Wednesday 10 July 2013

Wednesday and on the Move!

Much of the activity today revolved around the move of the Mess Portakabin,  and the lamp huts, then followed by the transfer of services.

We would not have been able to do any of this without the help of Vic Haines Transport who patiently let us faff around to get things to our liking!
 Here Clive swaps trowel for drill to insert the lifting eye bolts. John Crawford gives his Captain Mainwearing impression.











 Eventually they were ready to move and both lamp huts were move in one load.







Eventually they were all moved and in place, and thereby freed up the old site to put the Platform 2B footings in.








It only remained to get power to the Mess Hut and this was achieved by putting a catinary across the track bed.  Amazingly this was achieved before the end of the day and the boiler was working in its relocated office and tea was served. Brilliant!








On other fronts we dealt with the potential hazard of ballast falling between the the girders of the Bridge. All stray stones were removed, the ballast raked level and a plan is afoot to replace the missing ballast boards. Peter Q with a ballast board in one hand Peter  T with the dreaded clipboard in the same!






Brick cleaning continued unabated as did the corbelling. Also several dumper loads of broken bricks were loaded in behind platform 2.













Finally two of our feathered friends joined the team for drinks - it was that hot!

Thanks everybody - a bit of a haphazard day but so important to our progress.


13 comments:

mack said...

Hi guys, can track be laid when the platforms are finished ?

Geoff said...

Hopefully, otherwise it is all a bit pointless :)

Bill said...

Platforms, Signal Box, Station, Waiting Room, Track yippee!

alan said...

what times the next train

Anonymous said...

I know this is some way down the line so-to-speak (ho ho ho!) but, following on from the above question and answer, I was wondering if track will be laid in the station area when the building work is done. This could be months or even years ahead of the running line reaching the station from Laverton. Could the signal box connections/S&T work be done for the station area as a stand-alone activity at that time?

I'm agog at the ongoing progress and cannot wait for the station plans to be available on-line. I 'phoned the planning dept last week and was told they were going through the validation process after which they would be available for all to see. It would be great if you could post the planning reference number or a link to the blog once it is known.

Best wishes,
Nigel

Anonymous said...

Re: my previous message - the plans are now available on-line. The case number is 13/01373. Not sure if I can post links here, but go to http://www.e-wychavon.org.uk/wychavon/plan_search/search.html and put the case number in the "search by case number" area to bring it up.

If the link didn't work/doesn't appear in this post just google for Wychavon District Council and head for the planning section to look it up.

Best wishes,
Nigel

Anonymous said...

And another one! - I couldn't actually view any of the documents listed on the planning site. I just got "page not found" when I clicked on the links. I 'phoned planning just before 1500hrs today (Thursday) and the person I spoke to tried it out and had the same problem. IT are being notified so hopefully it won't be long before they get it fixed.

Best wishes,
Nigel

Dave said...

Mack and anon - re. putting down track, the Board has decreed that track will be laid progressively from Laverton and won't be laid into Broadway until all station work is completed.

mack said...

Thanks Dave

Anonymous said...

Holding back on the track actually makes good sense. Not sure where it was but I gather they laid the track early at another station and it just kept getting in the way of building access and slowed everything down.

Anonymous said...

I quite agree that putting track down before the station is completed is a non-starter and have never suggested it might be. I'll try asking my original question again because I clearly haven't managed to get the essence of it across so far.

Assume all building work has been done at Broadway station. All the buildings are complete. No more building work required. Done. Dusted. The railhead is still many months if not years away from reaching Broadway for whatever reason. Given these circumstances will track be laid in the station area, signal box connections made etc, so that the station is ready for the day when the railhead eventually reaches Broadway?

Best wishes,
Nigel

Bill said...

Nigel and all,
There is an interesting debate developing here, but a frustrating one because we do not have visibility of all the factors that might prevail in a year or two. In managing the Broadway Area Group resources, I try and make sure that our contribution to seeing trains back at Broadway is carried out in a logical way and never on the critical path. In other words, on that happy day when the PWay Gang come over the horizon, there is nothing left to be done at Broadway - the "local" track will be in place.

The outward visible sign of completion will be when we close the access gap in platform 1. The last brick in the wall (or the last coper to be precise! ) will mean "Job Done" for the BAG. Now where's my magic wand??

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for the answer Bill.

Best wishes,
Nigel