More Stools

Tuesday 27th March

More of the same I'm afraid at Broadway. Five of us continued the setting of more rodding stools southwards down the side of platform 2.
First job was to remove the shuttering from the concrete blocks we did last week. These needed prising apart and lifting off after the rodding had been removed.  Quite a nice neat lump of concrete left behind:

And then to repair/re-assemble the shuttering boxes to position the next batch of stools: 

Had a bit of a problem when we reached the end of the platform and had to remove some of the brickwork from the end of the ramp to get the rodding to clear. We will make good our "vandalism" in due course!

We utilised the P Way trolley again to barrow the concrete from the mixer on the back of the pickup - as close as we could get now that the track is in. 

By the end of the day we have installed a total of 19 stools which brings us up to the bracket signal where the barrow crossing will be. Here goes the last shovel full of concrete - we have now run out of aggregate so time to call it a day

Curly

The Stools March On

Tuesday 20th March

Seven of us off again to Broadway to carry on with the installation of the southbound run of rodding support stools.
The blue pickup had been loaded up at Winchcombe with everything needed for the day :

All this then has to be off-loaded on to the large PW trolley (we have borrowed) and walked up to the station. The cement mixer, aggregate and cement are left for mixing on the back of the pickup which is parked at the top of the ramp opposite the ground frame. The concrete will be barrowed up on the trolley later.

Some preparation work first to prepare a few more shuttering boxes. John P has brought his own portable saw unit to speed things up and to make sure that a nice square box results:

Jim P and Richard C  set about bolting the roller sets onto the Stools - 8 bolts per stool and two lengths of screwed rod. The screwed rod is to stop the unit tipping until the concrete sets.
We need 15 sets of rollers to reach the southern end of platform 2.

Some rodding was fitted and a lot more tweaking was required to get level and alignment to a satisfactory condition before concreting.  Eventually Malcolm was happy and Keith L began:

Here is the first one complete. We'll remove the rodding and remove the box next week after the concrete has set. We  have 15 boxes so that will be more than enough to get us up to just short of Evesham Road Bridge. The rodding will then cross under the tracks to cross over the bridge on platform 1 side

And here we are at the end of the day. Should look good when the boxes are removed and the ballast tidied up:

Must have it tidy for Friday 30th!!

Curly

A Modest Start

Tuesday 13th March

Today was the start of the task of installing the point rodding at Broadway.

We were met on arrival by a cacophony of sound and frenzied activity on platform 1 by the tarmac contractors - platform surface now looking very smart!

It has been decided to install the rodding southwards first down to the temporary ground frame. The rodding is suspended on stools which have to be spaced 9 feet apart, so the first task is to measure and mark these intervals on the platform wall (a 9ft long plank facilitates the measuring) :

We have made a bracket to give initial support to the rodding on the steel plate.  This has been positioned so that the rodding runs parallel with the platform wall and at the correct height to connect with its crank.

To secure the stools in the ballast we are making shuttering boxes into which we will cast concrete. Several of these will be made to be re-usable so that a number will be cast each time we come.

To maintain the correct height and position of the rodding as we work along, this "plank gauge" sits on and butts up against the rails :

This is how it is beginning to look with the first 3 stools in place. We aim to start concreting next week.  Now that we have got over the adjusting to set the alignment things should start to progress a little faster:

The signals have had their out of use crosses added:

All Points Go

Tuesday 6th March

A good turnout on a fine day at Broadway with 6 of us in attendance.
We still had a bit of adjustment to make to the ground frame at the southern points to get everything operating smoothly and ensure that blades were seating properly in both positions - this linkage allows for a bit of trim:

and to make sure that nothing moves a bit of tamping round the concrete blocks :

And to ensure that there is no movement between the sleepers holding the FPL and its operating crank a pair of steel straps are screwed to the outside ends of the sleepers - John P in action here :

We all had a go at operating the levers but Len W got his picture for the blog (note that we have the blue FPL lever lock released with the red token- this means that all movements from now on are controlled this way - there is no point clipping) 

Set for platform 1 approach from Toddington :

And set for coming out of platform 2 on the run round:

and with the FPL in the locked position

While we were doing this, Neil C, Keith L and Carl S took the blue pickup loaded with all the necessary stuff (including sand, cement and water) to position and concrete in the new speed limit signs at each side of Childswickam bridge. 10mph into the station and 25mph off to Toddington :

Then off up north to install the hand spring point lever to operate the Headshunt points. 

This needed a bit of carpentry to the end of one of the sleepers to cut a slot to clear the base. Tough stuff those new sleepers. 

Then mark and drill for four substantial coach bolts:

Neil C had brought his own substantial socket set which made the winding in of these bolts a bit easier - even coated with a drop of oil they are a bit of a struggle:

So, four sets of heaves later we have it securely fixed. It must have  a very good seating because it needs a good pull to snap it over.

 And here it is connected up with the three main men admiring  their handiwork 

All Pointwork controls at Broadway now complete. Remember that the point into the Siding will stay permanently clipped - unclipped only when access is required to the Siding. 

Meanwhile, back down south there is some vandalism going on! It has been decided to remove the unwanted fittings from the bracket signal:

The doll will stay.  Looks a bit bereft without its bits! 

End of day, Keith L decides that a bit more ballast shovelling is good way to wind down. We need to clear between some sleepers for the signal wires to pass through. I think we are clear now that ballasting is finished to start thinking about the next stages of connecting up. 

A continuous stream of Broadway members were passing up and down platform 1 with barrow loads of sand for the final levelling  before tarmac team arrive next week. Lots of activity going on all round! All getting pretty exciting and looking good. 

Curly