Tuesday 04^th.

A decision has now been taken to replace the Toddington North ground frame with an electric motor point for ease of operation. So, today was spent retrieving and sorting fittings and couplings to fit the motor unit being restored under the lean-to.  Once all the required parts had been sourced, a trial fit was made of each component before being cleaned and painted / greased where necessary. Thanks go to Carl and John P for their patience in getting the correct interior detection bar operation in order, as this can be a fiddly task. The only 'sticking' point was a seized pin in one of the coupling bars. After copious amounts of penetrating oil and some gentle persuasion with a 'knocking' tool (hammer), it was freed, consigned to the scrap bin and replaced with a newly restored one.

Further inroads made to the restoring of various brackets and hoops.

Wednesday 05^th.

The first task of the day was a trip to Toddington to assess and measure the proposed positioning of the new motorpoint. Once determined, measurements were noted of the lengths of all operation and detection bars, and motor lock stretcher bars that will be required.  These can then be sourced from storage, cleaned, greased and be ready for installation hopefully sometime during July.

Before leaving Toddington, some minor alterations were carried out under the signal box, namely marking/drilling/cutting and test fitting a lever leg to T33. This leg was then removed to allow some welding to take place. Also, signal T9 was in need of some wire adjustment after being reported as faulty during the weekend.

Thursday 06^th.

The stretcher bar, drive coupling and horizontal wheels for the motorpoint were all treated to a stint with a wire brush attached to the angle grinder, before being given a coat of red oxide paint. A new pin was made for the centre of the wheel cast, and the point lock coupling bar was cleaned and marked ready for drilling.

Friday 07^th.

The various parts of the horizontal wheel casting were painted black before being rebuilt during the latter part of the day. The point lock coupling bar was drilled, and a down rod knuckle was drilled out and re-threaded for a better fit.

Monday 10^th.

Malcolm and Neil spent most of the day testing and fine tuning Toddington frame and signalling prior to visit from HMRI.

Tuesday 11^th.

Following recommendations from our signalling consultants, a number of modifications and additions were needed to Toddington signal box. These included adjusting point 22, fit locking to T9 & T29, fit sequential locking to T4/20 to T5 and fit T22 & T23 LCC's to signal locking. All this kept Malcolm and Neil busy all day.

Outside work consisted of replacing an old telephone cable off platform 2 that had finally come to grief with a spade, and removing scrap cable and metals from around the signal box lamphut via the railcar back to Winchcombe.

Wednesday 12^th.

Following a morning visit from HMRI, a trip to Gotherington was made in the railcar to make safe the motorpoint at the south end of the loop for the contractors dealing with assessing the landslip.

Thursday 13^th.

John P and myself spent the day laying a new foot crossing at Gotherington station in preparation for GWR175 Gala. A combination of old wooden sleepers and decking timbers were used for the crossing, two tons of spent ballast laid to create ramps either side topped with another two tons of stone chippings to create a suitable walking surface.

At Toddington, Malcolm cut and fitted wire rope to signal T30 under the signal box and jointed in the signal wire. This will eventually operate a shunt signal from the North Head Shunt which is currently under restoration at Winchcombe.

Friday 14^th to Saturday 22^nd.

Our main man Malcolm took some annual leave this week, so apart from Tuesday and Saturday, no other work was carried out by S&T.

Tuesday 18^th.

After receiving the go-ahead from HMRI for running trains north across the viaduct, the 'limit-of-running' sign was re-positioned to a point approx. 500mt north of the viaduct. All that is required now to get to Laverton is a couple of points, a groundframe and tons of ballast……….oh, and the cash to purchase same!

Saturday 22^nd.

During a very warm day, I spent another session repainting five more lineside cabinets between B4632 Road Bridge and the bracket signal on the approach to Greet Tunnel. Unfortunately, by one o'clock the paint was running off the metalwork before it could dry due to the high temperature, so after cleaning brushes etc, I had to 'endure' a pint or two from the Real Ale Festival while watching the passing steam until the arrival of my lift home. If only S&T shifts ended like this every time!

Monday 24^th.

Painted the final four cabinets on the approach to Greet Tunnel during the cooler early morning.

Due to the extreme heat of late causing a number of signalling faults, Malcolm and Neil set of in the railcar to rectify these. First to require attention was the failure of track circuit by signal W34 under the road bridge. This required trimming the end of the rails and fitting new insulating enposts. A similar problem was also dealt with at Toddington where track circuit ABT/ACT failed.

Also due to the heat, a number of signal wires required tightening, these being T2, 4, 9, 20, 25 and W34 and 35

Once back at Winchcombe a start was made on the painting of 6x disc signal faces, 3 x down rod brackets and 2 x balance weights all in white gloss.

Tuesday 25^th.

While Malcolm assisted Neil with shunting at Gotherington and Winchcombe for most of the day, Carl and I began the day by removing approx. 4 tons of aggregate from Toddington carpark back to Winchcombe. The first trailer load was shovelled by hand but thanks go to the loco dept for using the mechanical bucket to load the next two trailers.

During the afternoon we replaced the faces on shunt signals 6, 14 and 31 in Winchcombe yard. No.26 also needs changing, but as the whole structure is moving on its base, it will require a little more work with a shovel, etc. Have scheduled for the beginning of June.

Wednesday 26^th.

A further six shunt disc faces were cleaned and primed along with the red gloss applied to a finial. A number of saddle hoops previously painted had the threads oiled and nuts fitted before being stored in the container.

The remainder of the day was used to sort through the piles of fittings waiting for restoration and resign any broken or deemed beyond repair to the scrap bin.

Thursday 27^th.

Another three horizontal wheels were cleaned and had the pins either drilled out or hammered out. Six disc faces and a finial had undercoat/primer applied.

Friday 28^th.

Two disc faces and a finial were painted with yellow gloss - for distant signals. A second coat of red gloss was given to the other two finials. All the fittings painted black on the bench were turned over to finish off. And more hoops were oiled before storing in container. A number of these required the threads to be tapped as these had become damaged.