WET WET WET !

 Week Commencing 23rd September 2024

Monday

Who would turn up on a miserable rainy Monday  ? well 2 of us did,  myself and Ian !

The gas bottles on train 1 needed changing and Ian in Pats absence decided to give me a hand.

but first a walk round the station saw one down pipe blocked and overflowing and this one by the south end of the building was blocked and running onto the pavement. luckily for us the kitchen door entrance was a bit higher than the overflow or it could have flooded the kitchen and café !

It was the wettest change over I've done for a long time and it was on the wrong and awkward platform  .

The reason it was over the other side was to let the road railer deliver supplies to Broadway for the Platform 2 build.

Bags of sand and bags were dropped of in their respective required places and afterwards a bit of shuffling around of materials to get them in their right place.

Ian and myself had a go at seeing which manhole was blocked or not, but we finally called it a day and left it till Wednesday.

Wednesday

Look at the weather ! It didn't last .

Platform 2 had seen more plinth headers had been laid.

A bit of tidying up on the platform 2 side , old pallets and covers headed to the wet bonfire area.

One job we can do in the wet is put together some trugs for the shed.

Whilst the rain didn't arrive till 2 o'clock it was dry enough for Pat to mow the driveway grass and Chris and young Dave to give the driveway area a bit of a tidy up too.

Whilst is was discovering and removing more old station debris from the bank , I dug this out , a head gasket from an old engine , any body got any ides of which ?

One or two guess , a ford gasket , to fit a E93A .

The 2 Class 2800`s were on duty today , 3850 and 2807 

Dave

More Quite Days

 Week Commencing 16th September 2024

Each day saw 2 and a half volunteers attend which means one of us leaves at midday for various reasons .

But while we are at the station we try our best to keep the place respectable.

Monday

Ian and myself headed down to the bottom of the drive to give it a bit of a tidy up.

Whilst Chris took to removing the Ivy of the trees.

The Bottom area, after we gave it a good going over.

Lots of needles and debris around after the session , so Ian got the Billy out and did the pavement and Platform 1 too.

Wednesday

Over on platform 2 some Plinth headers have been put on the north end and back of the building plus at the far end a door frame has been temperately erected.

Some attention was needed to some of the wheelbarrows !

A job that's seams to grow every time we are down the drive is the appearance of the old station through the soil ! Last time I was picking up cones and debris I counted at least 7 potential bricks and concrete problems. Bob was seen attacking the first !

First barrow load was sent over the other side of platform 2 to be used as infill around the new building.

The biggest lump was a slab of reenforced concrete which took more than a few blows with the sledgehammer by Ian to reduce it to rubble.

It was my turn for a half day so I don't know what accrued in the afternoon but hopefully more anti mower blocks got removed !

Dave

Quiet Times

 Week Commencing 9th September 2024

Not many volunteers around on the working days this week , holidays etc , luckily for us the grass has stopped growing and the weeds hopefully have given up too.

Monday

Just myself , Ron and Chris were around.

Plus the weed spraying truck !

The recent winds and rain had brought down the usual amount of cones and needles , which with the help of Billy were soon sent off to the bonfire area. 

Wednesday 

Just myself and Ian .

Over on platform 2 the blue bricks had got to a height in places where the next layer of bricks will be the plinth headers !

A few odd jobs to do around , one was to trim the holly bush which in the wind was bashing the lamp with its branches.

Followed by more hanging branches and then more !

A trip to the local builders merchant to find a replacement for a blown lamp bulb was in vain. and a picture erection of the old station in the station masters office was a success. Afterwards Ian went back to the shed to do some sorting out and myself back to our container to do likewise.

The 2 Locomotive on duty today were 2807 and 3850 .

Dave

Keeping up Appearances.

 Week Commencing 2nd September 2024

Monday

4 turned out on a wet Monday morning , what could we do in these damp conditions ?

First remove the old August sign .

Then Pat and Myself went to Toddington to do a bottle change on train1.

Leaving Ron and Chris to do a useful job under the canopy , its one we usually do before the start of the running season , but the area was starting to look grubby so out with the pressure washer and blast those marks and stains away.

On returning from Toddington Pat took to brush cutting behind platform 2.

The sun came out in the afternoon and Ron headed down to the wooden starter signal at the end of platform 1, we have had a request to sort out the flaking paint work . Ron attacked the old paint work with a scraper and sand paper before applying a coat of primer .

The sunshine also revealed our good work on the platform. 

Wednesday

A different 4 , Myself , Ron , Chris and young Dave

Tuesday had seen John lay more Blues at the back

Another day another sign , this one is for our " Autumn showcase " event in October

Ron was back at the starter signal this time with a pot of black paint finishing off the repair work.

We all took to the driveway , cutting the grass / weeds , removing over hanging branches , weeding and general maintaince of the area.

Our small gang removing old vegetation and ankle twisters !

The tidied area .

Two similar Locomotives on duty today , " 3850  " fresh from its rebuild and  " 2807 "

Dave