12th May 2006

The 17 containers and portacabins that previously occupied the site having been relocated, work has started on preparing the sub-base for the new workshop and re-routing the rear access road. On the morning of 10th May, D9516 pauses while three Rudds are loaded with spoil from the site for transport to Yarwell where it will provide fill for the forthcoming new platform.

It's the afternoon of 11th May and the western end of the site is now ready for a sub-base of hardcore, preparation of the remainder being scheduled for later this month. Note how the first 30-foot track panel has been skilfully worked around by the driver of the road/rail '360' machine. Shortly afterwards, the fishplates were unbolted by Roger Manns and the track panel was lifted by the machine. Just out of the picture, the sub-base for the re-routed access road has been laid and compacted.

15th June 2006

On the afternoon of 20th May the second section of track was lifted. This was a heavy 60-foot panel so advantage was taken of the steam crane that had already been fired up to lift the Avonside boiler in the morning. The picture shows a worm's-eye view of the panel as the crane raises and lowers the near end to help release the far end.

This is another view of the same lift, with Alan Whenman about to set to work on freeing the stubborn track panel from its neighbour. Where would Civils be without a Mechanical man to call upon when in trouble?

The panel has been moved to a spot that's convenient for salvaging the re-usable parts. It has fared surprisingly well given the years spent in subterranean mode. Behind the panel can be seen the Avonside boiler that had been lifted off the frames in the morning.

On the 14th and 15th June, the site was transformed further by a 360 excavator, a digger/loader and a large dumper, all kept very busy. The 360 machine is seen here atop a heap of spoil which it is loading into Rudd wagons for transport to Yarwell. James Jackson very obligingly drove the Class 14 again; not the most exciting job as it involves waiting around at Wansford while the Rudds are loaded, taking the short trip to Yarwell, and then waiting again while the spoil is unloaded, all bucket by bucket.

As you can see, the 360 excavator managed to get down from its perch on the heap of spoil. Once all the spoil had gone, the excavator finished digging the ring trench for the foundation. Brian Dolby is seen using the dumper to convey some excavated material for building up ground levels elsewhere, including the re-routed rear access road. Brian has worked very hard on this project so he deserved a couple of days' play with his big Tonka!

Here's a sneak telephoto shot of Brian and Roger discussing the paperwork, or has Brian just found that unpaid electricity bill in his pocket?

This is a view of the site looking from west to east taken from a point on the re-routed road that gives access to the rear of the sheds and to the coal bay. The spoil has now all gone, with Roger remarking that the amount needed at Yarwell very conveniently matched the amount that became surplus from the Workshop project.

It's the end of the second day and three hard-working volunteers, Brian, Dave and Roger, re-erect the safety netting whilst practising their line-dancing steps. Talking of steps, the next one is to infill the foundation trench with concrete, and it is hoped to achieve this by the end of the month.

27th September 2006

It's been a long while...! The plan was to have the foundation trench concreted by the end of June but that target was missed and then most of our small workforce was gone, jetting and ferrying to various holiday destinations.

By the time everyone managed to get back into the swing of things after their summer holidays, various projects were crying out for their time and labour and there was not enough to go round, a scenario that will be recognised by all who are involved with preserved railways. Safety-related work has to come before all else, and essential revenue-earning work has to be a close second if we are to remain viable, so lots of patience had to be exercised before we could continue with the new workshop.

Eventually work on the project restarted with some tweaking of the trench profile, reinforcement rods wired together into assemblies for inserting into the concrete and plywood boxes made up so as to accurately position the stanchion holding-down bolts and the hollow cones that enclose them.

As can be seen, each bolt passes upwards through a square flange, through the cone (made of waxed card) and then through a hole in the floor of the box. A nut is run down the bolt to hold everything in position. The inside of the cone should remain free of concrete to allow pivotal movement of the bolt so as to provide some adjustment when the stanchions are erected.

A delivery of ready-mixed concrete was ordered for 18th September following some excellent work by Brian Dolby to secure a favourable price, and a team was organised to place the twelve lorryloads that would be needed. We had an excellent turnout of helpers on the day - the photo shows only part of the gang - and each and every one of them worked very hard, with much friendly banter as always. It was an energetic day enjoyed by all and no doubt everyone slept well that night.

One of our team was London Underground driver Mark Sherwood ("Mark the Mole"). Those who know Mark will also know that he is an incurable practical joker, and we came close to being caught by him. We had almost finished filling the trench with the 72 cubic metres of concrete when Mark cried out: "Oh no, I've lost my mobile phone; I must have dropped it when I was in the trench. Can someone call my number and we'll listen for it ringing". Er, I don't think so, Mark, but a good try!

After a couple of days, the boxes were lifted and dismantled. The cones were removed and the holding-down bolts checked to make sure they were free to pivot, most of them in fact requiring some freeing off. Dave Head checked the position of every bolt to make sure there had been no displacement during the concreting work and thankfully he found all to be correct. Contractors will erect the framework and cladding when the concrete has cured to nearer full strength.

Footnote: We are frequently asked by members: "When do you plan to do this?" and "What is the programme for that?". The fact is that Dave Head cannot effectively plan and programme the workshop construction unless he knows there will be volunteers to match. Most of his small band of helpers to date have diverted from other projects ("robbing Peter to pay Paul") and we need some new blood if our many projects are to reach timely completion. If you want it to happen, please help make it happen!

10th November 2006 by David Withers

After some hiccups, the contractors managed to get a team on site to start erecting the frames on Monday, 6th November. They were fast workers and half the stanchions were in place by the end of the day. Before placing each stanchion, packing pieces of an appropriate thickness were laid on the concrete foundation to ensure that the crane rail locating brackets were perfectly horizontal.

This photo, taken at 10.42 a.m. on Tuesday 7th November, shows most of the left hand row of stanchions in place. On the other side, a stanchion is being prepared for erection by looping a canvas strap around it towards the upper end. The driver of the JCB will hook one of the forks through the strap to lift the stanchion into position.

At 10.46 a.m., just four minutes later, the stanchion is almost in place. The worker at the bottom is guiding it so that the four bolts set into the foundation pass through the holes in the baseplate. Nuts and washers will then hold the stanchion tight onto the packings, with vertical and linear accuracy being checked as the nuts are tightened.

As each row of stanchions was erected they were tied together at the top, following which the front gable posts were erected. Next morning, Wednesday 8th, the first pair of rafters were laid on the ground and bolted together at the ridge ends, then lifted into place by a portable crane and bolted to the stanchions and gable posts.

By the end of that third day, the stanchions, front gable posts, rafters, cross-braces and apex struts were all in place, though this meant working for a while after dark. The photo shows the situation shortly before daylight was lost.

This is the sight that greeted visitors on the morning of Thursday, 9th November. All should now be ready for installation of the crane, the installer already having booked several days lodgings in Peterborough and visited the site to drop off some equipment and make certain all was ready for him.

Several comments have been made as to how the floor area seems smaller now that the frames have been erected. To repeat what someone said at the start of this project: "A workshop of 134 ft x 65 ft sounds huge -- but it isn't." There is a lot of height, so that the 10-tonne crane will be able to lift items over the top of locos, but there won't be any surplus floor space!