Week 7

After an initial 3 week's lockdown, here we are into week 7. Things are starting to get a bit restless amongst the natives, science is getting clearer about how you catch the virus, and indoors, proximity and duration clearly play a big part. On the other hand, being outdoors and avoiding close contact seems to be relatively low risk. Perhaps a targeted return to work could be envisaged? We await the government's next announcement on Sunday with great interest.

In the meantime we have 'outshopped' another item to improve Broadway's heritage looks.

Complete, prior to signwriting

Assembly in the workshop, back view

This is the timetable board, which is in the style of a GWR poster board with the same moulding around the outside, but painted black and white.

A text will be sign written on it in a heritage font, so that everything which is constant to the timetable - 'GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY', ' Broadway Station' , where the trains go, where they return to, steam or diesel etc - will be painted on the board, and everything that changes i.e. the actual times - will be on small boards which will be attached to the front on the day, also in a heritage script. On the day the booking clerk just has to select the colour of the timetable, and hang the appropriate little board with the times out.

This will be a test, and if it looks right and works operationally the board could be replicated for other stations. It looks a bit bare in the picture, but there's quite a lot of information to go on it, and it should look very old fashioned once complete. We'll show you a picture when it's ready.



In a similar heritage vein,  here is something that you may be able to help with. We would like to equip one stationmaster with a replica GWR stationmaster's hat. These are not commercially available, and that's why hardly anyone has one, but we have found a way of getting one from a theatrical costumier.

This is what they look like, this is one that sold at the GWRA auction a while back.

The stationmaster's uniform got less and less formal over the years and seemed to end in a simple dark suit, but the hat stayed the same right up to nationalisation. So with just the right hat and a dark suit, you could look reasonably representative today.

In this picture you can see the very hat we mean, the pillbox type, as worn by the last Winchcombe stationmaster Don Carver.

Don is standing outside the stationmaster's house at Winchcombe (now a B&B but still there) next to his son Peter, on leave from the navy.

The picture is part of our archives thanks to his daughter Helen.



Now where you can help is by lending us (or selling if that suits you better) a pillbox hat like this, so that we can pass it on to the theatrical costumier to work from as a model. Without an original, she can't make the replica. We need an original, to borrow or buy.

Can you help?  Please send an email to breva2011(at)hotmail.co.uk. We'd love to hear from you.




History Corner

Two more pictures from Brian Parsons, a WR fireman at Worcester who used to live at Broadway.

This one is dated 27th September 1960, so about 6 months after Broadway station closed, but long distance and freight trains were still charging through.

Here we have the up Cornishman (so an afternoon train) headed by 4929 and 5088.

Brian says:

Goytrey Hall and Llantony Abbey head the up Cornishman towards the Childswickham Road bridge at Broadway 27^th September 1960.

They are passing the intermediate block signal (IBS) which, together with one on the down line at Springfield Lane, meant the closure of the Broadway signal box shortly after this photo was taken. 

... and whoooosh, it's past! This is 7026 Tenby Castle on the down Cornishman, so a morning shot. The sun is broadside to the train, from the Cotswolds side. The advanced starter has lost its signal arm, things are winding down at Broadway. You can imagine that this train is doing 60 - 70mph, while we today are just accelerating past the 10mph speed limit here for station limits.

Brian was standing on the Childswickham road. On the left is the site of Titchmarsh the seed merchant, that burned down in a fire and was later rebuilt as a printers. Today it's a small office. The fence on the right encloses a footpath leading over Broadway brook.






Answers to last week's quiz ' NEXT STATION'

Did you know the answers? Scribbled them down? Here are the right ones:

1. Cheltenham Race Course: Gotherington: Winchcombe:       Hayles Abbey.…..

2. Camborne: Hayle: St Erth:                                                    Penzance (or Lelant Sidings)....

3. Penrhynn: Minffordd: Boston Lodge Halt:                           Portmadoc….

4. Great Malvern: Colwall: Ledbury                                         Hereford  …………

5. Summerseat: Ramsbottom: Irwell Vale:                                Rawtenstall  …..…

6. Stonehouse: Stroud: Kemble:                                                Swindon   ……..……

7. Beasdale: Arisaig: Morar:                                                      Mallaig…………….….

8. Highley: Arley: Bewdley:                                                      Kidderminster………..

9. Totnes: Newton Abbot: Teignmouth:                                     Dawlish………..……

10. Goathland: Newton Dale Halt: Levisham:                           Pickering…………..

11. Barnt Green: Bromsgrove: Worcs Parkway:                         Ashchurch…………..

12. Corfe Castle: Harmans Cross: Herston:                                Swanage…………..

13. Darlington: Durham: Chester-le-Street:                                 Newcastle……..……

14. Goodrington Sands: Churston: Greenway:                           Kingswear…………

15. Settle: Horton-in-Ribblesdale: Ribblehead                           Dent…………………

16. Southall: Hayes & Harlington: Heathrow Terminals 1-3:     Heathrow terminal 4

17. Ashford International: Ebbsfleet Int: Stratford Int:               St Pancras International…..

18. Worcester Shrub Hill: Pershore: Evesham:                            Honeybourne………..

19. Aberystwyth: Capel Bangor: Aberffrwd:                                Devils Bridge……….

20. Goodge Street: Warren Street: Euston:                                   Mornington Crescent…. 

And now for this week's quiz - sharpen your pencils:

 (this dates from Christmas 2017)

 

1. What do the initials GUV stand for?                                                        

2. Between 1866 and 1895, Patrick Stirling was the CME of which railway?                                                                                                                  

3. What was significant to the GWSR Heritage Gang about 6 June 2017?                             

4. Where’s the highest railway elevation in the UK?                                                        

5. On 7 August 2017, a landmark was reached when Dinmore Manor had travelled how many miles in preservation?                                                                                                                 

6. What’s the voltage used on the third rail electrified lines south of London?

7. By moving the southern turnout at Winchcombe Station, trains of how many coaches can now pass and be held in either platform?                                                                                     

8. What’s the name of loco 60022 by which it is more famously known?                             

9. When working on the running line, what does the display of a yellow flag signify?                                                                       

10. What does GSWR stand for?                                                         

11. N/A - an in joke. Sorry!

                                                                                                                                            

12. In the 2018 timetable, what’s the usual scheduled journey time for trains departing Cheltenham Race Course to arrival at Broadway?                                           

13. Isambard Kingdom Brunel died in 1859, but in what year was the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash opened?                                                         

14. In the blue corner, weighing in at 135 tonnes, what loco was used to check that the track had been adequately packed in Road 6 of the Steam Shed at Toddington?

15. In September 1932, the GWR introduced the fastest scheduled train in the world which ran the 65 miles from Swindon to Paddington at what average speed?                            

16. Which of the following was a genuine reason for missing our Wednesday lunch: (a) I’m washing my hair; (b) I’m watching paint dry; or (c) I’ve got to listen live to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget speech?                                                                                                   

17. Our 2-8-0 GWR tank, 4270, was, according to the 1962 Ian Allan Shed Code Directory, allocated to 88A. Where was 88A (it’s not the same as that shown on its buffer beam in current GWR livery)?                                                                                                   

18. Which railway station was the location for the film Brief Encounter?                             

19. The gate security code used to be 7018 and we would remember this by its name, even if we couldn't pronounce it. What was that name?

20. What, the first in the world, was introduced in 1860 at Mochdre, Conway by the LNWR?                                                                                                                                            

Funding update

A few days ago, we were at £208.000. It's creeping up, but we're not there yet. Our board is hoping for a good response and with great faith in our supporters they have taken the decision to resume work at Gotherington on the slip. The contractors will start again next Monday 11th May. Of course they're going to make sure that they stay apart and respect social distancing, not too difficult out there along the line.

If we wait any longer there is a real risk that the slip will degrade further, and it could even damage what has been repaired already. So we must do it now, even though we haven't got all the money yet.

https://www.gwsr.com/Emergency_Embankment_Appeal.html

For easy reference, here are the details of the appeal again, so do please help us reach, dare we say, even exceed the target. Who knows when we can start trading again. Our appeal was just to pay for the slip repair works when we thought lockdown was for a couple of weeks. Thank you for any help you can give.

And finally....

It's the end of slide box No.4 from John Lees' collection of early GWSR and PWay pictures. We're now up to early 2014.

The first new picture is this one:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73536293@N02/49851266722/in/dateposted-public/

If you've never looked at John's pictures before, this is his album:

Early GWSR - John Lees

So far there are 1671 photographs, all scanned in from slides. They've had over 11.000 views, and John mentioned this morning just how proud he was of that! Thanks for your interest in those that rebuilt the complete GWSR line from one end to the other. 

What a PWay gang!

Week 6

Slight software issue this week, as the blogger Windows 10 powered desktop has decided to freeze up when uploading photos. Hours on the phone with a remote PC doctor achieved only a part solution, and a search on the internet revealed that it is a Microsoft issue, and there is no immediate fix. So we're looking at a work-around. Pictures this week are from the archives, with the first few wriggled in under the Windows 10 radar - it seems a single picture at a time can be uploaded.

We're into week 6 now, hard to believe.

We'd invite you round for tea, but can't. So share some virtual scones with us, with whipped cream and some top notch cherry jam.

Behind the tea is a TICKETS casting, an original, possibly even from Broadway itself as it was found in a house in Willersey nearby. It's in store for that big day when we restore Toddington station back to its original condition, with a booking office (no more queuing on the platform), real stationmaster's office and First Class Waiting Room.



We've had more fun with those WAY OUT board replicas. Both the P2 (Over Foot Bridge) and the P1 board (plain Way Out) have been 'outshopped'. Ready for the P2 building now, and the P1 canopy extension.

Right

Left

 
















A slight worry while making up these boards was would we get the texts the right way round, and the two fingers pointing the same way.

Remember that this is a two sided board, which will hang from the canopy overhang at the bottom of the steps. It will be seen from underneath, from both sides.

Before finally screwing down the last letters, we lifted it this way and that, but it seemed to be OK. Nothing was upside down, phew!




We still need the steel brackets and suspension rods for these, which in the past were made by a clever member of the Broadway gang.

Next on the production line is a new GWR poster board, double royal in size.

This one will be situated outside, so could suffer in the rain, until we have widened the little canopy over the front door. It will be lettered by Alex from C&W so needs to have a smooth background. That wouldn't work with T&G as used with the other boards, so we have ordered a sheet of marine ply (very expensive!) which can be found in the same thickness as the groove in the replica moulding - 18mm. Piece of luck that. More details on what it will look like when it has been lettered.


Slip Appeal update

Good news on the GWSR slip appeal, it has breached the £200.000 and as of today stands at £208.000. We intend to resume work on completing the slip repair soon, so it's vital that we raise the full sum - £42.000 are still to be found.

https://www.gwsr.com/Emergency_Embankment_Appeal.html

If you haven't helped yet - or maybe you can help again, after a month has passed - then above is the link to the appeal page. We are getting there!



Honeybourne triangle

We have been fortunate to acquire a set of pictures of the Honeybourne triangle as it is today, and share these with you below. Hopefully we will get there one day.

The Honeybourne triangle was where the Oxford-Worcester line crossed our Honeybourne line, and to make the maximum connectivity 3 of the 4 corners were connected with chords. The only one that didn't have a direct connection was, say, Broadway to Moreton. The terrain there is to steep and the angle too sharp.

The Honeybourne triangle - Copyright A. Kenney

A. Kenney from the PWay gang very kindly let us use his sketch map of the area, so that you can see where the pictures were taken.

The first picture shows the overbridge where the Oxford - Worcester line crosses the Honeybourne line, looking north.

This bridge as you can see was renewed only a few years ago, and wide enough for a re-routed access road to a farm (formerly with a rather dangerous user crossing on a bend) as well as space for a single line north, into the triangle. The picture was taken from the site of Honeybourne West Loop junction, a few hundred yards north of the big 8 track yard just visible at the bottom of the map.

The second picture is looking east, alongside the main line, and looking towards the bridge in the first picture (out of sight in the undergrowth).

The whole of the Honeybourne triangle has been used as a dump for spent ballast for a very long time, so many of the ground levels have risen.

Sadly the big double gate from the access road under the bridge is left unlocked and wide open, so much so that it even no longer has its bolt. This gives easy access, in particular to fly tippers who have left builders and household rubbish in various areas.

This next picture shows the location of the former switch to the ballast dump, the tip siding on the map.

The line on the left is the start of the former line from Honeybourne station to Stratford, now in use as a long siding to Long Marston, with occasional use.

On the map the area is known as Honeybourne North junction. Each had its own signal box, and the top of one can be seen in the car park at Toddington.

This is a picture from the highest point in the centre, looking north east. It's a bit of a jungle.

This shot is from the same spot, but looking roughly south west, towards Honeybourne station.

This shot is from the middle of the triangle, with the remains of the tip siding in the foreground. One of the loco crew at Toddington was actually a fireman on some of the spoil trains that came here, and he remembers pushing the wagons up here, and moving the siding bit by bit.

The buffer stop from the tip siding (which is no longer connected, and well overgrown).

This one is quite interesting, as it shows the approximate and still quite recognisable line of the through line north from Broadway to Stratford. Nothing in the way there.
The chord on the map to the Oxford line would have been to the right of this, but that area is buried in spent ballast to some height.

The last shot shows the view from the ballast pile near the chord, looking north. The water visible in the top right hand corner is actually a large lake in a field which may have been caused by the failure of the drainage through the chord, or the heaps of spent ballast. The level goes up and down.

Left of centre are some trees and these mark a cutting in the siding to Long Marston.

Overall then the spent ballast has changed many levels, but the original line through to Stratford is unencumbered, and the chord from the south westwards towards Honeybourne is almost completely intact, suffering only some minor invasion from the highest spoil heap.

Finally, a picture of a new sign on a public footpath leading to the huge Honeybourne West loop sidings site, and further on to the disused trackbed all the way back to Broadway.

Underneath is a link to www.railwaypaths.org.uk, which is:

'a specialist organisation which owns and manages a portfolio of former railway land to provide routes, roads and paths suitable for cycling, walking, horseriding and wheel-chair use'.








All in all very interesting photographs, which show that there is nothing substantial in the way to recreating either a through route to Stratford through the site, or a chord round to Honeybourne station itself. The funding hurdle of course is another matter.






Answers to last week's quiz:

 Got your pencil and paper from last week ready? Here are the answers:

1. Evening STAR

2. Hong KONG

3. KING John

4. WESTWARD Ho!

5. WESTERN Enterprise

6. DOMINION of Canada

7. The GREEN Howards

8. Resolven GRANGE

9. DUCHESS of Gloucester

10. ARK Royal

11. Green ARROW

12. LORD Nelson

13. Sir FELIX Pole

14. Home GUARD

15. Great GABLE

16. LADY Margaret Hall

17. CLAN Fraser

18. Winston CHURCHILL

19. Burton AGNES Hall

20. CLIVE of India

And this week's new quiz:

 

NEXT STATION

What’s the next station in the following sequences:

1. Cheltenham Race Course: Gotherington: Winchcombe:             ………………………..…..

2. Camborne: Hayle: St Erth:                                                    …………………………....

3. Penrhynn: Minffordd: Boston Lodge Halt:                          …………………………….

4. Great Malvern: Colwall: Ledbury                                                    ……………………………

5. Summerseat: Ramsbottom: Irwell Vale:                                       …………………………..…

6. Stonehouse: Stroud: Kemble:                                                    ………………………..……

7. Beasdale: Arisaig: Morar:                                                                 ………………………….….

8. Highley: Arley: Bewdley:                                                                 ……………………………..

9. Totnes: Newton Abbot: Teignmouth:                                       ………………………..……

10. Goathland: Newton Dale Halt: Levisham:                           ……………………………..

11. Barnt Green: Bromsgrove: Worcs Parkway:                          ……………………………..

12. Corfe Castle: Harmans Cross: Herston:                                       ……………………………..

13. Darlington: Durham: Chester-le-Street:                                       ………………………..……

14. Goodrington Sands: Churston: Greenway:                          ………………………………

15. Settle: Horton-in-Ribblesdale: Ribblehead                          ………………………………

16. Southall: Hayes & Harlington: Heathrow Terminals 1-3:             ……………………………….

17. Ashford International: Ebbsfleet Int: Stratford Int:                          ………………………………..

18. Worcester Shrub Hill: Pershore: Evesham:                                       ………………………………..

19. Aberystwyth: Capel Bangor: Aberffrwd:                                       ……………………………….

20. Goodge Street: Warren Street: Euston:                                       ……………………………….

Not too hard, that one, and perhaps easier than most because you can easily look these up. Write them down on a piece of paper, and we'll give you the answers next week.

Have fun, and see you again soon. And thank you for your help with our appeal!

Week 5

Week 5 already, but we're doing OK. We're all raring to go back, but the patient has been given another dose of 3 weeks in bed. Sigh!

The Pway gang has set up a WhatsApp group to do virtual work, and of course then rest in virtual tea breaks.

We send each other virtual doughnuts.

Here, try one! They're lovely.

Of course, not quite as good as the real thing, but certainly a lot less sticky. One thing we've had to learn (in the real world, remember that) was that you couldn't just lay into a doughnut, as that would end up with jam down your sleeve. You wouldn't notice it straight away, but only once the sleeve had touched something else. Arghhhhh!

So take our advice, start by eating the hole where the jam comes out. Stay neat!


The railway is still OK, no news apparent, so that is good news. It sleepeth, perchance. We have had the weedkiller trolley round, as that has got to happen, weeds don't do self isolation. Some of you noticed it filling up with water on the Broadway webcam. That is another cost though, our costs are way down, but they don't stand still. We have staff too, maybe fewer than some, but they still cost money out.

Our appeal is doing OK, we're up to £175.000 now, but one gets the idea that the curve is flattening. At the moment we are still £75.000 short. Have you made your donation to help yet? We need you.

Here is the link to our appeal page:

https://www.gwsr.com/Emergency_Embankment_Appeal.html

No doubt when the appeal amount was decided we had to make a guess how long services would be stopped, so pray that the government agrees with our guess, otherwise we could be in a mess. So do try and help.



Small bits of heritage.

Our GWR Trust has, as part of the fund raising appeal, made a plea that when we use Amazon to order stuff we use Amazon Smile. If you do that, they donate a small percentage of the turnover to a charity of our choice (er, the GWR Trust!). Yours truly did this, 16 purchases ago already. It's exactly the same Amazon, just a slightly different link:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ref=smi_se_dshb_bk_smi

So far, Amazon Smile has donated £3,022,499.43 to charities. We checked just now how much the GWRT got out of this from those that signed up, and it was - £19! Oh. Hardly anybody seems to have done it, yet it is free money and costs you nothing. So do try the link and generate some funds out of the behemoth.

In the little heritage workshop near the railway an enormous sheet of 18mm marine plywood has arrived. It's 2.4m long and weighs a ton, according to Mrs. Blogger who was roped in to move it. It took 3 weeks to arrive, but stuff is getting through, so be patient.

(Part of-) the marine plywood sheet will be used to make a replica timetable board for Broadway. This will have a standard text, with the actual timings on little tablets which can easily be changed according to the timings of the day.

Six further cast aluminium replica letters have arrived for one of the suspended canopy boards at Broadway.

Unfortunately we have forgotten what they were for, can you help?

The board itself is already made, with T&G panels and replica double sided mouldings all the way round.

In the picture the letters have been lined up with a piece of timber, and are having the holes drilled for the screws.

Notice the chamfer on the edges of the letters, which allows them to pop easily out of the mould and which distinguishes them from laser cut steel or - the horror of it - plywood examples.

This shows the little kit we are using. The pointing hand is from a brass rubbing of an original given to us by the heritage dept of a friendly neighbouring railway. The letters sit on SS washers, which just lift them a little bit off the backing woodwork. This makes them stand out a bit more, and makes repainting in the future a little easier, as if you are careful you can avoid painting the woodwork underneath white. We noticed this idea on some originals we dismantled.







Here is one side of an almost finished board, the longer one for P2 at Broadway.

Of course we can't put the board up yet as there is no P2 canopy. But we need to order the materials in one lot, and happily this coincided with the virus crisis, so there is something to do while we stay at home. Every cloud has a silver lining!

A detail of Broadway in 1904

If you're really fussy you're going to say that the finger is in the wrong place, it should be on the end of the bottom line on the board under the P2 canopy.

We had a think about that. It meant either a longer board, or smaller letters, all squashed up. On the other hand the P2 board is already quite substantial.

Then we had a look at Winchcombe, the only other station along our line with a similar set up. There it looked like this:

The same detail of Winchcombe in BR days.

Slightly different! But it is more logical to have the finger next to the larger letters, where there is the space, so that is what we did. Keeping 'FOOT' and 'BRIDGE' separate as at Broadway.

 -------------------- 000 * 000 --------------------

Last week's quiz answers:

Got your answers ready? Here is what they should look like:

CHRISTMAS QUIZ 2016

1.       Which region of British Railways did not have water troughs?           Southern Region 

2.      What was the width between the rails on Brunel’s broad gauge?                           7’0¼”…….

3.      Which of our locos has an 81A, Old Oak Common, shed plate?  7903 Foremarke Hall

   

4.      Who, during 2016, was offered training on how to use a shovel?     John, aka The Duke            

(In joke, OK)                 

5.      The Pritchard Patent Product Company is better known as what?                 PECO

         

6.      What’s the locomotive number used by Flying Scotsman during 2016?       60103

    

7.      Where was Dinmore Manor this last summer?   (NB We are in 2016) Dartmouth Steam Railway

         

       8.       How wide, in inches, is a standard wooden sleeper?                                    10''

9.      What type of dogs travel for free on the GWR?                                    Well Behaved

                                 

10.   Where is the shed coded 14E?                                                                     Bedford

        

11.   According to a volunteer's’ profound analytic mind, what is the main

difference between the Swanage Railway’s Derby built lightweight

Class 108 DMUs and their Pressed Steel Company built Class 117

DMUs?    (In joke, funny ha-ha)                                                                       Nine

                                                                                                 

        12.  Where is the shed coded 14E?                                            Bedford, again (yes, we know.....)                                                                               

13.   At 22.75 miles, which is the longest standard gauge heritage railway

        in the UK?                                                                                                             WSR                                                                                                                                  

14.   What, demolished in December 1961, will be reinstated by HS2?         The Doric Arch             

15.   What’s the BR TOPS class number for our loco 5343?                                        26

16.    If you need to slow a train to 5mph though PWay work, what colour flag is the first to be

 displayed?                                                                                                                  Yellow  

17.   How is the flag held?                                                                                    Gently waved




And now a new quiz for this week:

MISSING WORDS IN LOCO NAMES

                        NAME                                                                                                  NUMBER

1.     Evening    ………………………………………………                              92220

2.     Hong  …….………….………………………………                                  45611

3.     ……………………………………………    John                                        6026

4.     ………………………………… ………    Ho                                           34036

5.     …………………………………………..     Enterprise                               D1000

6.     ………………………………………….      of Canada                               60010

7.     The ……………………………………..      Howards                                 46133

            8.     Resolven   …………………………………………………….                      6869 

9.     …………………………………………..     of Gloucester                          46225

10.  …………………………………………..     Royal                                       D601

11.  Green   ………………………………………………..                                60800

12.  ……………………………………….…      Nelson                                     30850

13.  Sir  ………………………………………… Pole                                         5066

14.  Home  ……..………………………………………...                                 45543

15.  Great  ……..……………………………………………                                   D4

16.  ………………………………………………   Margaret Hall                         7911

17.  …………………………………………….  Fraser                                      72003

18.  Winston  ….…………………………………………..                                 34051

19.  Burton  ……..……………………………    Hall                                          6998

20.   ………………………………………………of India                                   70040

Once again, thanks (yours and mine) go to Robert who not only made up the quizzes to amuse the munching Christmas diners, but also let us borrow them to entertain you once a week during the Corona crisis.

So sharpen your pencils, no conferring, and write down your answers and see next week how many you have got right.

You'll notice that there are 20 questions this week. This is because there was nothing rude about this quiz at all. Bit disappointing really...

(Apologies for the red colour, but due to some kink or other in Blogger it will not change from red. Except this last bit. 
Weird.

Post Scriptum:

Nearly forgot, but John Lees' pictures of early PWay work on the GWSR have been updated with another, large, batch of photographs, this time from the 2010 era.

Here is his album:

John Lees Early GWSR on Flickr 

The first new picture is this one:

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/73536293@N02/49788654758/in/dateposted-public/