White Rose
Another day out on track, Sunday the 10th March saw Bonnie and I joining the White Rose Gang on the train to Dragon / New Moon / 2 Trees… take your pick!
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we started on a cold and very wet morning at Tan y Bwlch – not with Van 51 but the train in front with 1111 – good mess facilities and space to spread out – although there was only 6 of us and Bonnie of course.
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As you can see, there was a lot of snow on them there hills but we make them tough in Yorkshire….!
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This is not an optical illusion – no amount of work on this picture will get it to stand up! This is the length of track the team wanted to get finished today.
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By replacing the old plates with the new one, as shown above by Ian Andrew, they will tilt the rail slightly but allow a more even wear on the rail, that will expand their life expectancy. And – just in case you are wondering, they are embossed with
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Nothing is wasted as these bolts and plates will have new homes with a couple of Railways such as Ravenglass!
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A lesson from Ian and my trusty supervisor watching on, I had to have a go! Not that good at it as I don’t have the muscle power but I did manage a couple!
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Team work is the name of the game – taking out the bolts, jacking up the track up to remove the old plates and slide in the new ones, drilling the sleepers ready for the new bolts – powering in the new bolts etc…did you know this section of timber came from Australia?
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The finished job. You can actually see how the wear on the rail is on one edge.
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A big thank you to the team for allowing Bonnie and I to join you for the day. Anyone who would like to join, this small but very friendly team, should contact Ian Andrew at iandrew@ffwhr.com