Thursday 24 August 2017

The Troops Rallied to the Call

First a brief resume of the efforts on Monday 21st.

11 volunteers signed in to continue the good works.

Bob W finished the brickwork for chimney 2, the false one. Paul cut a few bricks for him.


                              John C was adding more pieces to the southern gable end.

                      Neil C finished assembly of the framework for the northern gable end.

                              John S laid the penultimate row of corbelling in the gap & Tony backed up.

Last but not least, Brian M soldiered on for 4 solid hours to clear more undergrowth from the upside embankment, towards the northern end of our site.


Wednesday 23rd August

A marvellous turnout, with 26 volunteers signing in today. The day started with 2 hours of murky conditions but these were soon forgotten and it became very pleasant & conducive for the many tasks that were set.

Lineside Clearance:
Brian M again put in several hours of graft, clearing more undergrowth from the upside embankment.


The painters:

                      Mike T is adding undercoat to the rear of the canopy dagger boards.
                              Mike S is applying top coat to some of the canopy steelwork.
                 Boss Graham is top-coating the valancing over the canopy dagger boards.
You can see the pieces of cast iron guttering resting behind, ready to be attached to the valancing.
           John C is bringing up one of the many pieces of gutting for the canopy front
 John C had, earlier in the day, cut & assembled the verging to the top edge of the Southern gable end. This in turn was primed & later undercoated. Finished article looks good!
I must not forget Ray, who is seen undercoating several boards in the murk of the first 2 working hours. Later, Ray was later up on the scaffolding applying primer to the verging pieces, mentioned above.

The Bricklayers:

Hooray! the brickwork to fill the gap in platform 1 was finished. John S & Bob W finished the top row of corbelling whilst Tony & Clive finished the backing. Paul, when not taking photos or drinking the occasional coffee, supplied the mortar. 

The Carpenters:

                  Peter Q shows us where the chimney pot will sit, as if we didn't know! 
 Brian, Peter Q & Dave are discussing the second stage of shuttering around the top of chimney 1. The shuttering will be used next Wednesday to form a concrete plinth, roughly 4" thick, which will be marginally wider than the brickwork & will hold the chimney pot in place.
 Here Neal C is showing off his great bit of kit on chimney 2. This is made up of 4 specially crafted pieces of wood which can be clamped squarely around the brickwork. A second tier of shuttering will be attached around this framework to provide the correct depth of concrete for the chimney's plinth.

As an aside, whilst I was taking this pic., Rod called up to say I should come down; " It's too technical for you". Then he said, about their trench work down the driveway, "Perhaps we are out of our depth, as well".

The Cleaners:
Vic beavered away inside the station building and was able to clear out & sweep the floors of the kitchen & restaurant.

The Driveway "Diggers":

A drainage arrangement is needed at the bottom of the station driveway. Steve W was on hand to dig suitable trenches in the verge leading to the main rain water drainage pipe & across the bottom of the driveway where it meets the Evesham Rd. footpath.

     Steve W & JCB  are cutting a trench in the verge towards the driveway and will continue this across the bottom of the driveway                         
 With many of us packing up for the day, Terry, Rod & Keith were still hard at work. Concrete gulley sections for the drainage were being laid in the trench across the driveway. Keith supplied concrete whilst Terry & Rod carefully measured the depth. This last pic. shows John C presumably discussing depths & measurements with Dave B & Terry.


Altogether a very industrious day with a great deal accomplished .


Paul C

11 comments:

  1. A great deal accomplished indeed! It's all coming together beautifully. So much more to do though. Let's hope for good weather. Regards, Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's great,to see the gable end woodwork,being assembled,and painted!.the chimney's almost finished.and the gap brickwork done,too.Hopefully,it wont be too long,before the roof is put on,now!. Anthony.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There will be a doughnut delivery the first week in September when we pay a visit to you, all this hard work means you deserve some to keep the energy levels up! Cracking work everyone.
    Regards
    Paul & Marion

    ReplyDelete
  4. Perhaps putting some native British wild meadowseed along the embankment would be a good investment, it would help keep the weeds down and that long cutting is very photogenic and certainly will be well snapped when locos are using the headshunt, the job would be a lot easier and complementary to the graft that you boys have put into clearing the embankments, the stumps would have to go somehow. Food for thought! Anyhow good work, keep plugging away!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Any sheep (or goats) herds available , in the area perhaps, to earn rent to boot? I thought the Cotswolds were rich on sheep.

      Delete
    2. I'm trying to imagine what 2807 would look like with a cow catcher attached to the font buffer beam! Seriously though I do like the idea of the wild flower meadow approach and biological management. Some historical precedent can be seen in one of G H Soole's wonderful photos showing some track workers collecting daffodils on the steep embankments at Patchway as 5046 blasts up the gradient. (Great Western Railway In The 1930s VOL 1, plate 6).

      Delete
  5. In view of all the excellent work going on I hate to be picky, but shouldn't the valencing over the dagger boards and the gable ends be painted in Dark Stone rather than the Light Stone currently being used? Granted BR painted it all in overall cream, but that's not how the GWR did it, as can be seen in archive photos of the station.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were many variations in GWR station paintwork. Remember also, they ain't finished the thing yet! Toddington Ted.

      Delete
    2. I'm sure that wont be the final finish!

      Delete
  6. They also have Toddington to use as a guide, so I don't think they will go wrong here. Regards, Paul.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good point, I'd forgotten that! It's only a minor item though and shouldn't detract from the excellent work that's being done.

      Delete