Week ending 7th November

Monday was spent loading the railcar and trailers with equipment and materials for the week. Additional scaffolding to reach the top of the new bracket signal at Toddington was the main priority, as weather permitting, this week will see all the fittings to the 'above platform' posts being put in place. A medium sized cabinet, two support legs and aggregate/cement, various pieces of angle iron and the remaining signal fittings were also loaded.

After lunch a trip to Toddington saw additional under 'box work. The electric lock coupling fitted to T29, and coupling bars fitted to T7 & T19. A new cast token sign was fitted alongside signal T24 (outer home).

Tuesday greeted us with very frequent and very heavy downpours which made the task of bolting on fittings to the upper posts on the bracket signal a very unpleasant one. By the time we stopped for our 3.45pm tea break, approx 2/3rds of the fittings were up. The remaining time was spent clearing the remaining fittings from the gunpowder van so that this could be returned to Winchcombe.

No work was achieved on Wednesday/Thursday as our Head of Department was bringing to a conclusion months of on/off house moving by actually…… moving. We just await the house-warming party invitations, or will trains running to Broadway come first?

Back at work on Friday to install locking in channels D & E and to modify and fit a retaining bar under Toddington 'box.

Week ending 14th November

Monday gave Malcolm, John Simms and Danny Scroggins a day out in Wrexham. Their task was to sort and load onto a waiting vehicle, a selection of redundant lever frame parts for transporting back to Winchcombe.

Tuesday saw us back at the Toddington bracket signal. First job was to fit a lamp case to T29 (Stow side). A second for T27 has still to be located. A double crank was then attached to the main post approx. 3ft from the ground. This will direct the signal wire pull from a horizontal direction to a vertical one. Once this was in place the final alignment of the two signal wires could be established and the remainder of the wire support stakes could be concreted into place.

Whilst the concrete mixer was operational, a new concrete base was built for the shunt signal (T31) at the base of the bracket, and also the bracket access ladder was bolted to the platform and its base concreted into the ground. The medium sized cabinet brought from Winchcombe last week was also planted next to the groundframe and concreted in.

The final job of the day entailed the re-routing of various new signal wires around T28 (platform 2 starter).

Back at Winchcombe on Wednesday and a search amongst S&T treasures for a good clean lamp case and a short access ladder for T27 on the bracket. Both in need of some TLC! The inside of the banner repeater casing received its first coat of white gloss, and half of the lettering on a new token sign got the same treatment.

Working under Toddington 'box again on Thursday, changing couplings on T22 and to measure for electric lock coupling. A fault that occurred on Saturday whilst the 'box was in operation, required the tappet retaining bar for T25 to be filed for a better fit.

Upstairs above the lever frame, measurements were taken of the existing diagram to facilitate the alterations and additions needed for a new version. A drawing was made of the block shelf for Malcolm to work from for positioning the additional instruments needed in association with the new signalling.

Mid-afternoon and back at Winchcombe, the electric lock coupling was made for T22, the last of the token sign lettering was painted white and a start was made on refurbishing a platform ladder for T27.

Friday saw the platform ladder, support bar and hoop cleaned and primed. A white surround was painted on the token sign, and undercoat was applied to the banner repeater lampcase.

Week ending 21st November

Monday. The ladder for T27 bracket platform post, five assorted support hoops, a cabinet door catch and two small 'shoebox' lids are all painted with undercoat outside our coach at Winchcombe. Alas, before the paint had started to dry, it began to rain, so a hasty move to the MSC shed ensued. What pleasure it is to work outdoors at this time of year!

Also, during the day the ten pallets of signal equipment that had previously arrived from Wrexham were put into secure covered storage with the help of Neil and the Loadall machine.

Tuesday. At Toddington today and myself and John P. are out with the paintbrushes early to avoid the forecast late afternoon showers/rain! The final top coats of white and black paint were applied to the bracket signal, with the ladder being left untouched with the hope that Neil would have time to finish all the electrical connections……unfortunately time was not on our side! In the gloom of late afternoon, a gravel path was laid around the back of the signal to allow access to the ladder whilst avoiding clambering over numerous signal wires.

Back at the signal box, Malcolm and Richard were busy sorting/repositioning signal wires thru' wheel casts and fitting vertical wheels under the lever frame for signals T13, T17, T18 and T19. Once these were in position, two of the wires were jointed into signals T17 & T19.

Wednesday. Malcolm and Neil spend much of the day under Toddington 'box. The signal wire from T17 was joined to its associated lever tail, a number of test pulls made and found to be working satisfactorily. Further work was done on the locking trays including fitting a coupling bar for T22 between the old & new locking tray angles.

Thursday. The ladder for T27 previously undercoated now sports a gleaming coat of gloss black paint along with its fixing hoop and bar. While the black paint was out, the banner repeater case, two hoops and four pivot casts were also treated. The afternoon rounded off with the cleaning and greasing a total of five pivot casts.

Friday. A change of scenery sees Malcolm, Paul and Pete employed at Kingsbury to repair damage to a hand operated point in the yard.

Week ending 28th November

Monday. Due to the recent bad weather and the resultant amount of rainfall, a decision was made to run the railcar from Winchcombe to Toddington and back checking for any faults within cable joints, especially those that lie buried in the ground. No major faults were found, but a number of minor issues cropped up which will be dealt with in the coming weeks.

During the afternoon, a drum of twenty pair and a drum of ten pair cables were loaded onto a railcar trailer along with two ton bags of ballast.

Tuesday. I, along with Richard braved the elements to drill and bolt the short ladder to signal T27 on the platform of the bracket signal. Once in place our final job was to fit a lamp case behind each of the two spec plates. As soon as this was complete, Neil connected the electric to each lamp back to the cabinet at ground level. At last the scaffold tower could be removed to reveal a very smart looking bracket signal that should see many years service. As the last of the scaffold was removed, the final signal wire stake was concreted into the ground adjacent to the bracket shunt signal.

Over on the NHS siding, Malcolm and John P. were busy topping up the ballast levels around the trap point and associated rodding stools from the railcar trailer.

After lunch, four lengths of cable were run out. A 10 pair & a 20 pair cable were run from the  signal T20 cabinet to the NHS groundframe cabinet, and a 10 pair & a 20 pair cable run from the signal box to where signal T2 will eventually be planted at the southern entrance to siding 1/loco yard. These final two cables will be hand dug into a trench in the ballast to protect them from the weather….a job for a cold winter's day.

Wednesday. From amongst our various bits of reclaimed steel plates, two were cleaned and drilled in preparation for attaching a motor signal mount. This will eventually adorn signal T32 at Toddington, close to the viaduct where it will be too far to be manually operated. The signal motor case and a pivot cast were also cleaned. Seven speed-sign posts received a coat of black gloss.

Thursday. The finishing touches were made to the bottom bars of the locking tray.

All that remains for me to say is a Very Merry Christmas to everyone within the S&T Department who have achieved so much this year, to all the volunteers on 'our'railway, and to everyone else who is reading this report.

The next report (for December 2009) will appear during January, so Happy New Year also.