Peak Rail General Discussion

Regarding the box being positioned at Matlock itself,

1.NR do not require the use of a box or similar structure at Matlock as the signalling there is controlled by ground frames and token instrument,so the box would really go unused and be a big waste of money and time there, it may look great for the photographers but from our point itd be money wasted,as NR wouldnt be paying for its use or installation, if we paid for it itd still be an unused asset,wheras we actually need it in use at Riverside hence why its going there to control the loop and top and tail activities as theres no siding at Matlock for a top n tail engine our Riverside becomes the place , the box there saves a lot of time in this matter and for other operational reasons also.

theres also the issues of permissions,land access,safety systems to access and even paint it up, look at the ladies whove been refused access to their station garden theyve attended to for many years because of health and safety grounds,now imagine the same issues with the siting of the box at Matlock.

2. the box is at the top end of Riverside so the train can be brought into the loop first thing under the control of the signals and the bobby if coming down by first train or engineering staff can get the train inside the loop before opening the box up and putting the normally off entry signals back to danger to work the loop.

3. the staffs are exchanged at Riverside,so with this and the other points the best place the box would be located is at the top of the loop there,

these are some of the many reasons for having it where it is and needs to be not where itd look photgenically good,itl be quite visible from the roadway so not that bad and will at least add something more to riverside.


elsewhere

with Neil,Pete,Ian and David weve finished the bonding work, installed the signal pulleys and stakes today.

will be prewiring the location cupboards up at Rowsley on Saturday.

jobs for coming month are to build up some wheel benches and install them at Riverside, these will go in in about two weeks time,then the signals,finish the lever supports off and other jobs related to Riverside.

Rob will be continuing with the land clearance between the new point and the boundary in coming weeks.

The Lads at Rowsley have been continuing working on Zebedee and Chris and Paul have started to restore two of the tank waggons.

 

thanks for answering my questions.

its answered some of what I was wondering, but Id like to ask..

when you say "the loop" do you mean network rail's run round loop or Peak rails at Riverside? I assume its riverside.

if it is the run round loop at Riverside, are you saying that the box will control the 3 points and signals there and that a train that has 1 engine in steam will run around its train at riverside, then propel the stock into the Matlock platform?

or if 2 engines are in steam, 1 can wait in the riverside platform siding?

what I assumed is that you would be using the network rail run around, which is why I assumed the box would be nearer the platform and would be controlling the network rail points.


last question. do locos using network rails track have to be mainline registered?

Mike

 

Hi Mike
1 First train of the day into Matlock is top and tailed
2 Loco that brought train in is uncoupled
3 rear loco takes train out
4 when train has cleared section loco left at matlock moves to Riverside loop
5 Next train into Matlock and loco is uncoupled
6 loco in loop comes down to take train out
7 Go to step 4 until last train that is top and tailed back to Rowsley
Hope this answears your question

With respect could we continue in the Peak rail at Matlock thread were most of this has allready been discussed as this is a llttle off topic for this one Link provided
http://railways.national-preservation.com/showthread.php/10243-Peak-Rail-at-Matlock.

Pete

 

to add to Petes write up there are three modes of operation required at riverside

1. normally only a place to exchange the relevant staffs and permissions to top n tail forward
2.if we cannot go forward into platform 2 for any emergency reason riverside still can be used as a run round
3. riverside is also signalled to allow the original engine that brought the train into there to drop off and go back on the front again, a little more complicated and involves another 5 minutes of shunting using some principles derived from KWVR practice at keighley,i cant see it being used at all but its in their anyhow in case we ever need to use a shunter on the top n tail bit but not keep exchanging locos on trains,neverless it is factored in as the start of the single line section is beyond derwent bridge not the signal at riverside,so allows locos to drop around each other with some shunting moves.

thats also important when looking at how and why riverside is the way its planned out

 

Small update;

Pete,Ian and me made up two wheel benches today for the derwent end of Riverside to go in over december and started to wire up the derwent location cupboard in the workshop.

The class 50 lads were also braving the cold working inside for a change.

 

Pictures of this weeks work by the S&T Dept have been added to the gallery, see below for link. You will need to skip to the end of the collection to see the new pictures. I will add a new gallery that will contain only the latest pictures, for those who have seen the full collection and only wish to view the updates, as soon as I have time.

Pete

 

Thanks, very interesting to see how it's progressing.

Dave

 

"from the Peak Rail forum"

Derby Branch Social Evenings

Monday 6th December 2010 ---" Railway Wanderings" John Cox shares with us some more of his fascinating
collection of slides.

Monday 10th January 2011 -----" Last Days of Steam in China" China steam at its best with Colin Boocock.

Monday 14th February 2011 ---- "Besides The Seaside" Holidays used to mean trains to the Seaside -- Rodney
Pearson looks at the Resorts and the trains that took us there.

Monday 14th March 2011 ----" Reservoir Railways of the Derwent Valley" Whilst researching for his book on this subject Ted Hancock unearthed many interesting facts and pictures about the construction of the Reservoirs.

Our meetings are held at the Brunswick Inn (great choice of real ales !) Station Approach, Derby. The Brunswick is within easy walking distance of the Derby Midland station.
We start at 8pm, there is no admission fee but to help us raise funds and meet our expenses donations are
gratefully received.

S&t work

nipped down yesterday to carry on wiring up the derwent location and do some snow clearance with other volunteers who were clearing other bits too,had a laugh at the foot or so that had dropped over most of derbyshire and also at the channel 5 news crews snowed in at Rowsley,seem to remember it was the same time last year i was using my sledge to get tools from the carpark to the worksite in similar weather.

keep warm n well all!

more work this weekend.

 

"from the enthusiasts forum",please note;

*** CANCELLED *** CANCELLED *** CANCELLED ***

Monday 6 December 2010
Peak Railway Association (Sheffield Branch)

(Pie & Pea Supper then YourPix)
THIS MEETING IS CANCELLED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To remove uncertainty, Monday's meeting is cancelled.
Today was the last day to finalise Supper numbers with Liz at The Harlequin.

As I write the sun is shining but more snow is due this evening.
The 5 day forecast is for a max daytime temperature of 1°C and falling overnight to
-4°C, so conditions look to remain icy throughout.
Monday itself is "scattered wintry showers" with daytime temperature 0°C to -6°C overnight.

Even if the main roads are clear, this is not very promising for the side
roads, pavements & driveways for getting home late on Monday evening.

Sorry to disappoint, but I can now contact all who had booked. Please pass this
on if you know anyone who may not have had a ticket but may be intending to come.

Tickets will be refunded in cash at the next meeting on Monday 3 January (Brian
Staniland). If you are not there, we will post a cheque.

*** IF YOU HAVE A TICKET, PLEASE CONFIRM RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE ***
It will save my having to make so many individual calls & e-mails.


Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David Sharp
Peak Railway Association, Sheffield Branch

 

Snow and Ice

Santa`s have started at the railway, very busy today-the heavy snowfall midweek was cleared away from the rails by the plough and a lot of digging,the signalling side was tackled by John,Pete,Lewis and myself over the last few days to make sure things worked,the gate heaters and point heaters working fine,we also readjusted up the north end points at Rowsley as needing an adjustment.

The location cupboard for Riverside has been completed and fully wired up, were planning to have another week of work prior to the end of the month,to get the signals at the north end of riverside up,location cupboard in and a couple of pulley benches in too, weather depending.

Elsewhere

Mr Briddon senior and younger have been working on one of the class 14s
The Class 50 lads say theyre progressing well,theyve nearly done the engine work,and are nearly ready to start on the cooling and lubrication systems at some time soon,followed by the electrics.
The LMSCA have started to repaint the NRM`s LMS coach up in the LMSCA shed,looks very nice in its base coats.


S&T Dept picture gallery of work for the Matlock extension
http://photosbyp.fotopic.net/c1917258.html

 

this week;the snows gone but its still cold,that aside the place is busy;

S&t

Pete,John and myself have been busy getting things ready for some more work at Riverside in the coming weeks.

The signal wheel benches for derwent end have been finished off and moved upto the signals,together with the ground signal base and the concrete base for the location cupboard which is now finished.

plans are to get these loaded to the waggon this week ready for the coming weeks work.

next phase is to get the signal posts up at the derwent bridge end,loc and bench.

other sundry jobs have been ongoing.

Elsewhere

Robins been busy working on zebedee some more,Castlefield is being repainted, Paul and Chris are continuing work on the tank waggons which are being restored up at Rowsley, Peter and Andy Briddon have been working on the brake system and other aspects of 14901,inculding batteries.

The class 50 lads were out in force working,Harveys been busy in the LMSCA and the Santa`s seem to be well booked up.

 

Pictures of recent work by the S & T Dept can be seen here
http://photosbyp.fotopic.net/c1922332.html

For the full collection of pictures of the work by the S & T Dept please use the link below

Pete

 

small mid-week update

Mr Bodden is continuing the work on the old "drain train" waggon,Neil was working on cleaning up parts for Zebbedee,we loaded up the waggons with the signals for the derwent bridge end of Riverside,with loc and benches as well,work was on going elsewhere on site,on various locos, coaches and such.

thanks to Rob,James,Andy and Neil for lumbering bits about that day in readiness.

 

Are there any plans to lift the track and ballast and see what sort of condition the Derwent bridge deck is in?

 

not in the remit of the signalling dept afraid!, however the deck can be seen easily as the ballast doesnt cover the whole deck to the edges of the beams and was only laid under the track,with a little spread to the shoulders,under which the deck as i remember it was concreted with weep holes,i do have in my collection some photos of the job being done somewhere, sorry its not something in my depts remit boss

 

you`ve reminded me, some time ago i managed through work and York drawing office to get hold off a plan drawn up by the MR for alteration works to the Darely end of the Bridge parapets back in the 19th century, didnt say why it was done,just that it had been strengthened,was quite excited to have found a plan after all that time still kept in good use.

im told at low water that the foundation ring off one of the supports mid stream has an old locomotive tyre around it,ive never got the derwent low enough to see this,but its common knowledge apparently!

 

Weekly update;The weathers cold but the seasons busy!

Andy`s still working upon the drain train waggon,Harveys been working away on the LMSCA shed on some new stands for working on,Bens been continuing today in the shed as well, Andy and Peter Briddon have been continuing on the class 14`s,The HST and class 50 lads have been down over the last week working away inside on various bits n pieces, Castlefiedl is in the shed being painted up too.

on the S&T

the pulley benches are in the ground at Riverside as is the location cupboard base,but needs levelling off before completion, the signals going in the ground next.

Elsewhere Davids been busy attending to the telephone exchanges.

Pictures of recent work by the S & T Dept can be seen here
http://photosbyp.fotopic.net/c1922332.html

For the full collection of pictures of the work by the S & T Dept please use the link below

S&T Dept picture gallery
http://photosbyp.fotopic.net/

 

Today

Cold, so very, very cold. Again...

Nipped up to Sheffield today, partly for carriage timber, and also to collect a pair of Midland Railway platform bench ends.

"Just a pair?" I hear you cry, ah well...

We'd bought a left and right, and the dude selling was also able to offer another pair, one of which has a broken arm. So we've bought that, we'll cut off what remains of the arm to make a new middle leg, as it's an exact match to the left and right (that's important, and there's LOADS of different foundries made these 'rustic iron/knobbly wood' benches, and most aren't compatible with one another) so we've done really well here to put together another complete set. The other half to the damaged leg was a left hander in good order, but it wasn't a good match for it in the first place- it must have been an unhappy marriage- so that'll go in the store with all the other odd lefts, rights and middles, awaiting some kind soul unpacking them and seeing what we can make of them!

And the complete set is going to one side, for removal of the broken arm, and then needle gunning and painting. It takes about 60 hours to completely restore a 10' bench. And with at least four on every platform, and with four platforms so far, it's a mammoth task in itself!

 

Pictures of this weeks work on the signals at Riverside have been added to the gallery, they may be seen here
http://photosbyp.fotopic.net/c1922332.html

Pete

 

nipped the other pulley bench into place and buried it today,about the same time the snow was trying to bury me too!

also straightened the loop line signal post up with the turfor winch before putting the ground signal post in the ground too,before helping Ben out with timber work on LMSCA.

considering the next jobs to get on with now from the list?


to all have a merry christmas and a good new year from us down at the railway,best to you and yours on your lines too!

dom n the boys n gals at Peak.