Broadway Station GWR Roof Fund

Well you didn't have to be blind to see this coming. Met Bill a few times and feel very frustrated at the how things have turned out.
He's done the best blog around and kept us all informed on the wonderful job their all doing at Broadway and lets not forget the professional platform being build at
Cheltenham by the broadway boys. As in most preserved railways politics rein supreme as they did before I stopped being a volunteer a few years ago.
All the board wanted to do then was play trains and ignore the rule book that I took 12 weeks learning.
Some one suggested that if the money for the station building wasn't forth coming straight away then open Broadway with just a run round loop and build the
waiting shelter on platform 2 to give people some idea of what can be achieved in GWR design, unlike CRC and Gotherington signal boxes.
I thought they wer'nt opening till 2018 anyway so whats the rush.
This is a volunteer run railway and you can only push people so far.Bill had obviously had enough and unless we start here and now to get him back on the job it will be another black day
for the GWSR.

 

I too feel cheated. My wife and I bought shares in the Bridges to Broadway appeal with a clear understanding of what we were contributing to. It now seems we have been deceived. I wonder if we can get our money back....
A few years ago, I joined the Broadway gang for a few months and had the pleasure of working with Bill, Jo and the others. Sadly, I had to leave for health reasons but I can understand how the gang must feel. This is not the first time that Bill has felt it necessary to resign and I hope circumstances and the Board will enable him to change his mind.
Volunteering politics is always very difficult as I know from my heritage canal experience - perseverance and a thick skin are the answers.
If a fund is set up to get it right I will be a contributor.

 

Does anyone know if there are skylights present in the ceiling of the (authentic) station building at Toddington, allowing daylight to filter through to the rooms below via the glazing in the canopy? There certainly won't be any at Broadway, thanks to that full height wall on the platform elevation, and that's going to constant electric lighting whenever the station is open for business.

Also, does anyone on Nat Pres have the Photoshop skills to doctor an image of the platform side of Toddington station to show what it would look like if it had been built to the same design as is proposed for Broadway?

 

It might be worth noting there has still been no official communication about any of this from anyone. The only people who have heard officially are the Broadway group, not even the rest of the volunteer workforce has had anything. When I pointed out to the chairman that the boardroom blog was vastly underused when compared to Temple's use of it that particular point went unanswered.

Once again I'd urge anyone who has not done so to contact the chairman.

 

The rooms in the building have solid ceilings so the light through the skylights (which are on the platform side of the canopy/roof) is for illuminating the platform only. Putting a full height wall will not affect how the rooms are but visually will be very different for the passengers on the platform.

 

I dont have any Photo shopping skills but using the above as a starting point.

1. Replace the arched trusses with plain brickwork to the apex.
2. Move the skylights to the outside, from the inside panels, to remove even more light from the apex
3. Replace the well spaced slender horizontal angle sections with 20 horizontal thick steelwork sections that poke through the brickwork in 1, With luck these will block out the view of 1 as well.

Voila!

 

Alan Bielby has responded to comments on Bill's last post on the Steaming to Broadway blog.

 

unsatisfactory IMHO. I suggested he join here and defend the board's position...

 

Why should he come on here?
Surely he has to answer to the railway and not Joe Public..

 

Well my fellow Nat Pres contributors, it would seem that Mr Bielby has condemned your opinions on the Broadway canopy as meaningless.

". Perhaps I should add that the debate over the design of the station building canopy has largely been a crusade by a small group and the cost to meet their aspirations is estimated into six figures - an impact not considered justified by the great majority of those interested in the rebuild of Broadway station."

Well there is only one way to find out!

 

I think it would be a good idea for him to explain the board's decision, both here and to the railway. Here, he might learn just what our problems with the situation are. At the end of the day everything comes down to a lack of communication; if this had all come out 2 years ago that would have given a lot longer to discuss alternative options, in a constructive and friendly manner. As it is, we now have people calling for him to step down and an EGM to be held (which is an absurd idea) when all could have been solved just be talking to people - daft isn't it?

 

Saddened to hear that Bill has decided to step down. I will miss the blog updates immensely, and wish him all the best for the future, no matter how things turn out at Broadway.

Having read from Mr Bielby's reply on the 'Steaming to Broadway' blog that the station will not be complete by 2018 for the opening, why not use the time productively and raise funds for an authentic station that can have a staged opening?

Yes, money will be an issue for the construction of the building, even if it requires a complete structural redesign. But as long as the dimensions and external appearance remain as per the artwork, I would think that planning would not be issue and I would imagine that the local conservation officer would be thrilled that efforts were being made to make it authentic, with a sincere nod to its predecessor.

As others have pointed out, build the single storey flat roof main building with passive provision for the authentic canopy to be added later, funds allowing. This has to be the best way forward for the benefit of all.

I know I threw building/fire regs into the mix in an earlier post, but within reason, there is very little that cannot be designed that can satisfy both the regs and the 'preservationists' - it all boils down to money (like most things in life). Sadly I am not a designer or an architect, on site I just read the drawings and 'build stuff', and some of the quirky things I have seen over the years lead me to the opinion that nothing should be dismissed.

I really hope that the team at Broadway can find a way past the current difficulties, avoid the politics and continue with the excellent work they undertake every week, for little more than 'thanks' and pride in what they have done. If, heaven forbid, they 'down tools', I have a feeling that to complete the station in its current (non-authentic) design will go beyond the 'six figure sum' for the present design mentioned in Mr Bielby's reply, even for just the labour to undertake the works.

Garry

 

Point well made Garry. How much has the railway saved through volunteer labour to build three platform faces and a signal box? How much will it cost to employ paid labour to build the station building at Broadway?
Or maybe the rest of the team at Broadway will continue with the next big project, .... or not?

Time for some quiet reflection by the GWSR Board.

 

Having just looked at the 'Boardroom Blog' to see if there was anything about the Broadway situation directly from the board, I notice that the news item for today is called 'Wartime in the Cotswolds' - freudian slip? lol

 

FS123, I note that you have a link to the Broadway station rebuild fundraising page in your signature. Any chance that you could have a quiet word with whoever is responsible for managing that particular page and request that they make it quite clear to intending donors that, as things stand, their money will go towards constructing station buildings which, at best, are a cheap as chips bastardised and aesthetically diminished replica of the originals?

 

I have managed to pester an artist friend of mine to do a quick fix on David Arnold's photo of Toddington to give it the Broadway look.



It still needs a bit of work I think - there ought to be at least twice as many trusses - and the glazed panels are a bit on the short side. The light level on that new brickwork could also do with adjusting downwards.

A reminder of David's original photo for comparison...

 

Stunning!
Take my money now

 

Bloody Norah!

I just mentioned on the Broadway Blog that you can't polish a turd in reponse to Mr Bielbys continued insistance that his design is just like Toddington albeit with a few minor tweaks, and not like CRC at all.

Seems I was right.

 

Ok, writing as a shareholder and one who wants to see the railway succeed -
Firstly, I suggest anyone who hasn't already done so takes a very good look at the plans to see what is envisaged. There will be lots and lots of glass in the canopy to provide light to platform level. Secondly, as has been stated before, but worth repeating, the full height wall (which I don't like at all by the way!) is mandated by fire regulations. Alan Beilby has posted that a relaxation of this requirement is being pursued. Thirdly, before getting artistic with simulations of what the canopy might look like please be sure to study the plans (again). What is depicted in the simulation earlier in this thread does not have much in common with what is shown in the plans. Lastly, I am very very disappointed to see that Bill has stepped down from leading the Broadway Station development. I think he will be sorely missed.

 

You must have the Trumpton fire brigade making the regulations down there. I can't get my head round the full height wall business.

Bob.