Aln Valley Railway

Longhoughton Goods Yard - BS, DMS, IC, KSW, TS, moving and sorting rail., Some panels moved, with some being stripped. Loose rail and sleepers were moved to the new stocking out area.

Longhoughton Goods Yard - DMS, BS, DT, KSW, TS, IC, MH, Move the wooden sleepers chaired with NE type S1 chairs to the new stockpile; move keys, coach screws, chairs, clips, etc to new stock pile; move Ruston 48DS parts to trolleys with other parts; all other items to store; spread a ballast base (NB may possibly need spoil fill too); position a couple of sleepers, or possibly concrete curbs for resting the van body on., Baz and Dave arrived just after 8am in order to get a good days work in. The tractor was jumped off Mitzi and Baz then set about moving the rail at the far end on siding 1 in order to make it safe to pass while Dave set about moving small items such as insulating clips, Pandrol clips, etc. from the area earmarked for the van body. Dave T arrived and the two Dave’s moved the Ruston parts to the trolleys, and cleared the rest of the items from the van area. Kay and Tom undertook some more work on Scarth, and dismantled one of the wheel barrows to enable the wheel to be repaired. Ian assisted Baz with moving the rail, while the two Dave’s moved the chairs, etc. that had been on the rails. Mark turned up and after some attention to Quadtech trailer 2 he and Dave popped out to collect some wood sheets. The tractor was then used to move some chaired wooden sleepers from the van area and bring up some un chaired substandard ones for standing the van on, a ballast base was laid out and the sleepers spaced and levelled. All tasks on the agreed list completed.

Longhoughton Goods Yard - DMS, KSW, TS, IC, MH , TBC, Dave and Ian (and Mark after lunch) fitted some temporary glazing to the Matisa to keep out the wind and rain. Tom and Kay started stripping the engine on Scarth the Dumper to replace the damaged cylinder head gasket. ECML busy today with quite a few coal sets about.

Longhoughton Goods Yard - IC, DMS, MH, follow on from Saturday, Ian and Dave were back up again to construct a panel ready for the Matisa arriving next week. As the tractor wouldn’t start the sleepers were lifted and laid out by hand, and two lengths of rail bared over and turned in. Two short lengths were dragged up and turned in. We then dragged some of the rail out the way. We then stopped for lunch, and were joined by Mark. A fire was started to dispose of some of the small bits of rotters. We then dragged the rest of the rail away from the “reception area”, and bits and pieces were picked up and moved to keep the access road clear. The track in the reception siding was then keyed in and the panel slewed into line. A bit more tidying up and then we packed up as the weather was turning.

Longhoughton Goods Yard - BS, DMS, TS, KSW, IC, CO, CG, MH, trackwork. Extension of siding 1 and sorting of track components, Baz and Dave arrived early and got a fire going with some of the rotten sleepers. Then drained the engine oil out of the tractor and give it an oil change. Tom arrived with replacement hydraulic pipe which was duly fitted and hydraulic oil was topped up. Ian and Tom went off with a plant trailer to collect Site Services dumper. Dave knocked keys out of the BH panel mentioned in previous email. Baz used the tractor to lift the rail out and move sleepers and then laid & levelled a ballast bed. Dave keyed all the other BH sleepers on siding 1. Ian and Tom returned at Lunch time so dumper was unloaded. After lunch Kay and Tom sorted out the chairs and chair screws from the rotten sleepers for reuse while Baz, Dave, Ian and Mark rebuilt the BH panel now on a ballast bed. The two Craigs popped in for a quick visit. The Permaquip has been moved to the top of siding 1. Today’s pictures at > http://www.daveshell.fotopic.net/c1227973.html.

The Link Autm/Wint 2006

Longhoughton Goods Yard - DMS, KSW, IC, follow on from Saturday, Ian still had the mini 360° on site so the three of us broke down some more of the BH panels recently received from Belford into component parts – rotten sleepers swapped out for decent ones, and siding 1 extended further. Some of the vehicles were moved onto the BH and some more of the FB dismantled for use on another siding. Even the rain didn’t stop us! The gallery at http://www.daveshell.fotopic.net/c1222682.html has been expanded.

Longhoughton Goods Yard - BS, DMS, KSW, RJ, TS, IC, MH, TBC, A very good day today. Roland continued working on the rail crane. Ian had very kindly provided a mini 360° and in conjunction with Baz on the tractor part of siding 1 was dismantled and the land where it stood graded and a ballast base laid out. Dave and Mark assisted. Some of the BH panels recently received from Belford were broken down into component parts – rotten sleepers swapped out for decent ones, and then rebuilt as an extension on siding 1. As a photo tells a thousand words have a look at > http://www.daveshell.fotopic.net/c1222682.html.