Team Bonding

 Tuesday 26th March

A good team out today in the diesel railcar ( avoiding the service trains I have to add!) to complete the jobs on the viaduct to enable the line to Broadway to be re-opened on Friday.

So...... with Neil C with the two John's P & B  Peter B and myself we set off to the viaduct.

 The main objective was to re-install the bonding wires at the  rail joints (made easier now that there are several welded joints of 120ft lengths on this section).

First the drilling of the pairs of holes each side of the fish plates for the bonding wires with the motorised drill

Then a bit of ballast shovelling to create a channel to fit the protective yellow tubing for the connecting cables for the track circuits. 

Then feeding the existing cables from the linesde cabinet in the background into the yellow tubes going under the track.

and then out through radial holes drilled into tubes

and then connected to posts on the rails - Neil spannering them up!

We heard the relay in the cabinet operating as the connections were made -so all is well!

Couldn't resist taking a shot of the track over the viaduct as we left - it is quite a site with the pristine ballast, etc

Have to say we are missing Malcolm W following his retirement from the railway - his many recollections of his experiences with our railway were legion!

Curly

Cheltenham Bracket Signal Completed

 After a lot of work by the team and the intervention of Covid we have at last replaced the bracket signal at Cheltenham.  The new bracket and dolls was erected in February, as per Curly's previous post, and then Malcolm and Neil scaffolded around the whole structure and working from the top down applied all the fittings.  The bracket finally being completed and tested on Thursday 22nd February. The completion of this project was quite a fitting 'last job' for Malcolm, our leader for many years, who retired on 1st March.  We wish Malcolm a long and happy retirement.  Below is a photo of Malcolm posing on the finished bracket.