Wednesday 31st January 2017
It was certainly a mixed bag weather wise today, 21 volunteers plus plenty of visitors, contractors and at the station front Building & Services Dept. The day started overcast, sleet and then a drop of rain moved in followed later by a bright end to the day, but throughout the day there was the cold wind. Could I mention that if you visit the station in future please wrap up warm, it has been mentioned more than once that it seams to be a cold station.
Today we had a delivery of second hand paving slabs, they had been acquired by Terry at a very reasonable price and after two trips to the the Midlands all had been unloaded ,sorted and stacked.
Today we had a delivery of second hand paving slabs, they had been acquired by Terry at a very reasonable price and after two trips to the the Midlands all had been unloaded ,sorted and stacked.
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As you can see by the first picture many hands make light work by the second picture and after lunch there was only yours truly with Brian and Dave. The novelty must have worn off. These second hand slabs will be used under the canopy
In the picture, below right, are stacks of new slabs. Most of these slabs will be used at the front of the station building where Building & Services were in the process of laying the granite edges.
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The slabs will eventually go between the Station Building and these Granite blocks.
At the platform side a team of John S, Bob and Terry were laying more slabs, today's effort saw nearly 30 slabs laid, not quite matching Mondays but on Monday they had a bigger team. The special mix was delivered by Paul.
In the next session of laying they should easily pass halfway as there are only rows to go to reach that benchmark.
Down the drive the footpath under the supervision of John C was being brought up to the correct height ready for tarmacing, the manholes were also brought up to the correct level and then the new ballast compacted .
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Monday saw Mike giving the panels for the cafe a once over with primer, these were then temporarily cut and fitted in the cafe, by the Carpentry team, mainly to get them out of the way as its getting cluttered in the rooms.
Above Mike is seen giving the panelling a once over, below the panelling and being used as a useful work bench, is the new running board. Pete and Dave H put it together on Monday before the other Mike primed it.
Today saw the Board have the screw holes filled and then another coat of paint applied. Eventually it will have a decorated edging with a rainproof top. More pictures of its progress in the future.
Outside Mike was seen painting the new gates and then a first coat on Mondays newly installed posts.
The newly installed posts were having trouble with their over sized finials. Tony with the aid of the grinder helped .
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| One still missing its Finial! |
One thing that happened on Tuesday was the filling of the three shuttering boxes with concrete. The nearest box is where the support for the staircase landing will sit. Neal is standing on the slab which will carry the support for the canopy extension as will the one behind the large pipe.
Neal after removing the shuttering will then cut the large pie in half to protect the bolts. The pipe will sit over the bolts and the holes will then be backfilled with spent ballast up to ground level and then covered over with slabs. Staircases to be fabricated when funds become available, in the mean time its back to getting the station ready.
The tilers have finished the Gents and the Disabled toilets and are now in the Ladies, but one tiler has been working in the Booking Hall.
Its worth a large picture .
All day we had those pesky P/Way people driving by in their Class 73 with the ballast wagons and Shark attached. first down platform 1 line, then back up. Down platform 2 line and then they disappeared. They came back, went down the platform 2 line made a racket dropping Ballast and then went home. All this is can be read on Jo`s excellent Extension Blog.
But what he hasn't got is a picture of the train from the Cafe window!
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| Trainspotting at its best? |
Well. You lot HAVE been busy! I totally agree about the view from the refreshment room. I can just imagine sipping a steaming hot cup of tea and looking out at a similar scene. BTW, the slabs makes all the difference! Well done slab layers. Regards, Paul.
ReplyDeletegreat work guys.
ReplyDeleteCan I just add some more information about the slabs, that the blogger would not have known about as it happened on a non working day.
ReplyDeleteWe were pleased to be able to purchase 99- 600x600 concrete slabs from a gentleman in Solihull, he gave us a good price, which he donated to a Cancer charity and was pleased that the slabs are being use by a charity at Broadway (us!).
On Tuesday, Paul, who owns the business Tecton Timber, donated himself and his lorry to drive from Gloucester to Solihull, where we palleted 60 of the slabs, then transported them back to Paul's base in Gloucester.
On Wednesday, Paul delivered these 60 slabs to Broadway, you can see them being unloaded in Photo one. We then drove to Solihull to load the remaining 39 slabs onto pallets, load them onto the lorry and return them to Broadway to be unloaded.
Some of the slabs needed little cleaning are are now laid on the platform, we had actually run out of this size slab so we could not have carried on slabbing on the platform without a lot of cutting other larger slabs - something we did not wish to do.
We have many supporters who are not actually volunteers, such as Paul from Tecton Timber and their generosity is gratefully received.
By the way, does anyone know of any 750 x 600 x 50 concrete slabs available?
Terry
750 x 600 x 50 our local garden centre sells them but located a long way from you (Daventry 50 miles) Dennetts Garden Centre 01327 702288 were about £7 each not sure if price has gone up since last year
DeleteExcellent progress by all, the booking office floor looks amazing! All that slab laying is worth the effort, the transformation looks really good. As for the last picture, that's one for the album David! BTW what is the flooring type that will be in the Café? Meantime, keep warm everyone!
ReplyDeleteRegards
Paul & Marion
The slabbing,under the canopy,is coming on,really well!.And those floor tiles,in the Gents,are superb!.the stations,on the Railway,Being below the Cotswold Edge,can be really cold places,when the winds,are coming from the North,and North West!.Being situated,in the Vale,there's nothing to stop them!. Regards. Anthony.
ReplyDeleteGreat heavens. You lot are having a busy time !
ReplyDeleteI hope Neal's concrete pour has gone all right. I really don't know about modern concrete and how quickly it cures. But the last time I looked, I thought those wet holes in the ground looked daunting, to say the least.
I loved the picture of a train (well, the PW train) in Broadway Station, taken through the window of the Refreshment Room. That has to be a first !
Wonderful work, as always. Go to it, gentlemen !
Peter
First job for Tuesday morning was to pump out the water, With the mixed on site lorry arriving about 9 30 putting 3.5 metres in. Wednesday I stripped out the shuttering on the two canopy column bases and put in the pipes around the fixing bolts so the holes can be filled, Today thurs I removed the shuttering around the stairs landing base and put in the pipes for these as well.
DeleteThanks for the reply, Neal.
DeleteI'm glad the concrete pour went well. So once the holes are back filled with old ballast or whatever, you won't need the submersible pump, and you'll be within sight of paving the area (until funds are available for the footbridge and canopy) ? Well, that's great. I had heard the area where you are working is mostly clay, which of course retains water.
This I presume , will enable the rest of the platform north of the station building to be re-surfaced in gravel or asphalt. ( We haven't yet been told yet which it is to be.)
But I imagine the Railways Inspector (who will likely be paying a visit soon) will want to see a smooth platform surface, and, oh, lots of things
Good luck with everything.
Peter
Living in Broadway I get the chance to check out how the guys are progressing and it never ceases to amaze me the dedication they all show to this project in all sorts of weather.The wind was bitter yesterday but everyone was cracking on and it is all coming together really well.
ReplyDeleteI posed a question to a couple of people and nobody seems to know the answer so i throw it out to those that might be in the know.Why when the railway was first built did they put a low level bridge over the main Worcester to London road but the Childswickam road bridge which sees far less traffic is a good bit higher,also ironically the Childswickam road has a weight restriction on it which seems to be more of a deterrent than a low bridge warning sign.
For those who have not been fortunate enough to visit yet I have to tell you that the pictures whilst being excellent do not make up for the feeling you get when you "experience" the atmosphere of the station,it took me straight back to my childhood when I used to cycle down to go Trainspotting. Magical.
RML 2478
The railway slowly drops down to Peasebrook from the middle of the Broadway platforms. It's not a question of how high up is the railway, but how far down is the road. At the Childswickham bridge there is a low point as the road is next to a stream, hence a high bridge. At Broadway station the ground level is higher; indeed the road under the station bridge was excavated by 2ft when the railway was built to fit it under.
ReplyDeleteRemember that in 1904 the roads handled horses and carts; today it is skip lorries and people carrying excavators. 14'3'' was plenty high enough for a horse and cart.
Excellent work everyone, it's coming on a treat. I really hope there will be some sort of permanent acknowledgement for all the hard work that you people have put into this project!
ReplyDeleteWhilst we're on the subject of low bridges - particularly relevant given the recent closure for repairs - these two items makes interesting reading:
https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/bridge-crash-lorry-driver-stupidity-has-got-to-stop
https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Bridge-Strikes-Risks-Consequences-and-Costs_edit.pdf