More digging today, as the gang of 5 (two absentees still) set about burying the second half of the electrical services pipe along the northern part of CRC2.

On arrival first thing - good news! A midnight visitor had been with a gift:

How very kind ! Ample use of the mini rolls was made over lunch time, as we debated the evils of sugar while munching a number of them.

It was a day of hard work again. JC was on the mini digger and continued to excavate the trench for the ducting, while Tony took away the spoil for tipping at the rear of the platform.

In this picture you can see how we set out the line for the trench, after which JC parked himself on top of it and got digging.

It was a slow job, interupted by various tree roots, and in one area the ground was so hard that we had to abandon the (lamp post) hole we were digging, as the mini digger couldn't cope - it's only small, you know.

It was agreed we would revisit that one armed with a Hilti with a large chisel on the end.

Keith and Brian are entrants in the 'leaning on a shovel' competition. Yours truly was an also ran behind the camera.

But not for long, as the trench, excavated by mechanical means, soon had to be back filled by manual ones. Ouch ! The back is still twingeing as I write this. Tony and Brian scramble the clay back in, while Keith is allowed a go with the German chamfering tool. This time we even remembered the special silicone jelly while fitting the pipes together. We're getting good at this.

This picture gives you an idea of the digging job, as the back filled trench stretches into the distance behind Brian and Keith.

Today's last working picture shows you that the job has almost reached the northern end. In fact we did finish it by the end of the day. We also found about 50 intact imperials, which seemed to have been buried by the GWR on the original clay infill, and at the time the ash top layer was added. We can't imagine why, perhaps they were left over? They are clean of mortar, so apparently never used.

Heritage bit:
Having uncovered the 7 urinals in the remains of the platform 2 shelter, we thought you might be interested in a historical drawing of the original shelter that stood there, so here it is:

You should be able to zoom in if you click on the picture, to see the detail. You can see the bottom of the urinals in the lower RH corner of the plan. It is in the same style as the booking office, which still exists up by the road bridge. It would have been demolished about 50 years ago.

A plea for Broadway:

As you may have read, we were very lucky to secure an original GWR style V board for the new station, ex Taplow, at an auction on Saturday. A second one was, coincidentally, donated to us only a few days ago. We need several more of these for the Ladies, Gents, Refreshment Room, Way Out and also for the platform 2 buildings. If you know of any for sale or that might even be donated, do please let us know, as they are not easy to replicate. Thanks for your help and tips ! We would also be interested in any loose GWR letters that you might know about - they are the hardest bit if you want to make up a replica one.