Work in Progress: 29th May

The Thursday Group hard at work as always...

1. ISAAC, steaming up the incline into Woody Bay Station today, passes the completed dry stone cladding of the new retaining wall.

2. The first job for the Thursday gang today was to clear up the soil and stone remaining after the wall construction. Surplus stone is being loaded by Mike Corner and Dave Bloomfield on to a wagon in a works train for removal elsewhere on the site. Some of this stone has been moved three times during this project and seemed to get heavier each time!

3. The next job on the agenda was using accumulated cinder and ash from the engines to construct access paths along the sidings. Mike Corner and Roger Bye shovel the cinders out of the wagon while Nigel Spencer and John Villers spread the cinders out to form the path.Graham Varney - well - supervises!

4. It was half term week and, despite the intermittent rain, nine trains were run today, with 450 passenger journeys made, including two visiting coach tours. In many ways the unsettled weather was ideal – not too sunny for those on holiday to go to the beach and not too wet to keep them indoors!

5. The train crew today was our local fireman, Andy Foster and driver Andy Fidler visiting from the Isle of Wight. Here they prepare to couple up to the heritage carriages, which are now the only ones in use since the sale of the Thorpe park vehicles last week. Guard Jim Price was working hard but avoided the camera as did Dave Evans!

6. Before passenger services commenced in 2004 sleepers were placed alongside the platform edge to ensure safe access to the Thorpe Park coaches, but with the advent of the new wider heritage coaches this modification is now redundant. The edging timbers were removed today by the Thursday Gang. They proved to be Jarrah timber (all the way from Western Australia!) and are unbelievably heavy. It was with some relief that we had to stop work when the trains were in the station! Manager Martyn Budd demonstrates his expertise with a broom while Mike, Dave, Dave Drayson, Nigel and John wait for Graham to position the works train.

7. The original platform edge is now revealed as can be seen in the low level view along the heritage carriages. Our visiting town crier can also be seen awaiting the next coach tour.

8. Jim Pounds was painting the interior of PILTON’s cab. The new cab doors, braking system, engine compartment side panels, cab windows, cab floor and lining to the cab roof are all in evidence.

9, 10, 11.John Uphill with David Pritchard, visiting from London, worked on converting AXE from air to vacuum brakes. Although your photographer failed to get pictures of our staff in action these pictures show the recently purchased vacuum brake valve and ejector installed and installation of the on-site fabricated pipe work underway.

12. In this view of ISAAC departing Woody Bay with the last train of the day, the top of the new wall, the cleared sidings and new cinder paths can be seen – a good day’s work!

Words and pictures by Roger Bye