A pinch and a punch for the first of the month! It's December, and only 6.5 degrees this morning, with a fine mist/drizzle all day. It never really got light, but strangely enough we had a really productive day. You can't see a lot on the pictures, but with 5 brick layers at work today, and three others in support, we laid 1100 bricks today, pretty near a record.
At the start of the day, the brick layers are strung out in a line on 4 different stretches at once. The completed part of the new platform stretches into the distance....
On the 130m section, JC finished off the last row of corbelling (see the counterweight bricks lined up behind him) and then laid a useful row of headers along the 140m section. Doesn't that platform behind him look long !
Bob laid a similar row on the next, 150m section, and also two rows of blues on the end section at 160m.
Behind them the massed armies of red-brick-layers: Tony, John S and Pete. For every blue brick laid, they have to fling down two reds, all perfectly level, mind. This team backed up the blues in front, and more. You can see the quantities of mortar involved in this exercise - there are 4 wheelbarrows of mortar in the picture.
The wheelbarrows with which we have been issued are not really up to the job. Although the label says 'a genuine high quality product' you can see that they have become all twisted from carrying the heavy mortar down the platform. What's in a name?
Behind JC's corbelling on the 130m section there was still a void. This was filled by Pete with reds (we counted those little ones as a 'quarter' in our grand total for the day!) and Paul provided the slop. It's faster by shovel than by builder's trowel, we discovered...
JC and Tony then covered the whole job with a runny mix on top to complete this next section. Job done !
This allowed Bob a long awaited and proud moment - ticking the job off our little list. Ha !
In other news today:
The user crossing has been completely renewed in brand new material, and a jolly good job they made of it too. Just the approaches still to go, and we sincerely hope there won't be any heavy lorries going over this one now! It looks a tad wider than before, no doubt some cunning plan there.
The contractors were still on site to complete the grading and drainage of the embankment by the ramp. You can see that a lot of material has been removed, the gradient eased, and cross drains built in. A number of pine trees have also been put back in their place. At the end of the day they were cleaning away the clay lumps that had fallen on to the platform, to make the site nice and tidy.
Here is a last view of the site at the end of the day. Brian is there with his wheelbarrow of slop, while JC spreads it out over the top to complete the 130m section in the foreground. Then tidy up the site, clean the tools, and cover up the work against rain and frost. Yes, rain - yours truly spent a merry old time with a battery tester bulb sucking the water out of all the little holes in the bricks, so that mortar can be laid on top of them.
A quick count of the remaining pallets of bricks still on top of the cutting shows we have:
20 pallets of blues: 8000 bricks
1 pallet of reds: 500 bricks.
This for approximately 60m of wall to build (160m - 220m).
Just about enough then (if you don't care about backing up in blues)
In the dog house today:
Brian, for climbing on to JC's newly laid row of bricks in their wet mortar.
Flowers only please.
9 comments:
Crossing is wider to make putting road rail on easier
Finishing is being done by kier
Hope you found firewood by fire to keep warm today
Yes, found it, thank you.
But too damp, fire wouldn't burn wood - please leave dry next time :-)
Quote:
''Crossing is wider to make putting road rail on easier''
Unquote
I still don't see a 9F being railed here...
Please install some lovely old fashioned level crossing style gates, it would look fab!
Paul
Proper wooden crossing gate would really make the station look great, could even be wheel operated.
Proper crossing gates would certainly go a little way in giving a more heritage feel to CRC, as at the moment I think it is lacking a bit, in comparison with our other excellent stations. (a nicer signal box would be even better, but I think we might have to wait a bit longer for one of them...)
Regarding the signal box.
You could clad it in painted wood, add a false staircase and a few wall-mounted lamps, false rainwater downpipe or something to break the stark walls up. Have window boxes and honeysuckle or something climbing up the walls. A large sign board too. A lot could be done to make it look more attractive, without spending a heap.
Not sure what you could do about the roof, though. Paint it in that lichen encouraging paint? Add some false overhangs or those boards that are supposed to stop the slates falling off.
Perhaps.
I agree that a set of crossing gates would look really impressive at CRC crossing even if the original station did not have them of course. However, those people suggesting this option (which I agree with btw) might like to consider that the posts for such crossing gates alone would cost around £1000 and, unless a set of existing crossing gates could be found, repaired and installed relatively cheaply, we are looking at a project which would need to be self-funded. There was an old crossing gate a couple of years ago at an old station yard on the Lincoln-Grantham line but recent redevelopment has probably seen it reduced to ash.
Let us start collecting then! I'd happily donate! It would be a fantastic addition to the railway! Great for photo opportunities too! Kind regards, Paul
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