To Finish In Style

I know I said that I would be taking a break from the blog but having seen these photographs they just have to be shared. 

Deciding to miss the joys of Sales Shopping some of the team lead by Andy R and Pete M spent their time on the extension and laid rails into the waiting chairs.  Andy G took the following pictures.

Matt and Rob install the first fishplate and we are off.

Matt gives the heave-ho routine to tighten up the bolts whilst the rail on the other side waits to be dropped in to the chairs.

The Iron Man is an essential tool to lift and drop the rail in to position, moving the Iron Man without rails also needs team work.

Pete, Andy and Steve prepare for the lift of the next rail.  The bridge is getting closer.

 The last rail of the day is dropped in to position leaving around forty feet until the slab is reached.

Here we look along the freshly laid rails now reaching (almost) to the Gas Works Bridge.  These still need to be finally aligned and then ballasted before trains can run up to the bridge.

Looking back through the bridge you can see the material waiting to be used and the end of the line just the other side.

Thanks to Andy G for the pictures and to those who stopped for a chat with many favourable comments about seeing the track (almost) reach the bridge.  We had a target to get to the bridge by the end of the year and we have just about made it.  Rails under the bridge will be laid by contractors on the special base plates, this is hoped to take place in mid January.

Until next year....

Merry Christmas

A very Merry Christmas to all and a big thank you to you for looking in over the last 12 months.  I will be taking a break until the New Year so there will be no updates this week.

A special thanks goes to the volunteers who have put so much effort in to  the project.  2018 has been a year of significant progress and 2019 is looking good. 

Thursday Gang

The Thursday Gang split in to two for the morning with work going on at the station and on the extension.
Andy G took the following pictures of the extension.  First a general view looking north towards the bridge showing the route along the trackbed that is being used to deliver materials.  If you look closely you can see the rainbow pointing to our crock of gold,

Work continues even behind bars.  This is the view from the JCB as it moves more sleepers up into position north of the bridge.

The sleepers have been moved to their approximate locations and the centre has been laid out to allow final adjustment, you can see the sleepers are almost up to the bridge now.

Once that was done the alarm sounded and it was a scramble back to base for the Christmas Lunch in 'Buffers'.  The following three photos are most of the Thursday Gang enjoying the now traditional fish and chip lunch.  Many thanks for all that you have done over the last twelve months and more.  The Thursday Gang started with an offhand comment and has now become a key part of the CHR project.  I hope you enjoyed the food.

There was quite a turn out with some of the people from the very first Thursday session present and friends since departed were remembered.

 Some slept, some prayed and even the Chairman was let out to have a bite to eat.

Thanks to Andy G for the photos.

Until next time.

Working Week December

Some of the team are on site for most of this week which has allowed us to move ahead with the extension.  We are not sure whether this is being enthusiastic or merely to escape Christmas shopping.

We have two reports today, first Andy G was on hand and took the following pictures.

We start with the most important subject, tea.  As the work site is now moving away from the station the supply of tea becomes more critical.  For this reason the works train was run to the end of the line with specific instructions to have the kettle on the stove and a plentiful supply of teabags and mugs.  First priority sorted! Here is the mobile tea room, otherwise known as the guard's van in position.  Ahead of the van, or should that be behind, you can see the first 40 sleepers laid out by the gang before a tea break.  The rails are waiting to the side.

Speaking of rails another delivery arrived of the brand new rails for under the bridge and to connect to the rest of the railway.  A bit of a wiggle was needed to get the trailer in to the right place.

Swinging out the rails and unloading them took some coordination but with the experts in charge all went well.

And here they are, this is one of our Christmas presents.  Flat bottomed rail for over the slab and bullhead rail for the connection to the existing rails.

These rails were then dragged in to position towards the bridge.

The next set of six photos are courtesy of  Glynn S/ CHR /CHR Facebook.

Looking south in to the hazy sunshine we can see the freshly laid sleepers stretching out towards the cattle creep (bridge 51).

Looking north from the cattle creep you can see the rails laid out to simulate their position so that the supporting concrete sleepers can be positioned and then the successive sleepers spaced out using the jig.

The sleepers then are ready for about a quarter of a mile up towards the gasworks bridge.

To the north of the bridge the freshly delivered bullhead rail was moved up in to position before being rolled to the side to allow sleepers to be laid.

Here the gang north of the bridge start to lay out the sleepers, by the end of the day around 40 had been placed in position.  These concrete sleepers are heavier than the wooden ones so today's tea was well earned.  Just look how things are moving now.

The next view shows the section beyond the cattle creep which will be tackled next.  With a fair wind this section should be underway in February, only another three quarters of a mile and there is a brewery waiting at the end.  What more incentive could the team need.  Now all we need is someone to organise the celebration in the brewery.

A special thank you to all who turned out and to those who are giving up their holiday to work on the extension.  Thanks to Andy and Glynn for sharing the photos.  Don't forget to look at the Facebook page (link top right) and give us a 'Like'.  If you like what we are doing tell your friends to like us as well.

This weekend sees the last of the Santa Specials with a few places remaining so do pop along and see what we are up to.  To avoid disappointment please book on line for the Santa Special through the link on the CHR website, a link to out homepage is in the top right of this page.

Until next time

Gasworks Bridge, Past, Present and Future

Thanks to Glynn S and CHR here are a couple of pictures and notes about forthcoming activity with the track around Gas Works Bridge.

Firstly a recap, the bridge over the railway is locally known as Gasworks Bridge as many years ago there used to be the town gasworks located next to the cemetery.  This site is now the location of the Lidl store.  The whole site is shown on the Gasworks Location Map.  The gas works was an imposing structure and formed the backdrop to the original FC Oswestry ground.  This view shows the gasworks in the distance behind the manicured football pitch!

This gasworks next to the railway replaced the earlier gas plant which was on Willow Street and which first supplied the town with coal based Town Gas. I am not sure as to when the gasworks finally closed though there seems to have been some activity at least in to the 1950's

The gasworks were demolished in 1970 but the bridge is still known locally as Gasworks Bridge, although modern maps and town planners call it the Shrewsbury Road bridge. 

As detailed previously the rails under the lowered bridge will be mounted directly to the concrete slab, this allows us to maximise the vertical clearance under the bridge whilst not going so deep with the excavation.  The reinforced concrete slab has been designed such that the new flat bottomed rail will be bolted to the base using special chairs.  Here is a picture of the chairs in store and waiting to be installed with bolts and epoxy glue.  There will be two rail lengths on the slab with a welded joint in the middle, this thermic welding will be carried out by contractors along with the installation of the rail and chairs. 

At either side of the slab there will be a transition onto concrete flat bottomed sleepers and these have been moved in to position.  At the end of the section the rail will revert to the normal chaired track using the ready prepared sleepers. 

Weather and completion of other jobs notwithstanding the contractors should be on site in January to carry out these tasks.

Further along the line the sleepers have been laid out and spaced and so far the joints look to be lining up.

Once again thanks to Glynn for the details and pictures.

Until next time  

Thursday Gang

The team were back in action on Thursday working all around the site on multiple jobs.

Steve, Tom and Dave R were attending to the running line carrying out some spot jacking and packing to ensure a smooth ride for our customers. 

Down at the railhead the sleepers were swung to one side to allow the track laying team access for pulling the rails through.

In the shed John and Reg continued with work on the suburban coach with Alan continuing with restoration of the wood trimmings and fittings.

The loco was coaled up and prepared for the weekend and various items of plant were fettled and readied for their next bout of action.  The firewood pile was replenished and much tea was consumed.

Many thanks to Andy G for the pictures and details.

Until next time.

Sleep(ers) Walking North

Monday and Tuesday.

More sleepers have been moved in to position along the freshly laid ballast bed.  Working north from the cattle creep an extra 100ft have now been positioned.  Glynn, Andy and Steve also lined up the freshly laid sleepers, dug out, cleaned and laid three pairs of rails in the 'four foot' ready for the track gang to drop in to position.  The nearest sleeper is now 230ft north of the cattle creep.

In another delivery, forty special sleepers needed for the transition at the slab under the bridge arrived and have been placed in store.

Special thanks to the team that turned out to help and to Glynn for the picture.

Until next time.

Sleep(er)ing in December

The Santa Season is in full swing and trains are running at both sites until Christmas, so check the web site and take a trip.

Another week of progress and more milestones passed, many thanks to all who turned up.

Glynn S took the pictures and posted the following report:

Thursday 6th December 2018
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Another day with John W and myself sorting out the pile of sleepers and putting them into place alongside the ballast. Meanwhile Andy G used a hired roller to compact the ballast already laid between the 19 mile post and the cattle creep. By the end of a damp and windy day we had a total of 100 sleepers sorted and adjacent to where they are to be laid. Phil B also turned up to assist once he'd finished work
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Friday 7th December 2018
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Andy R, Pete McC and myself (an hour later) were down in the Gasworks Bridge area, alongside Malcolm (man & digger), and with a hired roller.
By the time I got there, Malcolm had set to moving more screened ballast onto the trackbed South of Travis Perkins, and almost immediately a couple of loads of fresh ballast arrived for North of the bridge. Malcolm headed off there to level it under Pete's and Andy's guidance while I set to compressing the screened ballast with the roller.
After a while it was about turn – Malcolm had finished in section #1 so came back to section #4 to lay some more screened ballast and I headed North to compress the ballast between end of running line and the bridge.
Once rolled levels were taken and in places an inch or two more ballast was needed so Malcolm was back to finish that off, again rolled and now we have it ready for laying sleepers – just a little to take out next to the slab once we have finished with the ramp for machine movements.
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By the time I had finished rolling section #1, Malcolm had completed laying screened ballast in section #4, he left and I carried on rolling, a job which Phil B joined in with once he’d finished work.
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The view looking along the rolled and ready ballast bed behind Travis Perkins

 Saturday 8th December 2018
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Last thing on Friday afternoon Pete McC, Andy R and I decided to do a few hours on Saturday morning making a start on laying sleepers. Again a damp and windy morning but this time I was inside the JCB 805B’s cab so well chuffed.
We made a start laying 10 sleepers then pulled the Cattle Creep rails through from the South side to lay them in the 4foot with the correct overhang from the bridge timbers (4½ metres, 15 feet, 7 sleepers).

I wasn't as dry as I'd imagined as once we started laying I had to turn the cab facing SW and the heavy rain, although only for 5 minutes, soaked my legs.
We then continued laying until it was time to leave. In 2 hours we had managed to lay, with the correct spacing, 52 sleepers. Next job is to use a string line to get them correctly lined up ready to accept the rails. 

Andy assesses the job and looks happy with the result.
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Many thanks to Glynn S for the pictures and report.

Until next time.

Further Ballasting

Work has been going on early this week with preparing the trackbed south of the bridge.  Thanks to CHR and Facebook here are the latest pictures.

First we start with a recap of the ballast being profiled to height. Here the ballast is being levelled over the sewer crossing, this view is looking back towards Oswestry. 

Down at the far end of the section at the cattle creep (bridge 51) is the start of works as the reclaimed ballast is laid to a depth of around 150mm all along the route.

Here you can see the ballast bed in position and levelled with further piles to the left.

Progress has been good and you can see the cattle creep in the distance, beyond that lies roughly another 3/4 of a mile to arrive at Weston.

The machines have been busy moving up the ballast from the storage piles.

The soil reclaimed from the screening process was transported away to be used elsewhere.

Looking along the line you can see here we are leaving behind the town and moving in to open countryside.

Materials for the extension are stored along the way including the concrete sleepers with chairs that will be re used with the bullhead rail which lies alongside waiting for the PWay team.

Looking back towards Oswestry the ballast bed advances north.

The levels have been marked up along the extension and the ballast piles await profiling to the final level

The aim is a clean ballast bed on which the sleepers can be laid with space for access alongside

Glynn S and CHR took the following two pictures which show the JCB moving the sleepers in to position alongside the track.  These will then be swung round into position by the track laying team, avoiding the need to wait for the sleepers to move up from the piles.  All together around 40m was complete.

Andy G, who is usually the one taking the pictures, was driving here and being directed by John W where to place the sleepers. 

Thanks to all who helped and further updates soon.

Until next time.

Santa Specials

Saturday 1st December saw the first run of our Santa Specials, this year using a loco hauled coach.  Andy G was on hand and sent these pictures of the historic event as a steam loco and coach departed for the run down the line.  Thanks to everyone who has made this possible.

Here we see the loco coupled up to the coach and ready to come out of the yard

Once loaded with our guests the train makes a smooth start away from the platform with the first service.

The train heads off along the main line towards Weston.

Thanks to Andy for the pictures. 

Colin took some video of the trains.

What a way to head towards the end of 2018, we are looking forward to 2019 and the next steps on the restoration of our railway.  Fancy joining in?

Until next time.