A sunny day in Cheltenham

Following on from last week the Saturday Gang mixed and poured concrete around the template and over the securing bolts for the two gateposts at Cheltenham Race Course.  

 

 

The two photographs above show how this had gone off at the start of Wednesday.

Pete about to lay a slab back on new sand.

The last slab about to go back in.

 

A start had also been made on relaying the slabs under one of the platform benches on P1, also at Cheltenham.  The photograph on the left shows where this had got to on Saturday.  The reason for relaying these slabs is to lift them up by about 30 mm so water doesn't settle under the bench.  We have two to do on P1.

 

 

The heat of the day was illustrated by the first train of the day, pulled by 4270, which set fire to some brush in the four foot by the water tower.

 

Jim H was pressed into action to douse this with water. While the sleepers are concrete ones, there are plastic clips which can be damaged by such fires, so it's best to put them out asap. 

Behind the dashing firefighting action the slab laying continued unabated, and here we can see the pad for the bench back in place, now the necessary 30mm higher.

John tidies the site up after the tarmac had been tamped down.

And here's the job completed. One raised bench, if you please. Another neat job, signed off by our C&M department.

Note that our friendly on train catering representative jumped out to give it a once over, before it was tested by our neatly uniformed colleagues.

The small team of four then continued with preparing the holes for the two gate posts at the northern end of P2. You can see the two posts lying in the grass in the picture.

Rob here checked the template for the first post, before it was removed ready for the post to be be fitted.

Template removed showing the fixing bolts in position

Mounting plate in situ on the fixing bolts

On Saturday we will be in a position where we can make a start on relaying the second bench slabs, and hopefully set up the template for the second gate post.  Then on Wednesday we hope to lift in the first gate post subject to a mini digger being available.

A template for CRC.

A wet start to the day kept the numbers down and made working outdoors very unpleasant until after lunch.  There was also a H & S meeting for some.

 

A refurbished bench awaiting some muscle to transport back to Winchcombe platform.

Phil spent the morning modifying an old steel cabinet which we will use as secure storage for petrol in future.  

 

Gatepost template as constructed in the workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

Roy and Jim H went to Gotherington to survey the area around Gotherington signal box for a possible future job.  

 

Also in the workshop Phil and Roy put the finishing touches to a wooden template which will shortly be cast in one of the holes at CRC to provide the securing bolts for a gatepost.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gatepost template being adjusted prior to trial fitting.

 

 

 

 

Finally as the skies cleared we ventured out to CRC to trial fit the wooden template and to deliver materials in anticipation of resuming outdoor operations on Saturday, weather permitting as concreting is involved.

Template in position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gatepost template is slowly lowered down the hole dug last week, and fixed into position at the correct depth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some further adjustment prior to the final placing.

 

 

Digging a hole at Cheltenham

Wednesday at CRC

The team was a bit thin on the ground today, but after what seems like weeks at Toddington work finally resumed on the replacement gates at CRC. These are for access from the north end, by the level crossing. The original cast iron gate posts removed from Broadway can be seen next to the hole in the picture below.

 

Barry Pete and John getting organised for yet more digging.

Ron, a new volunteer,  joined the team and took on the job of re-surveying the area where the new fence, gates and gate posts are to go.  As a result it was decided to modify the gate post foundations.  Unfortunately this meant removing the thin (6") layer of concrete already carefully laid in the bottom of both the holes, followed by further digging to remove another foot or so of very sticky clay.  This was then barrowed over the crossing to the rear of P2 for dumping.  

 

After lunch it rained but the team persisted, although not a lot of fun was had today.

John starting on the second hole

Pete digs out the old concrete which John has broken up with the crow bar

 

Since the previous blog post C & M have completed the re-grouting of the platform copers on P1 at CRC.  Mike R came along to recover the gap supports and to paint the edge of the recently installed replacement door to the Gents.  Sadly we have no photos of this 'enthralling' activity.

 

Ron doing some re-measuring

Pete in wet weather gear continues digging hole 1 deeper.

By close of play both holes were 1100 mm deep and just about ready for a fresh concrete pour next time.  Note the small ladder needed to get out of the hole!!

A brief report

A somewhat brief report for today as the gang was a bit thin in numbers due to meetings and training courses.

The main effort was in the children's play area at Toddington.  The new furniture has arrived and C&M have been asked by the Friends of Toddington do the hard work excavating holes for this furniture.

Phil in action trying to loosen up the clay in one of the four large holes

Phil gets the mechanical auger fired up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rod came along to offer advice on using the mechanical auger which Phil then operated.  There was a lot of discussion regarding the position of the new slide since as, as first positioned, we felt we would damage the new sewer pipe.  So a couple of test holes later the slide was resited.  

 

Jim M and Austen get to grips with one of the 9 posts for the new slide

 

 

9 no 6" diameter holes were required but following equipment failure and the sleet we only managed 3.  The other 4 holes were approx 2ft square and nearly 2ft deep.  We used the auger to loosen up the clay which sticks to everything.  Again for the same reasons we managed to complete 2 holes and got about halfway down the remaining 2 before being sleeted off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Winchcombe in the workshop one of the benches was having its planks repainted.

Also at Winchcombe in the workshop the bench in question had its scripted bench ends repainted into chocolate and cream.

Due to the absence of the principal photographer Jim the next report on the C&M blog will be at the beginning of May.

There's a whiff in the air - no more.

A mixed bag of activities this time, with several items being addressed at once.

At Winchcombe in the workshop Ian and Bruce were working on refurbishing one of the Winchcombe benches. All the other work took place at Toddington though.

Here chief painter Mike R completed brushing in the kiln dried sand into the gaps where the slabs had been re-laid on P1.  While he was doing that Jim H finished inserting pea gravel in the gap alongside the new Pod footpath.  Unfortunately there are no photos of either activity, the chaps were too busy working.

Martyn fitting the roofing felt

Barrie, Pete and Martyn removed all the temporary tarpaulins and associated materials, scaffold boards and Heras fence feet from the roof of the admin block.  Then Barrie Martyn and Jim H set about gluing and nailing new roofing felt on the top, to make a better and more permanent repair.  

 

Barrie went round the edges screwing on the securing battens.   

 

Another job off the list.

 

 

With the roofing felt on, the admin office looked presentable again.

These Portacabins are getting to the end of their life, and in due course their functions will be transferred to the new office block we are buying in the yard at Winchcombe. That should happen later this year.

Mike, Jim M & Phil fishing for the plastic bag.

 

 

Phil, Jim M, Mike and Pete did a thorough rod and flushing exercise on the new sewer pipes where a bit of a whiff had been detected. 

 

They discovered a plastic bag left in by the contractors, which we think accounted for the backing up of the sewer material.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil flushing the main sewer pipe.

Pod sewer pipe supports completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just to be sure there are no more smells the new manhole we had to put in has been well and truly sealed in concrete.  Finally improvements were made to the supports for the new sewer pipe connecting all the new Pods.

 

Concreting in the new manhole

The finished manhole

So not a very exciting day, but one which hopefully has finally sorted out both the smells and the leaking roof.

 

A big discussion about an old engine.

 

 

Finally C&M were asked to assist the Friends of Toddington in moving the old engine in the children's play area.  However after some discussion it was decided that this was too far gone and it will be dismantled with possibly just the noughts and crosses being retained.  

 

During the day new furniture was delivered, so watch this space to see how that works out.

The noughts & crosses board.

The little wooden engine now waits in the playground for its fate.

Anyone see the similarity between it and the little Ruston 4 wheeled shunter?

Bridge that gap

Where the recently relaid slabs met the tarmac at Toddington on P1 a small gap was detected between the tarmac and the platform copers.






Roger and Jim H bridged that gap with a small supply of tarmac that they heated with a gas torch.

It's only a small job, but it will stop anyone tripping and falling over the edge. It's not unheard of!

Preparing to completely reset the third slab - John, Pete and Jim.

Then on to Winchcombe, where there has been some movement in the last 3 slabs on P2.

 

Before

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These had to be reset.  This involved John cutting a small slot in the tarmac to allow the slabs to be pushed back into position and re grouted.  The last slab had to be completely taken off and reset.

Mike rolling out the lining strip.

Job done!

 

Meanwhile Mike and Austen completed the white lining for the bay platform

The rest of the day was taken up with investigating a nasty smell near the new pods, more clearing up after our activities at Toddington and making 2 deliveries to Broadway. This set them up to start slab laying under the P1 footbridge steps, in readiness for the arrival of the scaffolding to do the roof.

 

Finishing up.

Several jobs were finished on Wednesday.

In a magnificent solo effort, Mike has completed the painting of the Flag & Whistle on the car park side.

It looks like new now.

At Winchcombe behind the workshop the new white Transit was fitted with a secure tool box, as well as a green wheelie bin for the transport of shovels and similar tools.

Also at Winchcombe, Barrie, John and Phil fitted a new and very heavy work surface in the booking office.

Mike and Phil then completed the white line on platform 2 at Winchcombe, just in time for the first trains this season.

Pete and John went to CRC to fill in holes in the tarmac, but that was far away, while the photographer was at Toddington. Well, you can't be everywhere at once.

 

 

At Toddington Jim H and Jim G fitted the barge board to the bottom of the new fence by the new pods. This job can now be declared finished, again ready for the new season.

The two Jims then ran a clear up service, taking spare materials and some rubbish away from the Toddington site to Broadway and Winchcombe.

The tail lift on the Transit was particularly useful here.

And finally, we are pleased to announce that the slab relay on the Toddington platform is now completed. That's another job off the list by the C&M gang.

Here Bob and Terry lay one of the last slabs using the vacuum 'sucker'. What a marvelous machine it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The area around the drain at the north end of the station building was the last bit to be finished.

Now there's just a bit of a clean up needed, and some sand to go in the gaps.

Above you can see the complete relay of all the slabbing, under the canopy and by the entrance gate at the north end. It's a fine job done, very neat and level.

Finally, here is the proud slabbing gang, except for Mike, who was at Broadway.

From L to R :

Paul, Clive, Rod, Bob, Keith and Terry.

Paul's usual cup of coffee must be in his left hand, we can't see it?