Filling The Gap

Over the last week there has been a fair amount of comings and goings making photography a little difficult.  The trackbed has been used to deliver the concrete which now fills the gap between the sheet piling. Here is a view along the trackbed with levels established, awaiting the ballast.

Under the bridge the centre piece of the slab has now been poured, this sets the track level so best to double check that stock will pass as intended.

The formwork also includes covers for services and keys in to the soon to be ballasted section of the running line.

 These areas will be finished off shortly.

Whilst the concrete was setting these temporary props kept the sheet piling sides apart, now the piling is secured both sides by concrete so these will be removed

 Looking back under the bridge you can see the slab in place, another part of the job completed.

Thanks to Guy N for the pictures.

Until next time.

On The Slab

Work under the bridge continues with the creation of the internal steel reinforcement ready for the next pour.  The first view shows the base layer in place and the steel being assembled.

The vertical cylindrical piles are interlinked with the reinforcement for the slab, which will extend over the whole area between the sheet steel piling.

The view back through the bridge shows the section of completed rebar and the temporary wooden stopper at the end.  Work will continue with the steel work so that the whole section can be concreted.  That will be one of the last concrete pours required.

Temptingly trains were running to within sight of the bridge as part of the Heritage Open Days in which CHR are taking part over the two weekends. The Signal box is open for viewing and trains run at both sites.

Thanks to Guy N for the pictures.

Until next time.

Thursday Gang

Again multiple jobs were undertaken by the Thursday Gang with Andy G on hand to catch and photograph what was going on.

After hanging the first two gates last week attention turned to the next gate post to be installed, Noel is seen here with the needle gun tackling the rust.

Davey J also joined in as work outside continued under an ever more threatening dark sky.  As the weather closed in the tea stops became more frequent and longer.

The rain eventually came and the team that were dealing with the sleepers further down the line came back to base to work inside.

Amongst the work going on, John continues with replacing wooden parts on the coach, here proving  that there are never enough clamps when you are working with wood.

 

Restoration of details on the coach continues with the refurbishment of the door bump stops.  The process starts on the left with the part as removed from the coach.  After a thorough clean and stripping back to brass the stops are repainted and stored ready to refit when the bodywork of the coach is complete.

With undercover restoration space at a premium there have been expansionist moves in to the signal box, here are some of the internal details of the coach being worked on.  However by the end of play the intruders had been evicted as the signal box is prepared for it's starring role in the upcoming Heritage Open Days.  See the previous post.

Inside the station building there were more evictions as Santa's Grotto moved to a new storage location, leaving behind some unpleasant surprises. 

Finally everything was cleared up. Special thanks to Dave, John, Keith and Tom who encountered some of the worst elements that our society leaves behind as traces.

Thanks to Andy G for the pictures and details.

Until next time.

National Heritage Open Days September 2018

CHR will be taking part in this event on the weekends of the 8/9th and 15/16th September.  Operations as normal with the added attraction of the Oswestry South signal box open for visits.

The CHR website has the details on the front page, link on the right hand side of this page.  The Signal Box event is on the national Heritage Open Days website and the event brochure will be available from outlets in the town including our museum. It is packed with special events over the next two weeks.

On Saturday evening 8th September at 7:30 pm Buffers will be projecting railway themed films, to include:
A Study in Steel
Train Time
Signal Engineers
Down to the Sea in Trucks
Rail Journey to the Sea

Our friends from Stonehouse Brewery will also have Cambrian Gold beer available. 
All attractions subject to availability.

It Will Be Pouring Soon

Work this week is concentrating on the area under the bridge to create a solid base and to anchor the two support trusses together.  The area has been fenced off and the ground prepared for the piles that will anchor the slab firmly to the ground underneath.

Here you can see the mini piles under the base waiting to be then integrated in to the main slab which will be poured later.

These will provide the support for the track base, you can see where the rails will run on the way to Weston.

The previously completed steel piling has been propped to prevent any movement before the concrete is poured in to create the slab.  There will also be form work and reinforcing to prepare here before the slab can be laid.

The work is proceeding in line with the revised plan, also with the CHR volunteers preparing sleepers for when we can gain access and continue with the push south.

Thanks again to Guy N for the pictures.

Until next time

That Has Capped It!

Confirmation and pictures that the cap has been completed over the sewer.  A big 'phew' in one sense with less risk of a 'phew' in the other.

Guy's pictures show the cast and completed cap plus the covers on the approach.  First an overall picture showing the cap and the work on the retaining walls.

 The cap and related access point in place, looking back towards Oswestry station.

There are still some more gabions to be placed to support the cutting sides, now that the concrete has been completed this can be finished.

Looking towards Weston shows the approach to the sewer crossing and further along the completed earthworks on the cutting's sides

 The part still to be completed is on the left

Work under the bridge is concentrated on stabilisation and piling works ready to support the track base.  Thank to Guy N for the pictures.

Until next time

Seeing Double

Here is the end result of the Thursday Gang's efforts on the crossing gates, after the first gate went on it was quickly followed by number two.  Here Glynn's photo show the gates in position, the deliberate mistake will be corrected next time.

Now we have the two crossing gates that can be opened easily by hand.  That is a lot easier than manually moving the Heras fencing for each and every operating session.  The gates will be used in anger for the next operating session on the 15th September, why not come along and see progress on this and other parts of our project.

There are a lot of man hours invested in this project and it gives great satisfaction to see the end result.  Take a bow all involved.

Until next time.