Mission accomplished

Delay to blog publishing does not constitute lack of work by the team! Far from it. The main focus of January was to complete the programme of internal visual inspections and clearance of the culverts and cross drains. This internal programme covers all those drainage structures which are not externally inspected and which are not bridges. Ideally we inspect and clear these once in each financial year, which ends on 31^st January. Last winter some overran into February and even March – a hangover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with our month out back in October to concentrate on the rebuild at culvert 7A (by the B4632 Bridge at Stanton) and the loss of one working day before Christmas due to snow and ice; we have succeed this year. Just. The final four inspections took place on the last Thursday of January. Hence mission accomplished.

Thursday 5^th January

All seven team members in attendance, eager to work off any Christmas excess!

A group of two fixed the missing coping stone on the high mileage up side parapet wall of bridge 37. Then spent most of the rest of the day repointing the wall. At least the track side and the end of the outside which can be reached with out scaffolding.

Our plant operative (singular) took the repaired flail and cut the vehicle parking area adjacent to milepost 16; then proceeded south reaching the foot crossing at 16m30c. In the process discovered more badger activity just south of bridge 37. The flail is working well, but it best to trim waist high brambles with a hedge cutter first.

The culvert clearance and inspection group of 4 continued with the inspections and clearance. They started with the down side cess drain to 37B which was missed before Christmas; then completed cross drains 37C, 37D, 37E, 37F and 37G.

The one we missed before Christmas. Down side cess drain to inlet ditch of 37B. [Photo by Roger]

The last, 37G, is the one that runs under the footpath on the down side at accommodation bridge 38; it empties into the down side ditch alongside the mobile home park which flows into culvert 38A. Thankfully, no major deterioration to report. A couple need some loose bricks fixing, and a couple need the silt/clay fully removed from the inlet (down side) traps, it was far too wet and slippery to do on this visit.

Two more loose bricks for the bricklayer to reset - otherwise all fine. Cross drain 37E up side (outlet as you can see from the water flowing out)

Thursday 12^th January

The team formation today was 3 + 3.

The rebuilding group attended to the minor brickwork repairs on cross drains 37A, 37B, 37E noted in the recent internal inspections.

Cross drain 37A up (outlet) side - loose bricks fixed and gaps repointed. A minor repair but will prevent further frost damage. [Photo by Dave]

They also continued with repointing of high mileage up side parapet wall of bridge 37 (Gotherington accommodation); really the joints were too wet after previous nights rain. Then back to bridge 36 (Manor Lane), where the down side parapet only has cement rendering as coping. The exercise here was to measure up for proper replacement coping stones. Unfortunately a search around our stock piles failed to find sufficient of the correct size. So maybe we rebuild using solid bull nose bricks. That requires another pallet of 400, which are not cheap. But this is the price of heritage rebuilds!

The clearance and inspection group tackled cross drains 39B, 40B, 41A, 41B and 41C; between Two Hedges Road bridge and Kayte Lane crossing. As there had been a lot of heavy rain the night before(and quite a bit in the proceeding week); this was a valuable inspection. [Does make getting up at 6am in the dark and a very wet drive to Winchcombe worthwhile!]

One of the inlet chambers (down side) of cross drain 39B is this circular manhole. The actual cross drain is a syphon, one of a number we have on the railway.

40B takes the water from two streams coming down from Cleeve Hill, the northern most enters at the crest of the cutting just south of Two Hedges Road. Most of this now flows down two pipes to the down cess (installed in 2019); whilst some takes a right angle turn to run in the crest ditch which eventually becomes an embankment toe ditch to join with the input of the other stream.
This originates at a spring part way up the hill. This crest then toe ditch is very overgrown, but is flowing well. The down cess also empties into it. So quite a lot of water passing through 40B which leaves by the ditch across the playing field. Fortunately this appeared to be draining well. The next cross drain south, 41A, is one which rarely has a flow. This time it did, mainly from high mileage down side toe drain. On the down (outlet side) there is no proper exit ditch in the adjacent sports field. So not surprisingly water was pooling to about 4" by the outlet. We will keep an eye on this one, to ensure the ponds disappear in once the wet spell is over.

The pipes down the embankment from the northern stream at 40B enter the down side cess. It was a very wet night before this inspection.

Another syphon is 40C at Kayte Lane crossing - but this has these large open inlets. Back in the summer the inlet here was completely dry.

 

Thursday 19^th January

Initial plans for today had to be changed at the last minute as the Gretton to Gotherington road was closed for resurfacing. So this meant we were not able to inspect and clear culvert 30A at Tunnel Bridge (30); or visit Prescott Road bridge (32) to speak with the contractors working on the bridge regarding culvert 31B downside old headwall.

Again six of us working; but this time the formation as 2 + 4.

The team of two took the drain rods to top of the Working Lane haul road opposite the Royal Oak. They attempted to rod the out outlet pipe from the pond on the up (Malvern) side, near the tunnel mouth. They may have partially shifted the blockage – which appears to be a long way in. However, they did discover the outflow, it is in the adjoining field at the far boundary. So it does not enter the outlet ditch of culverts 24A and 24B which runs down hill inside of our boundary. After the rodding, water was noted flowing out of the outlet, but not much flow from the pond.

The up side pond near southern end of Greet Tunnel. There are plans to expand this as part of the biodiversity scheme which includes planting trees on the old navvy camp. (Our Lineside Clearance colleagues have the full story). [Photo by Jonathan]

The team of 4 undertook the clearance and visual inspections of cross drains 35A, 35B, 35C and 35D. These are those by the loop at Gotherington. Ability to use a permaquip trolley whilst the line is closed was a bonus.

Dave, Nigel & Roger get kitted up and load the permaquip trolley at Manor Lane. It is almost half a mile back to cross drain 35A near Gotherington Signal Box.

No serious problems to note; but some animal (probably badger) activity on down side at 35A and 35B. Also the vegetation has grown thick here; up side access to 35A was cleared along the boundary fence line from 35B; thorn trees behind the signal box make that route impossible.
Interestingly even after the recent wet weather 35A was just damp; no water flowing through it. Like 41A at Bishops Cleeve, this is effectively a storm drain.

Outlet on up side of cross drain 35B has an unusual shape to incorporate a run-off from a cess drain.

A good flow through 35C even after a couple of days without rain.

 

Weather wise this was a spectacular winter’s day – cold by bright sunshine. At Gotherington, some of the morning coffee break time was spent watching a kestrel, perched on the nearby power lines. The kestrel was in turn watching a robin, who was scavenging in our freshly cut scrub.

Gotherington Loop 19th January.

 

Gotherington Loop 26th January - after our clearance contractor had cleared to the fence line on the down (Cotswold) side and a strip on the embankment top on the up (Malvern) side. We can now drive a vehicle as far as the up home signals.

Thursday 26^th January

Down to five members today; the missing two both absent with medical situations. So a very reduced 3 + 2 formation.

The group of thee cleared and inspected syphon cross drain 40A at Two Hedges Road. They then started clearing the down side crest ditch which runs between 40A and 40B. Took the rest of the day to reached the point where it becomes a toe ditch at bottom of embankment – this just shows how much as grown over the past couple of years. They recovered the two loose sections of 59cm diameter pipe installed by our contractors about 3 years ago. We are planning to pipe the rest of the ditch where it is on the crest, we have some lengths of large diameter pipe in stock which may be suitable.

The down side 40B inlet ditch along the crest of the embankment after clearing, reveals two lengths of big pipe. [Photo by Dave]

An unwelcome discovery was a leak from the ditch through the embankment; almost opposite milepost 17½. We had not noticed this leak two weeks ago (January 12^th) when clearing and inspecting cross drain 40B. It might be due to snow /frost melt; but most likely a crack in the ditch. We will keep it monitored. Fortunately the water is running into the down cess and thence eventually to cross drain 40B and away.

The team of two cleared and inspected culvert 30A (Tunnel Bridge 30) - this involved being escorted along the road closed for resurfacing. Then along the track to Bishops Cleeve, stopping to speak with the clearance & fencing contractor working the big flail. This is an impressive pieces of kit and the clearance results impressive too). Met with the group of three at Bishops Cleeve for coffee break and to observe the reported leak. Then on to Cheltenham to clear and inspect the two culverts south of Hunting Butts; 44A and 45A. On both of these there was noticeable deterioration in the condition of the up side structures. However, we have an abandoned railway here, no track and certainly no trains. Intriguingly at Wymans Brook we could here the mainline trains on the nearby former Midland line to Cheltenham Landsdown station.

Looking into the manhole on the down side at culvert 45A, Wymans Brook. The inlet is in a pipe all the way from the lakes in Pittville Park.

Next time

We might be able to make a start on our long planned work at Stanton; diverting the outlet of cross drain 11B to avoid a small diameter pipe in our neighbours field. Plus we need to return to Two Hedges Road to monitor the cutting leak; and return to Gotherington to check out 41A. Or we might get diverted elsewhere. There is never a dull moment in the drainage team!

Branching out

Diversity is a current buzz word in the Estates Management Department. During 2023 we will be assisting with the planting of over 150 new trees at several sites along the line, and digging out a new pond in the Orchard at Chicken Curve. Some of the trees will draw out ground water, thus reducing the water run off which we have to deal with.

We keep a close eye on the existing lineside trees. Previously we have written about the apples, damsons and pears; two more crops to add are walnuts and mistletoe. Unfortunately the squirrels beat us to the walnuts at Dixton and Gotherington. However, there was plenty of mistletoe – particularity on the boundary trees at the navy camp site at Greet Tunnel (up side, Cheltenham end). We found some on lower branches of an apple tree at Manor Lane, this was reachable with the loppers from the ground. Maybe next year we can join forces with our Clearance colleagues to provide a festive greenery provision service. Must check the Risk Assessments and Method Statements to ensure they cover Christmas decoration collection.

Mistletoe

Thursday 8^th December

A very cold and frosty, but sunny day. By carefully choosing sunny spots, it was just possible to sit outside for coffee breaks and lunch. With 100% team attendance, we split into a team of 4 and a team of 3.

The team of 4 tackled culvert/cross drain internal visual exams and clearance. This covered 27C, 28A, 30B, 31A and 33A. This competes all those on the internal programme as far south as Gotherington - except for 30A at Tunnel Bridge, Middle Stanley. We omitted this today as with frost on the ground it was too dangerous to approach from the railway embankment, the sides here are steep and there is quite a fall from the bridge wing walls. Glad to report no major deterioration in any inspected today from their previous inspection.

The team of 3 tacked the access drive repairs at Stanley Pontlarge. We found some suitable small stone at Winchcombe; in dumpy bags that were just about to fall apart and on pallets that were rotten. Loaded this onto the tipper and spread it on the top part of the drive; getting the bit under the gate level with the no1 stone put down by the Clearance team the previous Saturday. Then on to Gotherington yard to collect the dumpy bag of pea gravel that had been sitting there for around 18 months. But it had gone! Looks like it disappeared recently as there was the impression of the dumpy bag on the ground. Finally manually moved some of the pile of logs at the toe of the embankment on the down side low mileage of bridge 29. These were on the line of the new fence, which our fencing contractors are installing. The embankment is too steep for wheeled vehicle access. A friendly request to the fencing team resulted in recovery of the logs using their tracked fence post driver.

Unloading stone on the access at Stanley Pontlarge. Reduces the churning from vehicle wheels and tracks during wet weather.

You can almost feel the cold! Stanley Pontlarge, fencing contractors using their tracked post drive on left; chamber of cross drain 28A in foreground. Note our Transit in the background parked in a sunny spot!

New fence line and logs at the toe of the embankment on the down side low mileage of bridge 29. Impressive clearance by our contractor's remote controlled flail.

 

 

 

Thursday 15^th December

Snow fell on the Cotswolds in the early hours of Sunday (11^th December) and the temperature did not rise much above freezing for several days. Overnight Wednesday/Thursday, Winchcombe was one of the coldest places in the Midlands, recording an overnight minimum of -12C. Not surprisingly we cancelled our work planned for today.

Thursday 22^nd December

Just four of the team in attendance – well it was 3 days before Christmas!

Jonathan and Polly took the Drainage LWB Transit truck for a longer run to charge the batteries and to collect the overhauled Efco flail from Blockley. The flail is almost like a new machine now! They called in at Toddington on the way back with the intention to move some of the 150+ trees delivered. Unfortunately timing of the Santa ECS trains and associated loco movements meant it was not possible to use the loco department's telehandler.

Efco flail loaded for return to Winchcombe. With new control cables and sharpened blades it will be working hard in the Spring. [Photo by Jonathan]

Martin and Andrew continued with culvert/cross drain clearance and visual internal inspections. This covered 36A, 36B, 37A and 37B south of Manor Lane, Gotherington. Quite an achievement for just two, particularly as Santa trains were running one had to be a lookout when working near the line. The cold damp air meant the exhausts from both Foremarke Hall and 4270 were impressive on the climb from Bishops Cleeve to Gotherington. Once again no new major problems discovered on the inspections; the main item of note was at 37A down side with evidence of animal den use in the dry summer.

Outlet (up side) of culvert 36B has a unique footprint!

Foremarke Hall with the first up Santa train of the day approaching Manor Lane.

4270 approaching bridge 37 - having just passed the source of our mistletoe. Probably the last time we will be passed by this loco.

New Year Resolution?

If you would like to work off the excesses of the festive period, why not consider joining our team for regular workouts in the fresh air. It is cheaper than joining a gym! If you are interested, please contact the Estates Management HoD or the Railway Recruitment Office; alternatively email draingangGWSR@gmail.com.

Wishing all our readers a peaceful, prosperous and healthy New Year.

Circumnavigating the Pole

The North Pole that is. Over the past few weeks the focus of our work has been on the Toddington to Winchcombe section. The normal routine is to drive along the track bed north from Winchcombe, then back from Toddington along the public roads. Thus we circle Winchcombe station, or the North Pole as it is known for the Santa trains season.

Thursday 17^th November

A great boost to team productivity today. Not only all 7 team members in attendance; we had three working heavy duty brush cutters after their return from repairs and servicing. Consequently we were able to complete the clearance and visual inspections of 6 culverts and start work on a 7th.

First task for a team a three was to head to Southam Lane to investigate the cess drains. Just north of the bridge is an area which has a wet bed and the rail joins are ponding. This has been in this condition for several years. PWay are relaying it this winter; we had been asked to check to see if any leakage from the cess drains. The team inspected the manholes adjacent to rail lengths 12 and 13; they found no evidence of leakage from the cess. A couple of years ago the drainage on the down side under Southam Lane bridge was improved to handle what we think is run off from the road. This is working well, the area has not flooded since.

Down side cess chamber on low mileage side of Southam Lane, with pumping rail joint in background. [Photo by Dave]

The culvert inspections and clearance started at Chicken Curve with 20C and worked northwards (towards Toddington, or in the up direction), so thus 20B, 20A, 19B, 19A, and 18A. Finally undertook some clearance of culvert 17B, the big one. The bridges team have already inspected that one; and most of the stream side growth is outside GWSR land. Occasionally we do cross the boundary to fix problems, for instance at 20A we cleared some obstructions from the outlet ditch (up side. This resulted in water dropping a couple of inches.

Cross drain 20B has some connections from the up side high mileage cess drain; these take an indirect route to avoid a high pressure gas main resulting in two right angle bends with inspection points.

 

Outlet (up side) of 20A showing extension pipe and tide mark where the water level dropped after clearing the exit ditch.

Looking inside 20A you can just see the old headwall; the extension plastic pipe is only a couple of feet long.

We took the flail and were able to widen the vehicle track (old up side formation) for most of the length from Winchcombe down home signal to New Farmers Accommodation Bridge (19). The flail does need servicing - reverse is hard to engage as the cable for that gear is fraying and is at the limit of adjustment.

Also by taking sand and cement we were able to attend to some of the minor repointing and resetting tasks. These included 20B down cess outlet and 19A down side headwall.

19A is one of the smaller cross drains; down side headwall after the minor repointing attended to.

At bridge 20 (Old Farmers Accommodation Bridge), we cleared the drain in the farm track under the bridge. This is taking a lot of water flowing from the adjacent field on the down side down the farm track. We noted the condition of the up side high mileage wing wall of bridge 20 is very poor (large crack) and water is dripping through the deck beams.

Similarly at bridge 19 (New Farmers Accommodation Bridge) we improved the flow of water under the bridge. Here we noted two missing bricks (one each in both low mileage wing walls) which we will replace next week. We didn't take any spare bricks with us today.

Another brick in the wall required (bridge 19). However, Pink Floyd not with us today!

At Hayles Abbey Halt bridge (17) we measured up the broken high mileage up side coping stone. Unfortunately we could not find any of that size in the piles at Winchcombe yard, so this will be another repair job.

Fortunately weather was reasonable; rain had stopped before we arrived at Winchcombe. But the effects of a week with several very wet days was obvious; some of the streams were flowing fast. So too were some of the cess drains, however, some (like 19B) are still dry!

The wet conditions under bridge 19.

Thursday 24^th November

All seven members of the team attending today, but one (our plant operator) was booked for the telehandler refresher course; so only six of us working on our tasks.

We split into two teams of three. The first team spent most of the day in Winchcombe yard attempting to map out what grills are connected to what drains and where they eventually go to. This is in connection with a new concrete apron at the low mileage end of the C&W building. Some 'non-railway' sewers were identified; plus using die tracing we confirmed that water from the surface drain in Churchward House yard; plus those from the grills in the main yard do eventually exit into the down side ditch. This exit is marked with a blue top post; it is about 15 yards upstream from the point where the ditch enters a pipe which runs into the River Isbourne, on the upstream (down side) of the river bridge. We also found a chamber near the end of the old goods shed part of C&W which also is likely to be connected to this exit. Unable to trace this one; as currently the scaffolding for the C&W roof repairs prevent the cover being removed.

The tracing dye turns the water green - it is harmless to wildlife. This is a chamber in the main yard at Winchcombe, the two inlets at the top come from Churchward House yard - we now know where both come from.

The second team attended to various odd jobs identified in the past couple of weeks on the culverts and cross drains between Chicken Curve and Didbrook. We removed the bits of cement bag acting as weather-protection at 20B and replaced the covers with grills at 19B up side.

At 19B up side, one of the old covers was just an unreinforced slab; however the other, larger, old cover was reinforced and took some breaking up. We removed the extensive grass bedding (badger maybe), below which was standing water containing a lot of silt, which we also removed. This work revealed that this chamber is actually quite deep, presumably to act as a silt trap at this point. The water level was below the level of the pipes, so no water was flowing through.

We replaced 2 missing bricks in the wing walls at bridge 19 (New Farmers Accommodation Bridge) and reseated a third which we noticed was loose.

Spot the reseated brick (bridge 19). [Photo by Dave]

We repaired the broken coping stone at bridge 17 - a replacement complete stone would look a bit better, but none of that size in stock.

Repaired coping on high mileage up side at Hayles Abbey bridge. [Photo by Dave]

We did the rebuilding at 16C down side low mileage wing wall. The by now heavy ran meant our master bricklayer was struggling to achieve a result here which met his high standards! Will need to return to clear up the newly-laid bricks smeared with mortar.

Rebuilding the down side wing wall at 16C - despite the sign says 16A (the signs were made before what is now 16A and 16B were discovered. Making new signs is on our 'To Do' list!) [Photo by Dave]

Heavy rain forced all work to cease around 2.30pm!

Thursday 1^st December

Six of the team attending on a very misty/foggy day. A new novel excuse from the 7th member, he had broken his unbreakable glasses.

Again we split into two teams of three.

Team A initially headed for Southam Lane to rectify three down side cess chambers where either lids had been knocked into the chamber or the whole ring structure had been shifted. We used blue plastic mesh covers temporarily as the lifting straps were on the truck team B had.

Southam Lane in the fog - the bridge is just visible.

Then back to Working Lane to continue internal visual inspections of culverts/cross drains. Four completed – culvert 24A and cross drains 25B, 25C, 27A. Really this is only 3 and half as the inlet to 25C is outside of the railway boundary beyond a sturdy fence.

The outlet ditch of 25B has a additional runoff pipe which then heads diagonally across the field to the field boundary. Unblocking the mouth of this resulted in a satisfying 'glug glug' sound and water starting to flow.

 

Team B took the LWB Transit van for a longer run, which gave the batteries a good charge. The main objective was to deliver the flail for a service at Blockley (south east of Broadway). They then returned to Toddington and completed the minor repairs to the brickwork of culverts/cross drains 16B, 17A and 19B. So on next year's internal inspections some of the recommended actions can be crossed off as complete. Also returned to 16C to complete the pointing and to tidy up using a wire brush to achieve a neat finish. (See last week’s report above.)

Pub with No Beer

A railway theme beer festival - now that is a splendid idea!

Since the finish of the regular passenger trains at the end of October, and thus the Coffee Pot on Winchcombe Station not opening, we now retire to the Churchward House mess room for our end of day cuppa. This does mean that someone has to remember to bring in some milk! Whilst supping our tea, we look longingly at the board in the photo above, dreaming of a pint of one or more of the advertised drinks!

More fondue please

As remarked on in previous posts, we frequently have to adjust our planned work schedule to take account of changing circumstances. Sometimes this is because of urgent requests to deal with unexpected situations, sometimes due to availability of the team members or the plant, and sometimes due to the weather. The focus on the repair of the up side of culvert 7A came under the weather category. This year’s dry spring and summer has led to several streams drying out completely, and many more having a much reduced flow. 7A was one of these, during ‘normal’ times the flow of water here would preclude work without diverting the inbound channel or using a very large pump. Hence the desire to complete the repair before the autumn wet season came in earnest. We would have liked to include a few more of the ‘only possible in dry periods’ jobs – but with only a small team working one day a week time is against us. If you would like to help strengthen the team so that we can keep the drainage system fully functioning and thus the track bed dry and stable, please get in touch. In the the first instance, please contact the Estates Management HoD or the Railway Recruitment Office; alternatively email draingangGWSR@gmail.com.

Thursday 20^th October

A small team returned to culvert 7A at Stanton with the special ingredient to effect the repair to the leaking up side headwall. This was a special quick hardening ‘underwater’ cement. For some reason our expert bricklayer calls this fondue! It has to be mixed in small quantities and applied rapidly; it certainly is very quick to harden. Whilst waiting for the pump to reduce the water level sufficiently in the outlet, repairs to the dry top course and copings of the headwall were made. The corner coping stones were patched – as we were not able to find replacement ones with the same geometry and size.

Completed repair to low mileage end of up side 7A headwall. On the wet side, level sufficiently low to allow Martin to climb down. (Photo by Dave)

Rapid drying cement under the pipe on the exit. (Photo by Dave)

Dry side void filled with concrete - normal cement mix. (Photo by Dave)

Finally, several loads of concrete (using standard cement) were mixed and used to fill the void on the track side of the headwall which the leaking water had created.

Another odd job, for the plant operator, was some maintenance on the dumper. This included fashioning a cover for the drivers seat; so that it should stay dry when we have to park it outside in the winter.

Dumper maintenance (Photo by Jonathan)

Thursday 27^th October

For the first time in several weeks we had full attendance with all 7 of the team working. So we split into two groups.

One group of 3 spent the morning at culvert 7A, just north of B4632 Stanton Road bridge. They checked on the work of last week. This has been successful, there was no sign of leakage into the up cess. Water level was above the silt in the outlet ditch; so some flowing away. They pumped the pit dry; then used more of the fondue (rapid setting cement) to complete the repairs to the pointing. They also made a fence to cover the hole in the hedge were the digger came in two weeks ago.

7A up side exit chamber; holding water high enough for flow out into the exit ditch. No leakage to the cess! (Photo by Roger)

The second group of four resumed the internal visual inspection programme; starting at Toddington and working south. Three structures completed, being cross drain 14A, culvert 14B and culvert 15A. 14A inlet on the down side is the pipe and then ditch from behind Toddington signal box. The ditch is overgrown again, it was completely clear back in February after the work of the clearance teams. 14A has an overflow, as the pipe under the track (and then the narrow gauge line) is only of small diameter, during wet periods there is a flow at the foot of the down side embankment south to culvert 14B. This was still dry. 14B is the culvert where the upside outlet under the adjoining property is too high; so there is quite a deep pond. This was full of a watercress like weed, which was cleared, so the level in the pond dropped several inches. Finally at 15A on the down (inlet side); the displaced concrete slabs which form the low mileage side were reset - so all are upright now.

14A inlet on down side is an unusual tall chamber in a ditch. Requires the long handle grab to clear out - guess what we forgot to load today!

One year's growth in the outlet pond of 14B - before clearing....

... and after clearing. Note reduction in water level!

A three man lift team after resetting the slabs on the inlet (down side) of 15A.

 

A final task for the combined teams was in connection with the milepost project, the first activity for a number of months. Milepost 10 at Didbrook was at an angle and with one face missing. So this was completely removed – a four man lift job as bridge rail is heavy. Its replacement, a new head and a refurbished length of bridge rail is waiting in the workshop.

Sunday 30th October

The annual team day out at the Mixed Traffic Gala. All seven of the team were present. With the disruption to the timetable caused by loco failure (class 20) and signalling problems (at Gotherington) we spent most of the day riding in the FO ‘Mary’. By luck, we also rode on one of the workings with the Hall and the Manor at one end and the Deltic at the other – real super-power. We spent an interesting hour in the loco sheds at Toddington, chatting to our Steam and Diesel Loco colleagues. Finally we repaired to the Pheasant for a hearty meal. Very good value that was too – one course was sufficient without a preceding day of manual work!

Unrecognisable wearing 'civis'; 5 of the team at Toddington. Left to right: Jonathan, Martin, Dave, Nigel, Roger.

 

Deltic 55019 from the footbridge at Broadway.

Dinmore Manor and Foremarke Hall on the other end of the train.

 

Thursday 3^rd November

A significant day for three reasons. First it was a team member's birthday; second we replaced milepost 10 and third we got the flail back into action after nearly two years waiting for a replacement throttle cable..

Again full team attendance. In the morning we split into two teams. First team of three tackled removal of silt from the inlet chamber (down side) of culvert 14A at Toddington. This was left over from the previous week, as it required the long handled grab. With the rain in the last week; the overflow from 14A to 14B down the toe ditch on the down side is now flowing. The team then moved on to erect the new milepost 10; a head on a refurbished length of bridge rail secured by two bags on postcrete. Then on to milepost 10 & quarter (by Didbrook No2 bridge) to remove the old damaged head and to paint the bridge rail. This length of bridge rail will be retained in-situ.

Just like new - MP10 at Didbrook. (Photo by Roger)

The second team of four undertook visual internal inspection of cross drains 16A, 16B and culvert 16C. Significant clearance on the area on the down side at 16A was undertaken; as there are three chambers here and a pipe run that goes along the boundary hedge to the road under Didbrook No2 bridge. There are breaks in this pipe which need fixing; one of which we will make into another inspection chamber. This repair is yet another that requires a spell of drier weather.

Broken section of pipe on down side - part of the 16A complex.

Inside the outlet chamber (up side) of 16A; all in good condition.

 

One of the smallest headwalls on the railway - 16B down side.

A job for our bricklayer, two courses of 16C low mileage down side wing wall need replacing.

 

Also having got the Efco flail working, we used this to clear vegetation alongside the former up track bed most of the way from 16A to south of bridge 17A (on the Winchcombe side of Hayles Abbey Halt). For most of this it was two passes, but on a level spot more we cut more width to create a new safe spot to enable vehicles to be parked the requisite 12ft distance from the running rail. The flail deals with most vegetation; apart from brambles. We found the best policy was to remove most brambles and any saplings with a hedge cutter first.

The Efco flail back in action. Great on level ground as long as the waist high brambles are removed first.

This was the first day this autumn we were working with no passenger trains running. However, we did have an ECS move and a light engine move to keep us on our toes!

In the afternoon the combined teams cleared vegetation around bridge 17A, this is the major culvert just south of Hayles Abbey Halt. As this is a large structure it is professionally inspected, so we do not perform a visual inspection, but annual vegetation clearance is vital.

The large bore of 17A - this is why this is a bridge not a culvert.

Thursday 10^th November

Only four of us attending today; and an urgent request from the Structures Manager. So a reschedule on two counts.

The urgent request was to unblock culvert 24C at Gretton. This is on the low mileage side of Working Lane. The external examiners undertaking the detailed examination had found an obstruction about 3m (or 9 feet in old money) in from the outlet end on the up side. As this is approximately where the bore was extended to run under the haul road, we guessed what the cause would be.

Sure enough, the blockage was branches, twigs and leaves then a build up of silt at the join between the old brick invert and the slightly smaller diameter plastic pipe that forms the extension. A good illustration of why extending bores with smaller diameter pipe is best avoided.

The blockage - taken from a CCTV image during the inspection by Inspire Structures Ltd.

 

Three of the team spent all morning with the two sets of drain rods we have; slowly removing the blockage. One of the dampest and muckiest jobs we have tacked for a long time! After unblocking we carried on adding rods; but ran out of rods before the head reached the other end (down side). However we knew the bore was clear, as we could see torches from each end. Plus the water was flowing clear.

 

VIDEO - Rodding in action. Dave providing the muscle power; Jonathan providing the lighting.

 

Blockage cleared. View from up side (outlet), with the first of nearly 30 drain rods in place that still did not reach the other end. That length of rodding is heavy!

View in from the down (inlet) side - the camera has not picked up the pin point of torch light we could see from the other end.

Almost all of our larger red set of rods in use.

 

The fourth member of the team (plant operator and now chief flail driver) used the flail to mow the haul road vegetation from near 24C up to the top opposite the Royal Oak pub. He also discovered a patio umbrella from the pub which had blown onto the lineside. This was returned.

In the afternoon, all four undertook the internal visual inspection of culvert 24B. On the up side this included clearance of growth and silt from the spillway between the railway and haul road bores. The difference between the up and down sides here is very apparent. The up side structures are all in tip top condition, they were rebuilt in 2017 and 2021. Whereas on the down side, the headwall needs some major work; probably the first since the old GWR days. Hopefully we will have an external contractor attending to this early next year when the line south of Winchcombe is closed for bridge and PW work at various locations.

24B up side (outlet), built 2017 in fine condition.

 

24B down side (inlet), built approx 1902 now needing attention.