It was quite horrid for most of the day, being wet & windy, but 26 volunteers signed in to get on with several tasks.
Indoors:
Those indoors were kept cosy from the adverse elements and seemed that bit more cheerful than the rest of us working outside.
Mike T & Mike S, supervised by Graham, were busy putting a coat of matt sealant on the walls above tile level in the toilet areas.
The Carpenter Crew were busy producing a supply of large aluminium washers, which will be used, as part of the cable support, when we fit the station lamps.
The tiling contractors were with us again, & I took this shot of the Booking Hall, with the floor marked out and tiling underway.
Outdoors:
John C, John S & Tony continued with pulling through the cables for the driveway lamps.
A large team was assembled to move paving slabs to the platform station area. Work then commenced with the laying of slabs under the canopy, which certainly helped keep us dry & it was only the strong wind to contend with.
Bob W takes a 3x2 from storage at the south of platform 1 to the slab laying area under the station canopy.
Terry & Rod trying the Slab Lifter, under the supervision of contractor Roy. The Slab Lifter is battery operated & involves a pump creating a vacuum inside the suction pad on top of the slab.
Roy (right of pic.) supervised several volunteers in the preparation of the bed & the laying & levelling of the slabs. Here we see Keith S having tuition.
John S & Terry lifting over another slab.
Some of the slabs obviously need trimming to size. A clever piece of kit was used to produce a nice straight edge. A length of L section steel plus 2 G clamps were used. The L section (bottom right) is clamped across the slab to be cut and, after careful measuring, is used as a guide for the disc-cutter. Once a decent groove is cut the L section is removed for completion of the cut. Here John S is completing a cut.
At the close of play we can see what Day 1 Slab Laying has achieved .
Through the day Viv & Ray worked on completing the fencing around the telephone box.
Neal needed to set up a submersible pump to extract a large amount of water that had collected in the hole, on platform 1, where the concrete footings for the bridge staircase need to be.
Trainspotting!
The Permanent Way train arrived twice during the day. The first trip was to drop ballast over the points, to the south of the Evesham road bridge.
The second trip brought a load of ballast through platform 1 to the shunt head, north end of the railway. First pic shows a cautious approach, second & third shows electro-diesel driven by Neil Carr pushing the loaded Dogfish wagons through platform 1
The Road Bridge:
Finally a few pictures of the bridge after the contractors have installed large Low Bridge signs to both sides and during the day dismantled their scaffolding. They hope to hand over the bridge on Friday, well ahead of schedule. Let's hope these new signs work!
Paul Carter
Thanks Clive for title of this blog!
Wow, do those slabs make a difference or what?! It's going to be stunning. Ditto the floor tiles in the booking hall.
ReplyDeleteSomething noticeable in the photos is that even on the dreariest of days and in the most dismal light, the station seems to glow in its fresh paintwork. Brilliant stuff.
Mark
Great blog. Wonderful pictures, especially of the platform with some slabs laid - that really makes it look great.
ReplyDeleteCaption for picture 7 should read North end of platform 1 - (Just to show I'm awake)!
Regards, Paul.
Paul,I did mean Northern End of Railway.
DeleteThanks for the latest update.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's all go with everything, isn't it ? I thought the stone flags would look splendid when they were laid, and they do. Excellent work. Thanks for the photos of the Slab Lifter in use. I've never seen one of these things before. Fascinating. The station platform really looks the part, especially with Class 73 drawing the ballast train through, looking for all the world like a train passing through from Honeybourne. Well, one day, I hope.
I see there's a great deal of activity inside the station building. I particularly like the floor tiles in the Booking Office, just as described by Neal in his reply to my question on the previous post. I'm sorry I forgot to say thank you for the reply.
There's really too much else to comment on, so all I can say is bravely done everyone, particularly to those men working outside in this horrible weather.
I echo your hope that the bridge will survive intact until it gets its Crash Protection Beam, which in my opinion is its only sure means of protection. But I gather this won't happen until the summer. It will be an anxious wait. I can't say I'm happy about it.
Sorry to end my comment on a gloomy note, when you're all being so positive, and getting on with things.
Well, never mind me. I've always been one to look on the dark side of things. Keep going strongly, gentlemen !
Peter
What type of heating system will there be?
ReplyDeleteAn open fireplace in the Waiting Room / Refreshent Room, as I understand. There's only one chimney. As to the rest of the station building, well, I suppose in the cooler weather, you would be well advised to keep your coat on !
DeleteI'm speaking entirely unofficially, of course !
Regards,
Peter
Yes but what about potential for frozen pipes in toilet and kitchen areas?
DeleteThe station building has a gas heating boiler, this will provide hot water to the toilets and kitchen. It will also run a central heating system heating staff working area and providing background and frost protection to the full building.
DeleteHow courageous you all are, out in the horrible weather! as stated above the station seems to have a glow about it, I put it down to the ghost of the old station seeing itself being reborn! The flagstones look terrific and the tiles in the booking office are starting to look really good. Well done to all for the hard work in bringing our new "Lady" to life. Don't forget though that when this is finished, there is the little other project called HS2 to be started on, we think you all could do it and bring it in under budget!!!(LOL).
ReplyDeleteRegards
Paul & Marion
I'll settle for P2 (building, that is); with the associated footbridge steps, of course. Regards, Paul.
DeleteWill the spear fencing continue at the back of the platform on the other side of the building by the footbridge?
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Bo
Yes, that is the plan. But it won't be there when the station first opens because access is needed there for later construction work.
DeleteI see. Thanks for the reply and good luck with the grand opening.
DeleteVery nice tiling in the booking office. I have the same type in my 1906 house - it's incredibly tough, you'll easily get 100 years of wear out of it!
ReplyDeletePlatform slabs look good, too - and as I suspected, with the top surface in place the back-slope of the platform isn't noticeable. Good work all round.