GWSR Broadway Developments

Actually only about 2.3% of land is built on at all; tarmac, concrete, paving, the lot!

 

Originally, away from the canopy, there was just a single row of slabs, and the rest was either gravel or ash. That part of the outer platforms would have been rarely used, with just a handful of passengers for each train. In fact I have never seen a photograph of passengers waiting or getting off a train at Broadway.

The trouble with ash/gravel is that it gets trodden into the train and plays havoc with the floors. So, reluctantly, tarmac it has to be.

 

I can accept the problem with loose ash or gravel, but some of the resin-bonded surfaces look quite attractive. The problem with tarmac in my view is that it's just everywhere, wherever you look in our townscapes. And whenever it is repaired the result never matches and just looks shabby.

 

Happily we have a good area of slabbing now, including on the frontage, which at one stage risked being tarmac and concrete kerbs. Luckily an old photograph, and proof of the availability of granite kerbs, was persuasive to go the traditional route. The tarmac is mostly away from the building, and it is great to see that they have also slabbed the floor of the circulating area under the canopy overhang. It's going to be a great space to be.

 

The main problem with tarmac is that most of it appears to have gone missing this winter and has been replaced with potholes! As Breva says, the original surface would have been chippings and/or ash. Children love throwing it about too. I agree that some of the resin bonded surfaces do look good but money is not no object and much more money is needed before Platform 2 can come close to matching Platform 1 regardless of what the platform surfaces are like. Looking forward to seeing it all for myself next week.

 

Oh dear. Really not what was needed with just days to go...

http://broadwaystation.co.uk/camera/image11_1.jpg

Let's hope it doesn't hang about.

 

Fortunately a passing polar bear wiped the camera lens clean.

 

Question is,
Would the GW have done it this way?

 

And presumably before Platform 2 there's still the fit out of the rest of the main bulding to complete

David R

 

And the footbridge to finish...........

 

no they wouldn't, it would have been cobbled, you go to any European city and you will find that tarmac is kept to roads mostly, pavements have setts or slabs, even roads in most towns have cobbles or setts, tarmac is a huge money hole in our country, our weather makes it completely unsuitable, but it allows the quick fixes and short term results which our councils love so dearly, to the detriment of our taxes. it's relatively inexpensive initially, but the constant patchwork of quick fixes stacks the cost up eventually, it's also everybody's lust for cars which does the damage, no European country drives more, owns more cars per head, or spends a larger percentage of income on cars than we do. Combined with the road lobbies destruction of rail freight, a bad mix all round, rant over.

P.S I'm not laying any blame at the volunteers door, I'm very happy with how the tarmac has been kept to a minimum.

 

Further on the subject by looking at the opening day picture you can see that the forecourt has light coloured gravel on it. When digging conduits across the forecourt we came across a yellow layer, so concluded that it was Cotswold stone gravel. That was in the days of people on foot, and a few pony and traps.



I bought a new house in the area 5 years ago, with a drive covered in the same Cotswold stone gravel. Within 3-4 years it was crushed to a fine mush by the weight of the car and various delivery lorries that came along. The stone is soft and completely unsuitable for the traffic today. When wet the mush sticks to your shoes and gets carried into the house.
The station approach also serves the 7 former GWR houses, including B&B customer and supplier traffic, not to mention the traffic we may generate (none, I hope, as I keep saying there is no parking up there, it will be on the other side of the bridge after August).
So a tarmac drive and forecourt it is.

NB Many people think this is the opening day but it's not, it's the day after when an excursion train to Stratford was organised. That is what they are all queuing up for.

 

Did you forget to take the lens cap off?

 

Haha! I forgot to capture the image, so it stays live. Honestly, there is quite a bit of snow there. At least at nightfall there was.
All in all, its been quite a traditional winter, but lets hope its all clear for Good Friday.

 

Don't forget to seal the edges of your tarmac or else the frost will be straight in there. Either use hot tar poured into the join gaps (messy!) or the tar 'tape' you can get nowadays that is put in place and melted in using a flame gun.

Watch out for H&S jobsworths though - Our local school had some kerbs dropped for disabled access but they weren't allowed to seal the new/old tarmac join because H&S said the tar strips (25mm wide) would be slippery when wet and therefore a hazard. Then they promptly covered the disabled parking area with 100mm wide tar strip markings which were obviously OK by them - because these were yellow.

 

A look into the Booking Office at Broadway today:



For me it's a 6 year dream come true. It started with two original (and battered!) crowd barrier posts, found buried on site. We had two replicas made, and the shotblaster fabricated the disks underneath, which had snapped off during demolition. The tops were made by our C&W carpenters, and it gives me great pride to be able to show off the fruits of their labours.
The signage is in cast aluminium, based on some genuine articles found (TICKETS) or donated ('IN') - you can see that every little bit helps.
The design of the hatches is a copy of Yardley Wood further up the line, the only original one ticket hatch left. They have sliding shutters (off camera).
The wainscoting and floor design were inspired by KRM. We were unable to replicate the original suspended wooden floor as the new building had a concrete one.

In other news, the chairman of the GWR Trust confirms receipt of the fireplace donation cheques, so that circle is squared. Supporters, most of them on this forum, donated enough for a complete set of fireplace surround, hearth and grate. At the moment there is a frenzy of activity to get the building ready for opening, but once things calm down we will be looking to equip the cafe and that is when, in about 3 months, we can order the kit.

Tomorrow is the first train, just for those with a free pass - volunteers and shareholders. The first public train is on March 30th, and then we hope the money will start to come in. We have many other plans, and need the cash.

 

wow that looks really good , i'm now planning my visit (i have family in Swindon) my great neice likes trains so i might see if my brother wants to visit the GWR, he was interested in trains as a boy in 1966, and saw the end of steam . i might be able to persuade him if i say they have an MN

 

Jo, this all looks absolutely glorious. You must be so proud, all of you there.
I was wondering- with the opening, what will become of the Broadway Blog? Obviously the pace of work will slacken now, but with so much still to do, I fervently hope it will remain with us long into Broadway's future, and I'm sure I'm not being presumptuous in wishing you all a wonderful day tomorrow, from all of us on this forum.
Mark

 

That does look rather splendid, well done to you all. I wonder if Joe Public will read and take heed of the 'IN' and 'OUT' directions?
I also hope the blog will continue as the rest of the station construction continues.
Andy