Wednesday 8 August 2018

Points Reached

Tuesday 7th August

Six of us at Broadway today to continue the northwards push of the rodding.
We loaded a further 35 lengths of rodding on the pickup - about as much that can be safely carried in one go, but should be enough to complete the four runs up to the siding points.


Once the first train had cleared the station we availed ourselves of the PWay trolley to carry all our hardware up north, including the remainder of the twin roller stools needed to get us all the way to the headhunt points. Just the right number of us to get everything off the pickup, across the station platform, onto the trolley and unloaded before the next train:


Keith L in charge of trolley


The trolley was finally  lifted  on to the sidings well clear of engine movements. Made it with time to spare.

A close up of one of the twin roller stools . It is a casting:


Having dropped off lengths of rodding along the track - they have been fitted on the rollers and bolted together with fishplates. Unfortunately we are still waiting delivery of the proper tee-bolts so our temporary  bolting with M12's will be replaced in due course.
Keith L spannering up:


Having removed the shuttering from our concreted repair of the platform 2 ramp you can see a nice clear run for the rodding, leaving sufficient room for 4 signal wires to pass through. We still have to fit the 2 angled slabs back in position:


And the rods now pass smoothly through the barrow crossing


And here's a view looking north with the four sets running up to the siding points:


Which next leaves us with the positioning of the blocks and steel plates for the cranks which will direct the rodding at right angles under the rails. Firstly the crank for the FPL:



And then the one for the points:



The three wise men pondering the best way to fit the crank and hoping that the pre-drilled holes are in the right orientation!


A bit of adjustment required with a crowbar to get the plates to line up with the rodding and then we are ready to connect. Job for next time.


A pause in working as Foremarke Hall prepares to run round:


Neil C and gang were up here on Monday and have loaded more concrete cable troughs onto the ELF wagon. This has cleared a total of 320 troughs  and left platform 2 north of the signal box completely clear - so now looking a deal more tidy:


Hope to carry up the rest of the rodding next week - not too many more required now. This is the remainder of our stock in Winchcombe yard - more than enough! To be continued...........



Curly

7 comments:

  1. Great pictures Curly. Glad the weather stayed dry for you. Not much in the way of rain down here in Cornwall - until today when we had odd showers, that is. Great progress.
    Regards, Paul.

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  2. Great job you chaps are doing.no doubt about it.

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  3. Good progress, Curly! Have you managed to install the thermal compensators yet or are you still waiting for the fittings?

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  4. It looks as if the latest rodding pieces aren't painted? They're being installed in that state? Will they be painted later on? Can that be done with them in place?

    Anyway, great to see all the progress; congrats to all the people doing all the hard work!

    Noel

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    1. The majority of them have retained a semblance of zinc plating. The rustier ones are being used up past the barrow crossing where they will be out of view. We will re-paint the ones through the platform where some rust is re-appearing - this can be done in situ. Maybe treat the rusty ones to a wire brush and zinc paint if we can find a volunteer!!

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    2. Thanks for satisfying my curiousity!

      Noel

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