Lottery grant for the Isle of Wight Steam Railway

There has been decent progress this week despite the continued poor weather. Since last week the internal dividing fire wall has been finished and a start made on the gable end nearest to the running line. This is the end with the public entrance and will house displays, a small office/mess room and a disabled toilet. This is the only section that will be fully insulated.

The last main wall is almost finished, as the outside ground level to that side of the building will not be made up the bottom of the wall is constructed from concrete panels.

 

The contractors work force appear to have started their Christmas break, despite the exceedingly wet weather this week they have continued to make good progress. It helps that a large majority of the current work is now undercover.
The four roller shutter doors were delivered earlier in the week and were installed the same day! All of the internal doors are installed and all but one of the external doors. The internal wall between the public entrance and the two main bays only requires one side to be panelled.
In the third photo shows at the far end of the two main bays the internal doors at two different heights, this is because the right hand bay will be at track level and the left bay will have an internal platform.

 

That last image really brings home the scale of the project! (dead jealous)

We're very privileged that such funding is available to help us preservationists make these things happen.

 

The contractors were back on site 7/1/13 after their Christmas break, they are due to be finished with their contract by the 21st January. The second phase contract is due to start at the end of February, the tenders have gone out to local firms. The second phase includes building up the ground level within the building, track laying within the building, electrical fit out, fire installation etc. The track fan will be laid by our own PW dept.
Currently the contractors are finishing off the capping on the cladding, fixing the final sections of guttering. The only work for them still to tackle are the windows in the end lean-to and the main public entrance doors. The building is starting to look very impressive, unfortunately there is still some way to go before we can actually put it to good use.

 

Thanks for the update Gary. 2013 has the potential to be a very memorable year for the IWSR; the completion of the HLF funded Changing Trains project will see our unique collection of rolling stock and locomotives with under cover storage facilities for the first time since the Wight Locomotive Society moved from Newport to Havenstreet 42 years ago this month. It is also hoped that this year will see reboilered ‘Terrier’ W11 ‘Newport’ back in service and Ivatt 41298 in steam for the first time in preservation.

There is the possibility of being spoiled for choice on the locomotive roster this year; W8 ‘Freshwater’, W11 ‘Newport’, W24 ‘Calbourne’, W38 ‘Ajax’, WDs 192 ‘Waggoner’ & 198 ‘Royal Engineer’ and Ivatt 41298 may all be serviceable at some stage. It could be a reprise of the early days of the Smallbrook extension (opened in 1991) when I was in the happy position of sometimes feeling bored with firing ‘Terriers’ and a day on ‘Austerity’ WD198 seemed a welcome change, although there was nothing to compare with a turn on W24 firing for the late Ken West, ‘Calbourne’s Driver in BR days.

 

I must admit that it had not realy struck me that by the end of this year we may well have seven working engines! Wow! The entry into service of the first of the Ivatt class 2s will be quite an achievement, much to look forward to especially with the E1 still to come.

 

Stage one of the contract is now complete, the display area has had its windows fitted and the contractors has removed the site fencing. This now allows a clear view of the building for the first time.
Stage two will be starting i believe on Monday the 4th Feb, the initial works with involve sorting out the drainage of the immeadiate area. That will be followed by the earthworks to create the track fan and bring the floor level within the building up to the correct level. I am hoping that the track will then be laid into the leanto, which will give us back some desparately needed track space.

 

May i ask if there is a time scale for completion, of this project.
Thanks

 

As far as I am aware the projected completion date for opening to the public is late October 2013.

Not much progress to report, we are waiting for the stage II contractors to arrive on site.

 

We come over to the isle of wight every year in august for a family holiday. we allways visit the railway.

Thanks

 

At last more progress to report, the stage 2 contractors have been on site for a couple of weeks. Work is progressing on a number of fronts, the floor level is being built up, the fire system is being installed and drainage work is being carried out to the front of the shed.

The fire system is I think particularly important, all of our working stock will be stored inside it , we don't want to loose it all in one go.

 

You just made me shiver with that thought... Do remember that LSWR coach that was ruined in the Mid Hants Fire. They were more then up-set by that one...

 

I dont know why the Mid-Hants fire was so disasterous in its severity, but thinking of the SVR carriage shed at Kidderminster, which is one-fifth of a mile long, I recall when it was just completed and members were taken for a "walk-around", the place just bristled with fire detection equipment. Apart from detection moniters which I am sure will be directly linked to the fire brigade, there are a number of automatic opening fire vents in the roof so that any fire remains localised and is directed "up and out" rather than travelling along the vehicles, and even the sides of the building are so designed to have a particular effect on a fire. There are vents all along the sides. I assume there is an adequate water supply ( which was a problem on the Mid-Hants) and the kidderminster building has access tracks for fire engines all the way round. Finally there is a dividing fire wall between the four roads, dividing the building in two. I dont know, but maybe the Lottery people specify the fire prevention standards you need to comply with. I hope the IOW building is similarly well-equipped. I'm sure that with a priceless collection of wooden coaches the fire risk will have been well considered. Presumably the recently completed carriage shed at Sheffield Park will be well protected. Dont the Bluebell also have some wooden construction sheds at Horsted Keynes? They must have to be very well protected!

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The new shed is divided into three sections, the internal divider is a full fire wall. I do not know the full details of the fire system but I am aware that it is a high pressure pumped system. One of the snags with coaches is that you do your best to make them as waterproof as possible!

 

Apart from having facilities to suppress the fire, as you mention a pumped water system, what we were told about the SVR shed was that the equipment in place is designed to restrict the spread of a fire, ie contain it as far as possible in one area, rather than it having the tendency to spread "along" a rake of coaches for instance.
The fire at the Mid Hants I think broke out after work, possibly welding work, had been carried out. Clearly fire poses different risks in a building where work which involves the application of heat is carried out. I dont know what the exact purpose of your building on the IOW is, but at the Severn Valley the carriage shed is for storage, and as far as I recall only limited actual work can be carried out, possibly for instance adjusting brake rigging , changing brake blocks, and cleaning coaches internally. One road has a full-length inspection pit for inspections under carriage rakes.
I am sure there will be strict rules laid down about what can and cannot be undertaken in the shed. ( steam locos by the way are strictly forbidden, because as our guide told us, that would play hell with the fire detection system!). Most coaching sets start the day from Kidderminster, and are drawn out of the shed as required, usually by an 08 diesel shunter.

I bet you cannot wait get your valuable wooden stock under cover.

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A photo of the changing trains building from rather an unusual angle


Changing trains! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

The planning permission does include maintenance, but the main purpose of the building is display and protection. I imagine the type of work that will be undertaken will be very similar to that in the Kidderminster shed. One of the tracks leading into the building will have an inspection pit which will be dual purpose, Loco prep and carriage and wagon inspection.

 

There has been a fair amount of progress on a number of fronts over the last couple of weeks. The fire system within the building is complete and just needs the storage tank and pump to complete. The first fix of the electrics is complete and the mains cable laid into the building. The floors within the foyer are up to level and complete and a good start has been made building up the floor level in the main part of the building. The spoil from digging out the track fan is being used to assist with the floor level inside the building.

A couple of photos with many more on my Flickr site

 

14 more photos added to my flickr site, they were taken by one of the volunteer clerk of works who has much better access than I do

 

The first vehicles are now inside the new shed, the very first one being an Island LBSCR 5 plank wagon. As the tracks are not yet connected a crane was used to move vehicles around. A number of other vehicles were moved to clear the remaining area that requires earthworks and to clear enough track space for the points to be laid. Their are more photos on my Flickr site