Looking Back At Weston

Whilst we are waiting for an improvement in the current situation let's take a look back at the early days at Weston.

Here are some pictures by Andy showing how the station site looked a year ago.

We start with the first clearance of years of accumulated vegetation from what will become the platform line.

Fast forward a few months and the first signs of track begins to appear on site.

Here we see the first component parts of the yard points being moved into position.

Here we see what will be the track layout for the station and with the second platform and footbridge in position.

Here is a repeat of the latest picture showing how much has been achieved in 12 months.

Keep watching as we continue to build the station.

Until next time.

Temporary Pause

Due to the current situation the work at Weston will have to take a pause. Keep safe and keep well.

We'll be back soon.

Worth Waiting For.

Thanks to CHR Facebook here are a couple of pictures of the inside of the goods porter's office, now the waiting room at Weston station.

What a lovely place to wait for a train. Well done! 

Until next time.

12 Months At Weston

Thanks to Andy here is an image from Weston twelve months ago. Many strange and unforseen things have happened in the last year but the progress at Weston has been remarkable. 

Until next time.

Rainy Thursday

The weather on Thursday was a little damp but the enthusiasm was still there. Most of the work was related to preparing for next week when there will be a working week to tackle some significant projects 

Andy G's camera captured a few goings on during the day.

Down at the river bridge the wire fencing was being installed. Just look at how clear the site is now following attention by Dave, Nick and Norman under the heavy rain. 

The distribution of ballast continued with Glynn on the mechanical side and Glyn on the manual method. Now isn't that looking good?

    

The Lowmac was loaded with excess materials from track laying ready for the ballast to be dropped and the next phase of the project.

There has been impressive progress over the last year inspite of the difficulties. Long may this continue.

Thanks to all who braved the weather and to Andy for the soggy pictures.

Until next time.

Weston Rails

The Tuesday Team were back in action at Weston and Andy G took the following pictures and sent the following report. Thanks Andy.

 Today the last rails were cut to size and fitted to join the Up-line to point 3. This was the last bit of rail required in the Weston project. The rails were clipped into place and the fishplates were fitted to the rails that have been drilled. Point 3 still needs gauging, the last rail chairs screwed down and guide rails fitted. The 2 ironman were walked down from Oswestry and then used to move unused rail sections from the top of the Weston site down to near point 3. A start was made on concreting in the ground frame that will be used to operate point 1,2 and the catch point. Also previously dropped ballast was distributed on the down line and at the end of the day there were train movements to drop more ballast from the Dogfish which had been filled in the morning rain.

The first view shows the team working along the line moving the ballast manually into position.

The rails to connect the point have been cut to length. You can see clips still need to be installed once the alignment is confirmed.

The Dogfish runs along the platform road dropping and spreading ballast.

The final view is of the point now connected. The check rails still need to be installed and the alignment checked before the chairs can be screwed down.

Nice to see the trackwork completed. Thanks to all.

Until next time.

Ballast

One of the next stages is to ballast the track in the station. For this we use many tonnes of crushed stone or ballast. The stones with sharp edges lock together to hold the sleepers in place.

With plenty of ballast to place on position a lot of thought has gone in to speeding up the process.

In this picture from CHR Facebook you can see two loaded ballast hoppers on their way to the station to drop their load on the track.

There are plenty more loads to be dropped on the track before we can call the track ballasted. Then we have the fun of jacking and packing to the final alignment.

Keep looking out for more progress updates 

Until next time.