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Loading the canopy components

Part two of that big job was Friday, after part one was done on Monday. 

 

 

Part one was essentially the four big trusses, which were successfully extracted from under the glass roof, and taken across the car park and stood on the bogie flat.

We agreed to meet again on the next non-running day, Friday. Here we had already taken some of the kit outdoors, ready for the longer range Telehandler to take it across the car park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put all the prepared woodwork into big bundle. Thye canopy isn't all steel, you know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another bundle was the corrugated iron sheets. These cost us a fortune - £10.000 for this little pile. They are of a special (extra) thickness which is now no longer sold in the UK, and have been powder coated beforehand, an example of early planning on our part to make sure we still got some while we could.

Today's corrugated iron is thin and flimsy, and you can't put any weight on it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending the £10.000 we stored the now priceless sheets in the little garage by the greenhouse. To warn everybody we put this label on top of the pile.

Great was our consternation when one day they were removed from the little garage, and dropped outdoors instead. Between the priceless sheets there were sheets of packing paper, to protect them. How would that react to damp, and the driving rain experienced under the greenhouse?

The sheets today looked OK, so we think we have been lucky. After each of the many winter storms we carefully pulled the tarpaulin back over them, and weighed the pile down with bricks and old pallets. 

 

 

 

Today we were in the good company of Steve, from the steam dept. His skills on the Tekehandler were very much appreciated, and one felt safe around the machine. 

 

 

 

 

The first pile of timbers was taken round to the 4 plank wagon.

With all the other kit expected, where should we put it? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We couldn't lift it in with the forks, so straps were used to put it into one corner as far as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

A tricky operation was the placing of the ridge purlins. We put these in between the trusses, as the crane operator/slinger will need trusses and purlins alternately. Neal was planning to give each item a number of a series to follow, with a thick felt tip pen.

 

 

Diesel 26043 was out and about Toddington today, on shunting duties, as we had the 03. Otherwise it was a non running day, as was Thursday, closed due to the high temperature reached (37C measured in our case...)

 

 

 

Smaller kits of parts in steel were also put in bundles and driven to the wagons in bundles.

There's going to be a hell of a lot of riveting to do, once this is up and bolted together. We expect to be on site every day next week, as the scaffolding-rental clock is now ticking. 

 

 

 

 

Here is an overview of the loading site. The last of the 4 fascia boards, longer than the others, is waiting to go on, once we have worked out where we can squeeze it in.

 

 

 

 

Finally a bit of room was found on top of the purlins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the very end - no other cars left in the car park, and the temperature still 27C - both lift trucks were loading at the same time.

But that was it - all aboard ! We are ready to go. 

 

 

Under the glass cover the construction site now looks very empty. We even took the paint with us, as that process will continue at Broadway. 

 

How long have we been under that rickety bit of glass now? Here is a picture of the raw steel profiles arriving, in fact on the same bogie flat on which the completed parts of the canopy were loaded this week. This was on May 30th 2023 - three years ago.

Our designated assembly area was here then, there being no availablilty in the loco shed. The P1 canopy was assembled in what is now the machine shop/old goods shed.

 

On the way back, after a long, hot day, we stopped at Broadway where the scaffolders had done their job. There is planking on and round three sides of the building, including the furure canopy overhang to the steps.

 

 

 

This is the store room roof. It's watertight, but more work is needed on corbelling, and a final layer of stone slabs around three sides. The end to the main building is the row on the right.

 

This is the area of the future canopy overhang. Looks a bit like it already, doesn't it? We have a big replica acetylene lamp, like the one on P1, for this area, funded by a donor and blog supporter.

There will also be a sign: WAY OUT - Over The Footbridge. 

 

Thanks to the scaffolding you now also get a hint of what the station will look like with the canopy up in place. It will look darker, and more busy. Broadway was a big station once!

We're making this an interim blogpost, as life is going to get busy next week. The big lift is taking place - the crane operator has already dropped his pads off - and then we will be up on the scaffolding every possible day, drilling, bolting, riveting, painting, fitting roof sheets and glazing bars, for as long as the weather holds out. Scaffolding is £££s per day, and the trust treasurer has a wary eye on us.