Last Wednesday the P-Way team were able to take the Works Train down the line. After a brief shunt at Rowsley the work completed included;
- Dropping off concrete drain covers, cut from old paving slabs, in Red House Cutting.
- Picking up the remaining branches, cut down early this year, from Red House Cutting.
- Removing the damaged farm gates from Statham Crossing.
- Removing a wooden gate from the now closed footpath, replaced by the Arc Crossing.
- Dropping off crossing timbers near Point 3 at Matlock Riverside.
The makeshift drain covers will fill the 15m gap on the drainage channel in RHC. At the same time further vegetation control will be needed. One of the gates will hopefully be repaired in the workshop at Rowsley. At 16ft in length the local supplier is out of stock and likely to be for some time. The other will be replaced using one of the 12ft pair removed when the Arc Crossing was upgraded for the Multi User Trail. The wooden gate will replace a rotten one at the footpath crossing near Rowsley Distant Signal. All the gates will need to in place before the WTT is resumed. Work on replacing crossing timbers under Point 3 will begin next week.
Over the past few weeks a variety of tasks have been undertaken.
- Further vegetation control from Darley Dale to Red House Cutting.
- Burning of smaller branches in Red House Cutting.
- Greasing of all Points at Rowsley.
- Weeding the Turntable pit.
- Changing a crossing timber under Point 4 at Matlock Riverside.
- Gauging the line between Darley Dale and Rowsley South.
- Gauging Points at Rowsley South
- Dismantling the ex Darley Dale South Yard B8 Crossing Nose. As expected a number of nuts needed grinding off whilst a couple shifted under brute force. The 8B casting released by these efforts looks in good condition and will be a replacement for the one that has fractured in Point 8B, part of the Rowsley South Crossover. Even if some of the nuts and bolts hadn’t been ground off they proved to be badly worn or bent for further use. Knowing that the part dismantling of Point 8B, to put in the replacement casting, may pose a similar problem, time has been spent searching the stores in the GUV for replacements. The search was partially fruitful meaning enquiries elsewhere will be necessary.
Other work planned for the near future includes;
- Gauging of the line from Darley Dale to Matlock Riverside.
- Gauging all the Points between Darley Dale and Matlock Riverside.
- Replacement of a gate post at Dick Smith’s Crossing.
- A check of all lineside signage before restart of the WTT.
Roger Hallatt.