Last few sunny days.

Out on Friday.

This was another one-off, with the aim of moving more of the sleepers on the former garden centre site at Toddington.

But on the day we found ourselves with several cracked fishplates reported. And the next day would be a gala day. What if any broke on the day? We didn't want to take that risk, so changed the task from moving sleepers to changing fishplates.

 

We started at Gotherington, where we changed an end post (insulator) under the supervision of the signalman.

We didn't want to hear on the first gala day that the circuit was no longer intact.

But we were OK. 

This is the site of a new housing estate, hard up against the railway, and another nail in the coffin of Gotherington as an independent little village. Soon it will merge with Bishops Cleeve. 

 

 

 

Then we moved on to the Skew Bridge, where the first cracked fishplate was reported.

It was typically just as the track comes off the bridge.

We replaced it with an extra heavy one. So heavy, that two of us had to carry it. 

 

 

A close up of the crack in the fishplate, spotted by an eagle eyed track walker.

 

 

 

 

We were out and about in the new (second hand) Ford Ranger that the company has bought. Its main role is crew transport, but as there were only three of us, we thought we'd give it a try.

The rear loading space is rather cramped, as there is a big red flameproof box bolted to the floor. 

 

 

Not impressed by the quality of this.

 

After a few stops along the line we pulled the handle on the driver's door to get out, and it snapped clean off ! That can't be possible, surely?

The handle turned out to be made of plastic, and plenty of glue around it showed that the previous owner had already snapped it off once before.

It's scarcely believable that Ford would sell such an apparently rugged 4x4 pickup, with a plastic door handle. 

Even your blogger's civilian estate car has a proper metal handle. 

 

 

At first we thought we were trapped in the car. It already feels very constricted in the driver's seat - you need to bend almost double to get in, without hitting your head. Very strange. The seat is high up, even at maximum depression .

We were able to get out by rolling down the window, and reaching out behind us. Like a London cabbie, opening the door for his passenger.

 

Another fishplate, near Gretton. This one seemed OK, after all.

 

 

 

After lunch we inspected the wear pattern of the relaid track near Hayles Abbey halt.

It was indeed a little strange (as reported by our C&W manager) but we could see no obvious reason.

Then it was on to the yard at Toddington, where we had a discussion about this 1980s laid turnout into siding 2, the one which we still need to finish re-sleepering. In the day the gang did not always have all the right materials, so when they needed a LH turnout here, the used a RH one, but reversed it. That works after a fashion, but is very awkward.

Our plan is to return it to a RH turnout, and move it to the adjacent siding on the left. (where the class 20 is). That would allow us to complete the relay of siding 2 as a longer, plain line.

In the background of the siding picture you can just make out our Bubble Car. It is supposed to take over from the 3 car set that was sold. It's refurbishment has taken a very long time, and the picture above shows the stage at which it is today. There is an expectation that it could enter service next season.

Fingers crossed then! 

NOT IN SERVICE summarises the position at the moment.

 

Then on to Toddington by the coaling stage. Here was another awkward piece of engineering from the 1980s, with a cracked, non-standard fishplate that seemed to be stamped 97 1/2. It was also a lifter, for good measure. We managed to deal with it.

These awkward engineering solutions all stem from the need in the 1980s to get track down, with whatever we could rustle up. Today we have that legacy.

 

David and Paul fit another replacement at Toddington.

 

We spoke to Neal, who had dropped in to help with setting up for the gala. He reported that a rolling tower scaffold had been hired in at Broadway, and two mixes of mortar used to lay interior Thermalite blocks, and some bricks on a corner outside.

He also reported that our potential brick supplier had finally sent in his quote, a month after promising to do so. That news came as a considerable relief. If we accept the quote, we are still talking about a three month delivery delay, so don't get too excited. But there is progress. 

Then it was back home to Winchcombe, as the light began to fail. 

 

There was a loud chattering, and two pairs of headlights filled the sky. It reminded us of the film Apocalypse Now... 

The two Chinooks thundered overhead. Two ! We hadn't seen that before. They veered off in a curve towards Sudeley Castle.

We changed, signed out and drove homewards.

On the way we stopped at a farm near Broadway to buy some of their wonderful ice cream, direct from the cow, as it were.

 

We opened the boot, went into the shop, came back out, stowed the ice cream in the boot, and WHOA !

We don't have a dog....  

The stowaway was enticed back into the farmyard.

 

Saturday, gala day and PWay.

Confined to the yard, but still 8 of us. Watching the gala trains, and reorganising the yard kept us busy, powered by a large cream cake from Paul. 

Early in the morning sees these two trains waiting to enter the station The driver of the freight train, in the carriage siding, has stepped down to phone the signalman. With success! Moments later 3850 moved off into the station, while the pair of class 20s had to wait just a little longer.

Coming the other way was the class 24 with its train from Cheltenham.

We were busy in the yard, but from what we could glimpse the passing trains were well filled. Two of us ventured on to the platform at lunchtime, and scored two substantial burgers, with bacon, cheese, hamburger, and a sausage poking out of the side.

Well, you need a decent meal in this team.

So the 8 of us were mostly round the yard, although a pair went north to measure up some turnouts, and another south to CRC to do the same.

Here Dave is tidying up some scrap that has lain there for years. It was all tangled up in fencing wire, which he painfully cut into small pieces, so that it could go in a skip.

The metal profiles in a heap are from a former mezzanine in the old good shed. We don't know what to do with it. It's in the way really, nothing to do with PWay. 

Later the Telehandler was in use by David, who re-stacked concrete sleepers with Pan baseplates, together with Sam.

Overall, what we are trying to achieve by tidying up the yard, is room for three storage containers. 

In other news, this year's winter project is the rebuild of the southern loop turnout at CRC. Here the timbers are failing, but it is also a very old turnout, with non-standard (today) GWR components. The plan is to use a more modern turnout that we have in store, and pre-assemble it at Winchcombe, using good second hand timbers that we are buying. Once assembled, we will mark it up, dis-assemble it, take it down to CRC and rebuild it there.

This picture well represents a lot of the activity today. Five volunteers throw 1000 chair bolts from one container into another.

All part of the fun.

One more week of running, and the gang will be unleashed upon the PWay winter works ! 

Tuesday at Broadway.

Two of us mostly, next to a surprisingly busy station. P&O and Betton Grange were about, perhaps that explains it?

 

 

This is how we found the building, first thing on Tuesday. While we were away, John and Neal rented a tower scaffold, and it has been used to further build up the north end, wrapping round to the front as far as possible.

There is news on the special bricks. It has taken us ages, but we have finally received a quote for the missing ones that we need to complete those areas that have doors & windows.

 

 

The quote was for metric bricks .... (smiley here, hitting head against a brick wall)

Back to the supplier. It seems that was an administrative slip up, the quote is correct, in place of metric please read Imperial. Phew !

We have now raised a purchase order, so we are on our way.   

 

 

So on Tuesday John continued to raise the northern end wall.

On the corner Neal has placed a corbelling special, just to remind him what he is aiming for.

The area on the left cannot be completed at the moment, due to the missing specials. 

 

 

This picture shows the corner, but from the inside. On the right are some of the corbelling bricks, while in the centre (upside down) is the corbelling corner special. It cost a fortune, when we bought it back in 2015. Luckily we have enough of these.

We were please to see Betton Grange come in with the first train, although it caught us by surprise, as we had expected it tender first, like all the others.

Here it is, running round its train. 

We had a lovely coffee in a nice warm cafe on P1. 

On leaving, we were annoyed to see that a dog walker had allowed his dog to foul our building. It was the first of two that we spotted today. This, sadly, is a regular occurrence.

 

 

During the day we completed the plain bricks on the north end, and then added the first course of corbelling, up to the corner special. That makes the north end the same height as the long rear.

There are three more corbelling courses to come. We will do these once there is scaffolding round the building. 

 

 

 

With some remaining mortar John made a start with the inside blocks again. About 17 blocks should see it reach the outside height. The fireplace also needs to follow, in harder concrete blocks.

Towards the later afternoon we had the opportunity of taking several photographs of the returning Bretton Grange in the low, autumn sun. This glint, from a shot almost into the sun, is only possible towards the end of the year, and if/when we are actually running.

A substantial crowd awaits the return of Betton Grange at 3.30pm. It was a surprisingly large, at the end of our running season, and there wasn't even a coach outside. Great ! Our new marketing manager was on the footplate too, now that is involvement. 

Betton Grange eases into the platform at Broadway.

 

 

 

 

 

At the other end was the green class 20, ready to whistle off into the setting sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scene is rather more colourful with the sun behind the photographer.

You need to be quick here, as there is no running round, and the departure is not long after the arrival. 

 

 

 

At the back, now moving away from the camera, is Betton Grange, being hauled away in a rather undignified manner.

 

 

 Wednesday with the Usketeers.

Two of us, plus Dave D from the Saturday gang, with tools for stump removal. The weather was pretty dire, with steady rain forecast until after lunch. What to do?

We decided to fill in the crack in the corner, which had been raked out of its original mortar (grey) and later replacement mortar (brown), leaving a pretty wide gap.

The picture on the right shows the result afterwards. 

 

 

While the rain was sputtering down, we took a walk into the yard to check out possible useful materials for the platelayer's hut.

The skip is always interesting.

Four oil lamps have been thrown into it, as well as some sort of cast iron box with a winding handle, marked 'Westinghouse'. 

We passed this information on to the RATs trust, who have a shop at Toddington. 

 

 

 

Later in the day the oil lamps had gone, but someone else had thrown in a microwave oven, including its large round glass dish still inside.

This is not scrap metal, but WEEE - Waste Electric & Electronic Equipment, governed by law,  and it needs to go to a specialist waste recovery site, such as operated by your local council.

Do not put personal electric or electronic items in the scrap skip. Please!

Further down the yard we were cheered (with our PWay hat on) to see that the WARFLAT was almost completely recovered with the sleepers that we had provided. It looks chunky and safe now. We use the WARFLAT for the transport of sleepers, it's one of our key tools.

 

On the way back we saw BETTON GRANGE, facing north (our only loco doing so) exchanging tokens with the signalman as it came in.

P&O, in its last days before the start of its overhaul, is waiting on P2. 

Once the two trains had left again, we set out for the Platelayer's hut site, with the intention of dealing with the stump. It's in the way of the sleepers we need to put down for one of the walls. 

 

 

 

We had with us a number of manual tools, such as axes, saws and a big iron bar.

What worked best though was an electric drill fitted with a big auger.

The stump is on the left here, a bit hard to see. Paul is trying to get at it from the back, made possible by removal of the concrete blocks behind it last week. 

 

 

 

 

Dave D then joined in with a saw, after we realised that the stump actually had 4 separate roots, all drilling down into the space between the floor, and the concrete blocks behind. 

Dave sawed, while Paul and Yours Truly each had an electric drill going, with which we drilled into the tap roots from behind.

Eventually those tap roots were full of holes, like a Swiss cheese.  We gave the stump a big kick, there was a 'SNAP', and it fell over. Success ! We were overjoyed.

That was it for the day for the stump. Now we must think about bringing materials up there, ready to start on the chimney. 

Before returning to the station, we waited for BETTON GRANGE to return. It would be smokebox fist, coming out of the tunnel.

Hope you like the ensuing pictures, as the locomotive burst out of Greet tunnel. 

After lunch we had a bit of mortar left, so filled in a gap under the door post with it.

That pretty much deals with the interior of the weighbridge. There are a few outstanding jobs on the outside. Essentially this is the other side of the crack, as well as the crack though the stone window cill.

There is also the wooden window frames to consider. Paul has a plan for these.

 

 

While waiting for the PWay gang and Coffeepot tea, we had another mosey round the yard, based on a telephone tip-off that a lorry had arrived to collect the Baguley-Drewry. 

We found the lorry - specialising in the transport of boats - just about ready to lift the rail car, which we have sold for a modest sum.

The two wagons go with it. 

Moments later it was up in the air. 

In the background is part of the PWay team, busy changing some wooden sleepers. Today we welcomed the GWSR youth group, who very kindly came to help us with this job.

By all accounts they enjoyed their day, despite the rain in the morning. 

After changing the sleepers, there was still the need to consolidate the ballast with Robels.

The rail car is just coming down on the flatbed in the background. 

 

Here is a video of it leaving, with thanks to Paul:

 

 Good bye, old friend....

Next week is the first week of the non-running season.

On the list of things to do is the repair of this sagging platform edge at Winchcombe. For some reason the infill under the tarmac has collapsed, so it needs to be dug out and replaced with bags of hardcore that we have bought, then re-tarmacced.

This is due next Wednesday, when Yours Truly will leave the Usketeers for once, and drive the dumper with the spoil. 

 

 

 

It's all go round here. More news next week!