Autumn Tidy Up

 Week Commencing 7th September 2026

Monday

Grass in places has finally appeared , still a bit patchy , but Ron was out with the mower to keep it in check.

I had to take  " Billy  " out for a walk on the drive , needles are dropping regularly now its Autumn .

The wooden trough was getting filled with small trees which have come out of some plastic pots .

A find behind the fuel store, a boundary post got pulled out and put on the bench,  ready to be renovated , a correct date on this one than the one that's been put on the drive.

Hopefully only one session on the back behind platform 1 , little and often.

Wednesday

Back from a gas bottle change and meeting , i found young Dave on the drive doing it the old way .

A tidy up job behind the old office , the Heras fencing which had been stored there when not needed , it had fallen over and made cutting the grass a problem , it was decided to move it elsewhere .

Down to behind the slabs for now , probably ready for the scrap lorry !

Chris carried on etch priming the lamp tops .

Kevin was turning his home made compost heaps .

Ian was giving the boundary post a coat of black paint after a severe rubbing down. Just need to stick it the ground somewhere ( answers on a post card )

Talking of answers on a post card , please caption this , Chris taking a break. !

Locos around today were 2807 and 3850

Dave

Short week

 Week Commencing 31st August 2026

Wednesday

Damp old day , 6 in today .

It was a welcome back for Ron  , he's always game for going up ladders .

The Guttering outside of the Kitchen gets blocked at this time of the year and needs a good clearing out , up you go Ron.

A new wooden trough has been built to replace some of the plastic pots .

Platform 2 and the drive were cleared of yet more dropped needles , too wet to get Billy out so it was done by the old fashion method.

Ron returning with another barrow full.

Over on platform 2 , quiet today ! but the corbelling at the rear is nearly finished .

 Back to steam this week with 2807 and 3850 doing the shifts.

Dave

A Change in the Weather

 Week Commencing 24th August 2026

Monday

Four around this Monday , plus a visit from a potential newcomer !  

Sun shining on platform 2 , the roof structure was slowly being bolted up, and work on the brick work at the back continued.

Chris was weeding on the car park garden.

We were asked to fit this little signs in the Gents and ladies toilets ! Some people do need telling ! Shame though .

Time to fix our warped bench top , Strip and refit always works .

Wednesday

Back up to 5 

Kevin had started to trim the hedge on Monday , finished it off on the Wednesday , bonfire grows bigger ! 

A job that needed doing was to treat our spare lamps with Etch primer before copper tarnished. Chris had the task .

Behind him on the cutting , the brush cutting was in full swing . After my 3rd slip , that was enough of that for the day !

Young Dave and myself then took to cutting down some ash and elderflower trees on the embankment , whilst down below us Ian gave the drive a brush down.

After all that brushing , Chris eventually got to put his feet up !

The 2 Diesels on duty today were the 45 and 37.

Dave

A Bit of a Distraction !

 Week Commencing 17th August 2026

Monday

The day of the roof structure being delivered and its erection.

First thing before it happened .

From down by our workshop , Do think his Jib was long enough ?

And the result , a perfect fit .Well done to Neil and his team .

We did manage to do some work in between the watching of the proceedings 

The weather has had an effect on the Kitchen door , making it stick on the concrete in places , door had to be taken off and the bottom rubbed down .

Outside the drain had blocked up again with pine needles , after just one shower !

Chris battled with the weeds in the memorial garden .

Wednesday

A few more in today , mostly working on gardening stuff .

Kevin had help with the watering , which takes a few hours nowadays .

We hope to show " Little Broadway " at Septembers GWSR Model railway show , still things to sort out to get it there , but the afternoon saw the first train to complete a round on the down line.

 Outside in the real world , the 2 Class 37`s were doing their Turns,

Dave

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Too Hot again !

 Week commencing 10th August 2026

Monday

Just Ian , Chris and myself on another hot day .

Chris was on the car park garden , removing mostly dead and dying plants !

Ian treated the contentious planter and it was eventually lined ready for planting.

 

Myself was on the bank behind the bonfire area on platform 1 .

Wednesday

Up to 4 volunteers .

A look at re felting the Goods Shed roof before the end of the year , 4 people have 4 different ideas on how to do it  !!

Didnt happen , saved it for another day ( probably for a rainy day )

Needles are falling fast , so it was time to take Billy for a stroll up and down the drive .

Ian was up to mischief in the container ? 

Locos around today were the Class 45 and class 47 , spotted arriving under the shade of the station canopy 

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Over on platform 2 , Scaffolding has started to go up in anticipation on the canopy being erected on the following Monday.

Its a case of the few spoiling the fun for the many , the canopy erection team have asked for the cameras to be turned off for the duration of the erection , too many nit-pickers and over jealous Health and safety might be watching !!

If you want to watch please come down ,I'm sure you will be welcome.

Just a thought , when the station building on platform 2 is finished and we have eventually have to remove all containers , could we have a nice workshop / garden machinery shed .  like this one as seen on the SVR last weekend ?

Dave