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Latest News: Archive
July 2008
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Latest News: Archive
July 2008
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By Terry Mann.
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Horace during his first excursion down the yard to perform a light engineering test lift, just to prove everything actually worked and he could lift and hold a load. 21st July 2008. Photo: Terry Mann |
As reported in our last message we have worked on installing a 12 volt alternator, battery charging circuit and oil warning light system to the engine and completing all those other minor things necessary to finish a project. These have now been successfully completed and the crane was used to good effect on the recent Diesel Gala Day to demonstrate loading a road vehicle trailer and moving items around the yard. As the crane had not been tested we only put dummy loads on the hook but the day's worth of use proved valuable in getting used to its operation, and also showed up one or two minor problems - a leaky radiator hose (which has now been renewed) and a faulty ignition switch (which still needs replacement).
Today, a specialist company arrived to conduct a full inspection and overload test of the completed crane. The original design test load on the crane in 1945 (its year of manufacture) was 10.5 tons and following a thorough inspection of all the crane's lifting structure and ropes the inspector was happy for it to be subject to its full test load. We drove Horace down the yard, attached a load cell to the hook and secured it with a set of lifting chains to a stack of 9 track panels. The load was increased in stages and we are glad to report the "old boy done good". Horace successfully lifted and held the full test load for a period of 10 minutes without showing any problems. All that remains now is to get the MNR Insurance Inspector to accept the independent test results and issue a valid certificate of insurance and the crane will be fully operational for MNR use.
This will be the last report on Horace's restoration. It's taken over 3 years, and been interspersed with several other major and unrelated works, since we first brought Horace to site and donated him to the MNR but we now feel rather pleased with all the efforts and hope MNR make good use of Horace for many years to come.
By Trevor Brackpool, Owen Stratford, Simon Addington and Paul Mobbs.
P Way were down at Wymondham to complete the last of the resleepering at the junction. We caught the first service train to site and pushed up our tools on a trolley to the junction. The 31 sleepers were changed by mid afternoon and we then started on the backfilling before heading back on the last service.
We were in Dereham yard completing the last preparations for Hoe level crossing renewal. A replacement checkrail was selected and cut to length. We then set about the ends with a jim-crow, bending the flangeway flares at both ends. We then had a bit of shunting in order to dig out the rail crane. The checkrails were loaded onto the tench wagon and sleepers and chairs were put onto the flatrol.
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12th July 2008. Photo: Simon Addington |
A small p-way gang of four started yet another session of sleeper replacement, this time at Thuxton. Work on digging out sleepers began near the 7 milepost and headed towards the level crossing. There are two reasons for this work as, in addition to routine replacement of rotten sleepers, the opportunity is being taken to deal with any sleeper in the platform area that is likely to need changing in the next few years. When the second track for the passing loop is in place this task will become much harder.
P Way were having a planned foray up to the north of Dereham today. We were renewing he level crossing at Hoe. This job had been pre-planned for several months. The highways contractor had removed all of the surfacing during the previous week, and when we turned up by train, the site was ready for the renewal. Firstly the new rails, sleepers and fittings were unloaded from the wagons, before the old crossing was ripped out. The bed was dug down to remove the old spoil before a start was made on replacing the track. The new sleepers were laid out and the rails installed. We then fitted the check chairs and gauged up the running rails before drilling and screwing it down. Finally the checkrails were installed, completing the trackform.
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20th July 2008. Photo: Owen Stratford |
We returned to Hoe to complete the level crossing renewal. We took a train with a different set of wagons back to Hoe, containing all of the replacement ballast. The ballast was loaded in 1 tonne bags ready for use. A few bags were unloaded and we then set about lifting the track to level and packing the sleepers up to the correct height. We then carried out some loaded test runs before fettling the track to final alignment. Once this was satisfactorily completed, further bags were unloaded and the beds were topped up to the top of the sleepers. We also made a start on cutting and fitting the timber edging, which the surfacing will run up to.
P Way were at Thuxton this week, making preparations for resleepering. All of the remaining 64 sleepers were dug out and we also made a start on changing some of the adjacent ones in the platform to make our life easier next week. We changed 28 which was very respectable given that it was a very hot day.
Despite the hot weather, preparations continued for the installation of a third siding in Dereham Yard. Paul Mobbs and James Steward spent a rather hot Sunday morning lowering the brickwork base of the old Dereham South signal box so that the new siding can traverse over the site. As this siding will eventually form the headshunt to the yard shed, it's important that we maximise the length of track available towards the south of the site.
After a quick lunch the rail crane was pressed into service. With Matt in the driving chair, we moved the last two remaining track panels out of the way. The site of the new No 3 siding is now clear of the major obstacles so that we can commence levelling the terrain and moving some of the smaller p-way components clear over the next couple of weekends. Thanks to Mark Hallett and the Operations crew who shunted clear the stock from sidings 1 and 2 and somehow managed to keep the steam service to time whilst the crane was working in the yard.
By Matt Goodrum and Gary Hall.
The Northern Section team spent the day stacking and cutting previously cut vegetation to complete the tidying of the section within the town.
Although today was a bright and clear, it proved to be a bit too hot to sustain the working party. We started to spray the track for weeds from bridge 1707 towards County School Station. Although other work was programmed, we called it quits when heat exhaustion started to set in. We returned to the station to regroup and drink plenty of water. We decided to work in the orchard and trim up some of the trees that are usually sitting in a pond. After that we moved on to the platform and removed two large branches from the evergreen trees that were hanging over the south end of the platform.