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Latest News: Archive
April 2003
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Latest News: Archive
April 2003
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The President of the Mid-Norfolk Railway, Rt Hon Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market, was welcomed to the line on Saturday, April 5th. He was greeted at Wymondham Abbey Station and rode on the 11.45 train to Dereham. Here he was shown progress and given information on the refurbishment of the Station and planned improvements. Before returning to Wymondham he met various volunteers during a buffet lunch in the bar coach.
For the first time our Easter Bunny event for children was concentrated on the train. Several hundred boarded either at Dereham or Wymondham Abbey to be entertained by King Bunny, in his new fur and crown, plus Alice and her little sister, Elizabeth.
A competition to count the giant bunnies along the line and find the ones up trees, eating carrots and waiting at stations with suitcases, kept families busy. Children received drinks, jam tarts and Easter eggs, ably served by Alice and Elizabeth. King Bunny helped competitors look out for the rabbits. Before they left each child was given an Easter balloon and noise maker.
Dereham Station had a painting competition with a closing date of the 26th. Paintings will then be judged in age groups and prizes presented to the winners. John Palmer kindly brought two of his model layouts, a fairground and the ever-popular Thomas, to fascinate large and small alike.
Volunteers went home exhausted, having had a very enjoyable "holiday". King Bunny, who had one or two dogs wondering how edible he was, will now hibernate to metamorphose into Edmund R Bear on October 27th.
By Owen Stratford.
We completed the remaining sleepers on Danemoor today and boxed in the ballast, thus completing the job. Not a bad day's work. We finished the 19 sleepers by 2pm.
With illness striking down a significant proportion of the team, only Barry, Simon and Owen went out to clear scrub. We managed to complete a fair amount but did not reach the bridge as hoped. On the return to Dereham on the second train we spent a little while in the signal box sorting a couple of problems that required the strength of two!
Having completed the sleepers at Danemoor, it was time to start on the next batch at the Whinburgh Trout Farm. A few members of the team referruled working from 1687 towards Dereham. Meanwhile the rest of the team dug out 35 sleepers.
With no one available to wield a chainsaw, we set about burning the trees that were already cut down. We cleared up a large pile of dead wood and then hand-sawed through a large clump of blackthorn that was on the fence. We had a successful day and have tidied up a remarkable amount.
We resumed work on the siding today as we had a suitable number of volunteers. In spite of the cold wind, two panels were lifted and packed and a high spot was dug down to the right level. This will allow a crossover to be installed in the future between the siding and the main line when it becomes the yard reception road.
Another good turnout of volunteers allowed us to complete the program of vegetation clearance for this winter. We reached bridge 1686 between Garvestone and Thuxton. It was a glorious day as spring returned to us once again.
Our latest crossing to have work done to it was Yaxham Road in Dereham. This is on one of the major roads into the town and we had to close it for the weekend in order to carry out the work. A possession was set up on the railway and the team started work at 17:30 on removing the level crossing equipment and track circuits. At 19:00 the road was shut and we worked until 22:00 on breaking out the tarmac.
It was an early start at 7:30 to resume work on the crossing. The remainder of the tarmac was broken out and the hard in-fill had to be dug out and removed. By lunch time, we had removed the old rails, and our efforts were rewarded by tea and cakes brought up from the station. Everyone set about cleaning up corrosion on the rail chairs in order to be able to get the new rails to seat correctly, after which the two long 60-foot rails were installed across the carriageway. Meanwhile the digger - which had been carrying out other jobs - arrived to remove the old spoil and tidy up the area. The closure rails to join the old track up to the new rails were cut at this stage and moved into position, and the various holes for the S&T equipment were drilled. By the time we left at 20:30 most of the crossing was back in situ and one rail was connected through.
It was another early 7:30 start. One of the rails was still not sitting properly, so we lifted it back out and cleaned still more corrosion out of the offending chairs. It went back in much better. Once everything was reassembled, a series of test runs were made over the crossing to bed everything in and check for problems. It is important to get everything right since the railway will be buried under the road for the forseeable future! Our tarmac contractor then moved in and resurfaced the crossing. Next the automatic crossing had to be set back up and tested. All of the jobs were finally completed and were were very relieved to hand back the track at 17:00!
By Roy Malyon.
The 165 yard fence across the yard at North Elmham, to separate MNRPT land from the farmer's property, was completed on Saturday 5th April. Connected with this project was clearance of accumulated mud and debris from between the rails and beside the track. The whole area looks much tidier and the rails can now be clearly seen. An area on the south side of North Elmham level crossing was also cleared of material dumped there by local residents over the years since trains last ran.