Wednesday 18 July 2018

Stool Report - 2

Tuesday 17th July

Four of us off to Broadway today to continue with the setting of the rodding stools.
But before we left Winchcombe we loaded up with a few more lengths of rodding from the old stockpile (having now used up all of the reconditioned lengths). Most of this looks in reasonably good condition. A rough count up shows that we will have more than enough to complete the job at Broadway :


We have also taken a load of aggregate on the pickup and barrowed this into a pile at the top end of platform 2 so that we can mix concrete closer to the "action point" - still had to wheel the electric mixer all the way up from the signal box though. John P carefully wheels it along the edge of the platform :


and starts to mix just as 4270 does its first smokey run round:


During the day Carl S and John P concreted in the final 15 stools up to halfway along the platform ramp:


This is as far as we can go before the corbelling gets in the way:


This next picture shows the amount of ramp that will have to be sliced off to get the next two stools and four signal wires through:



So, for a change, once the next 3 fabricated stools are in place  we proceed with concrete stools directly into the ballast, without further concrete, up to the first set of points. This view gives a better idea of where we are up to, just short of the barrow crossing:


We had just enough aggregate left to complete another task just north of the route indicator signal.
A concrete pad is required for a ground signal in the 6ft between the headshunt and siding. This will control shunting operation out of the siding.
So, with some shuttering that had been prepared earlier we wheeled 4 barrow loads of concrete up to complete the job. Carl S on tamping duty!


And once levelled off, a wooden template holding the 4 mounting studs is "wriggled" into the concrete. Here's Malcolm W surveying the finished job- direction Toddington and signal number 14:


Just to finish off today's blog a little further clarification regarding the modifications to Toddington box to accommodate going north to Broadway.
This, as far as I can recall, was all carried out when the railway wasn't running during the winter of 2008/2009. The lever frame was extended by 2 levers as part of this. I can remember painting/repainting  all the levers in the box during a very cold spell when I had the stove going to keep warm while the rest of the team were outside shivering! I am still reminded of this when getting the "plum" jobs!

So, hopefully Toddington Box is prepared for Broadway action.

Curly

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the update, Curly. Interesting to hear that Toddington box was modified so long ago! Have you put any of the bases for the thermal compensation in yet? (I assume there are 4 to go in?). Do they go alongside the platform or further north?

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    1. No not yet. We are hoping to get JCB Steve in on Monday with a mini digger to excavate two large holes for them. We need a substantial lump of concrete to make sure the compensators do not move. They go in pairs (one for the point rodding and one for the Fpl rodding ) so two will be mounted on each block. The end of a sleeper will need lopping off to make room. We need special connecting links to join the comps to the rodding - these are currently on order. So until we have these the final positioning cannot be determined.

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  2. Oh, and I was wondering, have you found a supply of T bolts to join the rodding together? I assume that these bolt heads slot into the channel so that you tighten them just using a spanner on the nuts on top? At 4 per length of rodding, you soon need hundreds!

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  3. Very interesting blog, (as always). It's good to see a blog from the ground up, so to speak.
    Looking forward to seeing the new bracket inner home going in.
    Regards, Paul.

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  4. Out of interest, as Platform 2 is intended to be a Passenger platform (eventually!) shouldn't the siding be fitted with a trap point?

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  5. In as much as the siding is going to be used very infrequently I should think it has been considered unnecessary. Will refer this to higher authority for a definitive answer!!

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