GWSR Broadway Developments

The scaffolding has now been removed, and the new canopy looks fantastic, have a look at Jo's last blog to see the photos of it. Everyone that has worked on this should be really proud. Now, hopefully, it will encourage the Board to let us start platform 2's building. Link to Jo's blog: Heritage Herald: The unveiling (haylesabbeyhalt.blogspot.com)

 

It does look absolutely superb. I wonder what the idiot who pushed for a B&Q shed building claiming 'people don't look up' is thinking now?

Andy

 

Probably not a lot, he passed away a couple of years ago. I don't think it particularly helps the heritage case to rub those who opposed it's noses in it. Better to make the point with all the positives now that they're there for all to see.

 

Foot bridge looking great in the Autumn sun and certainly adds another dimension to the view of incoming trains.

Assume platform 2 development is still on hold due to finance? I thought I'd seen a few setting out pegs the other day?

 

There are indeed a couple of pegs to show the extent of the P2 building.

Funding is unlikely to be an issue, it's not a huge project and a lot of the material required is already in store.

A proposal has been made and a decision is awaited.

 

Great will watch the space with interest. Any idea on likely start date?

 

"Better to make the point with all the positives"

Very much thinking this over the various Didcot connected new builds but how how best to convince people before "they're there for all to see."

Great kudos to how this was managed tactfully and convincingly. Certainly with enough tact to get a hearing. What I think what must have swayed it was the way it was readily possible to make the correct roof over the station building walls. A lot of volunteer labour had already gone into the works to carefully get the right effect - eg retrieving the right bricks for the walls under the platform edges from a turntable pit.

However understandable some urgency when the rails connected to Broadway to have some station building was, what has been achieved is so much better than what it seemed there would be. Something to rally round for the future.

 

We ought to recall that, even back in the "golden age" of railway construction, many (if not most) lines opened with a fair bit of work outstanding. On any operating public railway revenue is king ..... and however much we might like to pretend otherwise we should never forget it!

 

Just a little teaser, but something might be happening with regard to building platform 2's facilities

 

If you have all the materials to hand, and a willing team, ready to get stuck in, it makes sense, as the costs of construction will mostly have been already funded, so it won't become a funding issue, plus once the building is up, and finished, it will provide another string in your bow, as it will make the station look complete and be attractive to film makers etc if they need an authentic, town GWR station,

 

I have a vision of a kettle on a rake of engineers wagons in P2 being filled by a suitable excavator - whilst the Foot bridge, P1 and buffet are filled with potential and past funders , photographers and invited guests...

 

This may be a really dumb question so I do apologise, but what's the benefit of having a second platform?

Would it only come into play on gala days where it would allow for a more intensive passenger service?

 

A portacabin?

 

It would allow a Winchcombe - Broadway DMU shuttle to fit in around the existing 2 train timetable, which would help liven things up a bit. It doesn't actually do a huge amount for gala timetables, we quite often top and tail up there during galas to remove the run round time, it's the section time that is the killer. I'm sure we'll make use of it though

 

No...

 

Is the station signalled to allow trains to pass? (i.e. you can accept an arriving train while there is one ready to depart from the other side?)

Tom

 

It's not currently signalled at all, but yes, that will be possible when it is commissioned. It is more or less all just waiting for the final connecting up of the bits currently connected to the ground frame being hooked up to the box, but that requires the comittment that we can man the box every operating day as it cannot be switched out.

 

At the end of the day it doesn’t need signalling to use both platforms. Just operate it a la Whitby.

 

Sorry Steve, not familiar with the technicalities of how Whitby works. At the moment the Broadway section is worked by a train staff released by the Toddington signalman which allows entry to the section and also unlocks the ground frame to run round at Broadway. To have 2 trains at Broadway we'd have 2 trains in section at once in effect?

 

Whitby is platform permissive. The token section ends before the platforms. You can have as many ‘trains’ in there as space allows. The road is set for pl.1. To access pl.2 the train stops and the token is used to unlock the ground frame to allow the train in. All that there is in terms of signalling is a points indicator and stop boards in both platforms.

edit: forgot to say that there is a TPWS mat in pl.1 which is suppressed for five minutes when the token is withdrawn. No such mat in pl. 2 though as you can’t operate the ground frame to access the section unless you have the token.