Education Building Work Progressing

Work inside the education building is rapidly progressing.

 The track circuit interactive display is all but complete and looks great.

The high level railway track is also taking shape.

The second room is also progressing with new shelving being installed.

At this rate the building will soon be ready for opening!

Discussions are taking place about standardized signage throughout the site. This should give us an even more professional look. This includes The Buffer Stop cafe, where the menus and other signs could certainly do with an upgrade. I, as the main cafe organiser, will be very pleased to see these.

More news soon hopefully.

Dave

Apologies for the long gap between the updates...

My excuse is that I have a new computer and was unable to log in to the blog. This has now been resolved and so it should be all systems go again. Technology eh!

• Fitting out of the education building is now taking shape and so watch this space, and the newsletters.
• Things are beginning to move regarding the major works and restoration of the signal box itself. Various surveys etc. are happening and so hopefully the start of work is to be sooner rather than later.
• The cafe is still proving to be popular. I have tried various menu items over time with some encouraging results. The open day yesterday (5th February) proved to be well worthwhile with over 40 visitors, some just for The Buffer Stop cafe. I had toasted sandwiches on the menu and sold out. The Test Valley mayor and his wife visited the site and they came into the cafe for refreshments, which included a piece of my coffee and walnut cake

More updates soon.

Dave

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE 

I would personally like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a great new year. Here's hoping that 2023 is good to us all.

Just a few cafe updates for you...

• The Buffer Stop cafe has been a big success this year, despite constant juggling with what and how much to offer for sale. A big thank you to all who support it, both public and volunteers. I've even been known to buy some beans on toast for my own lunch!
• The bacon rolls were a success and so a small "George Foreman" grill has been purchased for the cafe kitchen.
• I do occasionally bake a gluten free sponge. I have to be honest and say that they rarely sell well, which is a shame because they are very good, even if I do say so myself. These sponges cost a little more to produce and are therefor not financially viable. I will still bake one from time to time. I also need to look into what other gluten free things I can offer that have a reasonable shelf life.
• I mentioned before that the prices will have to be reviewed. I hope to study this before the January open day and produce the new price lists. This is not an easy task because obviously we need to make a profit, but conversely we want to give all our customers good value for money.

I hope everyone has a great festive period and new year.

See you in 2023.

Dave

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 

This wonderful poppy display was created by Kelly.

Our very clever neighbour Kelly has knitted these poppies and created the stunning display on the side of the signal box. If you are in the area do come along and have a look.

We are very grateful for the display, which helps us and our visitors think about those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

SIMULATOR PANEL SWITCHES FINISHED...

Today I finished installing the new illuminated switches. There are 15 in total and each one was a little fiddly to complete. The first problem was making the switch holes bigger for the new ones. I eventually resorted to using a cone cutter in a battery drill (should have thought of that sooner). After installing each one I tested it before moving on. Luckily it all went pretty smoothly and so we now have a panel where it's obvious when the switches are on.

Thanks go to Colin who suggested this in the first place.

Well, onto the next project...

Dave

 SIMULATOR PANEL UPDATE...

Inside the simulator panel

Work is progressing with the panel switch changing. A new wire has been installed to provide the means to illuminate the switches. This common wire will be routed to all the switches in due course.

To date I have installed and wired three new switches on the Eastleigh line (see below).

These switches show red when lit, although they look whitish in the photo. You can see some of the original toggle switches in the upper part of the picture.

Work has come to a standstill at the moment as I am awaiting delivery of some more resistors. For those non-technical amongst us, each LED requires its own resistor to limit the amount of current it draws when lit.

More news as and when available.

Dave

SIMULATOR PANEL UPGRADE...

For those who don't know, this is the simulator panel in the locking room. It's from here that we pretend to be the other signal boxes (Redbridge, Kimbridge and Eastleigh) during a demonstration. The person operating this panel listens to the demonstrator upstairs, and sends the appropriate bells, lights etc, which means a truly realistic demonstration to the visiting public.

Up until now the lights on the diagram in the signal box have been controlled simply by a toggle switch on the simulator panel. With no other visual indication as to whether the switch is on or off it is easy to forget one. Following some investigation, some new push on/push off switches with an L.E.D indicator have been obtained. These are about to be installed and wired up. This will give a very visual indication that the switch is turned on.

Dave