This years’ activities in the Building Department are well underway now. Firstly, we completed the replacement of the boarding on the footbridge at Alresford with the centre span nicely in place for visitors to cross the line and to watch the locos running round at the end of the journey from Alton. This nicely sets things up for the continuation of the repainting of the bridge in better weather.
We then immediately- no time to sit around at the moment- moved to install the new picket fencing outside the West Country Buffet at Alresford that encloses the outside seating area. This follows a ‘ trial’ fence created with pallets (see photo with blue fence) last year to evaluate the concept of extending the seating arrangements during the running season to accommodate more visitors in an outside environment, the new fence being more in-keeping with the traditional Southern Railway appearance. As seen in previous blogs the panels were prefabricated and painted in the workshop at Medstead and stored awaiting the opportunity to do the job after the Christmas events structures were taken down. Metal sleeves for the posts (made by colleagues in the loco shed) were let into the paving with assistance from the PWay chaps who also helped with the first fence installation when the cattle dock gate and fence was put in last year. The posts and panels were installed in a way that means they are easily removable when required to accommodate the re- configuration of the area for special events. The second phase of the transformation to the entrance to the station was with further fencing being installed around the waste bins on the other side of the staff car park. This second part just requires the paving blocks to be reinstated around the posts.
Another interesting project has also come to fruition at Ropley. This is the installation of a feature fence panel outside the T Junction refreshment seating area. The panel incorporates a silhouette of a steam locomotive which compliments the view of the loco yard when visitors are taking their refreshments. This was the inspiration of one of our team- Alan Baker- and his industrious work at his home workshop during the winter days.
A winter workshop job that was undertaken was the making of a new board to display the original cast letters from the old Farnham Junction signal box. This was a donation to the Railway and relevant to the railway heritage of the Southern Railway . As the board we received that the letters were fixed to was not the original, and in poor condition, a new board was made that would fit better in a space in the Education Room at Ropley. A brief description about the history of the signal box was written and placed below the board to give visitors some background information regarding the exhibit. (Not sure about the original credit for the photo of the signal box).
Bob Brooks
