MONDAY 1^st

After a hectic few months of alterations and new installations at and around Toddington, the final day of testing had arrived before the visit of HMRI on Wednesday. No major issues were found, so a start was made on oiling all moving parts and fitting the many split pins to secure everything in its place.

TUESDAY 2^nd

The 25 or so remaining split pins were fitted to the tappet blades and a final oiling of moving parts meant at last.....Toddington locking is finished!

Andy and John P. erected a new fence around the back of the banner repeater signal on platform 1, including a small gate for the gardeners to access their storage area. Then, with the help of Richard Etherton, new speed signs were erected south of Toddington and all the signal wire stakes from the outer home back to the signal box were concreted into the ground (around 30 in total)

Malcolm spent the afternoon finishing the marking and painting of the 'box diagram, lever leads and plungers, while Andy, John and Richard re-bonded the track circuits thru' platform 1.

WEDNESDAY 3^rd

With Neil Carr and Andrew Goodman as escorts, HMRI took a walkabout of Toddington North, the signal box and then Gotherington. Happily only one or two minor issues were highlighted.

I spent the morning shovelling ballast from around clips on seven panels of track north of Toddington, while Malcolm spent the afternoon manufacturing a plate for the banner repeater mount.

THURSDAY 4^th

Malcolm and Neil made pre-season tests of signalling equipment between Winchcombe and Cheltenham Racecourse, then Winchcombe and Toddington.

FRIDAY 5^th

Before the arrival of Malcolm and Neil with the railcar, I applied treatment to the fencing put up on Tuesday and repaired the gutter downpipe at the rear of Flag & Whistle. Once the railcar had arrived, the main task of the day could begin....the installation of the banner repeater.

This proved quite a lump to man-handle up the scaffolding, but after much heaving, was finally bolted to its mounting plate. As can be seen from the photograph, this looks an impressive addition to platform 1. While I dismantled the scaffold tower and loaded onto the railcar, Malcolm and Neil removed tools etc. from under the signal box and had a general tidy up.

MONDAY 8^th

With all the major work at Toddington now finished, most of our work for the foreseeable future will be either a) restoring parts from Winchcombe yard for storage, b) repainting/restoring signal posts and equipment at the line side, or c) general tidying up at Toddington, Winchcombe and Gotherington. So today begins with the cleaning and painting of various hoops and brackets and a 25mph sign.

TUESDAY 9^th

  As mentioned above, a trip to Gotherington for a general tidy up. Firstly larger items from outside the 'box were loaded onto the trailer, followed by the smaller equipment and tools from inside. This was than taken back to Winchcombe for sorting and storing. Meanwhile, Malcolm took the opportunity to check nuts, bolts and split pins before giving all moving parts a good oiling. An old cable run thru' Gotherington station was pulled out of the ballast and cut into approx. 12' lengths. This was piled up at the end of the platform for removal on Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY 10^th

Loaded cut cable onto railcar before assisting Kevern and Ed with the testing of the motor point at the south end of Gotherington Loop. A fault materialised with the "D" & "B" lock contacts, but was soon rectified.

Back at Winchcombe to unload the cut lengths of cable and to clean fittings and paint three disc signal faces.

THURSDAY 11^th

  A new lever lock required for Toddington T32 was drilled and fitted to its timber and lever leg. Once completed, the notches in the relevant guide bars had to be modified and cut, after which, the whole of the ground floor of the 'box was swept and hoovered.

FRIDAY 12^th

  After assisting Neil with a major shunt within Winchcombe yard, Malcolm set about finishing some minor painting of fittings under Toddington 'box.

MONDAY 15^th

Most of the day assisting with another major shunt at Winchcombe and at Cheltenham Racecourse.

TUESDAY 16^th

The task for today was to form a concrete access ramp on the Malvern side of the vehicle crossing behind C&W. This had been brought about since P/way removed the rotten timber crossing and replaced with rubber matting. Unfortunately this only filled the four foot and not either side. An added complication was the routing of two signal wires six inches from sleeper ends. This was overcome by lowering the two stakes either side of the crossing, cutting a slot thru' the length of an eight inch diameter plastic pipe and feeding the wires thru' this. A depth of fifteen inches of compacted ballast and clay was then removed from an area 15 feet x 2½feet, the pipe laid at the bottom and approx. 2½ tons of concrete was then mixed and laid over the pipe to form the access ramp.

To finish the day off, some leisurely painting was carried out by the coach. A second coat of yellow to a speed sign and white gloss to 3x dummy signal faces. Who says S&T work isn't varied!

WEDNESDAY 17^th

A small electrical cabinet requiring new shelving and interior woodwork was completely repaired, rubbed down and given a coat of red oxide. Two support legs were sourced, cleaned, cut to length and also painted with red oxide.

THURSDAY 18^th

The cabinet repaired yesterday got a new coat of silver paint along with its two support legs. And while the paint brushes were out, a signal detector cast, slide, lid and face received undercoat, and a speed sign got its third coat of yellow gloss.

FRIDAY 19^th

Out with the paint brushes again, this time picking out the lettering with white gloss on a new sign for the crossing behind C&W. Black gloss was also applied to the speed sign.

MONDAY 22^nd

Finished painting the lettering and border around the new crossing sign. Cut and drilled six pieces of old point rodding to mount and erect sign. Black gloss to all detector fittings and cast, and finish the lettering on the train staff repeater.

TUESDAY 23^rd

A day at Toddington. First job to modify new fence at south end of platform two after a request from loco dept. for a gate to allow safe lineside access. Once completed, a move across to platform one to form a concrete base for a small shed to house an Annettes Lock for northbound trains. Following drawings produced by Neil, an area four feet x two feet was cleared and concrete poured in and levelled. While the materials were to hand, we also concreted in the base of the ladder at signal T24 which up until now had suspended in mid-air since the support timbers had rotted away. At the signal box end, Malcolm had refitted the wire adjustment mechanism for signal T24, removed and repositioned its vertical wheel and re-jointed the signal wires. This was to enable the signal to show a better 'on' & 'off' position.

WEDNESDAY 24^th

Repairs made to Gotherington 'down' distant, assisted Kevern testing the motorpoint, then loaded surplus electrical items and timber from in and around the signal box and offload and store at Winchcombe.

TUESDAY 30^th

While Malcolm and Neil spend three days AWOL (at Bodmin), the Tuesday gang erect and paint the Annettes Lock shed at Toddington. This had been assembled by John P. at home into flat-pack sections, and brought to Toddington by trailer. By lunchtime (albeit a late one) the shed stood proud in its first coat of gloss in the shadow of the Stow Road bridge.

After lunch, we travelled back to Winchcombe to temporarily re-erect the route indicator signal in the MSC shed to facilitate its restoration for use at Broadway.