Work in Progress - 19th November

Steady progress this week on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway at Woody Bay.

Earlier in the week, fresh ballast was dropped along the shoulders of various sections of the line, using a works train of HEDDON HALL and the ballast hopper.

Building up the shoulders of ballast helps to keep the formation in place as well as providing material nearby for the ongoing programme of spot tamping along the line.

1. The Woody Bay down starter signal post,  now painted and with the first fittings being installed.

2. Alistair Hall continues with the 7.25" Garden Railway, constructing a small carriage shed alongside the water tank.

 

3/4. The 7.25" track for the carriage shed will utilise space under the water tower.

5. The Thursday gang continued clearing out surplus stored equipment and materials from the side of the stock shed by the remains of the original railway's Up Home rail-built signal post.

6. The gang chucking the rubbish into a road skip on the flat wagon.

7. The wagon was then shunted up to the transhipment siding by Hunslet diesel HEDDON HALL.

 

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After lunch, while Dave Tooke was fitting flexible plastic strips to screen off the new paint shop and Jim Price fitted a door lock to the stores door, the PW gang travelled to Killington Lane to continue work there, including removing some rail from a wagon, clearing some stored fence posts out of the way, and continuing the regauging of the turnouts.
 
This autumn's trackbash, with visiting members from the IOW railway, will take place next weekend (Thursday 26th-Sunday 29th November - all volunteers welcome).

 

The main task will be to install the new 50lb rail regauged LH turnout in place in the loop, replacing the lightweight turnout with plain line.

An alteration to the track layout will also allow further siding space and upgrade all track here to the 50lb rail.

 

8. Robin Edwards and Richard Wiley attach lifting slings to the stored fence posts, then stand well clear...
 

9. ... and Martyn Budd  uses the digger to swing the posts out of the way...

 

10. ... as Robin Edwards and Nigel Thompson move a pallet that had been embedded in the undergrowth.
 
 

11/12. Richard Willey and Martyn Budd begin unbolting fishplates from the headshunt siding ready for next weeks track remodelling project.

13. Dave Blencowe photographs Robin Edwards at work ...

14. ... bolting fishplates to the regauged turnout.
 

15. The lightweight turnout currently providing access between the headshunt and transhipment siding has been sold to the Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum Railway at Norden.

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 Photos: Nigel Thompson, Dave Blencowe