Work in Progress - 9 June

 

The main task today was the replacement of a decayed fence post at Bridge 67. The existing post was a long section of old telegraph pole which was well past its sell-by date. After the fencing wires attached to it were removed the post fell at the first gentle push. Once again the post hole auger proved its worth and within 10 minutes had bored a 4' deep hole ready for the "new" post. In pre-auger days this would have been a very difficult and time consuming hole to dig so, once again, we were extremely grateful to all those who had contributed to this piece of equipment. The replacement post was a 13' long section of rail which had been prepared previously. It was concreted in, line wires and sheep netting attached, a small section of dry stone wall erected and by 3.30 the job was done.

Martin Budd, meanwhile, had taken the excavator further down the field to clear out a ditch which collects water to drain through a pipe under the trackbed. If left unchecked this could result in the formation becoming water logged at that point. Getting the equipment back to Woody Bay had to wait until after the last train so we finally finished at about 5.00pm. A satisfying day.

 

 

1. "It goes in here somewhere", Richard Willey examines the finer points of the auger's hydraulic connections.

2. The auger in action, the old post can be seen to the right of the picture.

3. "Nearly done". The auger with about another 9" to go.

4. Dave Bloomfield supervises operations from on high as Martin Budd and Richard Willey complete the post installation

5. Martin Budd attaches another wire with Graham Bendell and Dave Bloomfield offering encouragement and advice!

6.  The finished job - doesn't look much but was rather more difficult than it would appear.