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Latest News: Archive
November 2011
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Latest News: Archive
November 2011
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By Trevor Brackpool, Owen Stratford and Roy Malyon.
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Relief drain at Yaxham. 22nd October 2011. Photo: Alex Neale |
Ever since we started work on the MNR we have been trying to solve the flooding problem at Yaxham.
Over a square mile of farmland drainage and road drains all converge at Yaxham level crossing causing flooding on the road to a depth of nearly a foot and the whole railway on both sides of the level crossing. Modern field drainage gives a quicker run off onto our property than the pipes were designed for.
We have spent much money and effort over the years even JCBing a quarter of a mile open ditch - soon to be piped - to try to get the water away, but the missing drainage link from the up cess south of the Yaxham Light Railway to the first pit to the north of the Level Crossing has remained a mystery.
However, whilst the level crossing was replaced last month, the main pipe was discovered in the 6 foot.
During this week 8 catch-pits have been uncovered and 2 breaks in the pipe have been repaired plus 2 more pits have been located. Of these so far, 4 are large pits and at least 2 wheelbarrowfuls of sediment have been removed from each.
Much work still remains and some pit lids may need raising. However, the crucial thing is that the whole system is now linked to overflow through the new pipe under the level crossing.
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Installing the new switches. 5th November 2011. Photo: Owen Stratford |
With a month of no scheduled passenger service, P Way started on the programme of winter maintenance. We were renewing the switches on the southern turnout into the main platforms in Dereham at the station throat. The old ones and all of the signalling fittings were dismantled and removed and we then craned in the new switches. The old ones were welded to the adjacent rails at the heels and so new rails were craned over for these too. The crane then was used to perform other duties around the station including a trial lift of the footbridge parts and replacing the exhaust silencer on the class 73. With the switches in position, we then set about moving up rails on the approach in order to square the switch blades. All of the ballast was also dug out ready for replacing the timbers next week.
A small group of three spent the day working on the turnout at the south end of Dereham. We moved new rails into position and cut and drilled these to fit into the available spaces. Lift fishplates were fitted as appropriate and a new insulated joint installed ready for future track circuits. By the end of the day the track was ready for the re-timbering next week.
Back in Dereham, work continued on the new switches on the Main to MOD road turnout. We changed all of the timbers, inserting new hardwood ones. These were aligned and gauged before we drilled and screwed them down. We then also changed the first six sleepers off of the fronts of the points, also inserting new hardwood ones. With this finished, we made a start on the lifting and packing of the new track.
Today saw us reinstall all of the signalling fittings. The first job was to mount the facing point lock casting, which involved digging a big hole as the bolts are inserted from the bottom of the sleeper! With this in place, the new lock stretcher bar, switch extensions and insulations were fitted. This set the front end to the correct opening and we could then fit the three new stretcher bars. Having adjusted these to the desired dimensions, they were marked and removed for drilling. This was duly completed and the stretchers bolted up into their final positions. Whilst all of this was going on, the cranks and drives from the ground frame were being reassembled. We were upgrading the drive to the standard basket lug as opposed to the previous turnbuckle type which is not so easily maintainable. The final job for the day was to cut in the facing point lock into the lock stretcher. We also had some help with completing the packing and the backfilling.
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Left photo: Notching the facing point lock bar. Right photo: Installed lock bar being adjusted. 13th November 2011. Photos: Owen Stratford |
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With a slightly delayed start due to a flat battery on one of the DMU cars, we used the time to carry on backfilling ballast in front of the point in Dereham. After about 45 mins of charging, we were in business and so set off to attend to today's job. We were lifting and packing around 20 yards of track adjacent to Yaxham level crossing where there was a residual dip in the track to correct. This was finished by lunchtime and we then spent the next couple of hours barrowing up ballast from the platform to top up the beds. Unfortunately there was none on site to hand. We then piled back into the railcar and set about tackling a few odd jobs. We delivered sleepers to near Thuxton ready for next weekend's job and then changed a couple of cracked fishplates that had been reported in by the section walkers.
Barry and Owen spent a productive day in Dereham. We started off by loading up a pair of switches onto the tench wagon that will be used at Thuxton to form traps in the siding. With this completed, the remainder of the train was loaded ready for next week. The rail lifting beam was stowed on board and some sleepers and a wagon load of pipes was also loaded. The works train for next week was then formed up before we moved into the MLV after lunch. We then spent a useful three hours clearing up inside the MLV, removing scrap and transferring spares back to their designated storage locations. We used the opportunity to tidy and stack the remaining gear as well.
With the work on the turnout in Dereham completed ahead of schedule, we had an extra bonus job that could be fitted in before the start of the santa trains. As a result, we took out a works train to Thuxton. On the way out we delivered pipes to Yaxham, sleepers to near Garvestone and collected some scrap fence wire. After arriving at Thuxton, we set up the crane and used it to unload the switches removed from the yard point in Dereham. Although heavily worn on the diverging route, the main is not too bad and these will be installed as trap switches in the siding - recycling at its best! It does not matter for the worn side to be there as if a train ever reaches it then it will be derailed by the traps anyway. We then worked our way through the station and collected the remaining rail offcuts, spare sleepers, a concrete gate post and unloaded some chippings for the platform. Meanwhile Trevor and the other half of the PW gang were having a pleasant time trolleying up some slag ballast in order to top up four panels of track in the down loop that were in need of work following earlier tamping. All of these jobs were completed by mid afternoon, and with the train loco returned from its test run, we collected wood on the return journey, delivering it to a house that backed onto the line.