At Alresford two more felted roofs have been constructed to be placed on storage containers down the headshunt. The photo shows a previous model fixed in place that was carried out last year. They were made on site in order to avoid the need to transport them from Medstead as they would be out of gauge on the track. Fine weather blessed the work on these, so they were completed in a fairly short time span. They will be lifted into place when time allows between train running services onto the containers by the RRV using the lifting brackets attached to the frames.
During the winter it was noted that some deterioration had taken place to the frames on the Strongs of Romsey brewery signs both at Alresford and Alton. At Alresford, in order to carry out the repairs the sign boards and support frames were taken down from the support posts to gain better access to timbers requiring repair or replacement. After painting the frames the boards were lifted manually back onto the support posts to again grace the scene at Alresford station from passing trains. At Alton the sign and frame were taken down, dismantled and taken back to Medstead by truck as the site is not really suitable to do the amount of work needed and the tools required. It was there totally rebuilt using some existing timbers that were sound and also some new timber. After painting and re-assembly it was loaded onto the RRV trailer- balanced on bags of ballast for security – and taken by rail back to Alton for re-erecting. Re-erection will take place when suitable time is found around the train running timetable.
At Medstead a multi-department team have started a scheme to build an extension to the S&T (Signal and Telecomms) building. Currently the ground has been cleared and surveyed. This was then back-filled and levelled and shuttering begun to form a base for concreting. The extension will provide much needed additional storage space for the extensive essential records and some smaller equipment parts.
Further to the work to replace the running-in boards for Alresford station the wooden raised letters from the old boards have been removed and are currently being refurbished ready to be fixed to the new boards when they are completed. Surprisingly, only about three of the letters were in a state not fit for repair and new ones were cut to replace these. Work on these boards and letters ebbs and flows somewhat with the holiday season taking volunteers away and also other urgent tasks coming into play as the season and events progress, but we will get there. The lettering looks a little bit like Welsh sometimes when they are laid out irregularly.
