Hello!
Over the weekend I found some time to get out into the garden and undertake some long overdue maintenance on the line. All did not go quite according to plan...
The main task (I so I thought) was to re-affix the slate cladding to the decking planters that form the landscape that separates my upper and lower termini - the hot weather seemed to have dried out the glue near the tunnel mouth, and the cladding had fallen onto the track:
- tunnel 1.jpg (399.12 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
Unfortunately, on closer inspection, the decking in question proved to be so rotten that it simply pulled away from the screws:
- tunnel 2.jpg (365.19 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
I removed the remaining plants, dug out the soil, and discovered that the board behind was in much the same way:
- Tunnel 3.jpg (410.08 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
As was the exterior ply that formed the "roof" of the tunnel mouth:
- tunnel 4.jpg (362.91 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
I knew they'd go eventually, but I had naively hoped they'd last a little longer... Pulling off most of the worst affected wood allowed me to reach in and find that the boards supporting Clarach station seem to be in much better shape, for now at least. They're not in direct contact with the soil and are protected from above by roofing felt, so I should get another year or two out of them, should I wish to. I'm still undecided on that - whether to make do and mend for a while, or to take it all out and have a re-think...
To buy time for now, get trains running and make the area look less of an eyesore I spent 10 minutes (if that!) cobbling together something that looks a little better (?!!) by propping up some of the old slate cladding and tacking on a piece of astro-turf I once found round the back of an old warehouse:
- Tunnel 5.jpg (361.33 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
All a bit of a shame really, that was one of my favourite parts of the line, but I'll sort something out...
In the meantime I decided to concentrate on Penlan, the passing station, which has never really recovered from some fencing work a couple of years ago. Here it is before work commenced!
- Penlan 1.jpg (476.22 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
After giving the vegetation a much-needed trim I removed the track and cleared away much of the accumulated debris. Among the archaeological finds was the mortal remains of some lolly stick fencing that came from my previous railway and once adorned the platform here - there wasn't much left!
- Penlan 2.jpg (418.14 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
With the site clear the trackbed received a nice new coat of brown masonry paint and began to look much more cared for:
- Penlan 3.jpg (428.98 KiB) Viewed 6443 times
The track's back down now, but I've not tested it yet - downhill trains were sometimes de-railing as they passed over the facing point, so some attention may be required. With the future of both of the line's other stations in the balance I think I'll concentrate on making Penlan look nice for now, starting with a new platform - once the edging's in place I'll ballast the track, although I've not yet decided between replacing the old cement-based ballast or using granite chippings and SBR. I've used both in the past, and both have their merits...
I was wondering about adding a siding here (I'm desperately short of siding space), but the geometry of the site's rather awkward, so I may leave it for now I think...
So. Not altogether good news from the (WH)WHR, but the opportunity for a re-think's always a good thing, and at least the track's almost up and running again. It just needs a good brushing down now and it'll be ready for the plum harvest - how else will we possibly manage that?!
Cheers,
Andrew.