Thursday 31 August 2017

They Said It Wouldn't Last


Wednesday 30th August 2017

Twentyfour volunteers signed in for a day which started by giving us three hours plus of light rain, but brightened up considerably to provide a very pleasant afternoon.

The Painters
On Saturday 26th Graham organised several volunteers on painting duties and much was accomplished, with the canopy dagger-boards & valance getting a top coat and the gable end getting also getting the two-tone top coat treatment. The following pictures, taken today, should please the "armchair sceptics".
                                                         The morning in the rain
                                                          The afternoon in the sunshine

 Once the weather improved, Graham was up there putting a top coat on the small entrance canopy.
 
The Wreckers                                                                                                                                            
 
As part of the ongoing clearance of platform 1, the carpenters' shelter, so useful over the past year or so, now needed to be removed. Peter Q, Dave H & Brian T will temporarily use the restaurant area   for any undercover work left to do.
  
They said it wouldn't last. Well Dave & Peter it did stand up well - until now!
It was easy to find volunteers to help with the dismantling (wrecking)
Well done Ray. Now to put that lot on platform 2, under cover

The Builders                                                                                                                                              
 
Once the weather cleared up, John S & Bob W finished moulding the caps to both chimneys. A         
special concrete mix was prepared and delivered by Tony B, Clive & Paul.                                         
 
                                      
    John S & Bob W carefully fill the shuttering with another bucket of special. Chimney 1.                  
Bob smoothing off the cap on chimney 2, with a wet trowel
The shuttering for the chimney caps will soon be removed, and then scaffolding around the chimneys can be taken down.                                                                                                                                  

The Brush Cutters
Brian M on the upside embankment and Pat on the downside, behind the messroom, continued the hard graft of cutting back vegetation.

 
The Driveway Crew
Terry & Rod continued with the construction of the drain across the entrance to the station driveway. Concrete was supplied by Tony B & Mike T.

In the morning sections of grating were fitted to the finished first half of the drain. You can see the shallow layers of sacrificial concrete each side of the drain, to protect the top edge until the drive is tarmacked. It will then be taken away to allow flush tarmacking to the top edges of the drain.
 Terry and Rod digging a channel to receive the remaining sections of drain troughs.
 By the end of play the concreting in of the remaining sections was accomplished. Terry & Rod are deep in thought over the next stage - the linking up process.

Finally, Julie and Steve looked after the shop, but had a rather quiet day trade-wise.




Paul C





                                                                                                
     















                                                                                                        









6 comments:

  1. This is starting to get exciting with lots of little jobs being done that don't appear to achieve anything, then before you know it, then it will be the home run! Cracking job every one. Doughnuts next Wednesday , what is the best time for me to deliver them? (I will need a cuppa though!)
    Regards
    Paul & Marion

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  2. Thanks for your summary Paul C. The progress is a credit to all.

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  3. I said that they knew what they were doing! Yes; the dark stone paint looks wonderful on the valance and the canopy ends. The chimneys look the 'biz' too. Shame about the carpenters' shed, should have had a preservation order on it! Must give a well done to the drainage team on the drive as well. Not so salubrious as working on the canopy perhaps, but just as necessary to the final job. Regards, Paul.

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  4. I assume the restaurant area will have a temporary "roof" of polythene sheet or similar over the joists to keep the rain out of the "carpenters' workshop"?

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  5. From one of the "armchair sceptics" When I wrote the previous comment re-the colour of the mouldings on the dagger boards I failed to notice that it was only an undercoat in the photos, so profuse apologies are due - the final finish looks excellent!

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  6. The station building is looking wonderful, it looks to be an excellent reproduction of an early 1900 GWR station. I am looking forward to seeing it next year. Well done BAG

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