Reopening News and Keeping Up To Date

The official opening of the extension to Weston is planned for the end of March 2022 with public services starting from Easter.

We look forward to welcoming you onboard one of our services.

As the major jobs have been completed on the Extension the blog will slow down for a while.

Please keep up to date with the latest developments on the CHR by signing up to the newsletter or visiting us on Facebook.

To sign up for the Newsletter click on the link at the top of the page for the CHR homepage.

The Coach Now Arriving

After three years of work by the team at Oswestry the Mk 1 Suburban Coach was rolled out to join the passenger carrying fleet.  This restoration has included repairs to the bodywork and internal woodwork.

The following views of the coach are courtesy of CHR Facebook.

Well done to all of the volunteers who have put hundreds of hours into the restoration of this coach.

Until next time.

Droning On

 

Last Saturday Les brought along his drone and flew over Weston so that now you can see the latest progress and the impact the tamper has had on the track alignment.

There are lots of photos and they are grouped by location so I will not caption each one.

We start at the north end of the station with views of the tamper running along the siding

Next we fly towards the station with the class 73 in the platform and the Pacers in the bay.

Now we head to the south of the station and take a view towards the A483 level crossing before coming back for a closer look at progress.

The fence and gates have been erected between the station and the brewery, this is to keep the hoards of thirsty volunteers out.

The track alignment is now looking good after tamping

You can see there are still some features to complete such as the water column.

We finish with some overall views of Weston Station and Stonehouse Brewery.

Finally an aerial view of the team walking back to the station and hatching a plan to open the brewery gates.

Many thanks to Les for flying the drone and for sharing these pictures.

Until next time.

Pressing On

With the arrival of the tamper a lot of work has been done on the alignment and making sure that the line is brought up to passenger carrying standards. Andy G was on hand with his camera to catch some of the action.

We start with a ride on the works train as fresh ballast is brought along to back up where the tamper has moved the stones under the sleepers.

Once the ballast has been spread out it's time to pack the voids left by the tamper and ensure that the sleeper tops are clear, for the moment this is being done manually. Here we see the team on the rise up from Gasworks Bridge working on each sleeper.

Now looking up towards the crossing the works are moving along nicely.

And on the other side of the bridge alongside the footpath the line is receiving more attention.

At Weston the white line along the platform edge is progressing.

And just a few minutes later James has almost completed the white line.

Meanwhile the tamper is seen approaching Black Meadow Crossing, working it's magic on the alignment.

Alan, after his training, is testing the recently delivered guards chair. All that's missing is the mug of tea.

The tamper has now reached Weston and is receiving some love and admiration from the team. Hand packing the extension would have been hard work!

Continuing with the station signage further cast signs have been erected. Here is the right of way notice at the entrance.

The passageway which leads to the platform across the goods shed siding.

Under a changing sky the tamper takes a rest. Look at the track now it has been aligned. 

Another nice touch is the wooden fence and gates to our neighbours, Stonehouse Brewery.

Thanks to Andy G and Phil B for the photos.

Until next time.

Weston Roundup

Although the major track laying work has been completed there are lots of other jobs to tick off the list before we can open the extension. Andy G gives us a photographic tour of recent work with his pictures and a couple from Ian and Phil. 

We start with Phil's photo of the all important signage that needs to be installed. Here is the shunt limit sign having the finishing touches applied before being mounted to the support pole.

Point 4 has had the point lever assembly bolted into position and the location cabinet installed. Photo by Ian.

The Weston beachfront has proved to be a popular holiday destination this year. When the time for tea approaches there is an almighty rush to get to the best seats as if it were a game of musical chairs.

We still have plenty of materials arriving to finish the station. Here fence posts are being unloaded ready to continue with the fence around the site.

The RRV makes short work of moving and installing the location cabinets.

Similarly the Automatic Warning System (AWS) ramps are easily moved into position for final bolting down.

The very useful crane is seen here coming down from Oswestry to Weston, passing the class 73. 

The materials for future permanent way works now have their own dedicated storage area and the opportunity was taken to gather together excess material from Weston.

Some people do try to seek shade from the strong sunlight but Brian has perhaps taken this a bit too far. He is actually finishing off the concrete pads for the lift out walkway that allows easy access from the platform fo the toilet block.

Meanwhile Ian is busy with removing rust from the signal post before this is restored and installed at Weston.

The Thursday team went on a camping trip to Llynclys and are here putting up the tent. They have in important guest coming to stay for a while so they need a large changing room. Before too long the DMU should enter the tent for repainting.

To keep the Weston site looking smart the banks are regularly strimmed, all part of the ongoing site maintenance.

At the Black Meadow Crossing the cattle boards have been removed to allow the tamper to work right up to the timbers. The tamper is due shortly and will work on the extension to bring the track to it's final alignment.

The next few weeks will see a big push to remove waste material from around the site. The recently delivered skip should soon be full.

As you can see there is plenty going on and still much to do. If you fancy getting involved in the ever growing group come along and have a chat.

Thanks to all of the photographers and to the volunteers who come along to help.

Until next time.