A tidy up, and storage at Winchcombe

On Wednesday the B&S gang were busy at Winchcombe.

First of all, they sorted out all their edging slabs, wall top blocks, bricks of all sizes and concrete blocks into piles and then put them on to pallets, or into stillages. This will make it much easier to find a particular piece of building material when you need it. It's amazing the different sorts of material that there are.

Here is the area round the back of the B&S shed, now looking very tidy. During the clear out, it produced about 4 tons of rubble, and a pile of rotten pallets, all of which was disposed of.

Now, if you need a 3 inch blue, you can go straight to it. Or a 2 7/8ths inch model, B&S can help you!

Our last report showed the gang at Toddington, where a concrete base was put down for a weather proof cover for the admin office. Since that report, the gang has produced all the necessary components in kit form, and a start will shortly be made on assembling it in situ, if the weather allows it.

The other job at Winchcombe was the construction of two sand and gravel boxes next to the B&S shed. It struck the gang that the drainage gang, also based at Winchcombe, was using the same sand and gravel as B&S, but from different sites in the yard. This meant two piles of everything, and two sites. The brainwave was to combine the two in one neat storage area, an idea which will reduce the overall cost of sand and gravel due to buying in bulk, and make ordering much more efficient. Space is also saved, as the boxes are shared.

In this picture the component parts of the two boxes are being sorted out, ready for assembly. The materials used are cheap - some off cuts of H section steel, a few left over old crossing pads, and second hand sleepers. Very economical, but with good effect.

In the background is the new C&W extension, and, interestingly, a bracket signal lying on its side. Wonder where that is due to go?

One end of the boxes needed an additional support, which was welded on at ground level. Could be a neater weld, but hey, it's only got a job to do, so it's fine.

Finally, the finished product:

Didn't they do well? A few more sleepers that need inserting, and we're ready for the first order of sand and ballast.

No news on Hayles Abbey halt this week, due to holidays of key players. Back soon, then we should make a start on block laying.