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Latest News: Archive
February 2009
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Latest News: Archive
February 2009
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By Roy Malyon, Trevor Brackpool, Owen Stratford and Simon Addington.
A small gang attacked the turnout at Thuxton again today. We worked our way through the southern turnout, pulling all of the timbers through to the correct length and making sure that they were square to the rails. The cess rail was then fixed to the timbers, with us working through systematically, drilling and screwing the chairs down. With this secured, we aligned the whole rail to the geometry of the curve. We gauged the opposite rail all the way through and secured this down too, moving on to the switches and the crossing. Having done this, we cut the belly rail for the diverging route and roughly aligned it, giving our first real impression of how the finished article will look. All of this was done in bitterly cold weather with heavy frequent snow flurries and a nasty wind that chilled you to the bones!
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Working in the snow. 1st February 2009. Photo: Owen Stratford. |
First turnout aligned. 1st February 2009. Photo: Owen Stratford. |
Today's main aim was to lift and pack the southern end of the new layout. While one part of the team loaded up a trolley with ballast, the others placed it where it was required for packing. Meanwhile, we were busy with the rail saw and drill, cutting rails for the diverging route and drilling the necessary fishplate holes. These were all fishplated up and roughly positioned. We rounded off the day by drilling and screwing down some more chairs in the main route.
The 1:14 crossing at Thuxton had a number of missing chairs, so a volunteer spent the day in Dereham removing chairs from a similar crossing. This other crossing was also missing some components, and so we made up one serviceble crossing from parts of two incomplete ones. Removing the chairs entailed completely breaking the crossing down to its component parts, which took most of the day. A number of other small components were gathered together, including two stretcher bars and some stepped fishplates, and these were all taken to Thuxton in the back of a van.
We had quite a good sized gang today. There we a number of important jobs to do, and we started off by setting about completing the integrity of the line. Firstly, the common crossing on the up line had to be prepared. All of the missing chairs were added to the crossing and it was positioned correctly. We then cut the rail that adjoins it and fitted the fishplate, enabling each of the remaining timbers to be positioned. This then gave the position of the last joint, which could not be cut until we knew where the sleepers would be. The remaining four rails were cut to length on the main line, drilled and fishplated. We then pulled the last remaining long timbers through to the correct lengths, and drilled them. The opposite rail was gauged and secured too. Meanwhile, the rest of the group were preparing for next weekend's work, by building the shoulders and adding ballast to the beds. The stretcher bars were also installed.
Trevor and Owen spent the day back at Thuxton. The alignment was fine-tuned and we then drilled and inserted all of the remaining chair screws on the through route. We also drilled and fitted the first checkrail and its distance block. There were loads of other small jobs to do too. This will enable us to do the lifting and packing next week.
We had a big push today to make the new point at the south end of Thuxton Loop serviceable for traffic. This comprised us spending the day lifting the point to level and packing ballast under the timbers. It was quite a lot of work as the point is fairly long, but we did manage to get the job finished ready for the Class 47 gala on the following Saturday.
By Roy Malyon
Following the Christmas Vegetation Bash on Saturday 27th December, work has continued south from Bridge 1682 for nearly three quarters of a mile towards Kimberley. A small group have worked every Tuesday and Wednesday this year and the clearance is amazing - in fact one volunteer has virtually cleared the downside between bridges 1682 and 1681 with a hand saw!
Branches have scratched passing trains and trees have fallen in this area. It is hoped that, when complete, the project will prevent this from happening and also yield a crop of wild flowers where unsightly overhanging bramble thickets were before.
5 huge bonfires were lit on Wednesday 25th February and, as one volunteer commented, "It is Ash Wednesday."
We repaired the fence on the downside at Hardingham just north of the Blackwater River Bridge (1684) today, and also burnt some more of the cut vegetation.
By Matt Goodrum and Gary Hall.
Returning to the depths of the drains in Northall Green Cutting, one team uncovered the catch pit lids and dug out the silt while the follow-up squad rodded between pits and the intermittent cross drains. Several partial blockages were removed, and by the end of the day an impressive amount of water was flowing. A couple more days should complete the system.
Despite the wintry weather, 6 volunteers spent the day digging out sleepers earmarked for changing over the next year. We were fortunate that the depth of the cutting and the trees within shielded us from the worst of the cold weather. Nevertheless, we were all happy to head back to the warmth of Dereham station for a cup of tea once the target of 30 had been reached.