Tuesday 27th June
A very brief blog today to report that the new steps required for the token exchange platform at Gotherington have now been re-purposed from an old set found languishing at Toddington. Some cutting up and welding by our colleagues in C & W have produced these:
From this:
Just primer and black topcoat to go and we should be ready to fit next Tuesday. Only drilling and bolting required.
Curly
Monday 19th June
Our mission today was to install the new token exchange platform at Gotherington signal box. This is a steel fabricated structure to replace an old wooden unit. The main reason for this is that the old platform was too far away from the track , meaning that token exchange was difficult.
So....5 of us off we set off from Winchcombe with the platform already loaded on the railcar trailer.
This had been lifted onto the trailer by the telehandler and placed in such a way that it can be tipped off safely by hand at site.
The sequence of events was as follows:
Quite a heavy lump!
Then the levelling up began with a significant re- distribution of ballast and with the rear rh rear leg set solidly on a concrete filled brease block. So the measurements for the shape of this platform fitted the profile of the slope here pretty well.
The boards for the platform had been pre-cut and creosoted - now they needed drilling to place and bolting.
Tuesday 13th June
I'm afraid I haven't done much blogging recently for one reason or another, so here's a brief summary of recent activity.
Today we have been restoring part of a bracket signal which has been stored on top of a container in Winchcombe yard. This needed the telehandler to get it down.
So a great deal of angle grinding to remove rust and a push to get green primer on before the end of play (four of us managed it)
The container is on the left in the middle photo above- so now that it is clear of stuff this is getting a bit of attention to ensure that it remains watertight. Been here since the dawn of our railway storing many bits of signal.
A bit of repair work has been carried out at Broadway where there has been a problem with some of the point rodding bolts rubbing on the underside of a rail. This potentially causing a track circuit fault. So the rodding joint has been moved to between the tracks . Suspect that this has happened as the track has settled slightly. The two John's in action here.
A pre-steam gala job : Because the signal box was going to be open to visitors it needed a bit of a spruce up. Not much has happened there for a while and most of the lever handles were getting a bit rusty - so a bit of polishing was needed . Let's hope that it will see some action next season!
Also , during our clean up campaign in Winchcombe yard we have uncovered some extra length signal box levers. These are the type used in Gotherington signal box. So we are cleaning these up and will fit them in the spare positions there.
Speaking of Gotherington we hope to be installing the new token exchange platform there next Monday while we have access with the diesel railcar - so watch this space!
And finally the replacement of some faded spectacle plates on the ground signals at Winchcombe
Curly
