NOVEMBER 2010

The most part of November was taken up with the usual stripping of parts, cleaning and painting within the confines of Winchcombe yard. Over a two week period, the bracket signal outside of Toddington signal box was stripped of its fittings, paint and rust removed, and then given a fresh coat of red oxide followed by white and black gloss paints. The fittings were replaced by 'stock' items from Winchcombe, cutting down on the time taken to do the refurbishment.

As a warming aid, the afternoon of the 23^rd was spent digging a trench in the ballast to bury three cables up to the Toddington headshunt. 

DECEMBER 201

Due to some early season snow and ice, Friday 3^rd was spent clearing packed snow and ice from around point blades, FPLs and detection blades.

The remainder of the month (until 18^th) brought more refurbishing of parts and fittings. A general tidy up of our storage containers was made to gather like-for-like items together. 

JANUARY 2011

Our first major task for the new year was to remove the ground frame at Toddington North and replace with a motor point. This required the removal of the FPL cast, stretcher bar and point blade lugs from the main point before fitting the new main stretcher bar, motor lugs and point blade lugs. A slight modification was needed to the motor drive bar, requiring a little heating and bending. Also in need of modification was the line of the point rodding. This was disconnected from the ground frame and removed from the rodding stools. Three of these stools needed slight realignment, therefore needing to be dug out of the ballast along with two concrete blocks with the angle crank. Once repositioned, point rodding cut and reconnected, and the point motor connected to the mains, then a test pull was made from the signal box......and all O.K.

Wednesday 12^th brought the unfortunate task of removing all the bonding wires from the track around Chicken Curve. This was in preparation for the P-Way Dept to begin track lifting due to the infamous slip.

The next major task for the month was the 'planting' of the new W36 post out on Chicken Curve, and the removal of fittings and post from the old W36. The position of the new post on the opposite side of the running line has been chosen because of the more stable nature of the ground!

Tuesday 25^th - removed all signal wire pulley casts from their stakes around the 'slip' area.

FEBRUARY 2011

Apart from putting up new fittings on W36, most of the time has been spent on restoration at Winchcombe. Malcolm has restored two ex-midland region lamp cases to be used on refurbished distant signals at Hailes in the future.

Towards the end of the month, Neil and Malcolm assisted P-way by moving approx 160 sleepers back into position at Gotherington ready for track laying.

MARCH 2011

The main task for this month is the reinstallation of signalling equipment at Gotherington. Firstly, a medium size trackside cabinet was refurbished to facilitate weatherproof cable joints along the Gotherington loop. This required a total rebuild including interior timber cladding and shelving. By the end of the month it was ready for installing on the loop.

Also completed this month was the repainting of the distant signals at Hailes. By the 28^th, Malcolm and Neil had replaced all the new fittings.

APRIL 2011

This month at last saw the repainting of W2 (south of tunnel) which had been postponed from last year due to train operations and the weather. Having an extra month of free line use has been a bonus for us this year. By the 15^th it looked as good as new.

Middle of the month had the track circuits rebounded along Gotherington loop, and new track circuit feed cables laid and buried.

Three new concrete bases were constructed along the loop in readiness for a disc signal and a couple of wheel plates.

On the 26^th, myself, John P and Carl began a track walk starting from T1 (Hailes) thru' to south end of Toddington platforms. The task was to ensure all cables and point rodding passing under the rails was visible and free moving. Almost every cess (space between each sleeper) that carried either cable or point rodding had to be cleared of ballast. New yellow tubes were fitted around cables to make them more visible to the operators of the tamping machine.

The long awaited repaint of Winchcombe signalbox has finally been completed by the two Richards. Taking advantage of a very dry spring, the box now looks very smart and is a credit to them both.