Thursday 6 April 2017

A Lovely Spring Day At Broadway

Wednesday 5th April 2017

A cool but dry start of the day turned in to a dry and warm day, the type of day that the volunteers wish for. 22 turned out today to continue the various work around the site.

First out on the track bed.

Early in the morning 6 lorry loads of type 1 ballast had been delivered to the car park and the dumper twins of John S and Jo ferried the said ballast to the northern part of the track bed.


After many trips Steve our contractor was then ready to start the spreading and leveling.




Piles of ballast and a heap of rails
All  spread levelled and then  rolled
More in depth information can be found on the extension blog written by Jo.

Later in the day after he had finished at the northern end, Steve with a little help from his JCB was seen dragging rails along the track bed from the storage area.

 A JCB makes light work of a pair of rails.
At the Station Building 

Due to various meetings bricklayers were a bit thin on the ground (or scaffolding) today.

Bob was completing a final layer of bricks on the south side and part of the drive way side.


Inside he later joined Clive on the chimney, which has now reached its previous height.


Down the drive

Depending on what time of the day you visited the kerb laying team seamed to vary on who was laying kerbs and who was wheeling the dry mix.
Below Clive and Pat are shown laying the kerb stones and mix and then later Terry resumed the back breaking work.





A layer of spent ballast and ash had been used as an infill and Dave, seen here, raked and then levelled before the roller was used to give a firmer surface.

Spear Fencing

The spear fencing gang lead by Rod last week had got to the end of the flat platform, today it was all downhill (platform ramp). Peter K had constructed several panels that had the necessary correct angle for the platform slope.


Rod and Keith with Dave's help are on the third downward panel, eventually the Spear fencing will then level and finish at the Bridge. All panels at the end of the day were secured and then concreted in.


Painting gang

Mike and Brian had gone down to Toddington to paint parts of the canopy and later returned to Broadway to carry on with the de rusting of the recently made spear fencing, then they too were primed.

Outside Graham and Mike started on the station roof panels, degreasing, then washing and then the first coat. The right hand picture shows them drying on what was a warm  afternoon.



Below Peter with Dave H and Ron finished making the painters hut more waterproof and secure, than it had been, with an extra covering and new sides it will help the painters on the days when the weather would be a lot worse than today.

Peter packing up for the day.
Elsewhere round the site, Vic tended to the gardens and mowed the grass for the first time this year? Whilst Steve held the fort at the bric-a-brac Goods shed.


And finally can we all at  "Broadway Volunteers" say a big thank you to everybody who has subscribed for shares.The target of the share issue has now been reached and without your support reaching Broadway would still be a dream. But there is still time to purchase some shares and every additional amount will enable us to do a little bit more.



11 comments:

  1. Now that the funding,has been secured,(And hopefully,a bit extra!),it'll be a clear run,to the finishing line,now!.I,suppose,the scaffolding,will have to be raised a little,to do the corbelling,around the top,of the brickwork?. Regards!.Anthony.

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    1. It is great that the share issue has been fully subscribed but bear in mind that when the share prospectus was written the estimated cost of the embankment repair was much less than what the actual cost has turned out to be so funds are still need to cover this. As you suggest the scaffolding will have to be raised to enable the corbelling to be done.

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  2. Hello, What are the yellow painted wooden pegs indicating on platform 2 and when do you expect to cast the base for the maintenance containers, will it be before track laying starts?
    regards, Graham

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    Replies
    1. The yellow pegs are markers for two of the containers that are being re-positioned to platform 2. The concrete pad is due to be cast before the end of April which is well before track laying is due to start in this area.

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  3. When will the gap in Platform 1 be filled? Well done with the share issue, work looks great. regards David A

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    Replies
    1. Work on filling the platform 1 gap is scheduled to start at the end of June 2017.

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  4. I've had a thought that might create more revenue. How about creating Camping coaches along the line?, preferably without upsetting the existing B&B at Broadway and others that I don't know to. The GWR found it a good sort of money and so did the WR of British Railways, so why not? Just a thought.
    The station coming along very nicely and all credit is due to the volunteers there as well as to the loco dept. and not forgetting the P Way and S&T. Also to Steve on the JCB who seems to do his levelling as if by magic with his precision. All in all, a wonderful effort and time to live in. Regards, Paul.

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    Replies
    1. The key word there is "creating" camping coaches! They're not just lying around waiting for us to rent out, it would involve a lot of work which could be better spent increasing and maintaining our existing fleet.

      Not that a camping coach wouldn't be *nice* to stay in.... :)

      Alex

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    2. Put us down for a camping coach if they appear! But yes they are thin on the ground so I am with Alex on this one for now! Will the extra money coming into the share issue help to stabilise the embankment to the point of having double tracks beyond the old goods shed(now the caravan club facility block)? So for now all looks good and progress is being made very rapidly, a testament to all the good work of the volunteers! Great work everyone, we are all supporting this Great Project.
      Regards
      Paul & Marion.

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    3. Hi Paul & Marion
      To stabilise a second track on the embankment with require another chunk of money not far short of the cost of what we're having done now so, although the second track stabilisation has not been ruled out for ever it is not planned to do it before opening.

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  5. Here are some ideas about railway coaches.

    http://www.old-station.co.uk/

    http://thesidingshotel.co.uk/

    https://www.thehoste.com/

    http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/waitingrooms/

    http://www.railholiday.co.uk/

    http://www.scotlandrailholiday.com/

    http://glenfinnanstationmuseum.co.uk/

    http://www.sleeperzzz.com/




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