It's been a busy few days south of the bridge, Guy and Andy have been keeping track of progress with the following photographs
After the ballasting of the excavated section last Friday it was the turn of the ballast bed further south to be extended. This is using the reclaimed ballast from the track which has been screened on site by the ballast cleaner and washed by the rain. The JCB backhoe is here seen after transporting and spreading the ballast.
A bit further south the concrete sleepers are being moved in to position and given a final nudge to maintain the alignment.
By sighting along the track instructions are given and the alignment is adjusted to keep the track straight.
Andy, more normally behind the camera is here getting ready to insert a key.
And with a couple of well placed taps the key is hammered home
In some cases the sleeper needs lifting to correctly position the chair to the rail. Once done the key can be considered to be in place. However this type of track always needs ongoing maintenance and this is why you see the PW team on all railways walking along the track looking for defects and loose keys. In the future with the nice views over the countryside this will be a pleasant walk on a clear day.
More tweaking and adjustment as the next panel is clipped up.
Sometimes we even tell fishing stories about the 'one that got away'. It was this big.... Or maybe it's the distance needed for the tweak this time.
And a round of applause for another panel done from Phil, or are those gloves itchy?
And there we are the view back from the 19 mile milepost looking towards Weston, the line of trees in the distance on the right is just about where the gentle curve starts to head towards the Weston station site.
Looking the other way the head of steel has moved on as the gap to Oswestry is closing fast.
This telephoto view shows how the track has been extended in the last few days, compare this with the shots of a week ago.
On Monday afternoon the team were back in action as fishplate tickling was on the agenda.
It's not just about the bolts, there is much more to it. You need the rails level, the correct gap, the correct fishplate, the grease and a bit of black magic to tickle a fishplate in to place. Phil is checking everything over before the nuts are done up.
Further north more sleepers are moved in to position and nudged to the correct alignment.
Whilst nudging is going on in the foreground Malcolm is levelling and rolling the ballast dropped by the JCB.
Here the ballast bed is almost ready to receive the sleepers, in the background the bridge can be seen with the track from there extending southwards.
This is the view from the end of the rolled ballast bed and the white of the fresh ballast can just be seen to the left of the JCB. The screener and ballast piles are now clear to see.
On Tuesday the team were back again but heavy rain did not allow much progress. However not to be put off the last set of rails were put in to take the track to the end of the currently laid out sleepers. Andy G took the following three pictures.
The rails are moved in to place and the JCB has made the trip from base to help.
The rails are dropped in to the chairs and then the fun starts. Dave, Glyn, Tom and John work as a team to position the chair to allow the key to be knocked in to place. In the distance Steve attends to a joint.
The team had that much fun that a halt was called and a retreat back to base was called where inside jobs were the order of the rest of the day, plus the kettle was closer and electric powered rather than by the drenched gas ring. Glyn rounds off the day taking the JCB back home.
Many thanks to all who braved the weather and to Guy N and Andy G for the pictures
Until next time.
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