Work in Progress: 10 March

posted by Nigel Thompson on Thu, 10/03/2011 - 20:39

The main access driveway to Woody Bay Station from the carpark is of course well used by vehicles as well as visitors walking to and from their cars. It is important to give a good first impression and in recent years the driveway has become pitted in places. The coaches usually reverse down the drive. The narrowness of the path often causes the coaches difficulty during their reversing manoeuvre.

Todays main job was to widen the path and install a drainage cess and pipe to help keep the path drier during the wet weather periods.

1. The digger easily dug the trench out to widen the driveway.

2. Whats happening here? Jim and Dave somehow have to drill a hole inside the manhole to take the new drainage path.

3. The digger delivers a bag of chippings to surround the drainage pipe about to be installed in the ground.

4. View from the drainage chamber with the pipe fitted at the side of the access driveway.

5. Backfilling the trench and widening the pathway.

6. The completed widened driveway showing the new ballast stone used for the soakaway to the drainage pipe.

7. The Thursday Group volunteers pause and pose for the camera during work around the miniature railway platform.

8. Robin Edwards fits some stone walling to the bank below the miniature railway.

9. Robin shows off his completed work here.

10. An Exmoor National Park planning condition required the replacement of the paving stones on the miniature railway platform with limestone scalpings. Dave Drayson rolls in the stone along the platform.

11. Other work going on today included S & T Engineer Dick Gunn painting the point rodding through the station.

12. Dick paints the point rodding between the platforms. The signalling installation project at Woody Bay recently won a National Railway Heritage Award and Dick is keen to see that the point rodding is in top condition when the Award plaque is unveiled during the 14th-15th May Special Event Weekend.