GWR – Permanent Way Progress

Inspired by Richard Johnson’s regular Carriage & Wagon departmental updates, we will provide a monthly update on what is going on with the Permanent Way department – probably one of the most-travelled departments on the railway!

Two members of the P-way department keep photo-book records of what is done on a week-to-week basis. These can be found at http://gloswarksp-way.fotopic.net and also at http://nigel-black.fotopic.net.

January 2007

During the closed season we were able to get our train out and spent much of the time doing routine maintenance on the running line. Fishplate greasing and rotten sleeper replacement took up the majority of time this month, as well as assisting with the track works in connection with the Toddington Yard remodelling.

Towards the end of the month, three mid-week days were chosen to undertake ballasting where required on the Cheltenham extension as well as in the Gretton area. The twist by the foot crossing on the approach to Cheltenham Racecourse was also levelled and packed, although it has started to slip again slightly.

February 2007

February’s work was much the same as January’s. This time quite a few hours were put in to once-again lift, level and pack Chicken Curve. This has always been, and always will be, a trouble spot for the GWR – and that’s not just the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway – embankment trouble here started as soon as the line was built and continually proved to be problematic throughout British Rail days!

Towards the end of February, the gang replaced the panel of track outside Toddington Signal Box once the drainage pipes had been laid for the yard and panel was then re-ballasted.

March 2007

With weekend service trains resuming for the rest of the year, running line maintenance became more localised – i.e. where we could easily get to without our P-way train. A few more rotten sleepers were changed (as this can safely be done between trains) on the line between Toddington and Winchcombe, but this is always an on-going process – all the sleepers marked with a big ‘X’ are due for changing this year.

A Tuesday gang convened on the 20^th of the month to have a further bash at fishplate greasing – completing no less than one mile of joints – not bad going!

The last two weekends of March saw us working at Toddington yard. On the 24^th we replaced the rails on the unloading line and on the 31^st the rails on road 6 into the David Page shed were reconnected following completion of the drainage work.

April 2007

With the lovely (and hot!) spring weather, April saw the P-way gang working in the Gretton area replacing rotten sleepers near the back of the Royal Oak pub and up towards Stanley Pontlarge. Approximately 30 sleepers were changed in the three weeks we were working there – a helping hand being provided by the JCB!

At the end of April and with thanks to the full signalling between Winchcombe and Cheltenham, we were able to take the 73 and our P-way train down to Cheltenham as this was our next port of call. At the southernmost point of the railway, we were once again laying track – but not southwards as we might have hoped, but extending one of the sidings in Hunting Butts cutting. This involved a rather complicated shunt move to start with, as there is no turnout down there connecting the two sidings! So, we had to drag a certain number of wagons out of the cutting, disconnect the track, slew it all over to connect with the left-hand siding, dispose of a wagon, slew the track back to the right hand side, pick up some more wagons and finally slew the track back to the left hand side! Phew! It took most of the morning as you can probably imagine!

May 2007

The first two weekends of this month were spent continuing the siding laying at Hunting Butts cutting. Of the dozen panels to be laid, we have so far completed 7 in three weeks. This may not sound much for three weeks’ work, but you must remember that we have to work a slightly different way down there – with one siding already laid and full of wagons, with the help of the JCB, we have to lay one panels’ worth of sleepers, then lay the two rails on, fishplate and clip up. Each panel has to be done one-by-one unlike extending on the northern extension, where we can lay many hundreds of sleepers out first one week, then plonk the rails in the next because the JCB can work on the vacant side of the trackbed.

Indeed, on the 19th of May, this is exactly what we were doing. From the southernmost point of the line to the northernmost, we re-started work on the Broadway extension for a week. A grand total of 193 sleepers were laid out from the rail head at Stanton northwards, reaching a significant distance north of Stanton Road Bridge. 193 sleepers equated to almost 8 panels worth of track (each panel being approximately 60ft long with 26 sleepers). Two pairs of rails were also laid onto these sleepers, resulting in the rail head creeping another 120ft northwards. We have started now to use brand-new rail having used up our stock of second-hand slightly-worn rail – which for us is still perfectly up to the job. As the P-way train inches north over these new metals it will be the first time a train has used this brand new track!

The third mid-week work gang convened on Tuesday 22nd May. Originally it was planned to complete the fishplate greasing between Toddington and Winchcombe, but due to a corporate event day being held on the same day (what were the chances!?!), the small gang met at Stanton on the northern extension and prepared some more rail joints for when Carillion next come and do some welding – preparation which involves getting the rails a certain distance apart and getting both rail heads to the correct height.

On the final weekend of the month, and after two whole days mid-week of shunting numerous wagons in the north headshunt, the P-way train ventured north again on the 26th May where five pairs of rails were laid and clipped up on the sleepers laid the previous weekend. During that very afternoon, 73129 gingerly pushed the P-way train over these new rails and under Stanton Road bridge – the latest in the railways’ achievements. We must be working approximately one mile north of Toddington station now.

1. 2. 3.

1 - The P-way gang laying the new siding at Hunting Butts, Cheltenham.
2 - The P-way train inching closer to Stanton road bridge
3 - The end of the line...for now!

All pictures Paul Fuller.