of the bucket stuck to the sides tenaciously and wouldn't come out.

Neal had to fill the digger bucket by hand for the last little bit...

 ...and then tried to smooth the little haul road to the tip site with the contents, but it was just pouring mud on to more mud. We threw broken bricks and concrete into the ruts, which helped.

 

 

With that behind us, we moved to the more interesting item on the agenda, lifting in the first stanchion.

This one was to go on the corner by John's blockwork, so that he could incorporate the stanchion as he started to build northwards.

There was a fair bit of trial and error with this first one of six. The strap attachment was a bit too tight, and didn't allow us to wriggle the stanchion without moving the bucket of the digger. That bucket had a bit of an 'on or off' life to it, so moving it by 6 inches, or none, which didn't help moving the foot of the stanchion to exactly the right place.

We got there in the end, so here you see Neal fit a pair of temporary bolts. These hold the stanchion in place while we drill the bigger holes for the threaded bar attachments.

 

In this picture you can see Neal drilling the bigger holes on the 4 corners, and also the position of the stanchion in relation to the block wall. Once the stanchion was secured John was able to fit a block right into it.

 

 

John then got back into the laying of blocks around the future store room.

The current job there is to lay the inside 4 inch block wall, two high. Notice the 'DOOR' painted on the blocks - that is the future door into the store room from within the modesty screen in 'L' form on the end.

As we had to do a trip to Winchcombe in the morning, we only had time to deal with one mix, not forgetting putting up one stanchion. So here is a view of the site at the end of Friday.

More in detail, this is what John did in the afternoon. He's done the back wall of the store room, and round the base of the fireplace.

Next on the agenda is the erection of the second stanchion, just where John is standing in the picture.
 

 

 

 

Viaduct work.

Update drone photographs from Paul!

 

Laying the track back on to the viaduct was well advanced on Friday. They were about 3/4 of the way across.

Two 360 machines are on the job, and all the kit has been laid out beforehand. So progress is quick.

These views were made possible by Paul's drone camera.

This last picture shows you in greater detail how the parapet walls have been stabilised. Numerous SS cables attach them to eyes in the concrete on top of the arches.

Notice also in the top two pictures the extensive white signs of water leaching out through the bottoms of the arches and indeed the 15 legs of the viaduct. You can imagine the damage that does to the mortar in the brickwork, and indeed we have already had to reinstate several bricks that have fallen out.

Once the structure has dried out we need to revisit all the mortar joints and repair any further brickwork damage.

The GWRT is running an appeal for £1.5m to cover waterproofing and repointing/brickwork repair. So far we have raised £350.000, just enough to cover the waterproofing. No money is available from what has been donated so far to cover the repair/repointing works, let alone the unexpected need to stabilise the parapets.

If you agree that our viaduct is important then please consider making a donation through the Trust:

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

This picture speaks for itself...

Monday at Broadway.

We press on. A good weather day for block laying, but as another department wants the mini digger for a day we have to give it back on Tuesday. Most of Monday was spent with the mini digger therefore, to extract maximum use of it.

 

 

 

On Monday therefore we put up the second stanchion, half way along the platform side.

Getting it upright is the easy bit, but then comes a lot of jiggling it about to get it exactly in the right spot, and also at the correct height.

On the P1 build the tops of the stanchions were all over the place, which made it hard to guess where to put the trusses. Which stanchion top is the correct one?

Here is the second stanchion, in place to compare it with the first.

Neal is on his hands and knees with little wedges, trying to place and level the stanchion. getting one variable right always seemed to affect the other one.

We got there in the end.

The second stanchion was bolted down with two self tapping bolts (a temporary measure) and, with the wind in our sails, we moved straight on to the third one, here on the corner of the new building.

Here then are the first three stanchions (of six in total) in a row. The new building now has a third dimension. Three more to go along the back.

We then broke for lunch in the signal box. There is a new heritage addition:

Two newly made brackets for two authentic oil lamps that we have acquired for the box. These go underneath the cast iron roof ventilators that stick through the apex. The oil lamps are attached with a hook that sits in the notch in the middle. We shall fit them when we have 15 mins to spare.

 

Rather less heritage quality is this coat hanger, one of 4 screwed to the wall with modern cross head screws.

The sad thing these days is that there is some fakery around, and these 'railway' coat hangers are available, new, on EBAY with the initials of any company of your choice.

Here is a set on EBAY with a different set of initials for example. It's the same casting, but different letters.

Genuine GWR coat hooks are hard to find, but there are two in the Usk hut.

After lunch we returned to the build and while two of us shifted the remaining stanchions into more useable positions, John reckoned he had time to use half a mix for some blocks. We had to hold off on more blocks until some stanchions were in.

John lays the first of the afternoon's 27Kg blocks.

 

Neal was manoeuvering the mini digger around the centre. The three not yet mounted stanchions are visible here, and before the end of the day we wanted to try and get one more in.

 

 

The exact positioning of each stanchion was giving us a bit of a headache, as the concrete ring varied in height by up to an inch. Some stanchions had to be raised, and the first Malvern side one actually had to be dropped by a few mm, which John here is chipping away.

So each pole had to be perfectly vertical, as well as of the correct height. Each was secured by two temporary bolts. Four permanent bolts will then be used on the corners, with holes drilled and glued in with resin. The resin bit hasn't been done yet, as we didn't want to end up with any half tubes left over for the next day.

This is our Monday late afternoon shot. Four stanchions are up, three at the front and one on the rear. The last two remaining ones lie in the centre. The ring beam elements are still at Toddington, and should be brought up by RRV, together with more supplies.

John then also laid 11 blocks, finishing near the middle stanchion..

Tuesday at Broadway.

A good day's work was achieved on Tuesday. The weather permitted it. It was just 3 degrees first thing, but there was no wind and working conditions were 'comfortable'. Because it was dry, there were none of those gigantic clods of clay stuck under your boots either.

 

 

As we were about to lay blocks around the first stanchion, Neal decided to fit it with the definite version of bolts, i.e. 4 lengths of threaded bar on the corners, fixed into holes with resin. The resin came out today.

 

John was right behind Neal with block laying, even as Neal filled the last hole of the second stanchion.

We then fitted the fifth stanchion, in the NE corner, nearest to the camera.

That went quite quickly, as we knew the concrete was an inch low, and we had come prepared, with a thick slate offcut found amongst the ruins. So a bit of the original station, part of the toilet, has been re-used underneath a stanchion of the new one.

 

 

 

 

John then helped on the fifth one by plugging mortar underneath it.

During the morning the P1 side was in use for a photo shoot.

It was very professional, with special lights and a reflective sheet to better light the stationmaster.

The photographs thus created are going to be used in a special exhibition on the history of Broadway station. A lot of archive research on the stationmasters has already been done, facilitated we heard by the GWR Journal now being on line at Didcot. We can't wait to hear the final story.

On P2 we motored on regardless, as the shoot was stills only, unmolested by the constant bleeping of our laser level.

Here you can see the 6th and final stanchion now erected (in the middle on the right), and Neal getting out of the way so that John could lay blocks down the platform side.

After lunch we had a logistical session - drive to Winchcombe, find the keys to the trailer, find a truck with a towbar, unlock the fuel bowser to get diesel, drive truck and trailer to Broadway, load up the digger, drive truck and trailer back to Winchcombe, reverse park in the compound (argh!), put all the keys back, drive back to Broadway with Neal.

Arrive at Broadway, and find the digger key buried deep in trouser pocket. Noooooo !

Drive back to Winchcombe.....

Back at Broadway (finally...) we found that John had laid blocks relentlessly all afternoon, a total of 29x 27Kg blocks. We make that three quarters of a ton shifted.

Neal and Yours Truly then shuttled a large supply of 6 inch blocks over to the Malvern side, ready for laying on Wednesday.

Neal also cut two gaps into the blockwork. These are for stormwater pipes to come from the rear to the front. You can see one lying in the background. They will go under the floor.

Here is our Tuesday end of the day shot. The 6 stanchions now give a third dimension to the building. There's also a double row of blocks all along the front, and piles of blocks around the outside ready for laying in those areas. We have to start thinking about clearing the platform of pallets, ready for services to Broadway to resume (Easter).

Wednesday - the Usketeers do Broadway !

They're famous! At Broadway. What? Not Broadway New York? Worcestershire? Oh, that's a bit of a come down, but it is prettier.

Today Usketeers Dave, Paul and John B joined the canopy gang at Broadway, to help with laying the many blocks. Up till now John S was all alone doing this, and the many more pallets of concrete blocks that we moved up looked daunting. There was a cry for help, for block and brick layers.

The Usketeers rose to the challenge.

Right - now get on with it!

 Neal gave them a briefing, and allocated an area for development, the Malvern side corner.

 

 

 

A job in between was also the insertion of the stormwater drain pipe from the rear to the front, at a slight slope.

 

 

Neal cut some holes in th concrete overspill, to accommodate the long pipe. It will be trimmed when we know where the rest of the pipework will be at a later date.

John S made a very neat job of this corner, where the slightly narrower 'Gents' workshop on the end joins the first stanchion, and the blockets become slightly wider.

Dave and Paul worked together and, after building the far corner, they built this second one nearer the camera. Given the lack of space and awkward angle it was a two man job to lift the corner block in.

As we know that the concrete ring is an inch low at this end, we needed to check the height of the second corner with the laser level.

When's it going to start spinning?

A thick bed of mortar took care of the difference in height.

During our lunch in the signal box we received an unexpected visit from Phil, one of the original Broadway volunteers involved with building the platform and the P1 building. He can't join us as sadly (!) he is still employed, and we work weekdays. So Phil decided to bring a gift for the team:

A Morrisson's goody bag of sausage rolls and jam doughnuts. How kind! We really apreciated that. Almost as good as the chap who threw a packet of doughnuts at the Usketeers out of a passing train.

 

 

While passing the front of the station  building in the rain that arrived at lunch time, we noticed how ineffective the front canopy is. Just look where the dry spot is, and how small it is.

Sadly we were not involved with the design of this small canopy, which was put up in a hurry and at the last minute. Stone supports for a larger canopy were agreed and fitted, but never used. One day we will deal with that, with a canopy that extends over the two windows.

So, after lunch the Usketeers joined up the two corners that they built, and even put on the third course of blocks, the 4 inch ones. Left to do here is the inner course of 4 inch blocks on their sides.

John B became mortar supply man for the Usketeers.

Half way through the afternoon we had the chance for a quick sit rep from the footbridge. It was a busy day for Yours Truly, with 4 mixes made instead of the usual one.

In the picture you can see the front wall advance towards the near corner and end wall, built by Paul and Dave.

During the day and in our 'spare time' Neal and Yours Truly shuttled blocks from the pallets to the centre of the site. We need to get the pallets of blocks off the platform edge, as in the not too distant future trains will return here. (Easter for Broadway)

 

Neal was asked to Toddington to fix the compressor, then came back mid afternoon to drill the remaining holes for the bottoms of the stanchions.

If the stanchions are not bolted down we can't lay the blocks around them.

On the left John S's work is approaching, while the Usketeers just completed the corner on the right.

This drawing doesn't make any sense....

You're holding it upside down !

It was pleasing to see the team work together, and there was some jollity about.

 

 

 

At the end of the day - with increasing rain at 4 o'clock - John was laying the top 4 inch blocks along the front, while Paul and Dave, having done the northern end wall, had moved on to the start of the back wall.

It was a good days' work for both teams, boosted by Phil's goody bag from Morrisson's.

Last but not least a snap from Paul, who caught sight of a strange contractor vehicle about to set off for the viaduct.

It's a road-railer, but not as we know it.

This one, parked on the road at Toddington, can autonomously go down the tracks, and discharge fresh ballast via a conveyor belt at the rear.

One for Santa's list at Christmas, we see that coming.

Don't forget to help the viaduct appeal !