GWSR Broadway Developments

Oh s*d it! .... gonna have to find something else to froth about now!

Seriously though, reading that was reassuring. It's good to know sensible feedback gets proper attention in the appropriate quarters. It feels like a good decision all round for Broadway and the railway.

 

There has been a campaign for the cafe - vociferous and unpleasant in some cases it seems, if you read the full blog. However the decision is made but it is up to those who wanted it to make sure it succeeds. So many crusades these days are given impetus by very many people who, sadly, will never use or give their labour free to operate it all. The caveats are there. If there is no support, it will not stay.

 

How wonderful! I would add that all's well that ends well. However, that might well be tempting providence. There's still a little way to go yet...

 

An absolutely valid point, but no less relevant when considering the shop. Ultimately, given staffing requirements are met, the key thing will be usage. The café will need some careful thought if it's to realise it's full potential to the line.

 

Pleased to see the board has reversed its decision, I think it's now the right one. I hope very much it will be a success. It was good to read it'll be part of RCS and not a standalone thing as well, so joined up management with OTC and the coffeepot.

Just for the record, not quite true, running a shop requires less volunteers than a cafe.

Finally though:

There was no need, clearly, to be as abusive as some people have been. I know I've been banging on about it for ever, but Richard and the rest of the board are hardworking volunteers, and I believe the railway would have been worse off without Richard Johnson than without a cafe. I'm pleased we've managed to keep both.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

Just what I was thinking when the subject of surfacing the car park came up. Last year I had a resin-bonded surface installed on the area in front of my house (which might be called my "drive" but really doesn't qualify for that term) with Sureset https://www.sureset.co.uk/. It was expensive but looks far better than most of the alternatives. One virtue is that there is a choice of colours, and even the possibility of having sections of different colours (which would be one way of marking parking bays permanently).

If resin-bonded is too expensive that would seem the next best.

 

Staff levels will clearly depend on the menu on offer. There'd be a difference between, say, beverages and prepared sarnies/rolls and cake (mmmmm ...... cake!) and a full-blown "Bessemer Arms" type operation (mmmmm ...... ale!). Without knowing projections for footfall, or even how 'café' is to be understood in terms of Broadway, I'll avoid speculation lest I land up looking a complete chump!

I suspect a shop might have more variable staffing requirements than some may think, according to it's stock range. There's the (unfortunately unavoidable) ancillary issue of shoplifting, where the greater value of many goods would become all too predictably attractive to those inevitable scumbags with no sense of 'mine and thine'. Put another way, an eccles cake going walkabout has decidedly less impact on a day's trading than a stolen Bachmann 3MT would on a whole week's.

As with any railway, customer levels are intrinsically linked to the timetable, with busiest periods by definition providing increased opportunity for said scumbags. No reason not to run a shop of course, but it will still need adequate staffing.

It seems to me that both shop and café are of benefit at Broadway and I've absolutely no doubt that the G-W will ensure customer needs are properly met at the earliest opportunity. I wish the line every good fortune and success for their extended operation to this very promising location.

 

Yes, I was sad to see that. Not only was it un-civil, it did not help. My condolences to the board members who had to put up with it.

Yes, and very well explained, and quite reasonable, I think. Well, we'll see whether it works out (in terms of staffing as well as custom), but that will be a while yet.

Meanwhile, on with the works! Great progress on the tracks! I can't wait to see the 'golden spike'!

Noel

 

Common sense has prevailed, thanks goodness, I can't wait to see a photo of the first smoke curling out of the café chimney!

Andy

 

An expression which means hardly anything more than "in my opinion". Could be right though.

PH

 

Just a few 100 yards now.
It would be fun to have double track between Toddington an Winchcombe, but there are a couple of issues that need resolving:

- Hayles Abbey Halt was asked to follow the track, a bit nearer to the centre today, and not the original platform edge.
- I believe chicken curve is not ready for a second track.

In the order of priorities I think double track is quite a long way down the list. Nice to have an idea for the future though.

 

I have some gold paint, but I don't know yet if it will be a spike (unlikely) a fishplate or an entire crossing. We'll have to see on the day.

 

Use a Chair screw instead.

Or is that not GWR Prototypical?

 

Getting back to gravel, resin bonded would provide a good surface as originally it would have been Cotswold stone, is this finish availible in this finish, it would be a shame if you have an authentic station, and its ruined by a modern surface that subtracts from the look and feel .

 

To an outsider (i.e. me!) Posts on this subject have the sense of being something which would certainly add to the ambience of Broadway. A few questions, if I may:

What is the cost implication compared with tarmac?

What are the differences in expected lifespan and maintenance costs over that lifespan?

How would any additional costs be met?

I rather like the idea, but without a dedicated funding drive, there'll be less in the kitty for other work. Magnificent though the Broadway extension certainly is, I'd be astounded to hear the project has come in with sufficient budget underspend to finance such a traditional station approach (though I'd be delighted to be proven wrong!)

 

I'm glad to hear that the station will have a cafe. Despite being a serious rail enthusiast, I've never been able to summon up much enthusiasm for the shops I've seen on many heritage railways, really I'd rather be on the platform soaking up the atmosphere. But I'm always up for a decent sarnie and a piece of cake (particularly if home-made) - so I'll make a special point of using the cafe at Broadway to show my support.

BTW It's a real shame about the abuse this subject generated; unfortunately it seems that just about anybody who says anything about anything on the internet is liable to get the most appalling abuse and threats. For email abuse that doesn't meet a legal action threshold I'd really like to reply something like 'Would you be happy for your mother to read this email before you sent it?' (Some minor celeb did something like very this recently and surprisingly did actually get some apologies!). Sorry for off topic ramble.

 

The last time I went into the shop at Toddington about 50% of the items on sale were "Thomas" related.

 

Be very wary of any variety of surface treatments, they may look very good after they have been applied but if what they are applied to is not very solid they will break up very very quickly especially heavy vehicles. Just covering up cracked concrete or damaged tarmac is not cost effective at all.

 

A message which everyone using the main drag through Brighton City Centre (and doubtless many other locations besides) wishes the Council could get their heads around!

 

That's the price you pay for non-tarmac diversity!