An expedition.

Thursday at Broadway.

Two of us again. Neal put the last staircase panel back on; and Yours Truly painted window frames, raked the platform and had a go at clearing out the construction container.

 

 

 

 

The third of the three roof panels needed a slot cut for the stanchion, with the edges turned up for the flashing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fitting the last panel was tricky to get right. It ended up one corrugation out, a very difficult thing to rectify, as all the other panels are holding the one you want to move into its place.

A lot of levering, and a sharp tap from the outside finally persuaded the panel to hop along one row. 

 

 

 

Betton Grange was out today, twinned with a diesel on the green timetable. 

 

 

 

 

Some of the stone ballast from the 4 Dogfish had been dumped further along the platform, but in a bit of a hurry.

Together we shovelled and raked the easiest part (it was 28 degrees on Thursday) so that it was +/- level. The bigger pile in the distance will have to be shifted with a mini digger, or several volunteers on a colder day. 

 

 

 

The Sulzer engined diesel ran round mid afternoon, with a plop-plop-plop that, if you closed your eyes, could have come from a tramp steamer.

 

 

 

At the far end of P2 we were surprised to find this bicycle, cut in half.

 

What could it be doing there? 

 

 

 

 

 

Having spent some time in the construction container we decided to explore further into it, as there seemed to be several items in it that made no sense ( - any more).

We extracted a goodly pile of stuff. Some is for the skip, and some might be turned into cash by the RATs trust shop at Toddington.

Here is the wooden, temporary signal box name plate, now replaced by a proper metal one. If it is of interest to you, it'll be in the RATs shop. The box in the foreground is empty except for some shelving. It is marked BR AMBULANCE but inside the lid it says 'LMS'.

It will also be in the RATs shop.  Let's turn it into cash to support the railway!

 

 

 

Saturday - an expedition.

This was with 4 members of the RATs trust (which supports GWSR railway heritage) to a field near Pewsey. The field used to be part of Pewsey GWR goods yard, and has two huts in it with could be of interest to our railway.

The field is under threat of redevelopment for housing, so the owner would prefer to pass the huts on to a sympathetic museum. The expedition was to determine what it was that needed to be done to move the two huts, and whether they were suitable candidates on the GWSR. 

In summary, these are the two huts involved, after clearing of undergrowth. This one is a classic lamp hut, currently in use as a chicken shed. It is from Pewsey station itself, and was moved into the field several years ago.

 

The other is a concrete panel PWay yard hut. Pewsey was the local centre for the area's track gang. It was built in the early 1950s, so is now 70 odd years old.

 

 

 

This is how we found the lamp hut. It was covered in chicken wire, a chicken coop kept by a boat resident on the nearby Kennet & Avon canal.

 

 

 

 

 

The hut is not exactly immaculate, a bit as one might expect. Some sheets are moth eaten such as here at the corner.

The door & window are intact and not bad.  

The roof has been replaced by sheets at right angles to the usual direction, and the ventilator is gone (possibly found in the weeds nearby) 

 

 

 

 

The interior was very chickeny... this was all turfed out. The hut had a raised floor, which (like one at Broadway) is not authentic.

Under the floor was....well, what did you expect? 

 

Found under the floor, a previous resident. Now wash your hands, please.

 

Keith and Mike from the RATs trust bring out the false floor.

In the background is the concrete panel hut. 

 

 

The false floor was laid on bits of S&T troughing.

The area around the hut was cleared of brushwood, some agricultural equipment and more bits of S&T troughing.

After an exploratory dig in one corner we determined that it should be an easy lift on to a HIAB lorry parked next to it, after a short journey across a field. 

The concrete shed was carefully examined, so that we could agree on how it was put together. In this more distant shot you can see that the roof consists of 5 concrete panels each side. Each panel has a downward facing rim around it, and this hooks into the 6 trusses in such a way that any rain in between the panels is guided down the roof and away by a central groove in each truss. The ridge is hollow, and covers two upturned grooves at the top of the panels. The bottom end is loose. So it's a sort of self locking construction kit. There were no leaks inside. The size is 12' x 15'.

The sides consist of panels which fit between the uprights, and are locked in by wooden frames.

The uprights stand on a ring of shaped concrete plinths. The three windows are Crittall type, with brass furniture. 

This is a truss, seen from the end. The hole in it was used during assembly. A crane would be needed to disassemble the hut, as many parts will be quite heavy. Not all the concrete is in good condition, with evidence of spalling and some cracks found.

 

 

 

 

We observed very few nuts and bolts, the hut was mostly held together by gravity and interlocking.

The roof area under the ridge did have fixing straps, which held the ridge down from inside. 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the 3 Crittall windows.

The floor was tiled - possibly an afterthought?

There was a substantial stove inside, but with some missing pieces (door, coal hole cover etc). It was marked 'The Nelson'.

We found the picture on the right in a 2024 Facebook post  - so this is what it would look like, if restored. The asking price at the time was £120, and it was described as the type used in Signal Boxes.

 

Our information is that, on the GWR at least, Romesse stoves were used. So the railway origin is not definite, although it did come from a railway hut. 

 

 

After a very hot day digging in the bramble covered corner of a field we treated ourselves to a pint at the local hostelry on the Kennet & Avon. 

 

Bliss ! 

We are now going to debate the next move on the concrete hut - it has concrete issues, and a move/re-erection will require cranes at both ends, plus the cost of the transport.

Monday at Broadway.

 

Another hot day. Yours truly on brambles elimination and some painting; Neal on fine tuning the stanchions, and making sure that everything is going to fit when the big lift comes. It's pencilled in for sometime in August. Scaffolding, crane hire, a lorry for the steelwork waiting at Toddington, it all has to coincide.

 

Measuring up for the big lift meant that Neal had to dig up the bottom of the middle stanchion again, for that final tweak with the bolts.

Luckily he was in the shadows - just about.

Later he measured the height of the stanchions again, with a laser level on the building, and the exact distance of the stanchions from the building.

Although we are not aware of any problem, when we put the roof on the P1 building we noticed that the building was not only out of square, but that the support beams along the front had a tendency to zig-zag. To a degree this can be compensated while drilling the fixing holes. But we recall when on the roof placement job for the P1 building how off putting the zig-zag along the front was, because you didn't know where to place the first truss. Which one was right - the zig, or the zag?

Lets hope that the waiting room (built by a different team) comes out straight. 

Just a reminder at this point of our diesel gala on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

There's a big poster for it at the bottom of the Broadway drive. Featuring Broadway station, of course.

Note also that we have finally cracked, and are running diesel hauled trains this week, due to the very dry trackside. Another lineside fire on Saturday was the clincher.

 

 

 

 

 

PWay on Saturday

... saw the team dropping ballast at Toddington North (amongst other jobs)

Picture: Pete Lightfoot, with thanks.

It looks like double track here (you wish...) but the actual running line is on the right, while the RRV is on our North Carriage Siding.

Extra ballast was dropped in the cess, to make it easier for guards to climb into the brake carriage. 

Usketeers today.

 

Three out of four today. We started the day with a slice of sugar tart from Paul, then walked up the trackbed to the new hut. It is basically finished now; we are in the snagging phase at the moment.

 

 

Dave spent the day fitting a gutter and downpipe. The material is plastic, OK, but it's second hand and black, so not too noticeable. We have no funds for this project, so are doing what we can. The idea of the gutter is to collect the rainwater from the undulations of the wriggly tin, and guide it sideways on to the trackbed, not in front of the door.

 

Paul made himself a small mix and plugged the holes in the back, as well as some pointing of the chimney brickwork that was still outstanding.

 

 

Due to the dry trackside we are now running diesels.This first train from CRC looked pretty thinly sold, but things improved later as the day went on. There seemed to be some group travel, as one carriage had tables laid.

 

Isn't it just easier photographing diesels? If this train was steam hauled, you would be able to see that the driver has shut off steam and is trundling along to see if the inner home was pulled clear.

 

With the class 37 it might be doing 100mph, you just can't tell. 

 

So enjoy the picture, and see for yourself this weekend. It's our diesel gala.

 

 

 

 

 

The crossing train was pulled by the Sulzer, putt-puttering along. They make sure the back of the train is clear of the Winchcombe South points, and then give it the beanz once it's in the tunnel.

 

 

 

Having fitted the gutter, and testing it with some water to check in flowed in the right direction, Dave started on the downpipe.That was a bit more complicated. How would it run, was the puzzle. Also, what second hand pieces did we have in our arsenal?

 

 

 

Paul stood right back, and gave Dave his opinion on whether the downpipe was straight, or not.

 

 

 

Then we got the class 37 out of the tunnel again, but this time looking in the opposite direction. How fast was it going? Hard to tell here....

 

 

 

 

The next visitor was 24 081. In fact all the trains trundle by slowly here, as they can see that the inner home is on. 

 

Our little hut is looking quite smart here, don't you think? Freshly painted, chimney pointed, locks on the doors operational. But there are still minor issues to address. That'll keep us going for a while yet. 

 

We need to find that next project in the meantime.

 

 

 

The last picture shows Dave with the gutter fitted, and the downpipe in place. We're debating what exactly to do with the end. We want the stormwater dropped as far away as possible, but not have the pipe too long, and therefore vulnerable to a kick or an attack with a strimmer.

 

We're giving it some thought until next week.

 

Notice also the foreground. A small change,  but it took Yours Truly all day to get this far. We dug out the compacted ground by the damaged footpath, and placed two second hand blocks to make it wider. The blocks, being second hand, were scavenged from Winchcombe yard and were half filled with concrete. That made them hard to make fit due to excess concrete, and hard to manipulate, as only one hole to hold onto was available.

 

Next week: More concrete blocks on the path.

After our usual cup of tea in the Coffeepot we went to finish off the tarmaccing around the GWR lamp post that we planted a few weeks back. We wanted to let the ground settle first.

The FoWS have de-rusted the post, and applied a coat of primer. Today we finished off the infilling, by topping it off with instant tarmac. Hard work again, but luckily in the shade.

The post still needs its top coat, and the lantern fitting. This is in store. 

There was a slightly unusual manoeuvre at Winchcombe, as the yard shunter came out, ahead of the southbound train, and waited for the northbound train to come in.

The shunter then ran round the back, and drew off the first class coach on the end (ABIGAIL-CHARLOTTE) . Reason not known to Yours Truly, but interesting to watch.

Then on to Toddington, to deliver some more second hand sales items to the RATs hut. They are very happy to receive them, as they need the stock for the diesel gala this weekend.

In the yard, on the unloading (or is that loading?) road was Manston's tender, going home.

 

Then a quick peek at the P2 platform extension job. It's been steady progress, with a planned completion date before the gala.

It's all back in place now,  just the tarmaccing to come.

PWay today.

 

STEVIE was out at Toddington, clearing the lineside at Gretton took place, and a group at CRC was packing dipped joints. 

 

 

Picture by Simon.

A van load of expired sleepers was collected from the lineside in the Gretton area, and taken to Working Lane for LT storage.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Walt on STEVIE assisted the Construction & Maintenance gang with clearing up after near completing the platform extension works.

 

 

Pictures by Walt.

 

Some fine infill was brought in the pink bags, while at the end of the job all the remaining excess materials were taken away.

 

 This included the PWay's blue cube, our mobile site safe. It's now back in our yard at Winchcombe.

 

 

 

Finally for today, Walt took a picture for us of the Hymek that arrived for ther weekend's diesel gala.

 

Hope you enjoy it, hope to see you there!