Work in Progress: 2nd July

Sun, what sun?

Roger Bye has kindly compiled this Thursday Gang Report:

Despite the desert conditions forecast for the UK, the weather at Woody Bay was delightful Devon dampness.

1. AXE stands at a very wet platform with a morning train.

2 & 3. The Electrical Daves, with Don and Trevor, worked to track down an electrical fault affecting one of the signal lights.

 

4 & 5. In the shed, John continued the work to put ISAAC back together after the recent boiler inspection. Re-installing the fire grate bars necessitated him being inside the firebox, his arm being the only evidence of work going on!

6. The sun did eventually come out

Although trains were running as normal, a sleeper in the station throat urgently needed replacing...

7. Mike surveys the completed first stage of the job - removal of the ballast around the sleeper (left) and.........

8......having removed the screws securing the chairs, and jacked up the rails slightly, the team slid the old sleeper out from under the track.

9. The new sleeper was then manhandled into position under the track. The nonchalant pose of our General Manager Martyn Budd belies the effort expended. Sorry there are no pictures of the sleeper installation, but everyone was needed to move the (very heavy) Jarrah wood sleeper into position!

10. Next, the sleeper was jacked up under the existing rails and ballast compacted under the new sleeper.



11. As the weather deteriorated, Dave started drilling holes in the sleeper to take the chair screws. Jarrah is extremely hard, so drilling it takes ages, and punishes the drill bits.

12. The "boring" job was shared amongst the team. Don is not drilling a bucket, but cooling the drill bit in a water as it becomes hot when drilling the hard wood. There was speculation amongst the team about what it must have been like to do this job without power tools! Nice to see the sun at last.

13. Finally, the sleeper was fixed in place - it and the team began to dry out as the weather improved in the afternoon.

4. AXE continued to operate with a good number of passengers...

15. ... in the safe hands of today's crew, Andy, Pete, Bob and John.

16. Gail and Tony were on duty in the shop, seen here discussing the day with Bob.

17. AXE was not the only steam train in operation. Here John and Claire discuss the performance of their engine...

18. ... which gave obvious pleasure to a visiting family, who kindly agreed to have their photo on our website.

19. It takes more than a bit of rain to deflect Nigel from his fence painting.

20. Dave and Richard escaped the rain and placed the last section of wall tiling in the mess room shower and …

21. … Jim took advantage of the improving weather to do some maintenance on the poster displays on the station.

22. The end of the day, and AXE heads for the shed in surprising sunshine, passing Gail as she sets about closing the station.

Photos and text Roger Bye