Too Hot For Steam Engines !

 Week Commencing11th August 2025

Monday

Another hot one , myself and Paul did an early morning gas bottle change , Paul did other things this time and I headed to Broadway via Winchcombe .

Kevin from C and W had donated a selection of Bric a Brac which needed picking up and delivering back to Broadway to be sorted out .

One of the bins lids had a habit of closing on peoples heads if they weren't careful , Kevin devised a prop so i could stay put when the station staff changed the bins.

Takes nearly 2 hours to water the gardens nowadays , this one at the bottom of the drive, its in the sun most of the day and is the thirstiest , but still looks good.

Kevin gave the weeds /grass a mow around the garden.

Dry weather has seen the pine trees starting to drop some of the needles earlier than normal , meaning out came Billy for a run up and down.

Poor old Billy looked in a state after and needed a hose down but it came up looking like new afterwards.

Wednesday

Up to 3 today ! and another hot day.

Over on platform 2 , the back wall rises slowly but surely.

Poor wheel barrow seen better days , tyre cracked and inner tube perished .

Bob joined us today for a job just up his street , 3 bricks had come loose in the wall behind the kiosk.

Another job to look at was by the signal box on platform 2, the gate doesn't latch any more ! some thing has dropped a bit ?

Bob sorted the brick work out , just got to be careful with the mowers on that section of grass.

Too hot for the Steam engines this week due to the fire risks so out came the 2 Diesels !

Class 50 " RODNEY " and the Class 47 "47105 "

Dave

Summer Days at Broadway

 Week Commencing 4th August 2025

Monday

Just the 2 of us again .

A quick tidy up of what was left of the unburnt , its now back to the height it was before !

Nobody around on the platform so a mow and weed.

Kevin got in the swing of things and carried on beyond the barrier.

One of the station masters arrived to tell us when they tried the lights one evening they didn't work and they kept tripping the MCB . By a method of switching the Circuits off and on  one by one . we found it was the northern set of lights.

Only 6 lights to test one by one, by luck it was the last one showing a short when tested. some LED bulbs when they die go to a short and pop the MCB.

Wednesday

First thing , change the LED bulb , its not the only one !

We noticed the electrical box on platform 1 had a slight list , the ground behind had dried out and the uprights holding the box had become loose.

The front has now a large wooden leg on the front and the back wedged with  a large slice of slab , Kevin feels confident to put the door back on.

Locomotives on duty today were the class 20 and Foremarke Hall

Dave

An Unpleasant job

 Week Commencing 28th July 2025

Monday

After meeting my new helper Paul at Toddington for a gas bottle change on Train 1 we headed back to Broadway to do an unpleasant job in the Gents toilets . Urinal 3 had been reported as blocked last Wednesday , we sort of sorted it out but water wasn't flowing as it should . Monday we had another go.

It was a case of stripping down the waste pipe and bottle trap and clear out the formation of uric acid crystals ! If one was blocked then the others couldn't be far behind , which was the case. Off they all came for a clean out !

On the other jobs  , Chris continued the weeding on the car park garden .

Diesel Gala over for another year and Kevin removed the sign.Then mowed the drive Grass ? Weeds !

Weather was just right for a bonfire too .

Wednesday

A day off for me ! Kevin must have gone and done a bit of Gardening  !

Dave

Just the two of us !

 Week Commencing 21st July 2025

Monday

Just Kevin and myself today , looks like Ian's knee problems are going to put him out of action for a few more months now .

First a trip to Toddington to make sure all trains have sufficient gas on board for this weekends Diesel Gala .

Back at Broadway we cleaned up the bottom garden .

Wednesday

An area we hadn't had a go at yet was the northern end of platform 1 .

Below is a picture of what it had become , plenty of bramble , a few ash trees and some wild flowers .

Last week i made a start clearing a path behind the slab storage area .

My first uphill sweep takes about 1/2 hr to clear an area like this .

Kevin started nearer the station side where the brambles and ash weren't as thick on the ground

But still thick enough .

By the late afternoon the area we wanted to finish was nearly done , just left some areas of wild flowers that the butterfly's seamed to love

Locos around today were 3850 and Class 37 6948 which will be out this weekend on the Diesel Gala

Just a PS 

We are getting short of items we sell in our Goods shed , so if you could donate items suitable ,IE  puzzles , books and Bric a brac etc . It is for a good cause 

Thank you

Dave

 

Grass has stopped growing !

 Week Commencing 14th July 2025

Monday

Just Kevin and Myself on a hot Monday  , firstly the flowers need a water , which now takes us the first couple of hours to do . Grass has stopped growing due to the lack of water , only the weeds grow now !

Afterwards I applied some wood treatment to our new gate , blending in well now with the rest of the fencing.

After a gas bottle run it was back to the car park garden . This Yucca had start to lean over the small wall and it was decided to remove it.

Once we start we dont seamed to stop . 

Anything out of place and looking untidy was cut down and transported to the bonfire area .

Wednesday

More unseen blockwork on platform 2

The area between the huts needed a clean up after the rain on Tuesday.

First time out for the blower , 

Joined today by Chris and Dave , who cleared some of the debris away from Mondays endeavours .

Tuesdays rain blocked the down pipe from the stairs , needed attention.

Locomotives on duty today were 2897 and the Class 47 

I skipped off early to watch the Scotsman being towed from the WSR to SVR , not by a 37 or 47 but by a Class 66 ! nothing but the best it seams .

Dave