Concrete day!

Monday at Broadway

A miserable start on Monday, not helped by a weather forecast which said that rain would peter out by 9am, which in practice meant it rained all morning and into lunch time. We were so cold up on the bridge that we called an early lunch, just to warm up with a hot cup of tea, and a huddle near the heater.

What are we up to then? The three Malvern side roof panels and associated steel supports are now painted in light and dark stone, so that end is done. That leaves two bare panels in the middle, John being occupied with the Cotswolds end.

In order to move the scaffold tower under the bare bit in the middle, we spent a welcome 10 mins moving the big pile of T&G into the corner, bottom LH corner in the picture. That warmed us up already!

This allowed the tower scaffold to be pushed into the middle, ready for a start on the next bit.

Poking the paintbrush in between the corrugated iron sheets disturbed the cluster flies hibernating there. Instead of flying off, they had a habit of simply dropping off, and one landed down the neck of yours truly. Argh!!!

Neal resumed work on the treads, having reached the top of the stairs. The next tread is a tricky one, as it fits into the corner which is full of nuts and bolts.

Neal spent quite some time sawing the first one to fit, which meant measuring and removing lots of little cutouts for each of the many bolts.






The previous day, Sunday, was a day on the cushions for Mr. and Mrs. Blogger. A little light browsing of the gift fair at the race course, and then the food fair at Toddington, was on the cards.

The idea was to take the train south from Broadway.  Arriving at the top of the drive, we were amazed to see the size of the queue outside the ticket office.

Mrs. Blogger, in her civvies but a card carrying BOC, leaped into the gap, and opened up the second window.

This took the pressure off the other BOC, and the queue quickly disappeared, so that we were nonetheless able to catch the intended train. Broadway counted a high 208 passengers on Sunday, and that without any coaches. The cafe was busy all day too.





Wednesday with the Usketeers.

What a strange start to the day! Heavy mist, swirling round the Cotswolds edge, and before you knew it, it was down on the B4632, you saw nothing, and the condensation misted over your windscreen. The temperature varied between 2 degrees C (frost warning!) and plus 7 degrees, depending on whether it was misty or not, within the same mile of road.

We had an early start at 8am, and this is the mist that was rolling down from the Cotswolds edge.

Thanks to our gallant supporter Mike in Wales, we started the day with a healthy supply of Bara Brith, ready buttered and with a jar of home made damson jam on top if you wanted! We certainly did.

All this washed down with thick builder's tea, who says we don't drink that any more?

The inscription in the box says 'Well done! The Usketeers' and while it was a little premature at 8am, by lunch time it was richly deserved - all the concrete was in.

Just as promised the hire firm came at 08.30 with the vibrator. While the railway does have a small vibrator, the hose on it is too short, so we had to resort to renting one to cover the full 25m2 area.

Also just as promised (why can't plumbers do this?) the concrete lorry arrived precisely on time at 9am.

Here it is reversing slowly through the zig-zag road of the Pway yard.

We worried and fretted a bit over the last few days whether the lorry would fit under the oak tree, but we worried for nothing. It fitted just fine, and it was soon on station.

'Now you all have to work very hard'. 'Whaaaat? I only came to look! Got my hands in my pockets, haven't I?'

Soon the concrete started to pour into the hole, which was strangely satisfying to observe.

Of course the chute had a limited reach, which was the cause of another fret from us, as we needed to bucket it around with the Telehandler, but our guys were all on holiday.

The middle was about as far as it would go.

Enter the vibrator... it was amazing how it liquefied the concrete, so that it poured itself into all the corners. Of course it causes all the air bubbles to rise to the surface too. We had thought of bringing rakes and shovels, but in practice the vibrator did it all for us.

This corner remained tantalisingly out of reach, until we managed to borrow Mike from C&M to pilot the Telehandler for us, which he did, expertly.

The first lorry filled just over half of the pit, so we had more Bara Brith and more tea for an hour or so, until the second load arrived. This filled the pit right up to the brim, so now it was a case of vibrating it into every corner and depression.

There was a small surplus - you always err on the side of caution when ordering - and this was poured into the back of the stop block.

It came in very useful there, consolidating the back of the return.

On the way back, we noticed that a visitor had left his calling card on one of the cross hatched edging bricks.
What do you think it was, a fox perhaps?

Also on site was the PWay team today, and two of them here were measuring up some second hand rail to replace a split one in the unloading road at Toddington.

Using two scaffolding planks nailed together last week, the top of the concrete was tamped and levelled.

The tamper made of planks had been decorated by a wag, and it seems that the Usk weighbridge hut is now known as the 'Wendy House'.

There seems to have been a change of plan too, as it looks as if we are now having a second storey and 4 windows. Note the oak tree to one side, just like the real thing. Have the council planners been told?

Just before lunch all the concrete was in, and levelled off.

You can see the Usketeers here in a huddle under the tree, enjoying the scent of victory. This was a long time coming, with a lot of ups and downs, but we got there!

We let the concrete settle down a bit while we chewed our sarnies, and more Bara Brith.

After lunch Jules took a trowel and gave the edge a beautifully smooth finish all the way round.

The building itself will be located about 20cm back on two sides, and about 10cm back on the other two. However, this edge will probably be buried, so we may not see Jules' work.

At the end of the day the foundations were ready for blocks, so we fetched a supply of them and stacked them to dry under some spot boards.

We will need to wait 2 weeks before starting a first course of these blocks, on top of which will go the damp course. The stones we have recovered start from above that.

Next week we will be breaking out the shuttering.

At the end of the day the Pway group also came back from their job, this time at CRC.

When you are weary after a day's work, you get wearier still because you have all the heavy tools to put back.

See the crack? It's at the top.

The track walkers reported a broken FB fishplate at CRC.

Peter here led a team out there to replace the set, once they had worked out where exactly the break was.

As is traditional, both Usketeers and PWay gang met at the Coffeepot for a sit down, tea and a chat.

We were delighted to receive the visit of Rick and his Lagonda. Remember Lucky the Dalmatian while we were building Hayles Abbey halt? Rick is his owner, although Lucky unfortunately fell ill and subsequently died, so there is now a new Dalmatian in the family, Jester.

We had the tea together, then went outside to admire the Lagonda again.

A peep under the bonnet

The car has a 4 cyl engine, with twin overhead camshafts, very advanced for its period. An enormous brass car horn can also just be glimpsed.

The dashboard has a lovely set of switches and dials, all set into a wood veneer panel. Notice the gear lever - it's on the side, not in the middle.

The radiator cap is crowned by a lovely brass ringed thermometer, or 'Calormeter' as per inscription. The little segment of gears drives a needle according to the temperature of the water, ranging from FREEZING to COOL to NORMAL and then to BOILING.

The car was admired by Usketeer Jim, the Winchcombe stationmaster, and by Clive from the PWay.

We can talk vintage cars for hours...

Ready for concrete

Monday at Broadway

We continued painting the footbridge centre span, a very slow job with its intricate ironwork and the three coats of paint required.






























The drudgery of painting above your head was pleasantly interrupted by a rumble below, which turned out to be the unexpected arrival of a train hauled by our visitor class 50.





From what we heard, this unusual Monday working was for the benefit of the locomotive's owner group, so they afforded themselves a couple of return journeys up and down the line.

The class 50 was soon back in front of its train again, there was no waiting for passengers as the station was locked and it was a small closed group.

Here is ARK ROYAL ready for the off again.

Upstairs we continued with the painting, and after lunch the rain came down again, as predicted. Soon, everything was wet again, this time from the north.

We took a close up of where the water sits when it rains in, which it does as soon as there is a little wind. The groove in the picture is caused by the two angles clasping the vertical steel panel that makes up part of the sides. Despite the shotblasting a few years back now and subsequent high quality paint job, this is where the rust is starting to show now.

The angle on the left used to support a row of windows, and the hole for one of the bolts can be seen on the left.







Wednesday at Winchcombe.

The prize for the neatest Permaquip trolley goes to this one.

Usually the tools are flung on and off we go, but the stacking of this one has had some thought behind it, and no doubt the track work executed later was equally neat. Well done, that man!

Two PWay gangs were out today, one at Toddington adjacent to the loco shed to fix a siding defect, the other gang was at Winchcombe here, where they changed a rotten sleeper for a better one, including swapping the wartime economy S2 chairs for proper AS1 examples.

The first down train rolled in from Toddington, and it was the sole steamer out today. It's partner was the DMU, which we noticed was exceptionally full. It seems that there were several parties around today, and an above average influx at Broadway. (according to our spy there)

On the Usketeers side we were preparing for that concrete pour, so long awaited. It has now been booked for next Wednesday morning, first thing.

Work today then centred around making the pit ready for the 12m3 of concrete that are going to be poured into it. Here Jules is just reinforcing the sides, in case the concrete pressure tries to overwhelm them.

Neil a few yards further along was nailing down an extra inch of battens all round, as the rebars inside are a touch too high for them to be well covered by the concrete. The extra inch shouldn't be noticeable in the greater scheme of things.

View north from Churchward House.

Yours truly had a quick word with one of the C&M guys working in Churchward house across on the other side of the forecourt. Having cleared the yard of years of accumulated builder's tat, they have now switched attention to the inside, where the place is being rejigged to suit our own personnel requirements, and it is getting redecorated as well. The moving date is projected for the end of January.

We were invited to take a look around, it certainly offers exactly what we need to replace the leaky Portacabins at Toddington - lots of offices, a kitchen, central heating, even some air conditioning, a meeting room and reception area.

View out of the rear

The rear view shows the higher storage area created by the previous owner by conduiting the stream at the back and placing a concrete cap on it. The yard is spic and span now.

Next to a covered area (a sort of car port) there is this excellent workshop, with a big door. One of the attractions of the purchase of Churchward House and its yard is this workshop, as we were going to spend money anyway on workshops at the back end of the C&W yard to rehouse both S&T and C&M, in order to make space for the proposed carriage shed (see the view north above).

An unusual view is this one, from one of the upper offices.

Between the two Bradstone buildings you can see Foremarke Hall gliding into the station.

Here is the same train just leaving from platform 2. We're getting the slightly colder autumn weather now, which leads to lots of visible steam.

Unfortunately there was also a bit of wind, so that put paid to this expected plume of steam.

Back 'in the pit' attention was now turned on how to deal with the concrete once it's in.

We made ourselves a tamper out of two scaffolding boards, and these will be see-sawed across the pour to get a nice level surface.

To manoeuvre the two planks Paul made two rudimentary handles, which were nailed to the ends. Very basic, but effective.

We then did a dry run, sawing back and forth, and this exposed a problem in that something was catching each end with every stroke. It turned out to be the metal strips protecting the ends of the scaffolding boards, so we removed these. Now all is ready.

Well, not quite yet, as we had to think about how the big cement mixer was going to get to the site.

We have it planned to go through the PWay yard and through under the oak tree. Question: How high is a mixer lorry? We phoned the company, then checked with the laser level to see if it fitted under. We think it will, but there is a plan B, which is to shuttle the stuff in with the Telehandler bucket. The things you have to think of...

Finally we got Martin to move aside some of the baskets of Usk stones, to ensure an easy passage for the lorry.

So next Wednesday is the big day! After that there is a two week delay to let the concrete go off, before we can think about starting the build itself. Immediately on top of the concrete will be a course of concrete blocks, then the damp course, and then we start with the Usk sandstone, both inside and out.

The last knot

Monday at Broadway.

Another rainy day, but luckily we're under the centre span canopy, so dry - in principle.





The Malvern end roof is now done, so before we move the scaffolding along we're going to correct the colour of the angled supports.

You can see that they are dark stone below, but change colour near the top. That isn't logical.

While John spent the day applying the second undercoat to the Cotswold end, we laboriously painted in undercoat all the nooks and crannies on the angles at the Cotswolds end.

The green bits are rusty areas that we treated earlier.

On Wednesday we sorted out transport of the first shipment of sawn timbers from the joinery shop at Winchcombe, where they had drip grooves added, and one side angled. You can see this on the end profile in the picture.

We're going to get the first 20 on Friday. More are being made. These items go along the bottom of the stringers.




Usketeers on Wednesday.

A mild day, and a nice team come to finish the steelwork for the foundation slab of the Usk hut, while more went to busy themselves with track maintenance.

The first thing to do was have tea, one of Paul's hot sausage rolls (there is currently a dearth of doughnuts!) and study the magazines left by someone.

Some are quite recent, you could save real money here by reading them thoroughly...

The Usk team galloped off early, and threw themselves into tieing those innumerable knots between the rebars, here on the stools that support the second layer.



With all the stools in and tied up, we started to lay in the top layer of 80 rebars.

To start with two of us could work outside the pit, but soon we were all standing in it and bending down the whole time to tie those many knots.

Jim kept us supplied with lengths of wire, which he cut off from a big coil.

Neil moved all the rebars nearer the pit, thus clearing the alternative way into the site again.

From the nearer pile, we gradually laid them all in as the top layer.

We spent 20 minutes with C&W to prepare moving the 20 prepared timbers to Broadway, and to recover the grate, which the C&W welders were very kind to repair for us. Three of the fire bars were burned through, but we noticed that GWR fence spears had the same square profile, so an offcut from Broadway was obtained, cut into three pieces and expertly welded in. Like new it is now.

Here's some of that back breaking work of tieing knots - we laid out four spots and kneeled on top of them, but somehow all the muscles still hurt.

From time to time we would get up, stretch, and have a walk round the site, then resume.

Somebody said, how about a coffee break in the station? Well, you don't have to say that twice. We were very relieved to be able to stop at someone else's suggestion.

Coming back from the Coffeepot - guilt forced us away after 10 minutes - we met the sole steamer out today, 35006 P&O.

Even though we are used to seeing big locos all the time, we do pause to look at this big Southern pacific.

The name plate is nice to see too, and note how the name of this loco is so long that they had to abbreviate it with letters for the last three words. Is it the longest name in preservation? Or ever?

Coming back from the Coffeepot, we could see from the position of the spots that we had done about a quarter of the top row by that time (late morning).

We then carried on the remaining rebars, so that we could pull them into their final places as we advanced on our hands and knees.

The rest of the day was spent doing this, 4 of us in a row tieing knots.

Very slowly we advanced across the 5m x 5m pit.

At the end of the day we had achieved this: the top layer of rebar is in!

Paul felt it was a bit early to call for concrete as early as next week, there are a few more small bits to go in, and a few more knots to tie, but the worst is over, what a relief.

At the end of the afternoon we were glad to go to the Coffeepot (for the second time today, but it is so close and so tempting).

'Hey, I thought you were a member of the PWay gang, what's this?'  'Ermmmmm.....'

Under the station canopy we ran into Mike, absent for the last few turns. He seemed to have traded orange for black, but promised to come back once his training was complete (we often wear more than one hat in our volunteering contribution).

Then that delightful last cup of tea of the day, under the canopy as the mighty pacific rolls in.

Halcyon days....