Roll on Summer

Wednesday 29th May 2019

You can usually tell what the weather is going to be like as I drove towards Broadway today, all the cows seamed to be lying down and so were a of few sheep. They weren't wrong it showered on and off all morning and then most of the afternoon.

But nothing  " Deters " Pat and his quest to  stop the vegetation growing above 2 feet ( 60cms for you youngsters )

He was back behind platform 2 cutting vast swathes of vegetation come rain or occasionally sunshine.

Top of the drive and at the entrance to Neighbors, Bed and Breakfast, a hole was being dug !

A rather deep hole,   into which Peters gate post template will eventually sit and later be set in  concrete.

Further down the drive the hard standing too , was nearly ready for the concrete ( next week )

After a delivery of aggregate ,it was spread and leveled  by Ron and new volunteer Chas ,  Clive then rolled everything flat using the trusty roller.

Also now at the bottom of the drive,the notice and leaflet board was deemed to be now on the wrong side of the road , and was also in need of a refurbishment. Its been there for a quite a few years now and the outside is beginning to start to rot. Dave , Brian and Ray were on the case. New posts were attached to the fence and then the old board moved over and fixed in place.
As you can see by the bottom photo it rained , so no refurb today . But later Brian popped down to give the new posts a lick of preservative .

In between showers Ray managed to give one of the GWR benches a top coat.

Maybe next week the weather will be kinder .

The Locomotive of the day was of course, the LNER B1 number 1264 , now spending a few extra days  after the Gala.

Quiet Days

Wednesday 22nd May 2019

Glorious weather both days this week , you would thought it would be just the kind of days to attract the volunteers to Broadway. But alas 2 turned up on Monday plus Neal and Jo who were working on the bridge Stairs. It made just enough for a game of Crib !

Dave gave Poster frame number 5, a final coat of Chocolate paint. And prepared another surround for the notice board at the bottom of the driveway. Later he went onto helping Neal on the stairs, giving the areas which will be hidden or hard to reach ,when the sheets are installed, a first coat of  Light Stone Paint.

Whilst Pat set about de-vegetating and generally tiding up

the left hand side of drive.

Wednesday saw the volunteer numbers rise to 10.

Bob seen on his knees applied a cement mix in between the slabs a the pavement edge , mixture provided by Paul and Clive.

Elsewhere over the other side of the drive Rod and Keith were completing the shuttering for the Bin hard standing , concrete to be poured within the next fortnight.

On the stairs due to lack of any normal painters , Peter and Brian decided to give the dagger boards and wood work , the first of the top coats, to the car park side of the staircase. Neal having previously undercoated what had been finally fixed on Monday.

And on Platform 2 Peter K was working on a template for the gate posts .

Pat had moved onto Platform 2 as well, his ongoing task  " to keep the unwanted vegetation  down ". this time of year he really could do with a hand , any volunteers !!!

The Loco of the day, was the Class 26 pulling the 15.10 to Cheltenham Racecourse

Lets hope the weather stays fine for the Bank Holiday and our  " Cotswold Festival of Steam " 

What a difference a week makes !

Wednesday 15th May 2019

Last week Cold and Damp , this week Dry and Warm a total change round . which meant on Monday a small group of Volunteers turned up .

Monday

This time of year is good for vegetation growth and Pat has his work cut out.

After trial run on platform 1 the new / old mower was taken over to platform 2 and later he reverted back to the motorized strimmer  for the area behind the office and Cabin 3 .

On the drive Keith and Ron were giving the drive a once over in preparation for the white and yellow  lines to be painted.

Elsewhere Dave made poster frames 4 and 5 and primed number 4. Later in the day as it was still sunny , one of the Benches was given a light rub down and its top coat of Chocolate applied.

Wednesday

Weather was much the same today , 8 volunteers turned out.

On arrival the white / yellow liners had finished late last Monday. The yellow lines seamed to be doing their job , not one car parked .( well it was 7.45 am )

Paint had dried on Poster frames 3 and 4 , so Dave and Peter inserted the posters and installed them in the alcoves either side of the chimney in the restaurant.

The rest of the volunteers were on the opposite side of the drive , starting the shuttering in preparation for the poring of the concrete slab, which is where the waste container will eventually sit.

 

Peter spent the rest of the day  " up on high " giving the recently installed dagger boards and other wood work a coat of undercoat , plus topping up his tan !

Due to a problem around Stanway Viaduct , no service trains came to Broadway today , so we have no pictures of a  " locomotive of the day "

But on Monday E6066 made an appearance ( twice ), picking up and then dropping off the ballast wagons.

Rain Stops Play for all

Wednesday 8th May 2019

The weather forecast for the day were spot on ( for a change ). Volunteers were in short supply and by lunch time most had left.

The rain first thing, followed by heavy showers stopped all outside work. only those working in the containers did anything .

The two Mikes were in Container 3 ( paint storage and misc storage ) doing something , sorry it was two wet to go and find out, hence no pictures.

In container 2 ( Carpentry shop and Painting shop when its too wet ) Dave gave a poster frame a first coat and Peter painted the wood that is being used for the stairs dagger boards.

During the Morning as we were unable to do much work , a group of us caught the local train down to Winchcombe . It wasn't a jolly !!  Honest .Carriage and Wagon have a steady supply of off cuts and we being ever resourceful popped in to see what they had to offer.

Whilst there, we were shown around their works , an insight to what goes on elsewhere on the railway.

Everybody had useful bits of sheets and wood to take back to Broadway on the next train.

In between the showers in the afternoon , Brian and Dave managed finally to put the Broadway Sign back up , which is located at the bottom of the drive.

Five minutes after the photo was taken it tipped it down , and that was that , we had had enough for the wet and miserable day. 

Except for the Train ride of course.

Rain stop play , for some

Wednesday 1st May 2019

1st day of the month started bright for the dozen or so volunteers who attended today , but by lunch time the predicted rain arrived putting a dampener on a few jobs.

Brian had hoped to finish painting and then refix the Broadway sign at the bottom of the drive.

But after lunch the paint hadn't dried sufficiency so it went back into the portakabin to wait for a dryer day.

No ( proper ) painters today but on Monday the two Mikes finished off the last of the first coatings of the corrugated sheets.

Another none proper painter  was seen up on the stairs giving the recently fitted  Dagger Boards a coat of undercoat , Pete enjoying the view.

The car park side shown just before the rain started !

Below him Rod ,Terry and the team had finished the pavement up to wall.

Before then moving over the far side of the drive way. An area needs to made ready for a concrete slab to be laid so we can site our waste bins, maybe 2 or 3 need to be stored away from the station building.

Below Rod is compacting the area with our old vibrating compactor .

Dave had finished off two of the poster frames and  then Peter and Dave installed the posters in the Restaurant .Before then carrying on with the next two.

Else where Clive give the fence by the mess hut and Portakabin another lick of fence life.

And  Pat vanished off into the distance to reduce the height of the ever growing vegetation . ( even the zoom on my camera couldn't pick him out )

The Locomotive picture of the day , 2807 running around the train for the 10.50 am from Broadway