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Latest News: Archive
June 2001
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Latest News: Archive
June 2001
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By Paul Mobbs.
Six volunteers got stuck in with the fishplate greasing, starting from Cavick up distant (1m 12chs) with a view to finishing off the task all the way to Wymondham Junction; but almost immediately we were faced with pulling back rails in order to get the fishplates off and restore the proper expansion gap. This lost us a lot of time but its important that it is done so the rails can expand and contract. So we had to call it a day at W37 signal which leaves us just 14 sets of plates to the MNRPT boundary left to do.
Six P-way volunteers completed the re-ferruling work on a 13 chain section near Yaxham in preparation for resleepering next week. This is the type of work that is not readily apparent to a visitor but it takes time and effort and must be done as it's vital in keeping the track maintained to carry traffic.
On the drainage front, Paul M spent a morning on the Wicklewood drains, clearing out stones and silt, and also removing a tree root which was half blocking the drainage pipe. The trackbed is now starting to dry out.
Rain stopped play out on the track, so the planned re-sleepering work did not go ahead, but the permanent way stores got a good spring clean and tidy.
Now that the initial backlog of water has gone, the water flow along the system was found to be sluggish, so out came the rods and spades again. We found two more access pits towards the outfall this time which were virtually blocked with stones and silt. Having cleared them, half the system is now flowing well but there is more work upstream needed to improve the flow.
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Photo: Alan Cooper |
Avondale Environmental Services successfully undertook weedkiller spraying along the line. The weather was almost ideal, by comparison with last year's downpour!
The P-Way Supervisor (Trevor Brackpool) carried out training on a variety of P-way equipment during the morning, with the AGM being the focus for the afternoon. As the drainage repairs at Wicklewood are almost complete, a survey of the work required to install catch pits was carried out after the AGM.
The line from Yaxham to Whinburgh cutting was surveyed to assess which sleepers are to be changed.
Approx 50 sleeper bays were dug out south of Yaxham in preparation for re-sleepering next weekend.
By Richard Cullen.
Some filler has been put into the cracks on the good side of Great Eastern Railway carriage body number 1380 in order to prevent further deterioration. Reg has been working hard on reglazing the coach and has sourced a replacement door to replace the one removed when the coach was converted for use as a house. Sadly, however, Reg has got about as far as he can working on his own and the restoration effort has had to be suspended until additional hands can be found. All of the current volunteers at County School and Dereham are busy with other jobs, so if there are any carpenters or historic carriage fans out there with some time to spare, we would love to hear from you!
One of our younger members has proven himself to be worth his weight in gold. Andrew is the son of the Post Office manager in North Elmham and has been assisting with the restoration of E56301 at County School. This morning he walked from North Elmham to County School carrying all his tools - and a Black and Decker workmate - and fitted the missing trim to the interior of the main saloon windows. It is also worth noting that Andrew has also sourced suitable material to use for the job at no cost to the Trust. Surely one to watch for the future!
Frank Stone took pity on the County School team and brought his weed-killing expertise to the station platforms and track. This required an early start, as he had to complete the job before travelling to Dereham to work as guard on the 11.00 train! A small amount of strimming has taken place close to the station building, but the growth of weeds has been amazing this year, and there is enough work to keep a large team going for weeks. The clearing has also been limited by the lack of equipment on site at County School - there is simply nowhere to store the tools required to maintain such a large area! This issue is currently being looked at.