Thursday Gang

Under bright blue skies the Thursday Gang got stuck in to their jobs list.  John, Reg and both Alans were inside the shed on suburban coach restoration.  Dave J was outside on the Dogfish wagon.  The morning shift at Weston, comprised of John A, Noel, Norman and Steve, continued with clearance work.  At the Travis Perkins crossing Colin and Keith were preparing the motorised hand rollers for action, Glyn and Andy loaded leftover materials into the Mermaid wagon and Dave R attacked the greenery to search for the long lost rails that will be used in the final track panels.  Later on in the afternoon Noel, Norman and Steve joined the others at Travis Perkins to move sleepers so that they are ready to use and prepare the ground for the next panel of track to be laid.

Andy G was on hand with the camera to capture scenes at the Travis Perkins' crossing.

We start with the clean up of useful leftover building materials which will find use elsewhere along the line. 

There were useful quantities of sand, ballast and cement, all of which are regularly needed around the various sites.  Here is the Mermaid with some of the cargo safely stowed.

After a bout of sleeper stacking Dave, Steve, Noel and Norman take a break and seem enthusiastic about the idea of free ice creams, although that might not have been what was actually said.  These sleepers will form the missing panels between the two parts of the extension.

By the end of the day the site was looking a lot better and materials are now in the right place so that the track panels can be assembled.

Finally at the end of the day the Heras fencing is put back in place to mark out the crossing. Can you see the drains that are now carefully buried?  Neither can anyone else but rest assured that they are now in place and working.  Many projects vital to the continued operation of the railway are unseen from the surface but represent hours of work by the volunteers.

Many thanks to all who braved the sun and to Andy G for the pictures.  Work will begin shortly to lay the track and build the accommodation crossing.

Until next time.