The Floods have Lift up their Voice!

[IrishPeter]

===TEMPORARY CLOSURE===

Due to flood damage...


First gully-washer of the season, and a good 4 metres of track have been comprehensively washed out.  Between that and the water leaking in around the ducting from the HVAC unit on the roof I am comprehensively hacked off.  Now working on solutions to both problems.

The HVAC unit probably could be fixed by putting some sort of lean-to arrangement over it to keep off the worst of the deluge.  I will try a tarp as the precursor to a more permanent solution.  It only runs in AC mode at this time of year, and then not very often.  

As for the railway...

I think the railway needs to be re-routed closer to the retaining wall, so that he runs on a little shelf well above the wash down the garden,  To compliment this a larger bridge needs to be constructed to take water under the line at Shed End Halt.   I am looking at tipping a concrete block on its side to make a modern concrete underpass type structure as that is a quick fix necessitating zero expenditure.  As this is the third or fourth time the road bed has gone down stream it is time to get serious.

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

[Peter Butler]

Sorry to hear this again Peter. I know you have posted about previous similar damage and I must say I would also be completely p****d off by now!
I thought I had problems with ground conditions but nothing as serious as you suffer there.
Perhaps a home move is an easier option?

[IrishPeter]

The usual drill in Arizona is no rain for months and then too bloody much at once!  Moving is not an option as the house is conveniently close to work and the town centre, and I can afford it. So, it is back to more work on the Civils side of things.

First thought is I have managed to sort out the other wash out prone areas, so this should not be beyond the wit of Peter.  

The second is that I will lift the offending three lengths and install a bigger bridge using a concrete block as a temporary, and then see how it performs in the next deluge, which - this being the monsoon season - will only be a couple of days away.  After that, relay the track closer to the retaining wall, and armour the approaches to the bridge with rip-rap just in case.

If that does not work, then we might have to consider moving...

Peter in AZ

[IrishPeter]

Civils got out late this afternoon and installed the new bridge - a concrete block laid on its side - AND, being "prefabricated" it was a quick fix.  I kept the present alignment in the hopes that quadrupling the ability of the bridge to clear water will be sufficient to prevent the sort of flooding that carries away the roadbed.  If not, it will be realigned closer to a retaining wall, which will put it a little further above 'wash' level, and some sort of retaining/flood defence wall introduced to keep the water out of the road bed.  The down side to this is that it will introduce a short section of steep gradient leaving the middle station, which I am a bit reluctant to do, given some of the other nasty grades that I have.

Permanent Way will be out again tomorrow and reinstate the track, and a test train or two will be run to see if the track bed is stable enough for goods trains to resume on Wednesday.  

"Divisional Office does not foresee passenger services resuming until the weekend, and passengers are to expect delays until the relaid section has consolidated.  Until rail passenger services are resumed a limited road motor service is being provided.  Bicycles, large perambulators, and heavy luggage cannot be conveyed."

You know the drill...

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

[IrishPeter]

The eventual form of the revised drainage was as follows.  I decided on a two-prong approach.  The channel that blocked was deepened, and a two span bridge consisting of a cinderblock turned on its side replaced the old 4" pipe.  I also made a point of checking the state of the run-off retention pond at the back of the house, the culverts under the railway, and ran a new ditch and bank, both just a few inches in size, to guide the run-off into the proper overflow.  By the time I was finished I reckoned I would have reduced the peak flow by about 25%, and increased the ability of the runoff channels to handle it by about a half.

The moment of truth came yesterday when it absolutely threw it down - as in "cannot see across the street" (75 metres away) type threw it down - for about 15 minutes.  This in the past has been enough to trigger destructive flooding, but apart from some pine needles and dead wood out of the trees falling across the railway, the line was clear.  Ten minutes with a brush and rake while the "kettle" boiled and we were good to go!

I hope I have cracked it this time.

Peter in AZ

[Peter Butler]

I admire your perseverance and determination Peter, I hope this is the solution to your annual repair and restoration problem.
Do you have any photographs of the situation there so we can understand more from your description. It is something I don't have to deal with here in 'sunny' Wales, and probably most others are in a similar position too.

[Soar Valley Light]

Well done Peter, it does sound like your remedial measures have been successful in curing the problem. Fingers crossed that this proves permanently to be the case for you.

If you are looking for consultancy work there are some sites on the Midland Mainline that have issues with sudden or prolonged rainfalls! However I suspect we might have to use more than a single cinder block!

As Peter B says, it would be very interesting to see some photos of your handywork please.

All the best,

Andrew

[IrishPeter]

My gut instinct would be that the problems on the MML are cause by changes to the drainage adjacent to NR property, not by what the railway engineers did 150-170 years ago.  We had problems with peat bogs collapsing under the Barnetby to Scunthorpe section in the 1990s due to better drainage.  Basically, the bog was getting dry enough for things to rot, so the old brushwood raft of 1863-65 was collapsing.  It all ended with BR doing in 12" to the foot scale what the 'float it on ballast brigade' do in 17/32nd, 15mm, 16mm, etc., weed mat, and deep ballast. It looks good enough for 75mph, but because of the amount of freight to/from Scunthorpe it is 55mph territory - 30-40mph if you are stuck behind 22 loads of iron ore on its way to Foreign Ore Junction because either Barnetby East did not put them in the slow or put you on the slow to pass them! I dread what resignalling will do at Barnetby. I have a fear that NR will rip out the down slow and the ditch roads and create a bottle neck. BR installed IB signals and disconnected both slow lines in the early 1990s, and the resulting chaos resulted in Up Slow being restored complete with an IB signal

As an aside - my home town did not have any significant problems with fresh water flooding until the geniuses from Anglican Water messed with the system put in when King Canute was on the throne - literally.  They seemed to think that water needs to be pumped down hill, and runs uphill!

As to photos, I'll pinch the wife's spare camera (not allowed to use the good one) and see what I can do.

Cheers,
+Peter in AZ

[Andrew]

Congratulations on getting nature back on side! I admire your perseverance too, it all sounds suitably biblical. Was the first train over the re-built line preceeded by a dove bearing an olive branch? I'm looking forward to the photos...

All the best,

Andrew

[IrishPeter]

Rule 1 in Arizona is nature is never on your side - you simply build around it and hope the truce holds

As to what preceded the first train... no doves carrying olive branches, just the usual gormless dog in a tee-shirt going to see of anyone is walking up the street.

Peter in AZ

[Soar Valley Light]

My gut instinct would be that the problems on the MML are cause by changes to the drainage adjacent to NR property, not by what the railway engineers did 150-170 years ago.  ...............

 I dread what resignalling will do at Barnetby.  I have a fear that NR will rip out the down slow and the ditch roads and create a bottle neck.  BR installed IB signals and disconnected both slow lines in the early 1990s, and the resulting chaos resulted in Up Slow being restored complete with an IB signal

As to photos, I'll pinch the wife's spare camera (not allowed to use the good one) and see what I can do.

Hi Pete,

By and large you re right, but some of the victorian engineering is starting to show its age now - even earthworks require significant maintenance eventually and I think that's the point we are reaching now.

A mate of mine works in Barnetby East, I have to say it is one of the busiest places I've ever been, worlds away from our sleepy narrow gauge lives. As I understand it all the capacity will be retained when they re-signal. Common sense does seem to be making something of a return these days. We are getting the fourth road back on the Midland between Kettering and Corby now!

Hope you don't get into trouble with the missus taking your pictures!

All the best,

Andrew

[IrishPeter]

<tangent alert>
My great-grandfather worked Brigg North in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, then had a spell in the Sugar Factory Box before retiring.  He reckoned on 30-40 trains a shift on days and about 20-30 on a nights.   In those days there was a through siding on the down side which made life a bit easier when the pick-up goods appeared, but he was still well-knackered at the end of a shift hence the move to the 'part-time' box at the other end.  

I suspect you would have been able to double that at Barnetby East, and to make things more exciting the next box was Barnetby West at the other end of the station.  A lot of time could have been saved had the BOT allowed them to open the window and bellow!  I imagine you can reasonably expect 50 trains in a shift at Barnetby, so you are knock them through at a fair rate of knots.  I don't suppose you get much chance to read the paper!

The busiest NG box that I know in the British Isles used to be Douglas, which handled about 60 movements a day in peak season in the 1930s, plus a lot of shunting as some comedian had connected roads 8-11 (the goods yard).  St John's would not have been far behind, thanks to the need to split and join trains to/from Peel and Ramsey. Narrow Gauge is not always sleepy!

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

[IrishPeter]

Two huge thunderstorm this weekend whilst I was away "playing Presiding Bishop" in North Carolina, but the railway came through with nothing worse than a modicum of displaced ballast. A quick dusting off with the sweeping brush, and a trowel full of ballast here and there and we were good to go!

Success - maybe!

Peter in AZ

[IrishPeter]

I have just gotten back from my annual holiday in the UK & IOM, and when I was having my morning coffee I decided shuffle down the garden and see what three weeks of total neglect had done to the railway.  The monsoon season has been far longer than usual this year, as I write we still have monsoon activity, which is about 3 weeks later than usual. Also there have been some fairly intense storms whilst I have been away, so I was expecting to have some work to do.

The railway was, in fact, remarkably clear and intact.  No washouts, a couple of culverts needed clearing, and there were some weeds to remove, but about 10-15 minutes of casual poking and pulling took care of the worst of it, so it should be possible to run trains this evening - jetlag permitting.

Peter in AZ

[Peter Butler]

Good news to report but still no pictures!
Perhaps you could speak kindly to the one who has control of the 'good camera' so we can appreciate the effects of natural phenomena on our feeble efforts to control nature.
In other words..... we would like to see. (please!)

[kandnwlr]

I have just gotten back from my annual holiday in the UK & IOM, and when I was having my morning coffee I decided shuffle down the garden and see what three weeks of total neglect had done to the railway.  The monsoon season has been far longer than usual this year, as I write we still have monsoon activity, which is about 3 weeks later than usual.  Also there have been some fairly intense storms whilst I have been away, so I was expecting to have some work to do.

The railway was, in fact, remarkably clear and intact.  No washouts, a couple of culverts needed clearing, and there were some weeds to remove, but about 10-15 minutes of casual poking and pulling took care of the worst of it, so it should be possible to run trains this evening - jetlag permitting.
Peter in AZ

Excellent News

[Big Jim]

Good news and I hope the truce with nature holds for many years yet.

[IrishPeter]

Last year's repairs are standing up to their second monsoon season very nicely. This year' monsoon has not been so intense as last year, but that is usually the case when it starts early. The weeds have liked it better - we are currently pulling our third crop of the summer.

Given our climate I should probably model Indian Hill Railways! Kalka Simla Railway (AZ Branch) anyone? I seem to think that Barog is about the same altitude as Prescott, but four degrees closer to the equator.

Joking apart, I am relieved to have that old chesnut under control.

Peter in AZ

[Big Jim]

Glad to hear it.

Here in Wales we seem to have had a monsoon period, followed by more heavy rain, followed but another monsoon season!

Its getting so wet my Son and Heir's pet guinea pig, appears to have grown gills and webbed feet.

[IrishPeter]

I remember being seriously impressed with the rainfall statistics for West Wales when I was doing 'O' level geography.  North Lincolnshire gets about 30 inches, thanks to it being in the rain shadow of the Pennines, and I think you guys were 2 to 4 times that depending how far up in 'dem der hills' you are.  Here we get about 17 inches a year, but an awful lot of it seems to come down in one go.  We will get an inch in a couple of hours, and then nothing for weeks, which makes planning for run off a little difficult.

I have been adding cement to recent applications of ballast to help it stick, and reduce that chore to more manageable proportions. I started with the most vulnerable sections, and then I have gradually spread it to pretty much any part of the line that runs on a shelf on the side of a slope - which is most of it.  The high proportion of ballast to cement, it is holding that ballast together rather than concreting-in the track, and it should be easy enough to break up should I need to lift the track.  The number of derailments has dropped sharply now that the worst sections for movement are more stable.

Next up are a couple of retaining walls that will need some serious attention this autumn, but I do at least feel as though I have the upper hand on this truce.

Cheers,
Peter in AZ