During the holiday season, CRC2 will also take a break, as some of our principal animators are taking their own hols.
This Monday, we shall move to Broadway signal box and, weather permitting, we shall be laying bricks along the rear. More brick laying there will follow on Wednesday.


For CRC2, there is no work planned in the weeks week commencing 11th, 18th or 25th August due to John C's commitments, Bob's family arrangements and a Bank Holiday.  JC and Bob plan to set out the next three sections on Sunday 31st August to enable brickwork to commence on 1st September.  JC has ordered bricks, blocks and cement for that day.  On the first day there will be no brickwork for others to do but Bob will need support on moving materials and mixing. We have to take stock of the bricks situation - some are already down on the platform, but perhaps not in the right place, some more are up on the embankment and need to be placed along the platform works, and a further supply has recently been parked just inside the fence in the field.

While you wait, take a look at this picture. It was taken shortly after the opening of CRC, from the road overbridge, looking towards Bishops Cleeve. We think the date is early 1920s.

Things to note:


The pine trees have just been planted.
There are two very small, narrow platform buildings, similar in style to the booking office which is still there today. The two buildings have long gone.
There is a wooden signal box, rear left.
There are two lamp posts down the LH ramp, and a fence along it.
The surface of the platform is slabs at the front, and ash at the rear.
The train in the station has the loco near the signal box, with the last (nearest) coach a clerestory.
There is a queue of people all the way down the approach ramp on the left, and along the platform. How will they all get on !

Comments are always welcome. Can you say any more about the picture?

A smaller team than usual today, just the 5 of us. And - oh no - the digger and dumper had gone off hire, just as we had scalpings to transport. Better get down to the tried and trusted method - everything by hand, and get digging!

This pile, move it !

Several barrowloads of these scalpings were wheeled down to the platform and spread out, to get a +/- level surface, ready for the final layer.

There's a bit more needed right behind you!

There were two jobs doing today. Job 1 was to level the platform surface, after the mini digger had roughly leveled it. This took pretty much all day, but we ended with a pleasing result. Now to let it settle some more. The final level will be about 4ins higher; the height of the slabs still to go.

The second job was to finish off positioning the lamp posts. Before we did this ,we had to replace one of the ducting inspection hatches, which got crushed by the mini digger last week. This took a lot of head scratching, as well as digging out:

Broken... not the ducting, me !

Luckily we had a spare inspection hatch (how is not at all clear to me, but we don't look a gift horse in the mouth) so we managed to 'plumb' this one in and seat it in a bit of weak mix for extra strength:

Putting on the KY jelly

Then a quick trip to the DIY store became necessary, because it turned out that the 50mm pipe bends that lead the string line up into each lamp post, carefully counted for the job, were not enough (?). Where were the missing two?

Finally, all the ducting was repaired and we were ready to cement in the last of the 6 GWR lamp posts. All the aggregate, bags of cement and water had to be wheelbarrowed down the platform. But the last lamp post is now in ! And are they straight, all in line?

Erm, left a bit Bernie, right a bit...

Brian volunteered to check this. They looked fine, we did a professional job. They still need a last layer of weak mix on top, but they are all in and upright, ready for the next stage.

This pretty much completes the job on CRC2A, and the next activity will be on CRC2B, the last 110m up to the signal box. To start with, we will have to do the setting out for the next 10m length, then brick laying can resume. Due to holidays, there will be a gap of 3 weeks, so brick laying looks to resume early September. Next Monday's session is therefore likely to be transferred to the signal box at Broadway.  

In other good news, B & S confirmed today that the manufacture of the new running in board was under way. Posts have also been ordered form a friendly fabricator in Malmesbury, and the finials are on order from a foundry in Leeds specialising in heritage castings. It will be fun putting this kit of parts back together.

Another hot and sunny day. Can this be an English summer? If so, it is a very good one. Before we start work, I slap on the sun protection cream, and put on a big hat. I got through most of a 2L bottle of water. But the success was there, we put up the CRC2A lamp posts!

The Dutch milk maid

 The rebuild of this platform has always been a very physical job. Not only have we had to move 30.000 or so bricks by hand, but also all the mortar mixes that go with them. Here is another example of the physical nature of the job. We needed water to make up the lean mix for the lamp posts on site, so the most obvious way to get some was to put it in buckets and carry it down from the cabin. Later, we discovered a gardener's hose pipe attached to the gent's loo. That had to be flipped backwards and forwards across the tracks, as trains were running today, exceptionally.

The next physical bit today was to organise a supply of ballast for making up the lean mixes on site. At first, we tried to use the mini digger to lift the 1T dumpy bag into the 1T dumper, but the loops broke. So back to the tried and tested shovel-as-much-as-you-can-by-hand method.

The Cheltenham gang had already positioned 5 lamp posts along CRC2A, but there was one more to go. We scratched our heads for the best way to do it, but decided in the end that the Cheltenham lads had got it figured out, and that we couldn't improve on their system. So 6 of us, including brave Pat Green, long retired, lifted a cast iron post on to a little trolley, rolled it over the bridge and down the CRC2 ramp.

It arrived at the bottom, perfectly intact. Next, we used the mini digger to lift the posts into their holes, dug last week and filled with lean mix first thing this morning up to the right level for standing the posts on.

'X' marks the spot where the post had to come to rest. Carefully measured from the platform edge, and from the neighbouring post as well.

The mini digger then lifted it into place, whereupon it was upended by hand and stood upright. Heave-ho.

Simples!

Brian is fulfilling a vital function, holding the post in place while a tape measure is fetched to check the position. Notice the little hole at the top of the post - this was a critical little hole, as it had to exactly face the platform. Later, it will hold a suspended 'Platform 2' sign. The lamp post is slightly taller than the others for this role, and comes from - Leckhampton ! Isn't it nice to have such local input. At Broadway, a kind supporter has donated us one from - Littleton & Badsey! Again, a lovely piece of local history. Are there any more out there?

Once in place, the lamp posts were fitted with a short connection from the junction box, so that the supply cable has a continuous run to the top of the post. The blue rope will help us pull the cable through later on. The plastic sleeve stops the concrete from running into the middle of the post. Bob spent a lot of time with the level, trying to get the post vertical. Very tricky - the post is conical in shape. At the end of the day, we had placed all the posts, and concreted 3 of them. Nearly there then.

To our delight, we had the visit of 2807. She made three return trips with her shareholders and supporters, who waved to us with much enthusiasm.

At the end of the day, we had 6 posts in, with three set up and concreted. In the picture, not all of the posts are fixed yet, so no comments about 'this one is a bit off, isn't it' please.

At 16.00 we called it a day, and your blogger set off to inspect the bridges, for a further report. No, don't click yet, I've still got to write it, haven't I !

A hot day today, and one we had earmarked to finish off the ducting. It was cold as I set off for CRC, and I had a long sleeved shirt on. Soon, the sun came out, and it became unbearably hot (well, for those working a shovel !) Here is the situation at the start of the day, with the last 40m of the platform still without ducting:

At the start of the day

Wrestling with a 6m piece of unwilling pipe.

 The idea was to measure up and lay out the 100mm ducting, as well as the junctions for each lamp post. In the picture above, you can see Tony and Bob working the circular pipe cutter, which leaves a lovely chamfered edge, if only you can work it round the wriggly piece of tube. It leads to some ungainly poses. We got there.

Dig that hole!

Next, we realised that we were 2 holes short for placing the lamp posts. We measured out the location of each hole, and started to dig deep. This worked OK for the first 6 inches - see picture - but that was as far as the rain had penetrated. Then, we were in 190m year old shale, which when first exposed to daylight is pretty hard stuff. We hacked at it with a pick axe, but quickly fell about exhausted, due to the heat. Bob then went off to get a Hilti for the day:

Dig that hole, part II

This is an electrically powered rock hammer, which went through the shale just nice. Only have to scoop the stuff out now... Derek was nominated as the shoveller, and is looking on sceptically.

Breaking up the old running in board.

As a distraction from digging in the heat, four of us broke up the old running in board. This was unfortunately life expired, and not quite a copy of the one that was there before. A new one, similar to the one on platform 1, has been requested by the Area Group, and the replica posts and finials have been ordered, based on the good experience we had with the board at Broadway. B&S will make the board itself, so in a couple of months, we should be ready to go.

The view from the top of the ramp - form an orderly queue now.

While seeking shelter form the pityless sun, we walked up the old ramp and took this picture back down. This is a lovely crowd barrier, made mostly from old bullhead rail. There is tarmac under that grass...

The heat takes its toll - but here comes the cavalry!

The picture above shows the killer job of the day, back filling the channel with the ducting in it, so that it was safe for the mini digger to run over it. The mini digger then duly arrived, and made mincemeat out of what was taking us so long. In the background you can see Pete from B&S repainting the canopy. This is after he has fished out undescribable things from the guttering. A brave man. The end is already looking nice, Pete!

At 4pm we called it a day. All the ducting was in, and covered over with spoil. Using the 1T dumper, we carried away the excess. This process is however not yet complete; we need another half day to scrape away the clay that has been trodden into the scalpings.

Next on the agenda is a day spent setting out the continuation of the brick laying, or starting on CRC2b as you might call it. Next Monday we also intend to start the process of erecting the lamp posts themselves. To start with, we will put into each excavated hole a base of concrete for the lamp posts to stand on at the correct height.

Swallows - what are they doing up there?

So that we are not always talking about platforms, above is a picture I took first thing, next to the signal box. My heart sank, as I initially thought this was swallows assembling for the trek south, signalling the end of a glorious summer. But on closer inspection of the several photographs I took, I now realise that these boys are all young. They sit awkwardly, with fluffy feathers, out for their first flights. Not quite the end of summer then - more hot days to come later this week, if you can believe the forecasts.

A bright sunny day today, with six 'diggers' on site. Today was the day we started the ducting for the replica lamp posts.

If I were you, I wouldn't start from there...

We started of with a supply of ducting, junction boxes, lids and unions. JC had made a very useful drawing of the layout of a junction box, but that nonetheless required deep study. Now where do I drop these things?

Drilling an extra hole

In order to unite the junction boxes with the bottom of the lamp posts, we will fit a 50mm pipe bend. This however needs feeding into the junction box. That required a lot of head scratching, and a quick trip home for John O to get an extra drill and kit. It was also discovered that a 110v extension cable will not take the juice to a 240v power drill - dang - so we worked in the gloom at the back of the container.

While we were preparing the junction boxes, Ron B was in the 3T digger running a trench up the back of CRC2A. That went pretty well. It just leaves the team to shovel the whole lot back in, once the 100mm pipe is in. Luckily the material is now loose.

John O and Bob struggle with the KY jelly and a pipe end.

There is a bit of a knack to pushing the chamfered end of the pipe into the ring in the mouth of the junction box. It needs a sharp knock, not two guys pushing in opposite directions. We learned the hard way, but after a while, having set out the first one, we got on pretty well.

John O brings a vital tape measure. 300mm from where, does it say?

The tricky bit was to get the correct depth, so that the lid of the junction box is level with the future tarmac level. There will be one of these junction boxes in front of every lamp post.

Brian retires briefly for a short rest.

While two of us laid the pipe, assembled it and got the depth right, three more back filled the whole lot as we went along. As the sun was shining brightly, this was hot work. This not being a true chain gang, brief periods for rest were allowed. Brief periods, Brian, brief ones !

At close of play.

At the end of the day, both pipe layers and back fillers had reached the same spot - the junction box at the bottom of the ramp, where the mains cable will enter the pipe run. You can see it in the foreground (with its lid a bit askew, it's just on a bit to stop dirt getting in.). This is about 60m of the 100m we need to do. After that, we can set the lamp posts in concrete, which will be fun. Something to look forward to next week.

While digging out the original clay, a question arose, to which we could not immediately find an answer. Maybe readers can help?

A puzzle...

Yes, we wondered,
What is older:

a. John O, or,
b. This ammonite?

(Puzzle set with John's permission, as he often wonders as well)

A small party turned up at 8.30 this morning, to find two dumpers delivered, but no digger! Also, one of our dumper drivers has yielded to the siren call of the Fairford air show, and no amount of smiles, good humour or mini Swiss rolls can beat that. So we were just 4.

It turned out that the promised larger (3 ton) digger had not been returned by the previous hirer on time, so could not be delivered. We then ordered 'anything you can get us' and a mini digger turned up at 11.20.

What to do in the meantime?

Our neighbours are busy.

Well, we can always stare at the earthworks being graded in the field behind the signal box. Every working day, for several weeks now, two lorries and a huge dumper have been ferrying soil from the race course works, over our L/C and into the field behind the signal box. There must be several 10.000 tons being moved, yet that field swallows it almost without effect. In the picture above you can see a 20T load arriving on the big dumper, and the Caterpillar getting ready to pounce on the load. The puffy clouds in the distance promise no good though.

Brian digging  'an 'ole'

We decided to dig another lamp post hole while we waited. This took quite a long time, as you are quickly into original clay, which has the consistency of shale here. Once the hole gets more than a few inches deep, you can no longer swing the pickaxe and the shovel is the only instrument you have. But persistence pays, and by lunch time the hole was dug - that makes three. Next, the ducting.

At 11.20, oh joy, a mini digger arrived. We quickly set to work, finishing off the southern end of the platform, and then moving on to the last 30m at the northern end.

Don't want to come out, huh?

Further stretches of concrete were found, and our idea was to attack these with a bigger 3T digger, which of course didn't arrive. So back to the same modus operandi as last week - scrape off the dirt, and attack with a large hammer. Brian did the honours, very successfully. Resistance is useless! All the big bits of concrete were then manhandled into the dumper.

The end of CRC2A

When we got to the southern end of CRC2, we pushed the last 5m of spoil over the end, where there was a small shortage there. Then this bit was signed off.

More bricks arrive.

At lunch time, Richard arrived with the Fairview lorry and a number of pallets of bricks that he had brought down as surplus from Broadway. These are metric reds and blue seconds, which had recently been donated to us. We will put them to good use at CRC when we resume the brick laying.

After a short lunch, we resumed digging and dumping, until we reached the 85m point, with just 15m left to dig. Then, three things happened:

An English summer...

- It started to rain very hard indeed
- The water bowser arrived to dampen down the dust bowl around the level crossing. Talk about timing...
- The long awaited 3T digger arrived.

Too late! We swapped the diggers round, but in view of the downpour and little time left of the afternoon, we called it a day.

So what did I find in the attic of the CRC booking office? A large box with cast iron GWR letters ! Here they are in my garage:

Original cast iron GWR letters

Unfortunately, the letters are all different sizes 9 ins, 7ins, 5 ins, 4 ins, 3.7 ins and 2.8 ins. Any ideas what we could spell?

I almost have 'RACE COURSE' in the correct 9ins height. What we still need is a 'U' and an 'S', and maybe a better 'R'. Furthermore, we need 'CHELTENHAM' in 12ins letters. Also 'BROADWAY'.... anyone got any ideas where we can get such cast iron GWR letters? We also need lots of the smaller letters to do the Broadway 'V' boards.