Oswestry Update

The blog has been updated.

http://ilvaporista.blogspot.com/

I could not resist adding this picture. 18 months ago this was an overgrown mess.


err, the land, not Glyn... He's still a work in progress.....

 

As a final fling there is planned to be a working week from the 7th to 12th December to end this year on a high and further advance work at the station. Also there will be spot resleepering on the line from Oswestry as this is upgraded.

 

Lovely to see such progress - the whole team must feel very proud.

 

Today work started on upgrading the track between the cattle creep and Weston station. Rails out and spot replacement of rotten sleepers. One panel done, plenty to go!

 

Looks like not overdue either

 

Indeed! The new sleepers seem to weigh at least twice as much as those that they replace.

 

I've moved a few, always funny when someone tries to move a concreate one by hand
and has a reality check

 

looking at that lot I'd have thought it easier to lift the lot. level the ballast and lay new. Or did the photographer choose the worst piece?

 

On the way to the cattle creep the worst bits were lifted, screened, resleepered and relaid. The remaining part has fairly good draining ballast in place. There are a few places where virtually every other sleeper is shot but generally a concerted spot replacement programme will be sufficient. Having walked along there last year I’d say that photo is one of the worst sections

 

There is, in reality rather than on paper, no standard weight for timber sleepers.
You can a multitude of different weights within a length.
Currently on the NYMR we are processing 4000 + yds of donated track for disposal and when it comes to stacking the sleepers for movement the big heavy ones always need lifting and the lighter ones end up on the bottom. My back knows it as well another 100 or so today.

 

Even with four of you on the nips it still takes the energy of three shredded wheat to move concrete sleepers about. After the first one you soon learn to wait until either the rugby team turns up or some mechanical handling device makes an appearance.

 

How long had those rotten sleepers been there (from when they were laid, not from when they rotted)?

 

I honestly don't know but you can think that the last passenger train ran in January 1965 and the last freight service was in 1988. That's more than a few years!

 

Is all this trackwork progress meaning you'll be able to run further than the station limits/yard at oswestry?

Give visitors even a short ride would bring a few more people in.

 

Yes!!! Already last year the trains were operating well beyond the station limits. The ride was about 3/4 of a mile to just about the Travis Perkins yard (visible on Google Maps etc.). And some trains did reach just before the cattle creep which is about 150yds beyond the crossing. The crossing in now officially called Black Meadow Crossing but to most it's still Travis Perkins' Crossing.
Beyond that is roughly another 3/4 of a mile to Weston. The total length of this section is 1 7/8 miles.
When services can resume the trains will run to the cattle creep until the rest of the line to Weston has been upgraded. When will Weston station open?? Keep watching and follow our progress. We are trying our best to complete the link as early as possible but as you can imagine there are a few challenges!

Here is Colin's video of what was basically the first train beyond the crossing and the last before the Santa Specials and the Covid closure

 

The blog has been updated.

http://ilvaporista.blogspot.com/

Work has started on cosmetic restoration of Adam the small Peckett. Here the reverser gets a clean up. Photo courtesy of CHR Facebook.

 

Love the notice board at the back.......We always hope!

 

It's the number one rule of workshops all over the world. "In any multiple user workshop the amount free space on any horizontal surface is inversely proportional to the number of people with access to that space."

 

In my personal experience, you can often drop the "multiple"..

Noel

 

Speaking purely for my own workspaces, there is usually very little free space on any horizontal surface apart from the ceiling.