Monday 26 March 2018

Progress

Monday 26th March


Just a quick progress on the activities of today.

Driveway





Telephone Box




Platform





















Parking Notices




Bric-a-Brac Shed




Slabbing



Vic


20 comments:

  1. The white line on the platform edge looks great. When I was a guard at Kidderminster, if we were stood 'spare', the Chargeman would get us to do the white line if the weather was fine. I always remember Charlie saying, "Make an extra special job of just in front of the Booking Hall as that is where the first class always stops". So we did that with a small brush and a plank instead of the platform 'whitwash brush'.
    Your slabbing looks good as well. It will make the end of the building look more 'finished'.
    The shop will fit in nicely where you have located it, although it does need a coat of paint. (GWR colours of course).
    The drive looks very much like loose sand on the beach, but then it only has to do an interim job until the Tarmacking can be afforded.
    Regards, Paul.

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  2. Brilliant to see you guys working towards the magic day at the end of the week.
    Looks like I am one of the few that is very pleased to see the Bric-a Brac shop occupying the unobtrusive position on Platform 1. Sometimes the pedantic purists forget that their dreams depend on 21st Century visitors. Broadway will be a work in progress for several years and during that time we will continue to drop in to donate and purchase items from the shop until it opens in the permanent buildings on Platform 2. Massive oaks from little acorns grow.

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  3. Is the phone bix on site a dummy item or is it in full, working order?

    A nice touch to add to the station site. History comes full circle at Broadway.
    It looks brilliant, paving, brickwork, doors, windows, GW colour schemes always showed flair and imagination.

    I cannot think of money better spent than on a permanent project such as at Broadway. It looks so good - and authentic.

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  4. So, the garden shed has been installed on Platform One. Yes, the return of the shop is to be welcomed. Yes, the location is fine. But the building housing the shop is not. Not at "Edwardian" Broadway station.

    I have only this to say, and then I really will have no time to make further comments.

    BAG have made their decision. I disagree with it. There's really no more to be said. (Not by me, anyway.)

    Michael Johnson has set out the scenario in his comment. His prediction is already coming to pass at Broadway. And there's nothing we can do to stop it.

    So, have a successful opening ceremony. And a Happy Easter.

    Goodbye.

    Peter H. Wright

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    Replies
    1. Goodbye or au revoir?
      Let’s not fall out over sheds!

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    2. I'm sorry, Mr Baker. You and I have not fallen out. But It's not au revoir. It's good bye. My apologies to you and to other loyal supporters of the GWSR whose names are well known in the comment box. I'm sorry we never met. I feel I know you all. No time for tearful farewells, I'm afraid !

      A Happy Easter.

      Ever yours,

      Peter

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    3. Thanks to the BAG team for another update. Not long now! I was delighted to travel to Broadway Station and back last Thursday. No doubt it will be very busy this weekend. I'm surprised you seem to have taken the huff PeterHWright, I presume you have visited the GWSR several times and hopefully you'll be visiting at Easter. After all, you seem to have a comment for everything so the Railway must feature large in your life. I'm sure that there are some people who comment on here who think that this is an O gauge layout or similar. I can assure you it's not. The bric a brac shed is doubtless a temporary feature until perhaps a permanent home can be found in the Platform 2 waiting room. It's not like they're storing weapons grade nerve agent in the shed! (If I were you I'd be very worried about what's going on in that regard than any shed trivia.)

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    4. The shed is temporary and will be replaced in due course. Meanwhile, until the refreshment room is open, people need something to do while waiting for the next train. Remember, the railway has to cater for not just the heritage purists but for the much greater number of folk who just want to ride the train, enjoy the views and expect a flagship station to have something to offer other than a windy platform. Had money been available to do something better it would have been done. Please give the hard-working volunteers credit for their achievement to date and time to finish the project which has some way to run yet.

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    5. Dave,

      By all means, keep the faith. I expect the people visiting the station won't notice the difference, not for a few years, anyway. By which time the march of the sheds will be instoppable. Look at other stations on the GWSR. Look at other railways, so called "heritage" railways !

      Not for me, brother. And not on my money !

      Best regards,

      Peter

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    6. I think it has been made clear in some of the posts on this blog why the BAG have done what they've done. As I said earlier, to have such strident opinions, you must be a very regular visitor to the GWSR and possibly a shareholder too. Or are you a keyboard warrior who worries too much about trivia (and not just on this blog from what I've read). We all get your opinion, but that's all it is. If you wanted to bankroll the GWSR then that would be a totally different matter. At the end of the day, it's not your train set.

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  5. Peter... just think Temporary..... think Navies Hut.... think income to keep the team ticking over until replenished they can start on P2 - soon hopefully we will be able to grandstand construction from P1

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    Replies
    1. Ian,

      Thank you very much for your comment. But the shed is a step too far by BAG. I expect they will stick to their guns. And I am sticking to my guns. Except there will be no guns. No fight. I'm too old for all that. The BAG must do whatever they want to do. But not on my money !

      That's it. In a few weeks, no one will notice the absence of comments from me. Well, so be it !

      Thank you, anyway. Bless you.

      Peter

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  6. watching Broadway station being built has been amazing. to all the volunteers who worked so hard and everyone who contributed to it, thank you. As regards the shed my wife and I have bought Items from it on the car park, I believe it has its own place in Broadway history now and we hope to buy much more at it in its new position on the platform. regards Peter and Pat Ballard.

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  7. RML 2478
    The picture of the drive and yard is a little misleading,it may look like sand but I ran 7.5t of Double Decker over it last week and didn't even mark it.
    Steve has done a fantastic job and over the coming weekend I look forward to many trips up and down the drive without all the potholes that used to be there.
    Graham

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  8. Yes, Re: 'The Shed'. It is what it is. It's a retail outlet, and very necessary. Just think, it could have been the Refreshment Room instead and we didn't want that! Sheds, little and large were a feature of railway stations for sales and operational uses. If style is your objection Peter, then where are the loco shed or C&W extensions on your list? You only have to look and see what Bluebell have done for their loco shed. - Now that does fit in well. So let's all get on together and USE the retail 'shed' instead of dcrying it.
    Regards, Paul.

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    Replies
    1. Indeed, a good point. One can never replicate the past entirely, nor would one want to. There is no doubt that, once the Broadway extension is up and running, from this Friday, a period of consolidation will take place. The Directors of the GWSR have made this clear in public. I believe that there is also an increased awareness of the need for more authenticity on the GWSR and this will start to trickle down to all areas of the Railway. However, it can be expensive, time consuming and demanding. I know there are those who are striving to do this rather than making risible comments from afar on blogs.

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    2. I can't ignore a comment from St. Blazey. But it must be very brief, I'm afraid. Please excuse me. I'm very pushed for time right now. No need to go into details. I know you'll understand.

      I hope the shop prospers. And if the ladies are to man it (so to speak), then that can only be a good thing. Women are a civilising influence, so I would say "welcome". Is that patronising of me ? Or sexist ? I do hope not. It's not meant to be.

      But I won't say welcome to the shed. Broadway was to be free of this sort of thing. The Edwardian station. The jewel in the crown, they said. Very fine words. Very noble. But the encroachment of the sheds has begun. And I'm not supporting it. Morally or financially.

      The Bluebell Railway's engine shed is a brick structure, a railway structure, and it belongs. Even so, Sheffield Park is rapidly losing its charm. Of course the elephant in the drawing room was the ugly modern buildings on the Woodpax site, immediately behind the station, and the Bluebell Railway have done their best (at considerable cost) to cover up the ugly view. (and to provide cover for their most valuable, perhaps priceless, rolling stock. More such work is going on at Horsted Keynes. But this work is vitally, urgently, necessary. And yes, there goes the view of the Sussex countryside.

      I remember both stations as quiet, pleasant country stations, on a rather quaint railway, winding its way down through the Sussex countryside to Lewes. Well, that's just nostalgia for a vanished age.

      I thought the GWSR were planning to do better at Broadway. There will never be another station building like this. It is a truly magnificent achievement, which, to tell the truth, I had thought impossible at its inception. Why, I wonder, did they have to spoil it ?

      All this fuss over a garden shed ? Yes. Why ? Because it's wrong. That is, I think it's wrong. So, there you are !

      I have made a special effort to reply to St. Blazey, because he is a special man. No, we've never met, but he knows and understands railways. And people.

      Perhaps we might meet one day at on the Helston Railway ?

      I'm sorry I'm so pushed for time right now. Several things have happened all at once, and your truly has to see to them. Alone.

      A quick question for St. Blazey alone. (No cheating, mind !) Which railway begins and ends with a Saint ?

      Please forgive me, Paul, but I really must dash.

      Let's hope it doesn't rain on Lord Faulkner on Friday !

      Bless you (and your dog).

      Happy Easter !

      Peter

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    3. A reply to my own question ! I don't know if anyone will get to read it. New blogposts appear. Older posts fade away. The world moves on. The answer, which I am sure St. Blazey knows, is the line from St. Ives at one end to St. Erth at the other.

      Goodbye, (if you are reading this !)

      Peter

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  9. Can I just thank you for creating such a great station. I’m really looking forward to visiting. I’ve been before on gala days and really enjoyed myself. Your right though, their needs to be something to do when you arrive at the station.
    Personally, I’d like to visit broadway with my friend, tho he has a heart condition and would never make the walk from the station.
    How feasible is it to offer a heritage bus service from the station to the village centre? On the gala weekend, it could be timed with the arrivals and departures, and drop me nicely in the village to look around and get some food etc, before catching a bus back to the station for another ride down the line. I’d happily pay a reasonable fare, it could turn out quite popular. Obviously I’m not familiar with any logistical or legal issues with this, but perhaps it could be looked into for gala/special weekends ?
    Mack

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  10. Good idea although the station car park will inevitably become the park and ride in that case, even for non railway patrons. Not necessarily a problem but think car space benefits for the GWSR.

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