2014 September - Outdoor Work Update

Fishplate oiling and strimming


Fishplates

The annual fishplate oiling event took place over the long August Bank Holiday weekend. The gang worked very hard and achieved a lot and enjoyed themselves in the process.

The advance party on Thursday managed to set everything up and achieved 27 lengths of rail. The gang on Friday managed 81 lengths.

76 lengths were completed by a much smaller gang on Saturday with a further 100 on the Sunday. Regrettably the gang was quite small on the Saturday and two short of the optimum number on the Sunday which meant that in the larger gaps between the trains production was down by at least a third.

Unfortunately rain stopped play on the Monday, so apart from cleaning and putting the equipment away no further progress was made. An excellent rate of progress given the number of people available for work each day. This all means despite our best efforts a record length of oiling was not achieved.

So where does 284 lengths from Pendre level crossing equate to I hear you say? The east end of the platform at Rhydyronen is the answer.

Very many thanks to all those who came a long to help with this vital task. Next year we will restart operations at Rhydyronen and hopefully clear the backlog of work and reach at least 4 ¾ milepost in the bottom end of Dolgoch Woods. Hopefully we will be successful next year in breaking the record.

Strimming

On Sunday the 7th September a gang of 3 cut all the grass and the drive hedges at Rhydyronen under gloriously sunny skies. It looks so much tidier, thank you gang for your efforts!


Thank you to Keith Theobald for the work update, and to the gangs for all their hard work!

Photos by Roelof Van der Molen and Keith Theobald.