Wednesday 15th November 2017
An overcast day which was neither cold or warm saw 25 volunteers turn out to carry on with ongoing jobs around the station and on platform 1. One of the main talking points was the Board's decision to have a cafe at Broadway (as per our volunteers vote). A small group of potential volunteers who would be willing to run or help in the running the cafe was slowly beginning to form. Ideas were being bandied around, so watch this space for further developments.
Firstly we had a visit from a team of Glaziers (not the owners of Manchester United as Mike said).
Here the first unit is being fitted on the car park side. By mid afternoon the whole of building had had its window units fitted, an excellent and speedy job. Another big tick on the construction of the station.
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Photos showing both sides of the station building having been fitted with windows, doors next ?
The painters of Graham and the two Michael's were trying to paint the frames before the arrival of the glaziers but the glaziers were far too quick!
The team of Peter Q , Dave H and Brian were waiting for various items to be delivered before they could continue with their on going tasks.
So off they went to strip out the Broadway bric a brac shed of all its electrics and useful bits before it gets dismantled.
Julie has a tear in her eye as slowly but surely her shed and surroundings get dismantled before her very eyes. Pete and Brian removing the hand rail while John B removes some old notices off the door.
On the opposite side of the drive Bob and John S were increasing the height of the manholes.
Cement supplied as per usual by Paul.
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A large team firstly put additional edging slabs in behind and higher than the existing.
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| Kieth and Vic watching the arrival of Terry with a mix for the edging slabs. |
With John C in the mini digger feeding Rod on the dumper, spent ballast was taken along the platform where a small group was waiting to spread and level, slowly, they proceed towards the end of the spear fencing.
At the close of play after a few sessions with the various rollers and compactors this is how it looked.
Some of you may have noticed on the Extension Blog pictures and some have mentioned that the daggerboards on the gable end looked to have been hit and have accidentally been broken.
Yes they had been accidentally be broken by the jib of the mini digger!
One of the items which Peter, Dave and Brian were waiting for was the arrival of a scaffolding tower which duly arrived mid morning .
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| Fiddly job , we don`t want to do this again |
After the guttering was removed the two broken dagger boards were cut out and new pieces cut and inserted, filler was applied and the boards then were primed. Guttering was re-fitted. Next time we're on site they will get a first coat and then a second. Hopefully nobody will notice.
Mini digger has now been banded going anywhere the station building!
I admire your tremendous achievements and I love all the GWSR blogs. I dislike negative posts, but I am concerned that in the penultimate photo, it looks to me like either the lamp posts are set too low or the new edging slabs are too high. I recall reading somewhere that there is a regulation that the final platform surface has to slope slightly down from the edge, not least so that prams and push-chairs will not accidentally roll onto the tracks.
ReplyDeleteWith winter running to consider. i.e. Santa trains, also the fact that melt water will flow to the platform edge if it sloped the other way and then refreeze makinf ice on the platform edge - most undesirable! Regards, Paul.
DeleteIf I recall correctly it was recommended that platforms should slope back from the edge as long ago as 1898, when a serious accident at Wellingborough was caused by a runaway platform trolley.
DeleteHowever, I think the recommendation did not become a regulation until some years later. It wasn't considered a serious issue in the days when many platforms had gravel surfaces, which prevented wheeled items from rolling away.
To this day there are lots of platforms around the national network that slope in the opposite direction - look at the platforms at Cheltenham Lansdown, for example. They've got a very steep gradient towards the rails, which has got worse over the years as the platforms have been resurfaced without raising the edging slabs.
Network Rail's 'solution' to platforms that slope towards the track is to stencil warning signs on the platform surface, to the effect that people with wheelchairs, pushchairs, etc should apply their brakes. These signs have popped up everywhere over the last couple of years or so. It's really just a legal get-out clause, so that if someone does roll onto the track, Network Rail can argue that they are not responsible. As far as I know, nobody has tested this in court yet...
At Broadway I don't think the back-slope will be noticeable once the final platform surface goes down. And it's better to have it than risk a roll-off.
How lovely to see the windows going in. May be an L plate needs to be made for the jib so it knows, ;).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update, David. It's great to see the glazing going in. Some doors will make the place weathertight! And I wondered how difficult that dagger board repair would be - it should be invisible when it's all filled and painted up.
ReplyDeleteThe window frames in the original building had the large aperture below the top opener divided into two sections. The new windows appear to have one large glass section which gives a more modern feel. Was there a reason for this apart from cost considerations?
ReplyDeleteI looked and re-looked at the pictures and thought that there was something different to the originals. then I looked AT the originals and noticed, like you have, that the lower pane was split into two with a glazing bar halfway. As has already been said, this could be rectified with a cosmetic horizontal wooden glazing bar which could easily be stuck on with glue. Regards, Paul.
DeleteHow wonderful the building looks now with glazing installed! Also the platform south end looks totally different with the addition of the top skim of spent ballast. Did the shop have to be taken down?, or is the need for car parking that desperate? Is there a chance that the shop could be re-sited on the platform and given a coat of light stone paint?
ReplyDeleteAlso, is there any truth to the rumour that the mini digger now sports a vinyl facsimile of a dagger board?
Great work by the whole team and also a great result with the Refreshmnet Room being given the go ahead. Regards, Paul.
Oh how we feel for Julie, seeing Arkwright's store being dismantled before her eyes! As for the station, with the windows in it really is looking very good, Another step closer to our new ladies opening. Great work every one there.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Paul & Marion
Wow!.Really looking good,now!.Glass,in the windows!.I'm glad the Board,made the sensible decision,about the café.It's a no brainer!.People from the caravan park,will use it,when the trains,are running! Anthony.
ReplyDeletegreat work going on glad the cafe got a mention just an idea if the cafe is small during summer maybe a few chairs and tables outside.!
ReplyDeleteSome very useful and very helpful comments here.
ReplyDeleteJim B is so right about the slope of the platform away from the platform edge. Look what happened to the good people at Carrog on the Llangollen Railway. HMRI took one look, said the platform sloped "the wrong way", and so the brave volunteers had to dig it up and relay the whole thing again !
Trevor is right, too. The original large window apertures were filled with two panes of glass. One sheet of glass definitely looks wrong. ( This could be very easily, and cheaply, modified by fitting a cosmetic glazing bar .) If you hoping to portray Broadway in its condition circa 1900 - 1910, (which, with dark window frames, etc., you presumably are), you might as well get it right.
For example the red GPO telephone box would be glaringly anachronistic, and would have to go. (I don't really believe this will happen.)
Also, the GWR never painted its guttering and downpipes black. You would have to repaint these in dark stone. A station clock ? Not in 1900, I think. I could go on (and on).
Admittedly, you can never please everyone. As they say, "tot homines quot sententiae". But I can't help feeling you might have done better to follow the style of Toddington Station.
Brave volunteers on the GWSR, please do not be offended by my comments. Go for an eclectic mixture of styles, if you wish. It might work very well. Go to it. See how much you can get done before the opening at Easter 2018, and good luck to you all. I wish I could be there.
Yours pedantically,
Peter Wright
When I worked on the SVR, we put gas lighting into the waiting room at Arley. I was told, and thoroughly agree with; "if they (the public) think it ought to be there, then that's fine". So there you are. I provided a fire fender for Highley (LNWR), but it was plain and unmarked and so it was placed in the waiting room and looked fine and no-one was the wiser. Regards, Paul.
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