Non running season starts.

Friday on PWay duties.

In preparation of our winter works we had a consignment of point timbers coming in on Friday. Paul dealt with this, together with 3 volunteers.

 

 

 

 

David, the first volunteer on site, got going straight away. The lorry was already half empty on our arrival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The priority for the day was to unload the timbers, and let the lorry, from a dealer in Worksop, return to its base.

The timbers were in no particular order, but had been ordered according to size. At first, we dropped them off as and where we could.

 

 

 

The secondary objective was then to sort the timbers according to where we planned to use them. This meant a pile for each of CRC South, Gotherington South, the Bishops Cleeve CWR expansion joint (4 timbers) and the rest for Winchcombe.

The timbers were checked for length, and then allocated to each pile according to a list that Paul had prepared. 

As we  were doing this, there was a lively discussion outside the C&W shed, only broken up by a heavy rain shower.

It was a showery day - see the puddles outside the S&T workshop - and the worst one was a mid-day, whereupon we quickly called it lunch. We sat in the C&M mess room, and listened to the rain drum down on the workshop roof. 

Chris and Paul check off the list of timbers - have we got everything?

After lunch saw a complete change in the weather, and after the band of rain had passed the sun came out again. We completed sorting the timbers into their 4 piles, and then checked each one off the list, to make sure that the pile was complete.

The next job is to build a new (second hand, but more modern) turnout for CRC south, outside the signal box at Winchcombe. When it is fully assembled, it will be taken apart again and moved to Cheltenham, where the current, older turnout with failing timbers will be removed. 

Monday at Broadway.

Three of us all day, plus the Broadway maintenance gang. No more trains now, and no more cafe for elevenses. We will miss that, especially as it gets colder.

However, 'no more trains' is not absolute, there will be odd ones such as a charity Santa, fireworks and race trains. These interuptions during a 'non running' season make life harder for those trying to maintain the track with major winter works, or even erecting a canopy over a new build.

 

 

 

This was the state of play at Broadway P2 on Monday morning. A very windy day.

The tower scaffold was moved to the southern end, where we can still lay plain bricks. We would like to complete the 'Gents', aka the store room, so that we can have a weatherproof space while we work. 

 

 

 

 Looking down the steps, the scale of the end wall, completed by John in a solo effort, is impressive.

There's a first row of corbelling (as along the back as well), with three more corbelling courses to go to complete the brickwork. We're going to do that when we have actual scaffolding next year.

Monday therefore was spent at the southern end.

There was one last window cill to go on.

 

 

 

 

 

There was quite a bit of measuring and shuffling around, as the cill needs to be right in terms of the bricks and half bricks that lead up to it.

 Here trial spacings are being done with plain bricks, although specials will come into play here.

John also put down three courses on the platform side wall of the 'Gents' store room. This doesn't need any additional specials, just bull noses on the corners, which we have.

Later in the day the cill was well bedded down, and already partly encapsulated in two courses of bricks.

On the right hand side you can just make out one special (which we had) which starts off the columns that up, go along the windows. 

Here are both cills in one shot. The nearer one is missing the specials which convert columns back to plain bricks, and temporary plain bricks have been put in their place.

We'd really like to get a roof on here, but can't, if the walls aren't finished. 

This was the view at the end of the day, as the light was starting to go.

The plain brick end wall will have two large poster boards on it in due course. We still have to make these, and find suitable 1904 era posters for them. We have two in store so far.

 

We are also still looking for upholstered interior GWR benches. If you know of anyone who would like to sell one, or see one in an auction, do let us know.

Monday to Wednesday on the PWay.

Pictures by Paul, with thanks. 

The tamper is here again, it came as soon as the last commercial train had left (and P&O was taken out of service for overhaul).

 

 

 

The section being addressed this week is Laverton bridge to Broadway. This is mostly on embankment, and has had a tendency to undulate here and there, possibly due to the very dry summer that we have had.

As you may know, it is built on clay excavated from the cutting at Broadway. 

 

 

 

 

 

On the curve north from the Laverton No.2 crossing the cant had a tendency to vary from +8 to -14, so the tamper put in a standard cant of 10mm round the whole curve.

Hope you will appreciate, as passengers. 

This section is the last laid on the GWSR, and the most modern, with deep ballast, concrete sleepers and new rail. 

 

 

 

 

At the end of Monday the tamper had arrived at Little Buckland bridge, seen here on the left. Not a bad day's work for an old S&C tamper.

The section north, alongside Peasebrook Farm, is next. 

 

 

 

As at Broadway P2, Monday was stormy and at the end, very wet.

Here the tamper is looking back at the job just done, under a disturbed sky. 

 

 

 

Wednesday, not with the Usketeers.

But with the Construction & Maintenance team.  The interuption of services makes it possible to repair the partly sunken P1 platform surface at Winchcombe. 

 

 

 

Your blogger's role was to fetch the little 1 ton dumper, and shuttle debris from the platform repair to the Telehandler, which was waiting with a big bucket by the kitchen door. 

We drove down the platform to get to the site, a tricky approach as the Santa tent at the north end restricted access, and the canopy from the Bradstone visitor centre was just a bit too low for the dumper's orange warning light on top. We managed to sidestep that, without hitting anything. 

 

 

 

The little mini digger was occupied on the platform, scraping together excess spoil. The lumps of tarmac did not fit its bucket, and were transported by the dumper, and later directly to the Telehandler by wheelbarrow, so the dumper was in the end stood down.

The Usketeers came to watch the proceedings. Why wasn't your blogger having tea and cakes with them? That would come later...

 

 

 

 

The mini digger dug out some of the spoil, but it was mainly about the big tarmac slabs, piled up to the right of the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the digging out proceedings, the PWay team came by with a trolley, filled with necessary bits for replacements in the tunnel. 

It's so much easier now, without trains. 

 

 

 

 

 

A few moments later the team was inside the stygian darkness of the 700m long Greet tunnel. 

It has a curve in it, so at one point you are totally isolated in the dark! 

Here is a terrific picture by Paul (thanks, Paul !) and we wonder how many blog readers will know which way Andy is looking here? North, or south? 

 

 

 

Back to the platform works.

Once enough spoil had been removed and the ground levelled by the mini-digger, Rob used the whacker plate to tamp things down again.

 

 

 

 

 

With the platform surface well whacked down, it was time to add some ballast, which had been positioned last week in two dumpy bags.

The Telehandler picked them up, and, with an extended boom, positioned them on the platform. 

 

 

 

 

 

The contents of the two dumpy bags were then barrowed along the platform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At lunch time, the two dumpy bags were used up, and more ballast was found in the yard to make up the shortfall.

A train of barrows waits to be distributed. 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day all the ballast was spread out and well tamped down. Now we await the tarmaccers. They are due Friday week, and will also do the patch outside the weighbridge hut at the same time.

Yours truly was released at lunch time, and re-joined the Usketeers. We missed them ! 

So you think this is too dark?

 What have they been doing, ad interim?

The answer is, pointing the cracks on the facade at the front. We hope that, with the underpinning on the front corner, this crack won't get any bigger now, so we are filling it in. With coloured mortar, but someone has been a bit too generous with the colourant... 

An hour later a second mix was made, with less colourant. This lower portion shows what that looks like.

The mix will grey out when it dries, so hopefully it will blend in. 

Dave did some of the pointing, and later, a rather exuberant Paul. 

 

At the end of the day, all the pointing on the facade had been done, which leaves only the tarmaccing by the door to be done, and the bottom framework of the window to be replaced. 

The Usketeers were then called away to Hayles Abbey Halt, where a failing gate post was reported. 

So you reckon we can repair this, Paul? No problem, Dave, you just watch!

The receiver gate post had a serious wobble on it. We think the bit underground has gone, Strangely, the hinge post is steady as a rock. Not sure what is going on here, but we can address this, using our trusted godfather post idea.

That'll be for next week. We then went to the Pheasant to reserve the Usketeer Christmas lunch... 

 

 

The tamper at work on the Broadway extension.

Thanks to Chris, we have a couple of pictures of the tamper at work on Wednesday. (It's coming back next week)

Here's a fabulous picture of it at Little Buckland.
 

Unfortunately, for the wrong reasons. It's a very old machine. It's kind of designed to shake itself to pieces, so it does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look carefully, you can see the driver on his hands & knees , dealing with a seized bolt on one of the tines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The repair was successful, and another quarter of  mile was tamped on the Broadway extension on Wednesday

 Here's a little video of the tines doing their work.

Unfortunately, after the quarter of a mile the tamper broke down again, but, it has to be said, it did a jolly good job on the curve coming off Little Buckland.