Another Milestone.

Wednesday 31st July 2019

The few who attended on Monday saw another milestone for Broadway station , the scaffolding was removed from around the staircase on platform 1 .

Peter admiring !

There should have been some kind of drum role and trumpets as all was revealed . this is the result of Neal and his teams hard work over the last 6 months. 1 down ( platform ) 2 to go ( platform ) , maybe another couple of weeks and the scaffolding on platform 2 will also be ready to go.

The area underneath had a general tidy up , before the Heras was re erected for safety reasons .

Elsewhere after the excitement had died down , Pete gave the " Coffin " as Vic called it , a lick of undercoat.

Also Dave was keeping him company, constructing new lids for 2 of the original waste bins. The later bins had angled tops to allow the rain and moisture to run off , the older ones hadn't are were being modified.

Tony gave the platform 2 a trim.

Tuesday had seen the delivery of 2 large heaps of top soil , a small team set about sweeping the area tidy ready for today's passengers and customers .

Later in the afternoon 2 piles became 4 , this time they may a neater job of tipping .


The area on the right of the drive as you come up has always been a bit " scruffy " a layer of top soil and grass seed should make it more presentable.

Somebody gave Ray something new to paint , the spear fencing panels which will be installed between the far post and the right hand post .one down two to go .

It was Brian's and Dave's go to give the " Disabled ramp container  " its top coat of a lovely " Chocolate " brown . Its got a week to dry before it will be transported up to the station .

Must be a while ago that we had had a donation of nest boxes to be erected on the trees around the General Station area . They varied from sparrow , robin , blackbird , swift and even a Kestrel nest box. They were hung in appropriate places and at different heights as per the instructions.

Just need the right bird now.

Peter wasn't with the team today , one of his other duties is in the Tea Room , when we tracked him down later in the day.

Strange day Train wise , due to problems with the points everything was top and tailed , two locomotives for the price of one on each train !

" Foremark Hall " one end and a  " Class 37 " at the other, something for everyone !

 

Vic's Back

Sunday 21st July

Not our usual visitor to Broadway Station. An incident had occurred in the village and the Air Ambulance was called. The field next to the station was a suitable landing point and the two girl Paramedics went off to do the duty and the Pilot came to the Station.

Monday 22nd July

Back after a two week session with my Grand Daughter it is my turn to do the Blog!!

First off one job has been completed the refurbishment of the drive up to Railway Cottages.

The second nearly completed is the gate to Station House. Peter K adding on a few extra pieces.

The Carpenters

I did not hear any singing but there was a noisy saw! In the background is a box, nicknamed "the coffin" This is in fact for the Wheelchair Ramp for storage when not in use. Peter Q giving it a lick of undercoat.

Bridge

If one plays their cards right, one can catch the team working on the footbridge. John S, Jo & Neal all clambering around the scaffolding.

The Strimmer

Pat pictured here servicing his strimmer prior to tackling another section of the embankment.

The Gardener

Last week Vic received a large consignment of Daffodil Bulbs from Chris Allen, so today was a planting day. These were placed on the embankments at the top of the drive, platform 1 and platform 2. It is now up to the bulbs to show some colour next year?

Wednesday 24th July

The Storm

Wow, Tuesday saw the Heavens open, Torrential rain, Thunder & Lightening and Wind. Lots of debris around the drive and platform. So there were many of the maintenance team out with brooms cleaning up the mess. The drains were also checked and cleaned out of rubbish.

The Gate

Peter K was again working on the final fittings, so hopefully this job is now complete.

Additional Photos from Dave

Terry and Rod doing some weeding, Brian fixing the lid to "The Coffin".


FOBS Shop

Thank you to all who have responded to our appeal for more items to sell. No magazines required, but paper back books, jigsaw puzzles plus children's items, bric-a-brac very welcome

Bricks & Trains

In August we have our special event for lovers of Lego and giving young folk a chance to look at our engineering capabilities.

Vic

Sunny Days

WEDNESDAY 17TH JULY 2019

Two days of Sunny and Warm weather saw some jobs coming to the end and new ones started , and the usual on going jobs  !

Monday had seen Dave and Peter Q finish putting the gate together and then with the aid of Peter K help fit it was fitted to the Metal runner .After a bit of "adjusting and Fettling " it ran smoothly and glided open and shut.

 Wednesday Peter filled a few areas and all thats now needed is a lick of wood preservative on the fence and gate to match the drive way fence.

One job finished ( nearly ) and the next job was to make a container to store the ramp for disability access to the Rail carriages. Most stations have now got them on their platforms we must be the last .

It was down to Peter and Brian to make such a container . Various pictures above show the construction , Brian is seen in the bottom photo fitting batons and legs , A slight problem was found that it was a big lump and very heavy. where ever it goes it will stay put !

Monday should see further progress with the construction of the lid  ( even more weight )

Painters were over on the wood again and I managed to catch Mike this time painting the metal work on the Bridge stairs.

Rod and Clive were keeping him company , generally tiding the area of the over grown shrubbery .

Locomotives working today were 2807  and 35006 and below the Class 26 D 5343 awaiting the go ahead to return to Cheltenham

On my travels I came across this Rail mounted machine miles of the beaten track , it looked and sounded like it was going through some tests in a yard .

Any readers out there with any ideas what it could be and what it will be used for.

We thought it could be connected with the installation of overhead power cables but it has a winch on board and no room for a drum , plus the two exit pulleys are not central to the rails .

Slow old Day

Wednesday 10th July 2019

Usual suspects turned out on Monday , 

Dave and Peter carried on with the gate , much Mortising and tenoning going on ( if there are such words ) and over on Platform 2 Mike S was giving the boards for the stairs an undercoat .

Whilst there were enough of us around we got an additional 20 boards down from the shelter of the station roof , in readiness for Wednesday.

Wednesday and a warm sunny saw a few more volunteers turn out .

Graham  D (our Chief and Best Painter ) made a welcome  appearance .

He and Ray hit the boards running ( literately ), whilst Ray applied the knotting Graham applied the undercoat , elsewhere the other Mike took to painting the metal work of the bridge stairs .

Not an easy job on this side he kept telling us , ground uneven , scaffolding poles in the way etc etc, but its looking good, now for the hard bit !

2 gardeners here today , Chris tending and weeding and pat as ever in full flow with the strimmer.

Dave and Brian worked on the gate today, as Peter also helps in the Tea Room occasionally.

First job  was to try to line up the bottom of the gate and fix it to the bottom metal rain , easier said than done as our bolts kept fouling the rollers underneath . eventually with a few washers removed and a few inserted it worked a treat .

Everything was then taken back to the workshop to be reassembled .

Time was up for the day , so it sits in the workshop ready for next Monday.

Elsewhere the volunteers had their " Personal Track Safety " test to make sure we are competent and can work safely with others when around railway lines. Of course we all passed !!

Locomotive of the day was  " 4270 " pulling the Afternoon train from Cheltenham.