Week before the Showcase

 Week Commencing 21st October 2024

Monday

Just the 3 of us on the Monday, and after yet more wet and windy weather the drive way , which the custoners first see was looking a little bit grubby .

Before anybody arrived a big sweep up of the carpark.

Leaving Ian at Broadway with " Billy " .Pat and Myself headed to Toddington to do a Gas bottle change on rakes 1 and 2 ready for the weekend . Of course they were round the awkward way , as you can see below Pat has to lie down to attach the gas pipes to the new bottles  ,its awkward on both rakes , at least it wasnt raining like last time we did it !

Ian was still at it when we arrived back at Broadway

Drive way done it was on to the platforms .

Wednesday

Over on platform 2 , the other false door way had been erected , the blues had been finished and the rows of reds started. plus a delivery of some of the window sills had appeared.

5 around today , but not much to do , so we had a last ride on the DMU which will be moving on after the Autumn Showcase this weekend.

The weather stops the lighting of the bonfire which grows higher every week , we can only have one on the none running days and when the wind blows from the south , maybe next week.

Locos around today were  " P and O " and of course the DMU.

Im spending my Saturday and Sunday as a crossing Monitor down at Cheltenham , so if you want a chat regarding whats happening at Broadway I will be glad to answer any questions Etc .

Dave

They`re Back !

Week Commencing 14th October 2024

Monday 

Just the four of us , and we were amazed to see the station clocks were back , it must have hapened last Friday when the station was on a none running day . Anyway its nice to see them back and working.

One of our on going jobs was to fix our neighbours post , which had been hit and broken by either the dustbin waon or a coach ! a replaceement post had been sourced and the old one dug out and replaced.

Around the damp station worked continued !

Pat and Ron on his last day  ( before returning home to Hong Kong ) took to the track bed and platform 2 clearing away the pine needles !

Wednesday

A gloomy wet day , saw just Ian and Myself pottering around the station.

Over on platform 2 some more Plynth headers at the front had been laid and a few reds had appeared on the far end .

Scaffolding had returned first thing on Wednesday ! The hour hand on the one side was out of alignment ! All got sorted before the station opened.

Having a sort out in the mess hut revealed an old photograph of the station drive way from back in the day , it looked much nicer and had that country station feel ! Shame it had to change.

Locomotives around today were "3850 " and the DMU.

Dave

More volunteers for a change !

 Week Commencing 7th October 2024

Monday

Sunny start to the day compared with last week , 4 of us around , plus some action over on platform 2 !

Ron and Ian were still sorting out the drains around the station , some still needed a good clean out .

Drain covers were lifted and given a clean out too. 

Wednesday

Not a pleasant day , very overcast and the threat of rain in the air , but we had a good turn out !! What to do on a miserable day ?

Bob did a bit of weeding and tidying up on the bottom garden

Chris did the platform edging

We all did the garden at the end of platform 1 , giving it an extreme make over .

Spare grasses were taken down to the bottom garden , just need a bit of colour down there now .

Pat was heard cutting down brambles and shrubbery in the distance , only drowned out when the trains appeared .

Which today was " P and O " and the soon to go to new  pastures the DMU

Dave

More Damp Weather

 Week Commencing 30th September 2024

Monday

More rain for the 3 of us that turned up at Broadway Today , the picture below shows the general state of the station after the weekends wind and rain.

A job carried over from last week was the unblocking of the drains and down pipes. Ron below was working at the bottom whist I was clearing the pipe from above. Ian of course was holding the ladder.

That one sorted we moved on to the kitchen end of the station , more dismantling of the down pipe and drain just to get to the sump , which we found was clogged up with muck and pine needles.

Whilst we down that end we investigated where all the drains went for future reference , which included lifting the lid on the big manhole , But we dropped half of the lid into it and some mug had to retrieve it , luckily for me it was a dry manhole.

Wednesday

After more rain this was the state of platform 1 to the south. Ron and I managed before the passengers arrived to clear most of it off the platform 

The drive way and footpath were next , and it was too wet for  " Billy " but many hands make light work , we were joined by Chris and his son  and did it the old way with brooms and brushes.

One less sign now at the bottom of the drive !

All quite on platform 2 .

Cold days are approaching and Ron has found a Jacket to keep him warm and dry.

Pat had the petrol strimmer out behind platform 2.

Afternoon saw more cleaning up around the seating area.

Only 1 steam engine on show today and that was " P & O " the other mode of transport was the DMU.

Dave