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Latest News: Archive
April 2004
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Latest News: Archive
April 2004
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It has been many years since we last held a sponsored walk, and many of our members and supporters have never seen the work in progress in the Northern Section. The walk was an ideal opportunity to show people what we're doing, as well as raise funds.
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Walkers just south of County School. Photo: Rosemary Cooper |
As the walkers assembled at 10am in Dereham car park, the sun shone down upon us, and it looked like a good day for a walk in the country. After a slight delay with the bus, we all gathered at County School for a safety briefing then we were off.
There was plenty to see on the way, with a work party just south of County School clearing vegetation from the track, opening up the wonderful views across the Wensum valley. This was an opportunity for walkers to see the progress we have made on this section in clearing the trees and scrub from the line. We must thank all those who have worked hard in the clearance parties of last year, without whom the walk would not have been possible.
Wildlife could be seen all along the route including rabbits, ducks, pheasants and even deer if you were lucky. Walkers took 2-3 hours to reach Dereham, where a good cup of tea and a hot cross bun awaited us in the buffet.
Thanks to Matt Goodrum for organising this event. The total raised was in excess of £1000.
You are reminded that the railway is not normally open to walkers, and you should never venture onto the line unless you hold a Personal Track Safety Certificate.
By Paul Mobbs, Owen Stratford and Barney Stratford.
It was back to site at Thuxton to backfill and pack ballast around some of the new sleepers replaced last weekend and dig out around the remainder which need to be changed. As a result 34 new sleepers were backfilled and 35 old ones prepared for changing.
Once more, we went off to the Trout Farm to clear the dense scrub that obscures the view from the train. We also managed to get a lot of previously-cut material burnt.
We had a really good day's work today, changing the last 38 sleepers near Thuxton. After a fairly slow start, we got a good rhythm going, and we soon got the work done. As there was still some time left, we began filling in the ballast, and clearing up the remains of the rotten sleepers that we'd removed.
For the last time this year, we went off to Toller's Lane to clear up the vegetation. We got a good bonfire going, and the weather was pleasant all day. Now that the bird nesting season is well under way, it is time to move on to other jobs.
In spite of the heat and humidity, we managed to get 53 sleepers dug out from Wymondham Abbey right round to our boundary with the main line. Fortunately, we were in a deep cutting for part of the time, so that gave us a little shade.
As it was raining, we were down to only the hard-core permanent way volunteers. We spent the morning checking the gauge of the track near to where the replacement sleepers are to be installed between Neatherd Road and Swanton Road in Dereham. For the most part, the gauge is rather tight (around 1430mm) and so we attempted to slacken it off a little. This was made harder by the poor quality of the maintenance carried out in the line's last days of traffic.
Sunday was spent on lineside vegetation management in the cutting at Crownthorpe. We went out by train, armed with brush cutters and saws. A swathe of the cutting sides was given a haircut to keep the eager encroaching brambles and saplings at bay. The mowings were raked up and piled up ready for burning once they have dried out. We also loaded the flatrol up with sleepers ready for next weeks resleepering north of Dereham.
By Graham Moates and Owen Stratford.
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Surfacing the platform at Kimberley Park. 17th April 2004. Photo: Tony Hendry |
Four volunteers began the preparation of the platform surface at Kimberley Park Station ready for re-asphalting later in the month. Three of us continued this task after work on Tuesday 6th April.
A major step in the restoration of Kimberley Park Station platform was completed today. Seven volunteers made an early start to assist the contractors (M W Surfacing) laying new asphalt along the entire length of the platform. The result was a big improvement in the appearance of the site. The afternoon was spent constructing a small flower bed near the new cycle stands.
Today was a busy day with several areas of activity. We had an early start to load up the works train with a new platform shelter for Kimberley Park Station. This had been prefabricated into a number of major parts for kit assembly on site. Once loaded we set off to site. The load was out of gauge and so required repositioning on the flatrol wagon as we came to the various structures such as stations as we went along. Once on site the two major components, the sides, were unloaded, lifted upright and mounted on the precast retaining bolts. This was a tricky operation as they took eight people to lift! Upon securing these the team remained on site to fix the back and roof whilst the train went back to Dereham in preparation for the first service.
Elsewhere, PW were in action checking the gauge, referruling, and moving sleepers into position between the junction and Wymondham Abbey in preparation for resleepering.
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Left photo: The components for the platform shelter are moved to site. Right photo: The assembled shelter at Kimberley Park. 24th April 2004. Photos: Alan Cooper and Barney Stratford |
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By Roy Malyon and Barney Stratford.
Roy and friends have been strimming and tidying up to the south of County School level crossing, helped by local Army Cadets. Ernie was in action with his chainsaw, and about 400 metres of track were cleared. The trimmings have been tidied up into habitat piles for the local wildlife.
We headed off to County School to clear the last of the vegetation along the banks adjacent to the track. Armed with three strimmers and a chainsaw, we managed to finish off just after lunch, so we could get some clearance done to the north of the station as well. It's hard to imagine that just a few months ago, the track was overgrown and impassable.
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Barney Stratford, Ernie Woolley, Basil Coles and Roy Malyon stand beside the new fence. 23rd April 2004. Photo: Terry Mann |
By Barney Stratford.
The fence at the front of Dereham Station had become tatty and worn over the years, so we began work to replace it with a brand-new post-and-rail fence. Our usual digger driver is very busy at the moment, but he kindly agreed to come and dig our post-holes at 5:30am before starting his other work! Without his help, we would have made much less progress, as the ground is full of rubble from the foundations of the old Hobbies factory that used to stand on the site. Each of the concrete posts weighs around 100kg, and we managed to get 18 of them manhandled into position during the day, leaving just under half of the job to be completed next week.
By Derrick Plyer.
A start was made today on dis-interring the original foundations of the North Box. It did not take long to discover that the upper concrete floor of the locking room was still intact and remains of the front, one end and the rear wall were uncovered. Ian Nugent began the excavation and was later joined by Rod Eastman and Paul Mobbs.
After spending most of the day tidying up, we primed and undercoated a board to hang a fire bucket on.