We may have been bracing ourselves for possible flooding at the weekend again, but the work goes on for our track volunteers.
A minor project this Autumn (well, minor by our standards) was the replacement of life-expired timbers in a turnout in the locomotive yard, in this case the one which provides access to the Cathedral Siding where diesel locomotives are stored.
Our regular inspections had flagged this low-traffic turnout for repair some time ago, and the period between summer trains and Christmas trains was the ideal time slot for this. A number of point timbers had become rotten from the poor drainage in this area of the yard, requiring replacement before they failed – all part of normal maintenance on a railway, and in this case on a seldom-used turnout in a non-passenger area.
With the old rails removed and the turnouts lifted out, the area was cleared and levelled despite the rising water table. Cue our track volunteers squelching around in the pit they were digging. New timbers had already been identified and were quickly lifted into position and the rails roughly aligned on top, all ready for final alignment, reattaching chairs, and ballasting.
