Great news!

An extra day on the Usk hut.

We're putting in as many days as we can while the scaffolding is on hire, so last Thursday saw three of us back on the roof - and elsewhere in Winchcombe.

 

 

 

Before getting the slates on the Cotswolds side all the way to the top we needed to complete the fixing battens, which Paul is measuring here.

Dave then nailed them down, leaving the way open to resume slating, except that we had another job pencilled in for today as well.

The old floor from Usk was pretty much smashed, with only one or two of the original slabs still intact, and quite a few seem to have been replaced with concrete ones, which wasn't pretty. So with the help of our grant from the Trust we invested in a pallet of newer stone slabs. On Thursday we went to get them. The reclamation yard is only just around the corner from the railway.

We got the pallet put on the truck by the yard, but how to get it off again? We needed the Telehandler, but where was it?

It was last seen going down the B4632 out of Toddington yard (where the PWay have been using it, and will need it again on Saturday) but the Telehandler wasn't at Winchcombe. It's proving to be rather elusive these days.

 

  

 

 

 

 

We decided to get the slabs anyway, and unload them all by hand under the tree on site.

They seem to have come out of somebody's garden, they're all covered in moss and earth, so will need some cleaning before we lay them inside.

 

 

 

Interesting things, those reclamation yards. But not cheap, their stock turn is naturally slow, so that needs financing. 

 

 

 

 

What do you think of these? Two pallets of diamond pavers, they could look authentically railway somewhere. There are over 400 of them in these two piles. Where could they improve our railway look?

 

 

Anyway, those were not in our Trust budget, so we will leave them to one side for the time being.

So, back to the farm.

Here Paul trimmed one of the edges of the Malvern side roof, where the traditional way of trimming slates with a row of holes had failed for once - they broke off at an angle, and we wanted a straight edge.

 

 

Before finishing off the top few rows, Paul put on the edges, which have to be specially cut - with those rows of holes again, this time successfully.

 

In between times yours truly painted the Ogee gutters cleaned on Wednesday with a first coat of Hammerite.

Antique guttering looking nice and new again. A stop end can be seen on the plank behind the gutters. We need 3 more!

We still need two 6ft 3 inch cast iron down pipes, has anybody got some?

Then, finally, Dave was able to get to work nailing on slates again.

In the foreground is a vital piece of equipment - the slate holding up stick. They're getting a bit out of reach now, so near the ridge, and with this length of batten we can push the slates this way and that.

Paul is out of sight on the left, calling out the position: Up a tad, down a tad... we need to keep to a straight line, something Dave on the ladder can't see.

At the end of the day the Cotswolds side was close to being done. We actually stopped only because we ran out of nails.

To finish the slates we need to build up the chimney, it doesn't stick out quite far enough to complete the slating and the ridge tiles. We need a small extra scaffolding lift here for that. There are about 15 courses of bricks to go still.

Saturday on the Didbrook relay.

The best turnout ever - 20 volunteers! OK, including a contractor, but it sure was crowded in that mess coach.

 

The provision of doughnuts must be a draw, or is it the hard work? It is certainly motivating to be on a project, so much better than jacking and packing, and waiting for trains to be out of section.

Today we had 6 luxury doughnuts, and some yummies baked by David - the second time now. We hope this becomes a habit...

 

Further up the coach it was the classic doughnuts, mostly strawberry, but one elusive packet of custard filled ones, a personal favourite.

We sat and waited for the Transit and the Telehandler to join us, then we could get to work.

With 20 volunteers progress is doubled or even trippled, as we can split up into different teams.

You can see four of them here:

- Plating up (in the foreground)

- Clipping up the rail (solo man)

- Drilling rail (middle distance) and

- Cropping rail (far distance.)

Each team allowed the next to progress a bit further.

 

 

The cropping team was left with a growing hole that the JCB had to sort out.

 

Drilling new holes with a jig that has several options for size and type of rail.

Finally there was keying up. We mostly used the curly Mills keys (these were once oak wedges) but when those don't fit tightly enough we use an upgraded key called a Panlock - that doesn't fall out any more.

In the picture is a complicated puller to get the often recalcitrant Panlocks in. You can hit them with a keying hammer, but as they are springy, failure to hit the sweet spot results in a loud clang and a bleeding shin.

The puller is a neat invention, but demands a different skill of its own. We find a start made with the puller to stabilise the Panlock, and finishing off with a whack from a good old fashioned keying hammer works best.

A fifth team took the Transit to Stanton where the extension contractors asked us to remove the pads from a farmer's occupation crossing. Those are big, heavy rubber pads, but with them in the tamper can't pass.

 

 

 

On our site at Hayles the JCB went down to the halt to remove the rails released last week, and then to pull out and stack the sleepers.

 

The growing pile of 'economy' sleepers was stacked in the cess nearby. They still need to be taken to Winchcombe yard for storage, and possible re-use in sidings there.

 

Not every replacement S1 sleeper could be used by the way. This one was actually laid out but was detected by the quality control and removed again, before everything was fixed up and hard to move. Good thinking!

It's actually broken in half, with a hairline crack. You don't see that so often, those chairs are usually fairly robust.

The clipping up team made steady progress during the day. It's pretty tiring, as two volunteers confessed at the end of the day.

Normally we swap jobs around a bit, you don't always have to swing the hammer. You can lever up the sleeper with a bar, which involves the relaxing job of sitting on it until told to stop...

 

Here's a general view of the Didbrook relay site in the latter half of the day. Grey, but not unpleasant. The sleepers and rail are down up to three lengths from the start. The last 3 panels will be fitted with wooden sleepers to ensure proper block insulation, but the wooden sleepers intended for there haven't arrived just yet.

Back at Hayles and now at the end of the day we found all the rail out and the sleepers gone, including three under the existing track

Looking the other way you can see that the trackbed has also been graded. It isn't quite ready yet, as the necessary laser wan't immediately to hand.

Hayles Abbey halt was looking well looked after, although the roof of the hut was rusty. It could do with a protective coat of paint there.

Saturday Night Fever!

On the way back we found Bert Ferrule working with Tom in the JCB and 'tweaking' the track into a better curve.

We also noted that a tree branch had fallen into culvert 15A. Must have been quite a wind to fall this far across the fence. Our drainage gang is now aware and will sort that.

Our last shot of the day shows how far we got with cutting, drilling, plating and clipping up. One more pair of rails is needed here, and then those three panels in wood.

Great News for Broadway!

Last week we reported on the upcoming surfacing of a part of P2 at Broadway. This work is being funded by the Trust. But now it's official - there is a lot more to it than that, the Trust has actually agreed to fund the construction of the P2 waiting room as well, and informed the volunteers yesterday. This was the subject of a proposal by the canopy gang a while back, and we can now reveal that in order to beat expected year end price increases, all the steelwork for the canopy and the internal steel structure of the building was purchased just before the end of last year.

Broadway P2 steelwork being stored on a MACAW in December.

We had to keep that one under our hat for a while as agreed funding isn't everything, and there are still a number of minor obstacles to overcome. Two spring to mind:

- we need to ask for an amendment to our original planning permission. What we have was for the non-authentic 'box section steel' type building, as originally intended for P2, by the same builder/designer. If you liked the canopy extension with its big lamp at Broadway, you will get an idea of what we now plan for the waiting room on P2. It's going to be a lot more authentic.

- In order to remove spoil, bring in materials and place a crane for the canopy steelwork we need a haul road in the neighbouring field alongside our Malvern property line. Our neighbour has now very kindly agreed to that, and as part of the deal a lamp post was moved on Evesham road.

The state of play at the moment is that we have a draft drawing for the planning, but it still needs some detail amendments. When complete, we can make the application. Depending on the timing of the consent, the haul road and foundation work could start in late spring.

Over the months, years even, the railway has supported the canopy gang quietly behind the scenes. In this way we have been able to source:

- all the heavy duty 1.1mm corrugated iron sheets, powder coated, for the roof work. These are now no longer available in the UK, only thinner sheets which are not suitable for us.

- all the special aluminium extruded glazing bars for the glazed panels.

- One large and one small replica 'gas' powered canopy lamp, paid for by a supporter 5 years ago (there's confidence for you!)

- all the GWR style signage (door plates, V board, Passengers are requested to cross etc) 

- two GWR indoor benches (another, upholstered one would be nice though)

- and not forgetting, 7 tons (!) of steel for the roof and its internal supporting frame.

 

Some of the new bricks required were already ordered way back together with those for the main building. We will need to order a complement though.

As we are still settling the final architectural details of the planning support drawings, here is a picture of what there was, during demolition in November 1963.

Broadway waiting room in 1963.

Note the two posts on the end - the stairs descend between them. For P2 the stairs and building will be properly aligned, so you'll get the original layout. We have almost completed making new the posts already.

The new building will be longer than the original, as the P1 building is longer now. That will keep things in proportion. How much longer? It became clear to us that any adjustment in the length will have to be in multiples of the trusses overhead, which are 7m apart. So we have gone for one extra truss, and underneath a simple doubling of the door/window arrangement at platform level. So there will be two rooms, each with a fireplace at the end. One can serve as a waiting room / exhibition space, the other as a mess room for the FoBS. That will also allow us the remove the mess room container at the end of P1, and free up that space for a possible reinstatement of the horse dock, perhaps with an interesting vehicle on it.

On the far end, as you can see, is a lower wall, and that used to house an open urinal. At Toddington P2 that space has been converted into a store and roofed over, so we will do the same. There is plenty of toilet availability on P1, and the installation of foul drainage on P2 is problematical/expensive. The modesty screen will be maintained of course, to give the same appearance.

There is currently no requirement for outside funding, although as the build progresses there may be opportunities for individual items, e.g. the two slate fireplaces, or the lamp tops along the platform. We'll get back to you on that as things firm up.

 

Meanwhile, inside the brand new Broadway signal box the levers sit unused, rusty, and covered in spiders' webs.

It's a big disappointment for those who put in all the effort to build it, and to get it looking right.

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

 A bright sunny day, but with an ice cold start well into the minus figures. We were just thinking how lucky we are to enjoy this spell of good weather, right at the time that we are putting the roof on and slating it. Imagine the result in rain and high winds.

 

Today we asked the scaffolders to come back and give us an extra lift around the chimney.

We watched them from below, and were amazed at the practised accuracy shown by the way they threw clamps to each other. Not a single one was missed. If a clamp had dropped on to a slate, that wouldn't end well. But we were in safe hands.

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou...

As soon as they had gone we were up there like rats up a drain.

Hi there, readers! We can see you....

 

 

 

And how do you get up there anyway?

Luckily there was a sign pointing the way to the extra ladder to the garrett. 

 

 

Today we continued with the slating, almost completed during our last working day. We are still doing two days a week as long as the scaffolding is up, just to make sure we don't overrun.

 

 

With Jules back on the team the penultimate row was quickly completed, making use of the 'slate nudging stick' invented last time.

Handy, that is.

View of the chimney base, as is, from above.

A survey of the area, from the new, higher scaffold.

The scaffold tower, seen along the ridge line.

Jules can be seen with the 'slate nudging stick', while Dave perches on the ladder.

 

 

Elsewhere in the PWay yard chaired, wooden sleepers were being loaded on to our bogie flat, shortly after delivery. They are for the 3 panels left to do at Didbrook.

Now they need to go up there by train.

 

 

Yours truly was back on paint stripping of cast iron, with painting in between times, and almost all of the second hand stuff we have is now clean, and most of it painted too. One item has a lengthy crack in it, and we have taken it home to drill a hole into the end of the crack to stop it lengthening. But where is the end? We will try tomorrow with some flour, to see if that can act as a tracer of the crack's path. Any other home remedies out there?

At lunch time things were warm enough to take out the seats and sit in the sun.

Have a hot cross bun, Jules. Don't mind if I do.

Paul was looking after himself here, with a little board to cut open his pie, on to which some mustard was spread. 

We have all the refinements here...

 

 

Then it was back on to the roof, where we can see Jules and Dave fitting the last row on the second side. Then the roof will essentially be slated, both sides, but for some details.

Once the bogie flat was loaded with the 75 or so sleepers needed at Didbrook it was fetched out of the PWay yard by the C&W 03.

We see it here alongside P2 at Winchcombe, ready to go.

Shortly afterwards the wagon was propelled to Didbrook, and left there for Saturday's work. The 03 then shuffled back to base.

At the end of the afternoon the final row of slates was up, and you can see here how Paul has placed a ridge tile to show us what it will look like.

Most likely we will have to re-visit the reclamation yard for some more, as on closer inspection the 9 ridge tiles we have are in many cases damaged.

 

This view was taken from the scaffold tower at the end of the day as well.

It shows what there is left to do: place the ridge tiles, and build up the chimney some more, so that slates can be cut to fit around the base of it. There will also be lead flashing here.

The gap left at the top of the two slated sides of the roof, which will be covered by the ridge.

Here's the Usk hut basking in the sun, now fully slated, and the scaffold tower ready to go for the chimney.

We'll be back on Friday to make a start on it. Friday is a warmer day and won't be followed by frost, so that is a good day to mix up some mortar.

Almost there.

Saturday at Didbrook.

A cold dark day, but an excellent turnout. We've got the bit between our teeth at Didbrook now, and progress is on or above target. Excellent!

 

On Wednesday the re-laying in of the replacement S1 concrete sleepers was completed, but for a three panels stretch at the Toddington end, where we need to have wooden sleepers for better track circuit insulation.

 

All the rails are back in the 4ft, so all we had to do on Saturday was to roll them into the chairs. No problem with a big gang like like ours, there were 14 of us, which must be a record. Morale is high again, after a dark period during Covid.

 

What we are also doing to improve this stretch of track is cutting and shutting the rails - removing the dipped joints on each end.

That means a lot of cutting and re-drilling, which went on all day long, but will give a much better ride and a lot less maintenance.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a joint that has been done, with the off cuts to one side

We've also inserted one pair of new bullhead rails, to compensate for all the bits we cut off.

 

 

 

 

 

These bolts are looking pear shaped, what do you think?

Extra fish plates and bolts were brought in by van. There are lots and lots of different types, it's easy to get wrong. And lots of Duff jacks, to lift the rail back in (and out, further along at Hayles).

As we mentioned last time, contractors are working on the Broadway extension where excess ballast is being reduced and the whole section re-stressed.

On Saturday they sent down a road-railer to pick up a spare rail.

We admired their vehicle, which is tracked and more modern than the one we could afford! It even has an air conditioning unit on the roof.

Well, we have a window that opens...

Here is the selected rail being put in the 6ft with the spreader beam that they borrowed from us.

 

As we had a large gang, and are doing quite well in terms of progress, we decided to address 4 panels of economy sleepers just north of Hayles Abbey halt.

Six of us went to the south end of the site and tipped out the rails from them.

Another group of 'economy' panels (9 if we recall correctly) remains between the two sections. Their removal is not so urgent, and will be done in another closed season. We mustn't lose sight of the replacement of the track at Prescott, before services resume.

 All the keys had been removed at the start of the day, so our little gang of 6 breezed along and tipped out the rails in a matter of minutes.

Paul, beaming at the camera with his gang of 6.

Just beyond the bridge at Hayles was another little job that we did while down there - a proper fishplate break. You don't see many like this, mostly they are just cracked, but this one is actually in two halves. We gave it a new plate, no probs.

Back at the main relay site, and now into the afternoon, we find that five pairs of rails have been laid in. The brand new ones can be recognised by their orange colour.

Pretty much in the middle of the picture, by the wires, is a drone. No, it's not scouting out for artillery targets, it is making films of various activities along the line, particularly on the extension.

Here's a little crop from the main picture. For some strange reason the camera has recorded it as two drones, but it's really only the one that was buzzing up and down. It wasn't near the wires, that's an error of perspective.

 

And then there's a picture of what it could see - your blogger taking a picture of it!

Paul's PWay drone being photographed from below, at Didbrook.

 

 

The last job of the day was clipping up. That is pretty slow work, it's very fiddley. The clips won't go in if the sleeper isn't perfectly aligned at 90 degrees. The clips like to shoot out and hit your shins in revenge.

At the end of the day we had 5 panels re-laid in rail, and three of them clipped up. The days are slowly lengthening now, so we work longer and get more tired, before we trudge back to the mess coach. Got all the tidying up still to do as well!

Here's a view south at the end of the day. Track clipped up as far as the trolley, no keys yet in the chairs in the foreground. Those sleepers need squaring up first. All tools back on the van.

More work here on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, back at the farm. Peasebrook Farm, that is:

The contractors have corrected the ballast level here, and are busy laying the sleepers back in a row. They have a set of steel spacer frames, just visible in yellow at the end of the row of sleepers.

 

 

We are a bit more make do and mend, and have made our own out of wood. That saves money.

We handed in the old worn out ones (at the end of their useful lives when we reached Broadway, having spaced 7000 sleepers) and Barry from C&M very kindly made us a new set that you can see here.

 

 

Meanwhile also, at Hayles the sun began to set.... 

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Lovely sunset scene by Paul (and the two others). There's also a drone video in the offing, if time can be found.

Platform 2 at Broadway.

Good news here, the GWR Trust has kindly agreed to fund the tarmaccing of the platform. The area agreed is from the barrow crossing in the picture, past the signal box and as far as the site of the future P2 waiting room.

This tarmaccing will answer one of the hindrances to opening up Broadway signal box, thus giving the signalman a smooth path along which he can walk to work.

The tarmaccing will take place next week. 

With the tarmac down, now looks like a good time to organise the lamp tops for the 10 or 12 posts along here, before prices go up too much. A copper lamp top, with a proper side opening door and frog, could be had for £250 late last year. It may well be more now.

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

The first of a two day session on the roof this week - use that scaffolding to a maximum! Three of us worked on the roof and two on the ground.

 

Last Wednesday we completed the Malvern side roof, and made a start on the Cotswolds side one.

In the background you can see Dave placing slates, while in the foreground Jules and Paul are setting out the battens. The spacing is criticical for this, and all the measurements we now know from the other side go out of the  window because on this side  we are using slates that are slightly smaller.

Once the bottom row was done, and half slates fitted up the sides, the rest went a lot quicker.

Soon after therefore we see Jules almost half way up.

We had to get some more slates for our stocks. They are a natural product, and have already spent a lifetime on a different roof, so we have to be fussy about which ones we use.

 

 

Yours truly spent the day cleaning the guttering. It was a good day for it, dry and with some wind to blow the dust away.

It took pretty much all day to do these two lengths of Ogee guttering, although we also spent some time on the PWay spacers made by Barry of our C&M department, and we were pleased to receive a visit from two heritage enthusiasts from Wallingford, who were interested to pick our brains for advice on various station items. It's good to make contact with like minded people on fellow preservation projects.

When we got back Jules, Dave and Paul had laid further slates, as you can see. Steady progress. We hauled some ridge tiles up on to the scaffolding, that process can't be far away now.

At the end of the day the roof was 75% slated on the Cotswolds side as well. Almost in the dry now. Well, the inside is already dry, as the roofing felt protects us now. We've been lucky with the weather - no rain, and no strong winds, so the roofing felt remains intact and is covered by slates so far now that it is unlikely to get damaged now, even if a storm does come.

Tomorrow we will be back as our second day this week. We've pencilled in the collection of the floor slabs from the reclamation yard round the corner. If we can get the Telehandler. It's being a bit elusive at the moment, often seen at Toddington, where it is helping the PWay relay the track at Didbrook. Then, last thing, it was seen proceeding at a stately 15mph down the B4632. Now where has it gone....?