Half-bridge replacement work – Bridge 31 – J J Farms, Far Stanley - 2nd Weeks work

For the final posting on work at Bridge 31 please click here.

John Balderstone

Bridges to Broadway Share Appeal

Just four months into our appeal the total raised so far is almost £300,000 leaving just £200,000 to go. We are very anxious to place the contract in May so as to take advantage of the summer weather (assuming that we get some!) to start work – particularly the necessary foundation repairs. If we can raise the money in good time then we can allow the contractor the maximum flexibility in his operations. This will ensure the maximum efficiency in view of the different types of work required on the various bridges and the need to negotiate road closures.

If you have been thinking of buying some shares to support this work but have not got round to it yet, now is the time to make your move and support this major step towards reaching Broadway. If you need a copy of the share brochure or have any questions, do contact Maxine Hawkins on 01242 621905 and she will be happy to assist.

Thank you

Alan Bielby

Chairman, GWSR Plc

NEW FLAG &WHISTLE FRANCHISE

At the end of last year we decided to seek a new franchise for the Flag &Whistle café at Toddington. It has been run successfully by Val Hoskin for 7 years but we wanted to increase the number of opening days and also make changes in the menus and method of operation. We therefore wrote a new set of requirements and invited tenders for a new agreement. The final choice was Lynne Tiddy, a newcomer to the railway but with great plans for the future. She will take over the F&W with effect from February 1st 2014 to prepare for opening in March. Look out for more information on what will be on offer nearer the opening date.


In order to support the additional operating requirements, we have upgraded the kitchen area so as to facilitate more efficient preparation and serving. This upgrade, along with the recently upgraded furniture in the customer area will make a big improvement in what can be offered to our visitors. We thank Val for all her hard work over the years and wish Lynne a successful future.


Alan Bielby

Half-bridge replacement work – Bridge 31 – J J Farms, Far Stanley - 2nd Weeks work

For an update on the work at Bridge 31 please click here.

John Balderstone

Half-bridge replacement work – Bridge 31 – J J Farms, Far Stanley – January 2014

Work to replace the badly corroded half of this
bridge, which carries the running line, commenced on Monday 13th January 2014. The first photo shows the scaffolding and traffic signs in place on Saturday 1th January 2014, before starting any work.

By late Monday morning both lattice parapets, the deck plates to the cess and in the 4 foot had all gone.


Slings have been attached to the first main beam ready for it to be lifted out.








The photo bottom left shows the first beam just lifted off the padstones. The second photo shows it being lowered clear of the walls

The next operation was to cut through the deck
plate in the 6ft, leaving it ready to be attached to
the new steelwork. The photo shows the plate
being disc cut.

A temporary support beam had to be inserted
beneath the 6ft plate to stop it distorting and to
keep it at the right level to fit on the new steel
when it is installed, as shown in the photo below.
A similar temporary beam has been installed above
the north edge to support the cut edge of the cess plate,
where the supporting parapet steel had been removed.

The next photo shows a view of the
bridge with the entire deck removed.
The work took 2½ days.


Note the existing brick pilasters
have remained undamaged despite
their close proximity to the
steelwork being removed.






The reason for this work are basically
because the steelwork was badly
corroded,as the following photos show.


This is the bottom edge of the Parapet
steelwork, after removal. How it
stayed in place is a mystery!









This photo (right) shows bottom flange
corrosion of one of the main beams
where a length of app. 350mm has "disappeared", together with
notch where corrosion has eaten
away a 100mm high section of the
main load bearing stiffener at the
point which provides the main load
carrying support to the bridge.
Note also that the end stiffener has
also suffered severe corrosion.




Further bottom flange corrosion and
rot to another of the main vertical load
bearing stiffeners.


John Balderstone

Another repeat of Father Brown

Just a brief note in case you didn't see the first series - it is back next week on BBC

Groups on the train and refreshment requirements

A number of meetings in the past week to review our visitor numbers and in particular to look at our group business. We had 100 more groups this year than 2 years ago which was our last record year. With over 360 groups, this works out at 2 groups for every day we are running, but of course it never works out like that! The leaning is towards groups visiting us midweek. Looking to 2014, we have already had over 100 enquiries so it looks like another bumper year. That is great news from an income point of view, but as many of these groups wish to include refreshments such as cream teas as part of their visit, we are struggling to find enough volunteers to serve them. But we don't want to turn good business away. When you realise that a full coach brings 53 visitors and each will pay about £18 to include refreshments, the income is considerable. Do you know of anyone who could help serving buffets on the trains? It's just a few hours in the middle of the day and is great fun. Please let Richard Summers or me know and please don't ignore this request - it's income like this that is paying for many of our other hobbies on the railway. Colin Fewell