GWR Lamp post story

It's always interesting to source heritage assets for the railway, and when you can't, you do the next best thing, which is to borrow one, and have a replica made.

For Broadway, we tried to buy genuine GWR lamp posts - we needed 22 of them for the platforms alone. Buying so many at auction, with scarce supplies and high prices, was not a realistic way forward, we soon discovered. So a kind sponsor offered to pay for a pattern, and we had our own replicas cast.

We bought 18 replicas for Broadway, of which 10 in turn were also sponsored by kind supporters. The last of the 18 are about to be installed in the space vacated by the 5 containers moved away from platform 1. We already have the tops, so it should look a bit more complete there very shortly.

We decided to see if we could sell some of the replicas. With the (modest) profit we could buy further heritage assets for the railway.

Today was interesting because the buyer of two actually had two genuine but longer posts for sale, for which we found GWSR buyers at Cheltenham Race Course. To save on transport, we decided to collect the two posts for sale from the buyer, and at the same time deliver the two replicas to him. Normally, it's buyer collects!

We set off from Winchcombe in the company Transit with the two castings on board, a crew of three consisting of David T from the Friends of Cheltenham, John S of Broadway and yours truly. Once again, a multi disciplinary action, together forward!

The delivery was complicated, as the lamp posts CRC were buying were in a field in one village, while the castings were to be delivered to a house in another. At one point, we had both on board, leading to this rather full load, all of which was lifted in manually. Four people heaved and struggled, but we did it.

What the buyer forgot to mention was that the delivery point was up a steep and narrow path on top of a bank - this photograph was taken only half way up.

We were treated to a hot cup of tea, and a pint of beer in the local pub, so hard labour is not quite its own reward. You also get to meet the most interesting people. All great fun.

The final act in our interesting swap day was the delivery of the taller, genuine posts to Cheltenham Race Course station. Getting the posts off was easier than getting them on, but they were still heavy. Here John and David take 5 after lifting the posts off the truck. It was rather satisfying to see all this achieved at the end of the day. Everyone happy, and the railway some heritage lamp posts richer. CRC will, in due course, install these in the vicinity of the platform 2 slope down from the top.

So why 'swap' replicas for real ones? The answer lies in their length. There are 3 types of GWR cast iron lamp post:

The first one is a 'No.1 (confusingly stamped 'No.2') which is the standard platform lamp post. Above is a drawing and a photograph of one at CRC. It is 6ft above ground, and 2ft below, so 8ft long in total. This is the one for which we have commissioned a pattern.

The second one is a bit longer, and was used in larger spaces, such as forecourts. Because it is longer, it had the option of a ladder bar, which however was not always present. The smaller type did not need a ladder bar, as it could be opened for the replacement of the lamp by anyone standing on the platform. The larger type was 8ft above ground, so 10ft long in total. We managed to find three of these for Broadway, where they have been planted on the forecourt.
If you look in the back of the truck, and compare the photographs, you can see that the No.2 is longer than the No.1 by 2ft.

Lastly, there is the No.3 type. This one is relatively rare, as it is much taller than the other two, being 13'6'' above ground. How did the GWR achieve this? Simple, they just planted a No.2 post on top of a fluted column. This tall model was to illuminate large spaces, such as railway yards, or a turntable area, as in the picture above. It is known in the parlance as the Yard lamp.
Our little team actually managed to acquire one of these last year, and the plan is to install it at Toddington behind the water tower. It will make a lovely set there. Ours even has its original ladder still attached. It is currently awaiting its turn with the shotblasters.

To raise funds for the railway, we do sell additional castings of the No.1 platform type, so if you are interested, send an email to breva2011(at)hotmail.co.uk. You'll be helping us, as well as yourself.

A new build, and a repair

At Winchcombe, the new visitor centre continues to grow.

Last week the scaffolding was up on its first lift, and the Bradstone wall was starting to grow.

The three windows on the car park side are going in. They are made of PVC.

Today, the scaffolding was a level higher and the Bradstone was above window level. The much smaller main station building can be seen in the background.

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The B&S team have been busy - not with the visitor centre, which is being erected by contractors - but with repainting and repairing the end wall of the Flag and Whistle building in Toddington. It's a big job.

The south side is pretty much finished now. It's now in a very shiny chocolate colour.

Mike and Pete admire their work.

This is the side the customer doesn't usually see - it's the door to the boardroom!

It's been painted to the same high standard.






There are still a lot of odd bits to do, such as the window surrounds, a new surround for the new boardroom door, and new barge boards. We may also need a new lock for the door, as the old one refuses to work.

 

Finally, further inspection has revealed several areas of wood rot in the the south side of the north porch. This will need replacing too.

 

A quick job in between was a request to construct a base on platform 2 at Toddington. This will be for a memorial building, which is due to be put up on May 22nd. A path leading to this building will be laid next.

The gang have also helped with the construction of a foot crossing north of Laverton, which was quite a big job. You can see pictures of this on Andy P's drainage department Flickr site:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gwr-lineside-drainage-management/

Back home in the shed, the gang have been busy manufacturing and now painting the running in board for Hayles Abbey. It's 10'6 wide, a big item supporting the replica 12'' cast letters.

Two posts and so-called granpa posts of concrete, which sit in the ground and hold the wooden posts up, away from any water, were also found and painted. They are now in situ at Hayles Abbey, waiting for the running in board to be mounted on them.

The right hand one is taller than the left hand one, because it will have a hook on top to hold a hurricane lamp.

You can see the grey 'granpa' posts underneath. They will help to conserve the wooden posts, which also received little hats of lead to keep the rain off the top.

Finally, upon a request from the Hayles group, one more wooden post and 'granpa' support were supplied by the B&S gang.

This will become the second lamp post at Hayles, to be situated at the bottom of the ramp.