Maps

Glynn's Picture Map,  published earlier on the blog was intended to give an overview of the Weston Section but perhaps a bit more explanation is needed on the overall CHR project.

The TWAO application map details the relative position of the various parts.  The ultimate intention is to have all parts connected and operational.  Here is the basic layout of the CHR project with the component sections marked up.

The larger version is available here
The Weston section forms part of Railway 2 and this will eventually link the two CHR operational sites at Oswestry and Llynclys.  Timing for the completion of Railway 2 will depend on many things but we are committed to the goal of linking once again Oswestry with Llynclys.

If you would like to see a more detailed and annotated map take a look here and by clicking on the box at the top left of the map you can get to a very large scale version.  Please note that viewing the large scale version on a tablet or phone you will at first only see what appears to be a blank page, you need to scroll across or down so that the image comes in to view.

Whilst this blog is looking mainly at the section from Oswestry to Weston Wharf there is much going on at the other sites.  Llynclys station has been repainted whilst Tony, Trevor and crew continue their excellent work on the coach fleet.  Pop in to take a ride and see what is going on.  Here is a picture courtesy of the CHR Facebook page showing the freshly painted fence.

The station at Gobowen has been secured and all of the land required to create a functional terminal station is now available.  This forms part of Railway 1 on the TWAO map.  

Hopefully June should see the start of digging under the propped bridge allow us to push on to Weston. 

Until next time

End of May Round Up

Here are a couple of items that I missed whilst otherwise occupied.

Just to prove that volunteering on the Cambrian is not all about drinking tea, Colin caught Tim and Henry in mid drilling session.  Tim on the drill is doing one of the holes that were later filled with resin to attach the anchor studs. It won't be too long before we reach the cattle creep.

Next up is our Multi Purpose Vehicle. we do try to get the maximum value from all donations and that includes making the best use of equipment.  That might look like an ordinary dumper truck but it is so much more.  Here it is in sleeper shifter mode, collecting them together to be sorted and worked on.  Amongst its many other uses is a vital role as mobile tea stand.

Here you can see some of the prepared track bed and the ballast screener on the right, the moles have come back again!

Thanks to Colin for the pictures.
This week the last of the items to remove to allow the contractors to start work was moved away from the work area.  We should soon have the equipment on site to start the dig.  I wonder what we will find buried under the ballast?

Work is now shifting to beyond the excavation site and the 9th/10th June will see another push on preparing the way.  The next big working weekend after is the 14th/15th July when we will once again work on the way to the cattle creep.  Weston is getting closer!

The Thursday gang were busy in many locations, tidying up around Oswestry North, changing the odd sleeper on the running line, working at the excavation site and also on the coach.  Things are moving along now.  Why not come along and have a look.

Until next time.

Future Events

Here are details of the Half Term Running and the Football Special Event.

Come along and take a ride and participate in the activities.  Note that the Half Term running day is the 30th and that brake van rides will be diesel hauled.

The Football Special Event was very popular last year and there will be stands offering football related items for sale, bring out your old football albums and see if you can get that last elusive sticker.

A Star is (Re)Born

The open weekend and rededication of Oswestry South Signal Box went well.  Here are some behind the scenes pictures of the final preparations.

Dave and Rob prepare the visitor area making sure that all is correct, it's a bit late to correct any mistakes on the board but all looks good and nobody found any errors.

 Here is the information panel with details about the location, history and operation.

Good job we put up the strong gates to prevent gate crashers!  We weren't keeping Robin out, he was testing the gate's integrity to keep the hoards of screaming fans away from our celebrity guest.

The service train was kept buy and showed why we need the coach, how much this scene has changed over the years.  The PWay gang have made much progress here bringing the overgrown mainline back in to regular use.

Our guest, Keith Wilkinson of ITV Central News, lines up the shot for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

 Here he is before climbing the steps.

 Second Director Davey J helps with getting everything ready and we are ready to go.

The all important ribbon is placed between the hand rails and Davey retreats backwards for the ceremony to begin.

After the formal reopening there are tours and explanations of the functions of the various instruments and levers.

And here she is.  Our star re-born after many hours of hard work, a real credit to all involved.

Thanks to Andy Green for the pictures.

Beam Me Up Again

Now that the steel beams are in place thoughts can turn to the supports for the rail.  With this in mind the wooden support beams were moved away from the running line and carefully stored so that any attention required can be given before being returned to their proper position.  Here Matt connects up the slings before Glynn makes the lift.

With the slings in place everything is now moved away from the running line, ready for further work.

Whilst in the sprit of moving there was also a tidy up of extra sleepers that had been hiding along the way.  These are the concrete ones. Sleepers come in various grades and weights, over time the wooden ones have a tendency to lose weight through rot, concrete ones instead seem to get heavier.  This called for strong tactics and even an extra round of tea was not enough to overcome the weight.  Help arrived and soon these sleepers were being moved out of the way and in to storage.  

Here Glynn is performing the sleeper dance whilst the jury watches ready to raise the scorecards.  A swing to the right.

 Then to the left.

Safely negotiated the obstacles the sleepers are positioned in neat piles for future use and the jury passes the verdict, time for tea.... This was Matt driving, Phil watching, Glynn and Colin at the sharp end.

 Here the jury of Tom, Dave R, Alan, John W and Keith deliberate

The verdict?  Job done and time to call it a day with a well deserved brew back at base.  Thanks to all who helped and we are very nearly ready to welcome serious machinery on site.  Photos again from Andy G.

Caring and Chairing

Last Thursday the team spent the day working behind Travis Perkins cleaning up the site,  One of the jobs was to collect up all of the scrap chairs and weigh them in for scrap.  These are life expired and/or damaged cast iron chairs.

With the processing of the sleepers the scrap ones that are no longer usable are broken up,  The wood going for firewood and the chairs for scrap.

The skip duly arrived and a start was made.  There were a few other metal odds and ends placed in the skip.  First the closely placed scrap was moved by hand and the pile started to grow, and grow, and grow.. Dave J was giving encouragement to the follow up visitors to the pile, Jim, Dave R and Matt,  for every one loaded the clang was equivalent to the cash register bringing in funds for the extension.

And they kept coming... John W bringing another.  To give you an idea of the weight take a carrier bag and fill it with tins of beans, that is about the weight of one chair,  although with the carrier bags you get today you will be lucky to fit more than four tins in the bag before it splits and drops everything on the floor.  After moving these around you need some refreshments,

 The pile to shift was gradually reducing, even Matt took a turn and did not use the 'It's my Birthday' excuse.  What a way to spend a birthday and work up an appetite for cake.

 More serious machinery was needed as the distance to the skip increased and Glynn was called on with the excavator to drop a few buckets full. The cash register ringing ever louder. Dave s J and R watch as Keith goes for yet more from the 'manual' pile.

Glynn continued with scoops full of chairs.

 

As the distance between the skip and the chair piles grew the need for help in transport was obvious.  Here Glynn moves another 25 chairs up to the skip

Here is a group picture as chair number 350 was passed, John W, Dave J, Keith, Matt, Alan, Tom and Colin amongst others taking a breather. 

With use of the excavator the pile grew, here another bucket full progresses to the pile,  Glynn creeping up from behind the skip ready to deposit another load.

By the end we were filling up the skip and getting ready for the weigh-in. 

Many thanks to all who joined in and to roving reporters Andy G and Colin who provided the pictures.  The result? 10.5 tonnes of metal scrap weighed in and funds on the way to help with the push to Weston.

As a follow up we have to clear the leftover sleepers and cleared scrub.  Garden quality sleepers are available to purchase and the firewood can be yours for a donation,  Get in contact with the team at Oswestry if interested.

Until next time. 

Beam Me Up

Over the weekend, aside from all of the excitement of the events along the line, several volunteers carried on with other jobs out of the public gaze.  One of these jobs was to position the beams for the cattle creep.  Since the beams arrived back in February they have been stored in the gap at the cattle creep, now was the time to establish levels and position the beams for the future running line.  Here is a photo of the beams about to come off the back of the lorry in the cold wet weather. These were skilfully placed with no element of 'falling off the back of a lorry', not least because of the £4k cost of these.  Again thanks to those who helped with the purchase of the beams.  

With careful measurement of distances and levels the beams were jacked in to position. Confirmation of the level was given by the flask of hot beverage, in true Cambrian style. The beams were also squared up and the fun began.  Henry checks the drawing to see if the cup is in the right position.  After cross checking the holes could be drilled into the supports.

Here you can see the beams on their pads and the holes being drilled, extra prizes were awarded for not spilling a drop from the flask. 

Here are just a couple of the 16 bolts that will hold the bridge, these have now been resin bonded in to place and following curing the final levels can be checked and all bolted in to place.

Here is the close of play shot with everything ready for the visit of the track gang, though that might be a couple of months yet.

Many thanks to Tim H for the pictures and for the input into the project by all the volunteers who came over the weekend.

The preparations for the big dig under gasworks bridge are still progressing, we are awaiting a site meeting to sort out details.  Again it will depend on machine availability as to when we can start.  Now that the weather is better it should be easier to arrange but we have to fit in with other planned jobs.

That will then allow us to advance the railhead and progress towards the cattle creep, which now awaits.

Until next time.

Making Use of the Posts

Work on the various gates continues. We do seem to have quite a few crossings around the station and the one to the south is over quite a distance.  The heavy gate posts had been put in earlier, now it was time to start putting them to good use.
First up was the small gate which leads along the newly created path and past our lovely restored signal box.  Here you an see the posts and the foot crossing in front of them.

Here Phil and Chris had put the finishing paint touches to the gate post after which Glynn came along and drilled more holes for the locks and pins, out with the paint brush again to tidy up and another job ticked off before the Volunteers Day,  

Open Day Details

Stand By Your Beds!

With the rededication event and volunteers day coming up the Thursday gang spent much time tidying up and putting on a good face for the weekend.  Work was done on making the site look good and a fresh drop of ballast was placed in front of the signal box.

The windows of the signal box had a good clean both inside and out.

Inside the box work was going on with tidying up and getting ready for the inspection this weekend.
Stand by your beds everyone, the boss is coming for a look around!

We look forward to seeing you this weekend and please ask questions about the railway and the various parts of the project.

Other work done on Thursday will be covered in another post over the weekend.

Once again pictures by resident photographer Andy G, many thanks

STOP PRESS: Service Resumes Between Gobowen and Oswestry

Here is an extra to add on for this weekend.

As part of the open day there will be a vintage bus service linking the station at Gobowen to Oswestry so you can arrive by train and see the activities at several sites.  Llynclys will also be open.

Here is the newspaper article with the details and thanks to our friends and the Advertizer for the mention.
http://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/news/16209042.Gobowen_station_hosts_pop-up_shops/

The vintage bus service is just for the Saturday.  It will be a while yet before you can travel again by train along the full line but come along for a chat and see the progress, you might even want to join in to make the dream come true.

A Post About a Post

Also ticked off last week was the erection of the gate post.  First thing you need is a hole, here is a likely looking one, dug recently and seemingly made for filling up with concrete.

Next you need a master team with the right tools and experience plus a mix of concrete. The tape measure says good to go, so time for concrete.

Finally you always need someone to look at the job... and then celebrate with a cup of tea. Phil doing the honours on the inspection side.  The full team drank the tea.

That's how we do it, Cambrian Style..
Holes dug and filled while you wait!
Camera snaps by Andy G.

Oswestry North

At the North end of the station we are now seeing almost clearly up to the medical crossing, you can see the old works on the right hand side of this picture.  Of note is the lack of the sleeper pile and the goods stock that was stored in this area.  Over 1'000 sleepers have been processed in this area and it will now take on a new lease of life as part of the railway. 

This is what remains and behind you can see the crossing and the distinctive footbridge to the works.  In the foreground are the unusable sleepers which are waiting to have the chairs and fixings removed before being put to other non track supporting uses.  Some of these literally fall apart in your hands as you try to move them.

Now after all this talk about sleepers what we need are some gates.....

Until next time.