GWSR Broadway Developments

I think the problem lies in the site trying to run scripts on my PC, and the result is 'problem loading a file'.

Thanks for all your help. I'll just have to live with the minor inconvenience of adding attachments, instead of embedding them.

In the meantime, following a useful suggestion above, I also called in at Yardley Wood, with success. They have one original ticket window, including the sliding panel. I photographed and measured it, now to find someone to make two of them. Also evidence of matchboarding, and the same fireplace as at Toddington.

Brilliant

 

Yardley Wood ticket window!

 

A day of heavy rain was forecast for today, but none came !

We put down the reinforcing mat into the floor of the SB tunnel. Next Wednesday, weather permitting, we will pour concrete. This will take all day, an activity we couldn't risk starting today, in view of the dire forecast.
The RSJ that will fit across the entrance of the tunnel will be delivered shortly. S&T have then requested a period of activity on the bed of the tunnel, before we put the roof on. Makes sense.
The last pair of sliding windows on the box was installed last week, and it is now weather proof. We are very pleased with the quality of manufacture.

In the afternoon, a fourth row of blocks was laid at floor level in the main station building foundations. This was a fill in job (not risky, weather-wise) but it was good to see more activity on the building. It should accelerate, once we have filled in the platform in front of the SB.
The stanchions have been manufactured, and are being galvanised at the moment. Delivery won't be long now, was scheduled for the end of the month.

The footbridge project, under new management, is making progress again. While we have reluctantly decided to cut up the rotten footsteps, on the other side plans are being made to repair the centre span, and put it up on two new towers, to get it out of the way before the track arrives. It was a relief to hear that some money has been found in the budget to do this essential work.

 

A small gang today, but it packed a punch! We finished off the dividing walls under the floor, and are now ready for the stanchions to arrive. They are expected around the end of the month. They are already fabricated, and were being galvanised, was the latest we heard. They will be attached to threaded bar drilled into the concrete foundations.

In the pictures you can see:
001: the start of work this morning, in the mist.
003: Overview of the foundations. From the front to the back: Gents' toilet, Disabled toilet, Ladies' toilet, Store, Ticket office, Booking hall, Refreshment room, Kitchen. The tops of the block walls you can see is the final floor level. The new toilets account for 50% of the original length of the building, but we can't do without them.
005: The fireplace, located in the refreshment room. Unfortunately, in this cramped building there isn't room for any more. The store will have a chimney breast, supporting a second (non working) chimney.
012: Building the end wall in the kitchen, still sub actual floor level.

Once the stanchions are up, we can put up the walls sub floor level along the front and back, around the planted stanchions.

Wednesday: pouring of the SB tunnel floor, subject to good weather for the day, there's a lot of concrete to be mixed and poured. Knowing the unreliability of the forecast, we won't know for sure until the day! Question of sticking your hand out of the window, probably.

 

The weather gods were kind today, and we had a full dry day out, with a large team working two mixers to make up concrete for the SB tunnel floor. They worked so hard and so quickly that they were soon through the first lorry load of aggregate, and a second (smaller) one had to be hastily ordered.

Just after lunch the concreting job was finished. A van then arrived from the fabricator to deliver the RSJ for the front, platform side of the tunnel roof. It's all go here!

Now we need to build up the side and platform walls to the correct height, and cast the pads to receive the RSJ.

 

Super work as always. One question, what are the angle iron sections embedded in the concrete floor in pic 2?

 

Would it be so that they can be drilled to mount the rod work and its associated guides ?

 

Yes, that's it. Others also in the signal box floor.

 

Thanks Jo for your update, a fuller version is available on the Broadway Station Rebuild blog (broadwaystationgroup.blogspot.co.uk), which I notice is now accepting comments as there are three posted after last Saturdays blog (including one from Bill Britton).

 

Yes, nice update - great shots of a large girder being moved by the 'human wave' approach.

Yes, I'm glad they turned them on; I used to ask Bill questions all the time.

Noel

 

A large 45T excavator with an extra long jib arrived today to dig a series of exploratory trenches into the embankment next to the goods shed.
Pictures are on the extension blog, and a video of the excavator working is here:

 

Interesting stuff.My concern is they strike water (shades of "chicken curve").As seen on blog pictures .

Were hold our breath & hope it isn't serious

 

Hey, better to find it now, when it can be dealt with without getting in the way of operations (and even, hopefully, without delaying the opening at Broadway, as any remedial work needed can hopefully be undertaken in parallel with all the other work needed for Broadway). The only problem could be with the cost, of course. I expect they'll probably fix it 'right', whatever, though - that does seem to be (to my great pleasure and happiness) the ethos at the GWSR: 'do it right'!

Noel

 

"MY" concern is as a shareholder/volunteer of the GWR.

 

A big gang today, lots of sunshine (is there a connection?) and lots of progress.

The main news is that the stanchions for the station building arrived today. We are ready to put these up just about immediately, but the threaded bar and chemical anchor weren't with the load, so we will have to start next Wednesday.

The same gang that unloaded the steels lorry also laid several rows of bricks along the platform and into the tunnel in front of the signal box. On the RH side we have now reached the level of the tunnel roof.

Preparations continue to dismantle the footbridge steps, and a trial dig will be made next week to examine the ground under the supporting towers. Several of the Broadway project areas have been asked to put forward their budget requirements, so that an accurate share prospectus can be prepared with a view to raising the funds we need to achieve the Broadway extension.

On the embankment opposite the goods shed the big 45T excavator has completed the 15 trenches required to judge the shape and condition of the embankment. We await the judgement of our engineers for what, if anything, needs to be done here. A minor benefit of the trial dig was the discovery of further quantities of broken GWR china, which we now believe came here from race specials parked there waiting to advance to Cheltenham Race Course, and the dining car crews sweeping out their rubbish. One complete find was a stone bottle marked 'Great Western Railway' which isn't very common we believe.

Some pictures of the day's activities are appended below.

 

Sorry, I couldn't parse that - can you please expand your comment a bit? Thanks!

Noel

 

Just to elaborate a little, I have been a volunteer at the GWR since the 1980's and have enjoyed some very good times being involved with the railway expanding. However, in recent years we have had approximately 4 land slips, 2 of which were 'big news' and seeing this bit of footage gives me the jitters a little as I've seen the date for getting to Broadway change so many times and I suppose there are only so many times you can rattle the begging bowl (asking for shares) . One good thing that will hopefully see this situation out is the determination of the average volunteer who, if required, will dip his hand in his pocket.OK

 

Surely you'd agree though that finding any problems now would be infinitely better than finding them in five years' time once we've started running to Broadway?

 

Agree

 

On a chilly day today 4 courses of bricks were laid on the LH platform side, and one course of bricks on the RH side.

The large RSJ, specially made, was lifted in using a mini digger that was on site. There is a plate underneath it that will support a row of 'soldiers' which, once in, will form a flat arch on which the first row of corbelling will go.

The mini digger also dug a trial hole on platform 2 to give our engineer sight of the ground conditions where the towers of the footbridge will go.

At the Laverton end of the extension a team from Haigh Rail came to weld up the first 10 lengths of rail that were laid earlier. A report and a film on YouTube should appear on the extension blog later today.
Edit:
The films are here:



The 45T excavator on the embankment by the former goods shed closed the 15 trenches again today, and reduced the width of the embankment to achieve a gentler slope. The advice of the engineer, with various options, is now awaited.