Words by J. Penny. 'It's been a funny old day...' as Arkwright might have
said. Whether or not our very own version of Arkwright - Harold Rodd, thought the same is unknown, but Steve has been teaching him how to use a computer and all the GLR stock in the shop is being logged in and out. Blimey; technology reaches the GLR, although apparently it's not powered by steam. Shame. Dave drove the red diesel, No.5, on a trip to Park Lane to re-erect the 'STOP' board, broken off at the end of the 2012 season. It was my fault (Bert) but the wood was rotten, believe me... There was a little pause before returning as the drive belt to the air pump snapped, meaning the brakes on the loco would not come off, but as we had just had a torrential downpour we were able to creep back gently as the brake-blocks were not exactly gripping tightly. The weather brightened considerably, we exchanged engines at Common Lane yard, and made our way up to Tower View to pick up all the logs from the tree-cutting from a few weeks ago, all the brush-wood having gone up in smoke of course. These logs were loaded onto the broad bogie flat wagon and then moved to a convenient place for unloading, where we chained the wagon to the track just in case some undesirables had some bright ideas... Needless to say lots of other little jobs were tackled, none of huge importance, but ones which help to put the GLR where it is at the top of the 'Tidiest Railway' category (in my less-than-humble opinion) One thing I did notice in the workshops is that a start was been made on replacement windows for Pinesway Junction signal box. Facing the West it can really get the worst of the weather and sad to say the windows have really suffered in the last twenty years or so. Fortunately Ian is 'the man' when it comes to carpentry, and 'O' level or not, I think my efforts at anything like that would be in the 'wood butchery' class, producing little more than a mess, noise and sawdust! A wet and rather chilly start to January and the first few weekends back at the GLR meant it was time for some great photo oppurtunities. Some have been taken by railway volunteer/fireman Dave, with others being taken by John 'CJ' Penny, here are some stunning pictures of the GLR with a blanket of snow, taken on Friday 18th Jan and Sunday 20th. No doubt there will be more to follow, so watch this space! Sunday 6th was a mild although drizzly day at times, but this
did not stop the team getting cracking with the initial concreting of the signal at Pinesway. Several trips were made with the tool van, bogie wagon loaded with a barrow of concrete (mixed in the vehicle wash area) and were headed by No.5. However, little progress seemed to be made in filling the hole. The Boss had asked us to make the hole even bigger before starting the concreting as well, so clearly there is a long way to go. Graham and Sheila were busy gardening, and in the afternoon, Mike Baker, C.J. and myself took this down to our burning place for a lovely big bonfire, burning a considerable amount of brush and branches from previous weeks. Ah! I love a good fire, and the stillness of the winter air saw the plume of light grey smoke rising gently into the air. What is it with blokes and bonfires? Work carried out over the previous few weeks was mainly by our stalwart C.J. whose input over the years has been a major contribution to the success of the GLR. He spent a day fish-plate greasing; not the nicest of jobs but one that is essential. Also, as stated on our Facebook site, one Friday he and Ian replaced the window cill of Common Lane 'box (to the right as view from the front) a job that we 'got around to' at last. |
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