Tower View, This is Tower View

Evening All

Here a selection of photos of recent activity on the extension.  With signalling, platform construction, test runs, etc.  Fingers crossed, we will have a couple of trains on the extension over the Bank Holiday Monday Open day BUT this is subject to availability & approval.

 I'm going to keep quite again, shock!

Cheers

 First train into Tower View, Driven by John Gartell.  Platform not yet complete

 Put that light out

 Point interlocking

 Hmmmm, think we need some ballast in yer

 First signal being planted

 Coming on now.  ground frame, signals, complete platform except for white lining & fencing

 Ground frame for the sidings

The new crossing area.  Fenced & dressed for the public & of course looks tidy for the family who have to look out the window every day at it.  Still work to do, more signals, temp crossing protection, test runs, etc

Tower View Construction

Erm, confession time.  Tower View has had track & part of a platform for about 12 months now.  Sorry we didn't let you know but somethings are sometimes best kept secret!

Anyway, i'm not going to say to much this time, other than the track came from our main line - between Pinesway & Sally Lovells crossing.  This was replaced & loaded onto a couple of flats when we done the renewals the previous year (2010?? really!).

I'll let you see the construction & current state.  I'll add some before & after photos in a few days.  Now there scary!!

Enjoy

 This is a resent before picture.  I've got an earlier one when we first thought about the idea!  You can just make out the first attack, there is a platform in the brambles on the left side.  It was left for 5 plus years, time waits for no man!!

 Track panels from track renewals awaiting their new role.  Stored in Pinesway Junction Sidings

 Much easier than by hand

 First panel

 Head Shunt - Our most northern point

 2 tracks & the first platform slab going in

 Had to do the platform as we went due to machine access as we laid the track

 Mini digger clearing the location of the sidings

The head shunt was only in place, not actually connected, this we continued with this year

The Push towards Templecombe continues

Sorry for the delay in the update.  Unfortunately, work has to come first & using a computer 9 hours a day, i dont tend to have much interest in using one for anything constructive in the evening.

Anyway, the extension continues.  After the 2 crossings, track laying on the single line towards the new station was fairly straight forward.  The main reason for this was that the track-bed was prepared in advance using the Bulldozer with a laser level, leaving a perfectly level ballast bed from the well to the points of Tower View.  The well, hmm, this could have been a problem being that its right in the middle of the new track-bed.  The well itself was of course dug / sunk when the railway crossing house was in use & still today is full of water, so filling in or capping completely would be a waste.  The solution was a fabricated steel cap, just a bit smaller than the gap in the sleepers.  So we still have access & in the future could drop a pump for loco top ups or anything. 

The concrete sleepers done in batches of 24 were built up every 3 or 4 castings to give ourselves a good supply.  Then on the Sundays once we had enough, hit into the track laying.  Couple of body's loading/unloading the sleepers with John in the mini digger, with the rest of the gang unbolting, placing rubbers, moving rails, fish-plating & fixing the rails to the sleepers.  Hard work but very satisfying & no where near as bad as by hand or standard gauge!

For more pictures than on the website or blog, visit our Facebook group and sign up.  Lots more photos & updates

http://www.facebook.com/groups/18618277614/ 

Another update later in the week.....Steve

You can just see the old cap for the well in the distance

 Ballast spread up to the well cap.

 New lockable cap fitted

 Laser leveled trackbed, ready for new concrete sleepers

 A couple weeks later and a whats that in the distance??

 Looking back towards Bournemouth with the crossing house in the distance

 Next batch ready.  Usual job at 9am on a Sunday, breaking these out the molds.

 Now that's a nice sight, if i say so myself

Trev tidying up the rail joint to the Points.  POINTS where did they come from.... 

Erm,  i better explain about how this as just 'appeared' in the next update

Level Crossings are like Buses!!! - GLR Extension continues

You want one level crossing & two come along at once!

The extension continues with 2 rails being temporally propped and fish-plated to the level crossing.  This is an extension to the level crossing as the rails are in the turning for the works entrance to old track-bed.  The spacing girders for the metal ties and concreting of this part was again carried out by the professionals of the Gartell's family business.

A week on, we arrived to find the level crossing double the size of the original slab.  John cracked on with the digging out of the track-bed whilst the rest of us start to remove shuttering & back filling.  Although taking the opportunity to add cable ducts in the voids by the slabs for the various signals, locking & vehicle control systems to all be installed at a later date.  Once there was a sensible distance of spoil removed, a mem-brain was added & a base layer of ballast dropped in by Merlo power.  Laying of our concrete sleepers is made easier with the digger.  The sleepers are cast by ourselves in-house in patches of 24 at a time.  

A couple of weeks past with track laying to the point of having to cross the private roadway on our own land on the original track-bed.  Here's the second crossing, running at a diagonal across the orginal track-bed.  The same happened here as the extension to the original crossing & tied to together with large steels & concrete.  Propped up temporally on wooden blocks & ready for the pour in the over the following week.  The track was laid a panel past the crossing to help keep the alignment correct & the slight curves going to and from the this area.

More news to follow......... Steve

Before the crossing looking from Common Lane Crossing House

 And after with the hole dug & packed with quarry dust.

 The two rails plated & propped.  And safety fence retained

 The following week with the concrete still fresh, the edges were definatly a no go area

 Looking promising

 A demonstration on the Pandora clip operating thingy by Mr D Clark.

 A gentle adjustment

 Here you can see the curve head for the next crossing.  Tower View will be visible in the distance

Ta-da.  You can see how much work has gone in to getting not all that far with the road crossing in the distance.  Figures crossed plain sailing from here until the station.