GWSR General Discussion and Operations

A question has come up, and I've been asked to find the answer.



What was written in the panel at the end of Greet tunnel (and indeed Hunting Butts)?

It was carved in stone, which delaminated over the years and all 4 have fallen out. I would guess almost certainly the year of opening, but what were they, if so?

 

A little while back there were some comments regarding the state of the mileposts on the GWSR, some of which are original and others replacements of various types, quality and robustness. Whilst these items may well seem somewhat trivial to some visitors, they are an important part of the traditional railway scene. This link shows some of the progress being made in replacing or upgrading mileposts along this wonderful railway. The link will take you to the GWSR lineside drainage blog, where a bunch of great people are fixing years of neglect on the Railway.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gwr-lineside-drainage-management/

 

I see that LMS 4F 44422 is looking for a new home. Given she was once shedded at Gloucester I wondered if anyone else thought she could be a good addition to the GWSR’s fleet?

 

Is it suitable for the GWSR? I'd have thought a return to Cheddleton, or a similar "second division" line where loads and distances are less would suit it far better.

 

The GWSR does not have a fleet, only resident owners who hire their locos to the GWSR for use. It would have to be the 4F owner who would need to bring it to Toddington, with GWSR agreement.

 

If it could handle 8 coaches up a maximum of 1 in 150 and be capable of doing a round trip of 28 miles without taking water I'd suggest it would be perfectly suitable - but that assumes we're looking to add to our fleet in the first place!

 

A new post has gone up on the Civil Engineering blog.

Read all about it here:
https://bridgestobroadway.blogspot.com/2019/02/stanway-works-and-crc-inspections.html

 

And an interim post today of the tarmacing at Broadway today, with a video:
https://broadwayextensionblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-busy-day-with-tarmac.html

No more dust and grit! At last....

 

I see from their Flickr sites both Nigel Black and Andy P have left the railway, so can only assume the railway feels their work is complete with Nigel signing off with a comment that my last official duty was ironically throwing a fishplate onto the scrap pile. I really enjoyed their informative pictures over the years and wish them well for the future.

 

That's sad to hear, I loved browsing through the regular Flickr photo dumps, that lot are expert Bricklayers and know their stuff, were they not volunteers then? The huge amount of culverts/soakaways/underbridge gullies etc need constant and regular maintenance.

 

Their work is not complete, certainly not. There will always be drainage and PWay work. Andy and Nigel are much missed and fingers crossed that we can find new volunteer HODs. I'm not sure about their respective Flickr sites as these are personal and now require annual subscriptions whereas up to last year they were free.

The Extension blog will continue to log PWay work, normally twice a week:
https://broadwayextensionblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/graffiti-et-al.html

 

Your blog is much appreciated as well. I note the Drainage Flickr has changed over to the volunteers so looks like it will continue.

Nothing wrong with volunteer HODs at all but the GWSR is one of the bigger boys now and its a lot of railway to upkeep just to standstill. The paperwork hours required alone must be daunting for a volunteer without venturing trackside itself. Nigel seemed to be with the NYMR way of thinking with PW rather than the WSR in terms of welded rail, new for old etc and it is to be hoped this will continue.

 

I would have thought that it was highly desirable to complete the whole railway in CWR, the current replacement at Toddington surprised me in that it wasn't CWR!
The problem with HOD now is all the paperwork, you can spend hours at home completing the paper trail, that is before you spend any time at the railway organising volunteers, which is an art form in its self.

Nigel and Andy will be sadly missed.

 

You're absolutely right and we're very lucky to have some extremely dedicated people who basically work full time for the railway for free. In the two departments I'm in the HOD is also supported by a management team who can help a lot.

 

Absolutely, I can think of 3 volunteers off the top of my head who I'd be amazed if we could replace like for like. The question is how easy it could be to split certain roles to make it more manageable for volunteers or if we will have to replace with paid staff. We have recently taken on a couple more paid staff who have lightened the paper work load a little for some of those full time volunteers.

 

35006 P&O passing through Hayles Abbey this afternoon.

 

A new blog to follow, for the drainage gang! This takes over from the old Flickr site.

 

A new issue of the Heritage Herald blog has just been published:

https://haylesabbeyhalt.blogspot.com/2019/05/30ft-of-rubber-insulation-strip.html

Enjoy!