Work in Progress: 5th February

No Nigel this week!

Our usual Thursday reporter Nigel Thompson didn't make it to Woody Bay today due to personal commitments. Fortunately, Roger Bye who has been out of action for a while having broken two bones in his left leg (due to an accident involving a ladder back in early December) dropped in.

When it was realised that Nigel was not going to show, the only technology available was a rather average camera on Roger's smart phone. So, apologies for the poor quality of the pictures, but better than none at all.

Roger further comments "It was good to be back up at Woody Bay albeit limited in what I can do."

Welcome back Roger and thank you.

1. A short works train was loaded up at Woody Bay to transport the Gang and gear to....

2. Killington Lane...the perfect place to work today with temperatures a few degrees above freezing and a bitingly cold wind. Still it wasn't raining, sleeting or snowing!

3. Back in December 2013, prompted by the arrival of the heritage carriages, the Killington Lane lever frame was moved to its present position with post and rail fences erected to protect the guard . Also, the platform was extended and a short length of fencing erected to restrict public access. This arrangement can be seen in this photo taken mid 2014.

With a fourth heritage carriage entering service this year, General Manager Martyn Budd realised that the increased train length and existing fencing would limit access for photographers and viewers. So the tasks here today were to extend the platform surface and erect post and rail fencing to protect those so intent on their photography that they run the risk of falling down the grassy bank at the back of the platform. It is not unknown for members of staff to suffer this fate!

4. In this view you can see that sections of steel rail have been driven into the ground to form vertical posts and timber horizontal rails are being fixed to these steel posts. The light coloured fencing by the lever frame in the foreground was the section installed in 2013 that you can see in photo 3 above.

5.& 6. What team work! Graham, Dave and Jim bolt the timber rails to the steel posts, Mike applies preservative to the timber.  Martyn, Jim (away collecting a barrowload of material when I took the photo) and Graham finish off the surfacing of the extended platform area.

7. Job completed and the gang are still smiling!

8. Meanwhile...back at Woody Bay, Alistair and company were installing tanks to provide a watering facility for the steam engines used on the 7 1/4" gauge railway.

Words and pictures by Roger Bye