Thursday 13 April 2017

Up the British Workers!

Wednesday 12th April 2017

The continuing fine weather has allowed much progress over the last week or so.
Saturday 8th saw 12 volunteers on site. Curbing on the driveway & work around some window arches continued. Up on the scaffold the decks were cleared ready for raising next Wednesday.

                                      "Hong Kong" Ron, Keith S & Robin on the curbing.

                                         John C putting a row of stretchers over the last but one window arch.

Monday 10th saw 6 volunteers on site. John S assisted by Paul C finished the ceiling joist work around the chimney breast. A small milestone reached today - John C completed the window arches!

                                                 John C sizing the last arch brick, then in it goes!


                                  2 pics showing the joist work around the chimney breast.

                                               Bob W & John C pointing up at lunchtime.

Onto Wednesday, and I was so impressed when scouting round the site early in the morning with my camera. So many cheery volunteers (23 signed in.) hard at work before 9.00am. The following 9 pictures were all taken before 9.00am.

                                                                               
John C with Bobcat & Tony on dumper off to collect old ballast to backfill the driveway curbing.

                                             Graham & Mike T etching station roof panels.

                    Brian M with the dusty job of sanding the nice linking piece of spear fencing.


  Dave B & contractor Steve W discussing the area between northern end of platform 1 & the future site of our mess room cabin.



                                                        Vic keeping our lawn tidy.

                                                Terry & Rod checking curb stone levels.

                                                     Tony with another load of backfill


Keith S supplying plenty of concrete for the curb stones. He was later assisted by Pat & David.

 Platform 2 : Gordon & Ron placing in position cut sleepers onto which our storage containers will soon be placed as part of the clearing process for platform 1.

                                               Ron brings another cut sleeper from Brian M.
The last brick in the wall being laid by Bob W, before corbelling starts. 3 out of the 4 rows of corbelling can now be laid. The final row will only be laid after the roof trusses have been bolted in position.

 North end of Platform 1: The slope is being slightly extended & the process began today with Bob W & Clive laying the appropriate number of blocks which were duly filled with concrete, supplied by Paul C.
                                               Yes Clive, quite a few shots of you this week.



 Peter Q & Brian T started the production of endless dagger boards from tongue & groove lengths. These will be needed on the station building.
 Peter & Brian also worked on the station ceiling joists, preparing a frame within the joists to accommodate a ceiling hatch. (Sorry no pic. - Next week)

                                        Stalwarts Julie & Steve "manning" the shop, as usual.

That piece of fencing that Brian M de-rusted earlier has now had a primer coat from Graham & has been attached & concreted in by Rod & Keith S.

The spear fencing behind platform 1, as it looked mid morning. Subsequently Rod & Keith S had time to set up a few more panels for concreting in next time.


From all of us at BAG, we wish our followers a Happy Easter.
We will be returning to duties next Wednesday, 19th, but the Shop will be Open Easter Monday !



Paul Carter

11 comments:

  1. Great progress you lot. Interesting to see the platform ramp (North) being extended. I asked Jo about why the ramps didn't reach the level on the Hayles abbey blog site and he said he didn't know why they were all built so.
    The linking piece of spear fencing does indeed look nice, however, why is it needed to change the fencing line from outside to inside the platform surface curbing? Or was this an original feature of the station gleaned from photographs? anyway. Looking very good all round. Regards, Paul.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The reason for the step in is because the platform is both wider and longer than the original. The structual engineer felt we would be too near the edge of the embankment and be unstable. As the fence needs to follow the line of and the narrowing of the ramp and also go right to the bridge pier, which it didn't before, it was decided to step in and then head in a straight line for the bridge rather than have two kinks in it.
      Rod W

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  2. Why does the fencing step over the retaining slabs?

    regards

    Colin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad to see the last of the window/door arches done. And that spear fencing really looks the business!
    It's now just 12 months or so till the opening of the station. Can all the remaining work be completed in time? It seems like there's bucketloads to do: corbelling, canopy, platform 1 infill, fit out of interiors, access road/platform surfacing. Oh, and not forgetting the track and signals! Are you confident it can all be done in the time?

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  4. Why weren't the platform ramps continued to ground level in the first place?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe that it's only platform 1 north end that has been extended. My assumption is that the photo shows why it's being done, now that the ballast levels have been finalised. Toddington Ted.

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  5. Platform 2 building. I am wondering if there are any plans to put the foundations in for the building on platform 2 before closing the gap on platform 1 or will it still be possible to get acess with a digger and concrete later?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the gap is closed before the foundations for platform 2 building are started, I'm sure that the plant can be offloaded from bolsters or flats for the duration of the build, bricks too if necessary, as I'm sure that the gang have plenty to do on the rest of the site to get it ready to open next year. The painting alone will take some time - think of how much there is to do. Hope this helps. Regards, Paul.

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  6. Anna Twinberrow-Carr17 April 2017 at 10:47

    What has happened to champion brick cleaner, Robin ?

    Anna T-C

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There isn't any brick cleaning at the moment and unlikely to be any but he is in the first photo at the top of this blog assisting with the kerb laying.

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  7. I was at the railway all day on Monday and visited Broadway on the way home. It was good to see the excellent progress from the car park and I can't wait to see it when finished. Whilst the site was closed I found the notices regarding the need for a safe and secure building site very good and informative. The plasticised notices on the fence detailing what each room would be was a nice touch and helped me to understand the layout. All in all I was very impressesed with what has been done so far.

    ReplyDelete