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Latest News: Archive
August 2005
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Latest News: Archive
August 2005
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By Owen Stratford, Matt Goodrum and Trevor Brackpool.
We had a very productive day at Wymondham. We had sufficient volunteers to concentrate on a number of tasks. The new bolts for the buffer stop were inserted after a little fiddling. (the GER PW staff were not as precise with their hole drilling). The second running rail was cut to length and drilled before aligning and fishplating the buffer onto the end of the headshunt. We then packed the sleepers. Elsewhere, the distance blocks were fitted to a number of the check rails. Each check rail has two of these with a bolt through both rails in order to hold it in the correct position. A suspect sleeper in the loop was also removed and replaced with a good one.
The S&T contingent made a start on the south end point connections. The facing point lock was fastened to the sleepers. All of the cranks and connectors that will be required for the point and lock drives were identified, cleaned and oiled, before fitting them together.
Another good day was spent at Wymondham working on the point connections to the south end point. The point lock drive was installed in the 4 foot. We also removed the hand lever and fitted the adjuster and crank to the point drive. We then installed four rodding stools and the point channel to connect to the point and lock cranks.
On Saturday we continued to re-ballast the cribs and completed another 6.5 chains near the Trout Farm.
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Strimming near Wymondham South Junction. 14th August 2005. Photo: Matt Goodrum |
The first meeting of the Wymondham area group saw the team start to clear vegetation which is obstructing the view of the junction signal south of Wymondham Abbey station.
The PW team had a good day at the Whinburgh Trout Farm. We completed the remaining ballast work. This has left the site looking very tidy and with all beds full of ballast once more.
We spent today at Wymondham repairing the level crossing deck. The sleepers in the footway at the south side of the crossing had deteriorated, but we had not changed them until construction work on the loop had been completed in order to avoid damaging them again. The old ones were removed and new ones fitted, with the notches being cut out for the chairs to sit in. A large amount of contaminated ballast had to be dug out too. Upon inspection once the deck had been lifted, we decided to change the main sleepers too and so the new deck was left temporarily supported to enable this to be done easily. We also planted several new poles that will have new signs placed on them.
By Matt Goodrum and Gary Hall.
We continued work on the footpath next to the line near County School, to enlarge its width and trim the grass and weeds. We plan on having a clear walkway all the way on this section of the line by the next sponsored walk.
One lonely volunteer continued to clear the path alongside the track from County School to North Elmham. Though progress may be slow, the finished result is extremely impressive. A narrow path with overgrown branches and weeds is being widened to about 4 feet. It just proves that no matter how often one can help, progress can always be made towards the railway as a whole.
We had a very good day, clearing another 100 feet of line. With a fresh working party we backed up to bridge 1707 and removed some large trees and branches that were about 13" in diameter. Last month's cuttings as well of the majority of this month's were all burned off. Our work party varied through the day as people had to leave early, yet others had arrived later. A good day was had by all with a great feeling of accomplishment. There is a growing enthusiasm in preparing this section for track.
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These two photos were taken from almost exactly the same place, and show the great rate of progress in this area. A massive amount of work remains before trains can run, however. 28th August 2005. Photos: Matt Goodrum |
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By Roy Malyon.
A group of volunteers are making very good progress repairing the fencing at Kimberley. This is an important section beside the footpaths that are on either side of the track. The clearance that is necessary before fencing can take place will allow our passengers a better view of the fantastic countryside and walkers to view the line and the superb rolling stock that passes.
Progress on the fence near Kimberley has been impressive and we have used 5 rolls of high tensile wire so far, each roll being over 400 metres long! The section on the up side, beside the public footpath, has been rewired or repaired for its total length between Kimberley and Wicklewood Bridge. We plan to return along the permissive path beside the fields on the down side and then work north from Kimberley Level Crossing.
It is interesting to note that about 90% of the time spent repairing fences is actually spent clearing vegetation and old wire to get at the posts!