Track Pack - September 2011

Hello team, long time no contact; our monthly sabbatical for the August Trackpack and working weekend in September has passed and it is now time to let you know what will be going on during October. The Steam Show has come and gone with our input greater than ever this year, more of which later. Our next major event will be the Autumn Gala scheduled for the 24th and 25th September, and taking pride of place in the planned cavalcade, will be both the Wickham trolley and La-La the Permaquip trolley. We will be doing a run on both days and should any of our regular team wish to come and help out, ride on the trolleys and wave to unsuspecting visitors we would be pleased to see you.

The daily running is continuing to the end of September and unfortunately will mean that our bash on 1st/2nd October will be with trains running. The track has stood up well to this year's summer pounding but we still have quite a few problem areas that will need the BLH machine to attend to but we will need the train free days from early October to get on with this work.

October Working Weekend - Sat 1st & Sun 2nd

The plan for the next Working Weekend is to start work on fitting shunt (dummy) signals at both Wootton and Smallbrook stations. There will be two signals to fit at both locations and this will mean fitting new longer timbers where the signals will be placed and also putting in cranks and associated equipment to allow the operating system to be completed. The signals are all ready to go having been refurbished over the last few weeks so we should be able to crack on well with this interesting little project over the weekend under the direction of Pete. So lots to do on both days, we hope to see a few of you for the October bash, the usual mustering arrangements here at HQ on both days please and we look forward to your company.

What's been going on?

Wailway Workman Wend Way to Whitwell to Way Wails and Winch Wonky Wagon on to Wails

The working weekend of 6th/7th August was the last get together and now seems a long time ago, but we had a nice little job for Saturday which involved laying a short piece of track at Whitwell Station for a wagon under-frame to be lifted onto. Mr Carter who owns Whitwell Station and has made a marvellous job of restoring it and enhancing the buildings to make a superb guesthouse had asked years ago about buying a wagon to have on display near the entrance to the station. The working weekend was chosen to finally make this dream come true.

We had a small team arrive for work on Saturday and once tools had been loaded onto the company van we waited for the lorry to arrive to take the track items to Whitwell. This arrived on time and we made short work of loading the two 20ft rails, sleepers, chairs and fittings. Meanwhile over the far side of the field a large Hi-ab fitted lorry arrived to load the wagon under-frame, a bolster type that was not required by us, being a BR built version and already well represented on the railway with several similar vehicles in our engineers fleet.

Once loaded we were off to rural Whitwell, where we set about putting the small panel of track down on a pre-prepared ballast base. We made short work of that and had the work done just in time to allow the under-frame to be swung from the lorry and onto its new home right by the gateposts leading to the former Ventnor West branch station. It was very gratifying to put a little track down again, albeit not on the former track-bed but close and have a rail vehicle once again located at Whitwell Station. Mr Carter plans to work on the chassis and eventually make a replica coal wagon as a feature to welcome visitors to his guesthouse. I'm sure it will look a treat when its finished.

Thanks to all those who helped to get our PW bit done so quickly and efficiently.

As that only took the morning we went to Woodhouse crossing in the afternoon and did some much needed grass cutting and re-painting of the crossing gates. Sadly we had no takers for the Sunday bash so the full time gang went to Wootton to clear a lot of undergrowth and overgrown shrubs and trees from the upper picnic area and walkway to the station. We piled this up for future clearing by van and trailer. After lunch we headed back to Woodhouse to carry on with grass cutting and gate painting.

Thanks go to the small band of volunteers that helped out with the work over the weekend. Well done all.

What else has been going on?

The long period between Trackpacks has mainly been filled with routine work much of it estates related with very little time on trackwork other than inspections. Estates work has been hectic, grass and hedge trimming always features at this time of year, along with rubbish clearance and cleaning. Sadly, our long time cleaner, Ray Loftus has suffered some health problems recently and has had to have some time off which has left us a little short-handed on the cleaning front. Sandra has covered her usual shifts 5 days a week with our team having to cover two days a week and help out over the larger events and functions.

As the show got nearer we had our usual job of marquee moving and a lot of grass cutting around the site and overflow car parks.

The 2011 August Bank Holiday Steam Show saw us take a greater role than ever with a lot of car park prep done before the event and dismantling afterwards. We also had a much bigger role in rubbish clearance and cleaning at this year's event, our full time team along with some stalwart volunteers doing a fine job in keeping bins empty and toilets clean and stocked. My thanks to the whole team in providing a great service over the weekend and keeping the site clean and tidy in all areas.

We did find time to finish a fencing job at Ashey summit, the Friday cutting back gang had done the lion's share of the work earlier in the year but we needed to finish it completely and take the temporary fencing down, which we completed in a couple of days. Another section of fence now looks very good and will last for many years to come. Talking of the Friday team, they continue to do a great job on the lineside and although summer holidays have reduced numbers over the last few weeks, they still manage to produce super results for their efforts on the lineside.

We have recently held PTS refresher courses for the Friday gang and this will need to be carried out for all PTS cardholders on the Civil Engineering side shortly. I would like to try to get some done on the November working weekend, using the morning session on the Sunday, as trains are running, to get as many through as possible. It would be great to see as many as possible to make it a worthwhile session.

Wednesday evening sessions have now come to an end as the evenings start to draw in, and although they were not as well attended as we would have liked it still proved productive and allowed some important work to be carried out after trains had finished running for the day. We hope to have some sleepers for next years bashes if funds allow and return it to the old Sleeper evening title.

Well that's it for now then folks, hope to see you soon.

Dave Pete Phil and Ian.