Category: Station News

Seeing all the spring bulbs in full bloom makes all the time clearing leaves on the embankment during the cold winter months all worth it but the Birkhill team doesn’t just do leaf clearing & weeding we can do other things too!

Work continued on the recladding of the North British grounded coach body this weekend, whilst one of us painted the new cladding section rears, the other, scrubbed down the old the timber frames of decades of cobwebs, dust, decaying wood, nails of all varieties before treating with a good dollop of wood preserver. Having inspected the timbers we decided to do the next phase of cladding in two sections with the hope of the last section being brought back to what it may have looked like when it was in use many years ago- but that will be for another time.

The Monday squad have all but completed the west platform retaining wall around the foundations of the new footbridge – looking a lot tidier now lads well done!

Work re commenced on the 120 plus year old grounded North British 3rd Class 6 wheel carriage circa 1890-99. Due to time constraints we have decided to strip off the old cladding a section at a time using the new weatherboard lengths as a measure to how far we can get in a shift. The old wood did not give up much of a fight, but the way it had been previously fitted quickly revealed the lack of protection it had actually given to the lower sections of the coach frames. As previously reported the floor condition was known to be bad but the water ingress behind the old boards from the coach window down has taken its toll. Once all the old wood had been removed the frame was brushed down and painted with wood preserve to help save certainly the upper timbers. Because of the damage caused by the water ingress we decided to fit the new cladding on stand offs which we hope will give it a water tight covering and at the same time provide a small gap to allow the timbers to dry out completely. A new project page on this website will be put together shortly to provide a pictorial view of work done to protect the carriage a little longer until it can be restored to its former glory!

Meanwhile the Monday squad have continued there great job in building the retaining wall around the footbridge foundations on the West Platform, we are looking forward to its completion so that we can hopefully get it ready for summer planting.

 

 

As work continued on the Footbridge retaining wall (see progress in pictures page – https://www.srpsbirkhillgroup.org.uk/?page_id=1031)the station platform got a good sweep up, the slope next to the signal-box foundation also got a bit of tender loving care after it got a little untidy from the civils activities. It was also great to see No.19 back on running duty after the winter break.

As the finishing touches was done to the outside front of the station building work commenced on the Exhibition Room floor. Every year it gets painted, but all to easily flakes after a couple of months of use.  This year we are trying an Industrial strength paint expensive but hopefully the epoxy based paint with anti-slip qualities will last at least one running season, but only time will tell!

 

 

 

The station exterior has not seen a lick of paint for 4 years and as its the 30th anniversary of the station’s opening this coming May we thought it was time to spruce up the front of the station weather permitting that is. Keeping with the same colour scheme we started with the gantry’s before moving onto the front of the building proper.

Work has commenced on bridge foundation embankment retaining wall on the West Platform by the Monday squad. The use of the mini digger saved valuable time digging out the wall foundations . The plan is to get the wall built over the next few weeks weather permitting whilst the bridge upright refurb is being completed.

Now that we are two Amigos strong again, work picked up pace on the final tidy up of the West Platform embankment, clearing the last of the leave, branches and moss to help the many bulbs to develop and hopefully put on a good show in the coming weeks. Work focused behind the Lamp Hut and the embankment above the foundations of the new footbridge.

The snow drops are showing particularly well this year a lot better spread than previous years so we must be doing something right!  With the warm weather though, we are a tad concerned that we will be the only ones to witness the spring splendour as the first running of the new year is not until late March!

The station freshen up commenced this weekend with the painting of the waiting room floor, there is a little bit of touching up to be done on the walls but apart from that the room is now looking okay so we can now focus on the exhibition room floor before tackling the exterior paintwork which is now looking very tired indeed.

 

Work continued on the west platform embankment tidy up either side of the new bridge foundations and to the left of the grounded NB coach. A good clear up has resulted in finding more spring bulbs that have either struggled or not made it through the over growth and leaves in previous years

Meanwhile during the week the Monday Squad continued with the bridge foundations but this time on the east side. The weather has been very kind to date so progress is going well.

Its been  cold end to January, but this has not stopped work at Birkhill!

The Monday Squad have been busy concreting in the footbridge shutters on the West Platform- https://www.srpsbirkhillgroup.org.uk/?page_id=1031 and replacing worn out sleepers, whilst the Birkhill team have been working on the station garden and exhibition room floor.

Every year the paint lifts and cracks and is either due to the concrete, not enough paint who knows! So we have decided to scrape the surface layer of paint to see if we can get to the bottom of the lifting, some of the worst areas appears to have an uneven ‘dimple’ affect (probably from the small pieces of aggregate used in the original laying of the concrete) so as its walked on, the paint quickly wears away. Fingers crossed that we find a solution this year as the old knees are struggling on the cold floor and it is a chore not needed!

Apart from a couple of cold and frosty days the weather has been kind and has enable several good sessions on tidying up the West Platform embankment, the station garden, the signal-box grounds and the ramp area just beyond the gates.  Many of the bulbs are showing there heads since clearing the leaves away so all our fingers are crossed that we don’t loose them in any future freeze like we saw last year with the ‘Beast of the East’.

Yesterday was spent chopping back the overgrowth that had developed on the East embankment it just had to be done! Until the start of the second platform construction we have only spent a limited amount time and effort on keeping it tidy, but the overgrowth had just got to unsightly and something had to be done (looking across from the benches at brambles, weeds etc …well there is only so much you can take whilst having a coffee!)

Meanwhile work has recommenced on the footbridge foundations, while the pillars are strengthened and painted. It is hoped that the bridge will be in situ soon.