Peak Rail General Discussion

Sunday Update from Pete of the S&T,with thanks to Pete!

Matlock box

Planed down the thickness of the wood to go in the gap in the sill ready for fitting next weekend
I also went round and checked the cranks and compensators and applied oil where required to the 12 we built in the last 2 weeks

Then helped Rob and the gang on the oil store building up at Rowsley
John was also down charging signalling batteries in the workshop and working in and around in the container
Class 50 lads were working on one of their engines
Carriage dept painted the coach roof they were preparing last week in the LMSCA
The HST guys were around working on their fleet too
14 901 was doing some runs round the yard, looked like they were testing it
Quite a pleasant day

Pete

 

S&T

Pete and myself spent tody doing loads of jobs

1.Finish off the woodwork on the right hand box window sill
2.Get some more shelves in the store and clear more of the floor up.
3.change one of the compensator cranks arms which was missing a bush for abetter complete one.
4. find all the crank arms for Riverside and all the cows horn cranks and sit them in a bucket (three buckets full in the end) of oil to start freeing off,

we also came across all the bits wel need for riverside in the clearing up process too.

elsewhere, people were working, Chris on the class 50 group locos, theres a single cab end arrived from i think 50036?someone correct me if im wrong.

Colin was working on the vestibule end of one of the coaches in the lmsca ,he says it was the worst end of the job too!

Ben has been busy restoring lamp standards,tops,signs and benches for Darley and Rowsley,some new signs have already been fitted.

Rob,Tom and the folks have been continuing theyre work on the loco shed road facilities

more next weekend

 

The token machine project was signed off today as the last job inspected under the old R.O.T.S regulations with H.M.R.I, Freed more cranks off with Pete today,John sorted out some electrics for the telecomms store and we split up the last shelves for the telecomms lads to put in their store,Phil sorted out some more bits to go in the store.

Ben and Harvey working hard in the L.M.S.C.A on coaches and other items, Bens seats for Darley look resplendant in the L.M.S colour scheme of brown with blue .

tHE CLASS 50 lads were out in force and the job must have been big as it needed the use of the forklift to move bits with.

The narrow gauge was up and running and Dave was doing some maintenance of the trackwork.

Mr Briddon senior and younger were down working on their stores and other items on the locos fromtheir fleet.

the H.S,.T lads were working in their shed ,i briefly spotted Gary in passing.

Rob,Tom and others were working on the loco store shed,looks very nice yet simple, Pete and me ended up using it to work out how the blockwork on the box will look for Matlock and it gives us a rough guide of the heights of the structure wel need as compared to say the box that was built for Church Lane.

 

small update as Pete n meself spent this morning in the pouring rain fitting the facia boards around the matlock box, weve not done the rear yet as we need to sort out another piece to finish this off as well as replace one board on the back to pin it too.

Elsewhere The works train and steam crane were up at Darley Dale and Harvey was working on the Brake Gangway being restored at Rowsley fitting the vac pipes, he says its nearly finished,so could theoretically be used to brake the second train if needed.

Penyghent was shunting around at Rowsley before i left to go to work.

will update in a weeks time unless others put somet on first.

dom

 

update from Pete today as thanks to a stomach bug i didnt get out the house this morning,lovely!!!

On Matlock box

Front and door end facia had two coats of undercoat now ready for gloss ( pics attached )

Elsewhere

Rob was digging trenches in the wooded area for the drains from the engine shed
Work was continuing on the oil store building
Had a chat with Mr Massey of telecomms dept who was heading for Darley Dale to check that all was well in the telephone exchange
The exchange at Rowsley appeared to be getting a coat of paint
The lineside gang were out weed killing and fighting back the vegetation
Class 50 lads were working on the engine for one of their locos
The Heritage shunter guys were clearing out a storage vehicles and donated some useful items to the S & T Dept-(many thanks lads!! from us in the s&t dept for that)
Other projects were also being worked on including the narrow gauge but I did not manage a grand tour of the whole site, not surprising as it covers around 30 acres
Much shunting has been done since last week as every wagon seemed to be in a different place including some that
have not moved in many months, the wagon with the box is on but it is about the only one that has not moved.
The day was warm and sunny making Rowsley a very pleasant place to be on an October Sunday
Oh almost forgot the service train ran to Matlock and back a few times

 

small mid week update

Rowsley site

The wednesday lads have buried the soakaway from from the sceptic tank and are tidying up the area.

Harvey`s busy with coaching stock, the H.S.T lads were busy sorting things out for the upcoming shunters gala.

I finished off painting the signalboxes facia in marroon,so we can move the scaffold to do the rear bit next.

Henry was busy repainting the narrow gauge fleet.

 

Hi

Just wondered if something was happening at the Buxton site. There seems to be some plant and portacabins etc appeared recentley.

Just curious

thanks

 

maybe works associated with the Perrier site which adjoins our land, i will try to find out from the office.

not much to report as was exhibiting my layout at the Ecclesbourne show yesterday and today,unless anyone else would like to add something.

may get down midweek to do some more

 

Reliably informed by the boss that the portacabins are for contractors working for Network Rail around the area,and is a temporary thing while they are undertaking the work.

 

From the news page of the line

the wheels and frames of zebedee are due to be reunited so she can be taken upto rowsley for rebuilding

other stock including the tank waggons are also to go to rowsley to be restored

the lads are continuing well with the oil store building

 

THE SHUNTER HUNTER GALA DETAILS FOR THE 23RD/24TH CAN BE VIEWED AT

http://www.heritageshunters.co.uk/Events.htm

 

When does work start on the link between PR and NR? There seems to have been a period of inactivity

 

wouldnt quite say inactive!!! been incredibly busy up at Rowsley getting last jobs in before we start to do the work on the Riverside connection.

jobs including getting the signalbox supports and lever frame supports up n ready for the box to go in on while other jobs are on going at the same time, the rodding run cranks and benches are finished ready to be jcb`ed in place, the signals ready to go in at any time ,and tons of sundry items fished out the piles here n there,freed fettled etcetera to go on the points once we start,which hopefully will be in that inactive period when the normal passenger trains arent running before christmas santas start!

job 1 is to put in the new pointwork and trackwork, and on s n t side fit all the points on site at same time with all the fittings so we dont have to come back again under another possession to do it all,this will have to be done around the tracklaying,so we`l do the current ground frame points while the lads are laying the other end,and so forth etc.

job 2 is drop signals in and do the rodding run which will be ongoing as the box starts going up, which is now ready to be done so this job can go on at any time.

im just awaiting booking my time off work to make the start,which should be soon.

 

Little update of the weeks work;

Rob,Jack and myself repaired a power cable fault on saturday.

Pete and myself finished off the facia boards on the new box on sunday,but have yet to finish painting the rear,thats next weeks work.

Weve also shifted out two location cupboards for use at Matlock,doors located these still require a repaint and unbending.

The lever frame and lock supports have been located and are next to be repainted,these will hold the lever frame and lever locks and determine the overall height of the box in the end,theyre to be restored next weekend.

David has been busy repainting the Church Lane gates,this will be ongoing over the coming weeks.

John has been busy working up at Rowsley.

David and Jim of the telecommunications dept have been busy working away in the exchange at Rowsley.

Weve been donated some more items,which have been stored.

Elsewhere the deisel gala weekend was busy, up at Rowsley work is going well on the oil store with the roof on now and Zebedee and the tank waggons have arrived for restoration.

 

Monday 1 November 2010 at 8.00pm
>
>For a requested £2 donation on the door, all welcome to:
>
>"BR STANDARDS AT WORK AROUND THE COUNTRY"
>slideshow - Ashley Shimwell
>
>A Colour-Rail appreciation. The show starts on the Somerset& Dorset and then
>works northwards, region-by-region. No static shed shots, all locos are seen
>either at work or in stations.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>During the interval:-
>
>1. advance-discount tickets available for Rob Foxon Film Shows Mon 15 Nov
>("Railways in Wartime 1939-1945") and Tues 29 Dec ("End of Year Special").
>
>In advance £5.50 (both shows £10.50), but on the door separately £6 each.
>(concessions deduct 50p per ticket)
>
>2. tickets (£5) for the Pie, Pea& Chips Supper on Wednesday 6 December.
>Please contact me to book a Supper if you don't buy tonight.
>
>3. let me know if you can provide a slot for "YourPix" after the Supper.
>Projector, Digital Projector, Laptop available to show slides, film clips
>and digital pictures from memory card, USB, CD or DVD. 15 minute slots.
>
>4. Platform 5 Calendars and David Charlesworth railway Christmas Cards
>on sale.
>
>Could be an expensive evening, but at least WE are still accepting cheques!
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>presented by: Peak Railway Association (Sheffield Branch) at
>The Harlequin Pub (upstairs function room)
>108 Nursery St, Sheffield S3 8GG
>
>http://theharlequinpub.wordpress.com
>
>bus routes 47, 48 and 53 pass the door.
>
>hope to see you!
>Dave
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>David Sharp
>Peak Railway Association, Sheffield Branch
>

 

Pete n meself finished unbending the doors to the location cupboards for matlock with the assistance of mr John Hinson and also repainted them to boot.

the maroon on the box has been repainted too ,some minor touching up to do before it goes up at Matlock

the afternoon was spent fishing bits out the piles for Matlock and altering Darleys gate lock heaters to a timed and seperate supply.

elsewhere;

Mr Hinson was buy rebuilding the doors on the first Austrian ferry van which he is painstakingly restoring,I remember what they used to be like when we rebuilt Church lane and theyre certainly are a world away from what they were then.

Andy Briddon and his dad were busy working on the cabwork of the class 14

the H.S.T lads were busy with block and tackle removing the tops to the cylinder blocks of the class 50 engine.

Harvey and Ben were working on various things including the roofs on various grounded van bodies.

The works lads were busy finishing off the oil store at the shed.

Yesterday was a fantastically busy day from what im told we had over three hundred and more people on two of the trains,well done to all.

Henry was busy on the narrow gauge,I noted the WW2 deisel out the shed and Dave and the lads were busy at Darley Dale working on the down platform,even mr Massey was busy working on the north yard ground frame phone system.

Just a small update there!

 

Matlock Works announced (copied from the Peak Rail Forums)

Work is scheduled to start on Phase one of the
connection on Wednesday 10th November 2010.

So you ask what will this entail!!! Well phase one of programme of works will
consist of splitting the loop at Matlock Riverside and putting in a NEW set of
additional points thus enabling us to connect to Network Rail.

So after the points comes a short section of track (somewhere in the region of
200 feet) which takes us up to Network Rail's green fence.

Next will see Peak Rail remove Network Rail's fence so that the slewing of their
track can take place and make that long awaited connection to Peak Rail (golden
sleepers, and chairs at the ready).
Ok so what else!!! .

The Luffenham Signal Box which has been refurbished by Dominic Beglin and his
dedicated team will also be part of the phase one works. It will be necessary to
prepare a concrete base and build blocks up to a height of approximately 10 feet
before the box can be craned into place.

Included in all of this will be the various Signalling and Telegraph works
required i.e signals, point rodding runs and wiring to make it all work.-(im due to come in second week of the work and fit all i can connections wise to all the Matlock points so weve infrastructure on the ground to reconnect the rodding run upto the box to when it goes up, saving time in the process.)-dom

on the second week im hoping to get track circuit bonding in as well as the signal wire pulleys and stakes as a small job,if possible get the three derwent signals planted and the derwent location cupboard in so we can start putting the outside bits connected to stuff while the box goes up)-dom

Ok so now we need extra HELP, see we can admit WE NEED YOU as we are still
human!!! Well just anyway.

The first works train will leave Darley Dale Station at 8.30am on the 10th
November 2010 anybody wishing to be involved with this Peak Rail mile stone
should contact either Rob Sanders on 0758 4571595 or the office on 01629 760645,
(please make sure that if you want to help your PTS is in date).

If 8.30am is a bit early for some of you and you like a lie in (like Rob) then
please go straight to Matlock Riverside Station, where I am sure a cup of tea
will be waiting.

Once phase one is complete and the connection re-instated we shall then be able
to move to phase 2 which will consist of the rebuilding of the facing wall of
PLATFORM 2, extensive vegetation clearance, the provision of ramp access, a
platform surface and reinstatement of the missing track into the platform.

Please don't ask when the opening date will be, this is greatly guarded secret
(and even torturing us wont' make us speak).

The Directors would like to finish off and thank all those people who have
helped over the years with the Matlock project and have moved on to ventures new
and those who will never see Peak Rail make history and achieve the goal of
getting into Matlock.

The Directors and the Management thank you all.

 

Hi this is great news. im only newly registered here, but I have been following this thread for a long time, I check up regularly and look forward to updates.

Peak rail has always fascinated me for many years, a lot of that is to do with the potential of it, I remember it as a kid at Buxton.

I was just about to ask you a question about Matlock and found it has been answered

was just wondering does the platform need to be raised? as it looks a bit low.

and do you know how many coaches the platform will take?

many thanks

Mike

 

the platform is still on NR`s land so can be used by any operator that runs on NR, so will be to modern standards,see the ecclesbournes duffield platform and what theyve done and you`l get the idea.

platform lengths will accomodate our usual train formation of around 6-7 or so,remember theres only really a facing connection to work passenger trains from our end,so we more than NR would be running the passenger service,that does not of course preclude future use by NR either if they desired to use the platform as it is a technical siding of sorts.

hope that helps.

 

thanks for replying

a few more questions.

will it be Peak rail or network rail that will be installing the track at the platform?
are there plans for a footbridge? also whats the progress on Darley dales footbridge?

and do we know how the run round arrangements will be worked.

sorry for all the questions, really excited to see this happening, look forward to visiting next summer

cheers

Mike