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Latest News: Archive
February 2005
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Latest News: Archive
February 2005
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The layout "Anderson Lock". Photo: Alan Cooper |
Around seven hundred people visited Dereham for the annual Model Rail Exhibition held at the Memorial Hall and the nearby TA Centre. This was the biggest exhibition yet staged by the Trust with fourteen exhibition layouts from across East Anglia and increased trade support. One of the star attractions was a quarter-scale model of an LMS steam loco built by an MNR member and exhibited at the entrance to the TA Centre.
Also of interest was a model of Sutton Bridge which was an important junction on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway in the war because it had lines from Wisbech, Peterborough, Spalding and King's Lynn and supplied a lot of the military bases in East Anglia. The model measuring 22 x 8 ft was created by owners Richard Stowe and Reg Cooper over five-and-a-half years.
By Owen Stratford and Matt Goodrum.
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Laying track for the run-round. 5th February 2005. Photo: Richard Cullen |
We had another big day today at Wymondham. Part of the team went down to continue work on the point at the south end. Meanwhile at Dereham ten 60ft track panels were tripped down from the station yard to the loop. These were loaded onto the Tench at Dereham with a very large hi-ab lorry in two batches of five. Once each load was strapped down and secured, the train was taken to Wymondham where a crawler crane was waiting. We then proceeded to unload each panel in turn and lay them out along the site. Many of the panels require the ends cutting off and re-drilling and so each overlaps the previous where required. This created a rather strange effect as several were sat in the air! Upon unloading the first train we returned to Dereham to reload with the second batch.
Whilst we were at Wymondham the hi-ab was clearing part of the yard where the pit will be built.
The second train reached Wymondham at around 3:45, which gave us sufficient daylight to complete the unloading. This went smoothly despite overhanging branches causing us headaches. The jib on the crane at the same height as the branches and as we positioned a couple of the panels we were showered with dead twigs!
As hard but satisfying day has left us with something that is starting to look very much like a run-round loop.
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Barry and Trevor Brackpool trim the closure rails to the correct length. 6th February 2005. Photo: Owen Stratford |
We started today by identifying the components that will be used next week on the north point and labelling them. We then continued working on the south point. The diverging closure rail was cut and drilled before being fishplated to the 1:10 crossing. We then started drilling and screwing down the chairs on this rail. Work also started on the first panel of track that will head north from this point. The sleepers were adjusted so that they will interlace with the point on the mainline.
With an early start the team set to work on dismantling and removing the old track and then the ballast to make way for the last of the three runround points - this time at the north end of the work site. Next the timbers were laid out in approximate positions and the metalwork placed on top.
We aligned the switches and outer rails then bolted some together to enable the sleeper positions to be marked out. We then jacked the rails off the sleepers so we could move them to their allotted positions. The rest of the metal work was aligned and a few chairs screwed down to gauge.
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Assembling the metalwork. 12th February 2005. Photo: Andy Littlejohns |
Screwing down chairs to hold everything rigid. 13th February 2005. Photo: Matt Goodrum |
The weather forecast for today was for cold and dry, with isolated showers. Clearly Wymondham is isolated, for we had frequent heavy snow and blizzards! We carried out a lot of work on the North end turnout, cutting and drilling all but one joint on the straight road. All of the chairs were drilled and screwed down from the switches to the back of the common crossing on the straight-through route. By the end of the day all of the snowmen felt cold but satisfied by what was quite a difficult day's work. A big thank you to all who braved this.
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Working at Wymondham in the snow. 19th February 2005. Photo: Andrew Littlejohns |
We had more snowfall overnight and so the day started by clearing an inch of slush off of everything so that we could see what we were doing! We had advised most people to stay at home because of the unpleasant weather, and so just four of us concentrated on fitting out the north end point. All of the remaining chairs on the straight through route were gauged and screwed down through the crossing. The check rail on the diverging route was also fixed down, leaving only the closure rails on the diverging route left to fix. Upon completion at Wymondham we returned to Dereham and sorted out some components that were required for the following week.
Work continued on the points at Wymondham. We inserted and spaced the remaining timbers, and adjusted the sleeper spacings on the main line to match. Remaining joints were drilled and fishplated. Once completed, a start was made on re-ballasting the point. Things were slowed somewhat due to the presence of a great deal of snow yet again.
By Terry Mann.
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The new water tower at Dereham. 10th February 2005. Photo: Terry Mann |
After all the hard work by several volunteers over a number of months, preparing the reinforced concrete base for the water tower, we can now report that the tower and tank have been manufactured (by Wensum Engineering) and have today been successfully installed at Dereham.
Approval was given at the February meeting of the Trust Council for Horace (the yard crane) to be moved into the Goods Shed for a period of 12 months so that Vic, Keith and Terry can undertake the restoration. The move is necessary in order to allow adequate protection to the frame and electrics during the restoration process and to allow progress to be made irrespective of the weather. Arrangements are now being made to borrow a JCB Fastrack to tow or push the 12 ton crane into position but other commitments mean this is unlikely to happen before March.
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Horace's rotor and stator. 10th February 2005. Photo: Terry Mann |
Much work has been done on the generator since it was first dismantled and hot water washed in the Goods Shed; in particular defective insulation under and around the main field and interpole core laminations has been replaced with a modern material. This has necessitated removal and refitting of all the winding poles - and proved to be a tricky job. Following this a 'hot box' was made to contain the stator and rotor, which were in turn dehumidified, then baked at 40 degrees centigrade for 7 days to remove the last traces of moisture. Broken banding cords around the commutator ends were replaced and Araldited in place. The good news is that the stator insulation resistance improved to a level which we didn't think possible, whereas the rotor has only improved marginally. However, both are deemed to be serviceable, have been re-varnished and reassembled into the frame.
A trip to several electrical rewind companies to source replacements for broken commutator brushes and tensioning springs proved unsuccessful so we are having new springs specially made. We are also hoping to source a new set of brushes via a local company who has a similar Ransomes crane but this is not certain.