Saturday 22 November 2014

a bit of a soggy day

Thos of you that have seen out outdoor workbenches will apprecviate that progress can be frustrating on wet or showery days. Well  last Tuesday was certainly that.

But not to be put off we got on with reassembly work inside the old shed
John P and I got stuck into a ground signal which would have come to us as another  rusty hulk and now will have been completely stripped greased and repainted to look almost as new.




Whilst Carl, assisted by Malcolm, did the same with a Crows Nest.
Carefully trimming the timber to fit the steelwork.


















Later in the day, the weather was a bit kinder so the redoubtable Mr Collier was able to put a coat of red oxide on one of his favourite signal ladders assisted by  Andy P and Keith.




 Welcome back Richard, good to see you again !


Mike S



Monday 3 November 2014

The Gap is Filled!

Been a bit of a gap in our Blogspot recently, your Blogger has been away, too many holidays. But here we are back in Sunny Gloucestershire ready for the winter sunshine.

Before I start can I just say thanks to everyone who organised the Volunteer meeting on Saturday, although these Blogs let you hear bits and pieces of News, its always best to get it "from the Horses Mouth". Any way, thanks- it was very interesting and helpful.

A lot has been done here in S&T, under Malcolm s watchful eye, mainly with regard to renovating items for the Broadway Extension of course but also on other projects.
We recently acquired, through contacts made by Carl Smart, a  signal post, ground frame and cabin from a benefactor near Wotton under edge. This is in the process of being erected at Toddington as an extra Visitor Attraction.
Cabin Awaiting Roof tiles
The cabin will contain a small 4 lever frame which will allow visitors to see exactly how a signal works
Sorry about the cluttered background to this pic, we hadn't got round to tidying up since the Broadway Lever Frame was dismantled for measuring up and eventual shift up to the New Signal Box.



Broadway Lever Frame before its dis-assembly in preparation fo the  move up to the New Signal Box
 Aye, it will be a big frame and there are, apparently, only a couple of spares!




Carl and John P enjoying life between the showers assembling the pole for Todd.


Meanwhile work has also continued on the new standardized SPT's and on the Concentrator Project. We have several different designs out there and it makes it difficult when we have to do field swops if we don't know what to expect.



This case (ex Gotherington Mk1) will likely go to Racecourse this winter, hopefully it will look a bit more like someone loves it! It will also have completely new internals.




To our Friends in Carriage and Wagon who helped with plasma cutting and welding, this is what we were aiming  to make





And back at base work also continues on the rodding roller assemblies, again for Broadway, dozens of the things.





Finally, I must send best wishes a for  speedy and ongoing recoveries to the two Richards' -Collier and Etherton- Dont worry we will save some painting for you!

Happy Days

Mike S S&T