Saturday 30 November 2013

Saturday 30th November 2013

Here we are at the end of November, and fast approaching Christmas - the last few months seem to have flown by! 12 Volunteers were on site today, which was set aside for a further tidy up. A bonfire assisted in getting rid of the wood debris.

Clive pointing up
The exception was the continued brick laying on Platform 2B. Tony and Clive waited for the temperature to rise enough to safely continue the backing up of the corbelling and adding another course further down the line.

The brick cleaners continue to make inroads into the Mythe Bricks. There are many thousand more good bricks to be had, we just need to get mechanical assistance to turn the piles over!


Peter and Brian admire the handiwork




For me, the most important item was the return of the broken modesty screen post, fully repaired by Peter K. I was really impressed by the quality of the work. Not only would you have difficulty in finding the join, he fabricated and attached a new bi-directional lug, the lower of which was broken off during the demolition of the station and bulldozing of this post. To recall, the post was first found by the site of the platform 2 waiting room (which had a Gent’s urinal to one side) where the bottom third was discovered as a ‘strange drain hole’ poking out of the ground, and the top two thirds were found 6 months later about 10 feet away, complete with its finial still in situ, buried one foot underground in the debris of the demolished waiting room. Now they are reunited, and like new too! A fine job.

Shifting the posts a  - 3 Weetabix job!
















Further north of platform 1B the surplus materials piles were shifted with the dumper northwards. It remains for the JCB to shift the heavier items! Whilst the line of sight was clear I took time out to mark the height of any potential Platform 1C on our marker posts. Robin kindly provided the spare finger!


Considerably higher Robin!




















Brian continue the laying of some ducting around the Signal Box base. We now have routes for power and water. Finally  Vic continued his marathon re landscaping of the borders on the driveway.

Thanks to all the visitors today, including Ian Crowder who took some current photos of the Signal Box for articles on the GWSR Website and in the railway press.

Addendum:-
Toddington
We uncovered the preserved sections of a GWR fireplace which we would like to reinstall in the Broadway Station. It is identical to the Toddington one shown here. This, together with the original ticket barrier recovered from site, will be included with the many artefacts we  are gradually recovering and restoring.

Broadway????
 


 



 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

i wonder which is greater, the number of bricks laid or the number of man hours it has taken to lay them?

Tremendous efforts all round. Thank you so much for a very interesting site.

Anonymous said...

I don't actually mean to lay the bricks, I mean to get to this stage of the station rebuild.

Unknown said...

Hello bill, just read the latest news from Broadway, great content as usual and the work being performed is a credit to all involved. can you confirm when the ramps will be built on the unfinished ends of the platforms and will there be any sidings south of the road bridge when tack is laid. Keep up the great work.

Bill said...

Ramps TBA.
1 siding north, one siding south.
Thanks for your interest.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Have those bits of fireplace come out of the ground at Broadway? If so, - amazing.

Jo said...

Actually, they were recovered from another station and given to us a while ago, but we did not seem to realise this at the time. We found the pieces again during a reorganisation of the site, laid them on the ground, and realised it was actually a complete kit of parts. Only one panel needs relacing.