Photo:
Trevor Page - Norman Dicker pictured on 7th February 1987 at work on the new dividing wall between the booking hall and office in the main station building. The view shows the extensive rebuilding work necessary to eradicate all traces of the dry rot spores. All remaining uninfected material was also chemically treated to prevent any further reinfection.

The strange growths on the walls of the station building reported in the last News have been investigated and our suspicions confirmed - dry rot was in evidence everywhere. The decision has been taken to gut the building from the ladies loo up to, but not including, the Station Master's Office. All plaster, matchboardings, sections of ceiling and the dividing walls between the ladies and the booking office and the booking office and the booking hall have gone. All the infected wood has been removed and burnt and all the surfaces within the building have been treated by a specialist. One window frame in the booking office will have to be completely renewed.

During the rebuilding work the opportunity will be taken to undertake some internal alterations. The ladies loo will be equipped with two extra cubicles, one each side of the chimney, while the fireplace is to be removed and used to replace the badly damaged example in the booking hall. The chimney and hearth will remain, but will be boxed in. The wall between the booking office and booking hall will be rebuilt slightly forward of its original line, so that the office will not become too small, because of the incursion of the two extra loos. The door in to the booking office will also be repositioned on the platform side of the ticket issuing window. Once all the structural work has been completed, the building will be rewired and the plumbing sorted out, the walls replastered, new matchboarding positioned and tiling applied to the ladies.

Externally, the canopy is being stripped and repainted - a long and tedious job.

Now for the good news. The Down Yard restoration building is now water tight. An agreement with the manufacturers of the building was reached concerning the replacement of the badly rotted concrete roof beams and the work was carried out at the end of January.

The Up Yard restoration building has now been finished and the various groups who helped to finance it are moving into their workshops.

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 1987 and so does not reflect events in the 27+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
Shed Noticeboard - Bricks & Mortar - Depot News - Quainton News No. 62 - Spring 1987