Well the sun shone at last today - it wasn't warm but allowed one the thought that Summer is around the corner. I hope so! 12 Volunteers were on site today and the focus was on Platform 2A and laying the third layer of concrete blocks. Here we see John, Bob, Roger and Steve half way there!
Here Ron and Clive carry out the arduous task of filling the cavities with concrete.
By the end of the day the job was done and the final course of 100mm blocks had been started. Well done everybody (well apart from the man without the hard hat!).
Jo continued with his lamppost painting and we now have four columns looking great, bedecked in light stone (colour). They will be finished in time for our Open Day on the 18th - please come and see them! (not the chair!)
Finally brick recovery and cleaning continues with Andy P foraging and David, Chris and Robin sticking to their task of cleaning the blues.
17 comments:
There are a few abandoned blues on the embankment just north of CRC signalbox (Malvern side)....
I will track them down.
Hi, amazing work. What Conditions the track bed in? Will the line run flat and smooth over the bridge or are you going to need to fill out the bed? Is the track bed to laverton all ready? Is the line yours all the way to honey borne? When r u starting the 'steaming to western sub edge' blog n platform/station construction their?! Lol, sorry for so many questions, I'm just quite enthused by it all. Is it really just money stopping the push to honeyborne ?
So many questions! There is no ballast to speak of on the existing track bed and therefore the whole area will have new ballast laid. It will be level across the bridge. The 2+ miles to Laverton has to be cleared, have 3 bridges repaired and new track laid on new ballast. We do not own the track bed beyond Broadway northwards, yet!
Finally yes it is money stopping us reaching Honeybourne so if your sitting on a say 5 million and want to share it with us, let us know!
Go on, Anonymous- be an 'Anonymous donor'!
Have Network Rail not agreed for you to progress to Honeybourne, even though you do not own the trackbed to there? Or is it a matter of completing the route to Broadway before fundraising to buy it?
Beware of putting the cart before the horse. There is an awful long way to go before considering the extension towards Honeybourne. Remember the maximum line speed under the present Transport and Works/Light Railway Order is 25mph. The further you go the longer the journey time. Most people on a day out consider a journey time of about an hour is sufficient. The enthusiast doesn't care but they only usually turn up every now and then and don't always put money into the fare box. It's the family person(s) plus children who are the main provider of the railways income.You also have to remember that a main line connection is not all its cracked up to. Better to tap into the visiting tourist market and give these people an added bonus when they visit Broadway than end up with an over extended journey time that devalues the experience that you are trying to recreate.
Honeybourne won't be a destination in itself but a point of access to our railway from the Cotswold line. People could change there to visit Broadway or (on race days) Cheltenham racecourse. I wouldn't foresee Cheltenham-Honeybourne return trips over the whole line just for the heritage experience. A main line connection would allow access for occasional excursion trains from the national network, but there is no guarantee that such a connection will be possible. In any case it will be many years before a link to Honeybourne is feasible. We need over £1M and a lot of work just to get to Broadway!
By the time you get to Honeybourne you will be turning yourself into a 'Community Railway' with the price of fuel going the way it is. The local community will need good cheap transport. Parry People Movers and the like will need to be needed. Cheap to run and cheap to maintain. There will always be room for the Steamers though. Keep up the Good work.
I was thinking more for visiting engines, the likes of tornado only move by rail as the a1 trust won't road transport the loco. So, I guess till the honeyborne line gets a mainline connection, we won't be seeing any LNER pacifics run on the line :(
Quite right too. This is a GWR heritage line, LNER pacifics don't belong.
One of the visiting engines most popular with the general public was "Flying Scotsman". If you want to put bums on seats then you have to give people what they want.
I would disagree with John from Nuneaton, check out the timetables for the SVR, WSR, NYMR and Bluebell. All very successful, all very popular and having mainline connections doesn't appear to have done them any harm.
Dave-
following your logic we should abandon the stations on the line, and have a great double-track mainline section between Laverton and Stanway viaduct, with a wooden platform to embark/ disembark. the shareholders could all get massive pay-outs as we flog off the track-bed for housing.
Main line connection probably quite expensive but if the pro's out weigh the con's lets bring in the Deltics!!!! Proper loco's
BR may have mad provision but neither they nor we own the tracked in between.
Main line connection and the length of line are very different issues. The West Somerset at 20 miles is thought by many to be to long people don't ride the whole line.
Having Broadway in th middle may over come that issue but with Cheltenham to Honeybourne would require 2 trains operating otherwise the timetable lacks enough trains. Running 2 trains has significant extra costs in money and volunteer effort. Whether that is justified by extra passengers is questionable.
one vital thing missing!!!! other railways such as the WSR carry in excess of 200,000 passenger which generates alot more income than the 60-70,000 we carry
The West Somerset is 'at the seaside' so benefits from the holiday makers very few of them travel th full length of the line and i gather they run 2 trains to keeps frequency of service up.
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