GROUNDWORKS FOR the replica GWR waiting room building on Platform 2 at Broadway station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway got under way in mid-December.
GWSR volunteers have been using a digger to clear the ground on which the station will be built, in preparation for the foundation trenches to be dug, with the excavated spoil being loaded onto wagons to be transported away by rail.
Once complete, the building will form the final phase of work on the GWSR’s current northern terminus, which has been built almost entirely from scratch using authentic materials. Funded by the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Trust, the new building will be “almost identical to the original, except that it will be longer by one truss. This is to keep it in proportion to the P1 building, which is about 50% larger owing to the additional toilets. The extra length will have the same set of doors and windows as the initial set, so creating two rooms inside instead of one,” explained Broadway station volunteer Jo Roesen.
He added: “The open urinal at the southern end will also be replicated, but as a storeroom instead. This is to allow the storage of equipment for the station maintenance team, in replacement of the steel containers currently in use. The two rooms inside will be a waiting room and a room available as a museum.
“The canopy overhang leading to the stairs will be the same as that on Platform 1, but of the correct alignment with the building, which was not possible on Platform 1. The canopy of steel arches and glazing will be authentic, and identical to that on Platform 1, being built by the same team. The steelwor
