Moving Pictures

The working week is now over and much progress has been made on upgrading the line north from Weston. At the end of the week a short sequence was shot from the rear balcony of the guard's van as the works train returned to Weston.

This link will take you to Colin's video.

Progress during the working week was helped by having mechanical help available. This speeds up the process and whilst one panel is being built the excavator moves on to the next panel and starts by cleaning out the cess to the side of the track. As the line was double track at this point there is enough room for the JCB to move alongside of the running line.

There are still plenty of panels to go before the line reaches the cattle creep. This work will take us well into next year and will depend on the weather.

Thank you to all who braved the weather during the week and to Colin for filming the latest progress. As a reminder here is a picture of the first panels of track to be tackled thanks to CHR Facebook.

Until next time.

The View From A Bridge

Sometimes it's satisfying to just look down from above to see the progress. The following photos are from the CHR Facebook page and show the recent progress. The link to the Facebook page is on the top right of this page (web version) so if you do visit give the page a like.

Looking over the walls of the bridge you can see the layout of the station and how things fit together.

We start with a view of the works train pulling into the platform from the south. The run round loop is to the right and the grassy bank at the far right will one day be the second platform.

Looking the other way you can see the southern point of the loop and just beyond the recently repaired bridge over the river Morda. Beyond the bridge the line gently curves to the right to cross the A483.

And this is where we stop for now. Beyond the stop sign is the level crossing and the line to Llynclys.

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We close with a view of the works train having arrived from Oswestry and resting in the new Weston station.

There is still plenty of work to make the station operational and the line between the cattle creep and Weston requires attention.

As you can see there has been significant progress this year and you can see the net results of your donations. Many thanks to all who have supported CHR during this very difficult period. We hope you like what you see and we look forward to welcoming you on a visit to the railway. As soon as we are able to reopen we will make an announcement. 

Thank you to CHR for the pictures.

Until next time.

Sleep(er)ing All Week

Most of the work on Tuesday and Thursday was concentrated on spot replacement of sleepers on the line north of Weston station. This will be an ongoing job for a while as there is around half a mile to work on. Andy G took the following pictures as work progressed.

On Tuesday work started on the first panel, the rails were manually levered out of the chairs. Here we are looking back to Weston with one rail out and the keys about to be taken out of the second one. Then with crowbars the rail is levered out and placed to the side.

Once the rails are out the selected sleepers are removed and placed to the side for collection be the works train. In this view you can see the stacks of good sleepers ready to see further use as part of the mainline. Once the sleepers have been replaced the rails are put back and the fishplates installed.

By Thursday, and due to the numbers involved, the ironmen had been brought into service  to help with movement of the rails. Once in place the ironmen make short work of lifting and shifting the rails.

With the rails to the side the life expired sleepers can be replaced,  the one in the foreground of this picture has been done. Plenty more to be replaced and the work will continue for a while.

The work around the Weston site carries on. One of the signal posts was moved onto a pair of trestles to allow restoration to commence. The skip was filled with scrap and the funds raised will be added to the station fund. Here the skip is about half full and by the end of the day was pretty full.

Next week will be a working week with a concentrated effort to push on with the works to make the pointwork operational from the groundframes and to upgrade more of the track towards Oswestry.

Back at Oswestry work continues in the workshop with running repairs to essential equipment and restoration. Thanks to CHR Facebook here is a picture of the latest work on the new front tubeplate for Oliver, further holes have been drilled. Cosmetic work on Adam continued with the reversing lever receiving attention.

Thank you to the volunteers who turn up in all weather conditions to take the project forward and to the photographers who help to document progress.

Until next time.

Weston Works

Although the major and highly visible works have been completed for the first phase of the station, smaller jobs are continuing at Weston. Andy G was on hand to catch up with the progress as the site is tidied up and work is done to complete the infrastructure.

We start at the northern end of the run round loop with the work being done for the ground frame which will operate the point. Here you can see the supporting structure and the base ready for the levers to be placed in position.

For the moment the point blades have to be manually shifted and locked for each movement.

Everyone loves a real fire and the stove in the mess room is a welcome feature to warm the hands and hearts of the volunteers. 

All around the site there is a major clean up in progress, here the older and unused sleepers are being rounded up and placed on the lowmac of the works train to be taken away and stacked ready for the next part of the project.

The works train slowly inches it's way along to the next location.

Here you can see the efforts of the team with the three tracks to the north. Glyn is hard at work in the foreground working on the points.

The excess material is being stacked to the north of the station.

To the south of the station the foot crossing has had it's signage installed.

The area South of the bridge, which previously was heavily overgrown, now is clear and temporarily houses the iron men and materials. 

In the last picture we see the joint between the bullhead and flat-bottomed rail awaiting final fettling.

Many thanks to all who were able to help and to Andy G for the pictures.

Until next time.

More From Weston Working Week

Here are some more of Andy's pictures from the working week.

After the first drop of ballast between the rails attention turned to the external sides. These were tidied up manually. Here you can see ballast from the cess being used to build up the shoulder.

In the following picture Telemon runs under the bridge and over the southern loop point on it's way to collect the works train. 

The points are manually clipped in position to allow movements. A ground frame will shortly be installed here to operate the points.  Here the point is being unclipped ready to be set and clipped for the platform road.

Coming back into the platform road to collect the ballast trucks for further use.

And finally the volunteers head off into the sunset, ready to start work again when we are next able to.

Many thanks to all who participated in the slightly shortened working week. Whilst much was done there are still key items to complete before we can operate at the station, key amongst these is the installation and commissioning of the ground frames.  Thanks to Andy G for the pictures.

Until next time.

Weston

We had a working period which was due to run the whole week but instead was cut short due to the lockdown. There was still plenty going on during the week and a great many jobs were tackled. Andy G was on hand with his camera to capture what was going on.  Here are a couple of pictures from just before lockdown started of the point being hand ballasted after the final chairs had been bolted down.

In the first picture we are looking south towards the river.

In the second picture we are looking from the River bridge back towards the station with the chairs on the bridge deck being bolted down.

More pictures from the working week will be uploaded in the following days.

Until next time.

Park Hall

Further clearance took place at Park Hall before the restrictions came into force.

Norman sent the following pictures which show how much of the platform is now uncovered.

Also discovered on the platform were the bases of the shelter and building. 

Many thanks to the team and to Norman for the picture.

Furthe photos will follow of work carried out pre lockdown. Keep checking back for updates.

Until next time.