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Seasons Greetings to everyone and welcome to this festive issue of Trackpack from the P.Way grotto here at Havenstreet. The Santa Specials are in full swing and the signal lights are twinkling away high above, making the place into a veritable wonderland. Several wise men were spotted gathered around the up starting signal muttering something about stars, bright signal lights and the mistake made in confusing the two, and what time was the next train to Bethlehem. As this is the last Trackpack of 2004 mention must be made of all the hard work that you, the volunteer have put into this department over the year. Without you chaps and chapesses coming down to help out on the working weekend's we would be struggling to get jobs done. So a big thank you wrapped up in festive red ribbons to you all, have a lovely Christmas and look forward to see you all in the New Year.

January Working Weekend Sat 2nd / Sun 3rd
Jim says "The Coach leaves at 8.30am in the rain".

The first working party is on Sunday and Monday 2nd/3rd January, due to popular demand, which was determined by a vote (overseen by the Ukrainian Election Committee).

We hope to spend this couple of day's fitting the new point for the wheeldrop pit road. This is the point that we removed from Wootton during the November working weekend. The ironwork has been moved to site already and hopefully by January we will have the timbers in the goosefield ready for fitting. We will have a good deal of messing around to get the pointwork to fit as in its previous life it was a right hander and we want it to be a left hander. So I expect a good deal of head scratching and sharp intakes of breath before we get it right. Hope to see as many as possible for this bash and hopefully we will have a little festive fare at various tea and lunch breaks during the two days.

What's been going on?

December Working Weekend - Wheeldrop Siding & Clear Up Burning
Shot Sleepers Shifted and Scuppered in Showers of Sparks and also Shovelling of Stones to Sit Siding in Situ

Pete Corby, Iain Whitlam and Dave Walker bar rail into position.

A lot of the sleepers that had been changed recently were so badly decomposed that even selling them to Ground Force enthusiasts to prop up flower beds or garden compost heaps were beyond them. So after sifting through them to pick out a few better specimens the rest formed a large reject pile. A funeral pyre was made and after last rites were administered the pile was lit and during the day many dozens of rotten sleepers were reduced to ash. Whilst these were burnt a large amount of undergrowth and rubbish that had accumulated in the Barnfield across the road was collected by using Ian, Pete and Julia's heritage Fordson tractor and trailer (thanks Pete, for waking it up from its Winter slumbers). A couple of trips were required to clear the rubbish and bring it over to the fire for disposal.

The heritage Fordson tractor and trailer collects rubbish from the Barn Field. Tractor spotters are advised to click HERE for more details of this magnificent machine.

Yet another little gang set about the task of preparing the area in the goosefield for the bottom ballast ready to lay the first couple of rails from the new wheeldrop pit. Other chaps had charge of the nut runners and proceeded to chair up the 24 decent sleepers we had sorted out ready to lay on the ballast when ready. The Bray loading shovel was kindly loaned and driven by the mechanical engineering department to clear away the muddy top surface of the siding site and return with loads of new track ballast. This was spread over the appropriate area using level boards and shovels. By the end of the first day we had cleared loads of rubbish and had the bottom ballast and sleepers in position in the goosefield.

Lining the rails up at the Wheel Drop pit.

Sunday was spent identifying two suitable rails (which were stockpiled in the headshunt) and using the Ironmen moved them to the waiting sleepers. Much heaving and grunting was required to move the rails around till we could turn them into the waiting chairs. Once in place we had to connect these bullhead rails to the 113lb flat bottom bits on the pit. We had suitable plates but sadly they were for new to new rail which is a more than a bit hopeful at the Isle of Wight Railway! Nevertheless we drilled the rails on the pit and after a little jiggery-pokery we got the two sets of rails lined up pretty well. We had a few minutes left at the end of the day before daylight faded completely to make a start on retrieving the first bits of pointwork from its temporary storage area on the Griffins curve ready to use in the goosefield. Another good weekends work and many thanks to all those that took part.

What else has been going on?

Well since last month's Trackpack progress has been made on several fronts. Towards the end of November we moved the flat bottom rails from storage in the car park to their new home on the inspection pit. These 98lb rails had been brought from Sandown yard in October especially for the new pit. After a bit of drilling and cutting we got the whole lot connected up but sadly not fixed down as special fittings will be needed to fix the rails to the concrete base.

The Wheel Drop pit and gantry.

A problem on No.6 point locking stretcher had got to the stage where it had to be replaced with a new one. A suitable kit of parts had been ordered and delivered from National Railway Supplies at Crewe beforehand so we started work on the 24th November. The old fittings were removed and the new parts assembled and cut to fit. A further complication with this particular point is the track circuit that runs through it. This means that some parts have to be insulated so that no current passes though the metal parts from one rail to the other. Everything went smoothly and Ray finished the work and tested the installation by 1st December.

Meanwhile a full inspection, oil and grease of all S&T equipment was carried out during the run up to the Santa Special season making sure everything was working well. The operation to connect the two sets of blades at the Wootton end of the Double slip at Havenstreet continues (operation G.R.I.N.D.). The project is now at a very advanced position but is still not operational at the time of writing this.

A Ground Signal is being installed to control movements across the Double Slip into the Down Loop.

All the Wheeldrop siding point ironwork has been retrieved from the storage area and now is handy to site or in the four foot close by ready to be picked up easily by the iron men.

The Friday/Saturday gang led by chief razor Rob have been hard at work in the Havenstreet area, the Ashey grounds crossing area and also on the banks towards Rowlands lane bridge. The lineside looks fantastic like in days gone by when a ganger and his team looked after it. A pride was taken in the job then and required not only the track to be in first class condition but also the lineside vegetation and fences. Not a thing looked out of place in those days and our lineside management is now looking just as good. It is a real credit to all those taking part, Well done.

A new P Way transport has arrived on the Railway. Our usual, carefull and steady, driver will be undergoing a familiarisation training package in the near futrure.

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A Special Notice

Some of you may have seen the notice and know but for those that don't, we will soon be saying farewell to Ray Winter our Chief Civil Engineer and spiritual leader. For the past umpteen years Ray has been leading the Department and we have all seen it go from strength to strength. He will be around for the next working party in January, as he does not leave until later in the month so if you can, please come down and say goodbye.

We all wish Ray a long and happy retirement and hope that we will see him in the future as a volunteer in the department.

A loss indeed to the Civil Engineers, Thank you Ray.

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November Working Weekend - Removal of Wootton siding points
Siding switches seeking secure storage sent southward safely sitting on superbly shiny service stock set

D2059 is flagged across the crossover, the last move before removal of the pointwork began.

Saturday dawned dull but dry and a sizeable band of explorers turned up for what was billed as a Jolly Jim's Jaunt to Wootton. Sadly as the weather was favourable and not pouring with rain this was not possible so we will have to wait until Jim himself arranges the next jaunt in his own inimitable style for the weather conditions to deteriorate to the now accepted levels. Nevertheless we were not downhearted by lack of rain (in fact some were quite thankful) and after pre-flight checks were carried out by a suitably qualified EWS driver the locomotive stirred into action. Tools were loaded on and after a few shunting moves we positioned the train on the station crossing so that Kevin Cooley could load his digger onto the well wagon and away we went under a engineers possession to do battle at Wootton.

The gang at work removing the rail fastenings.

On arrival the necessary shunting moves were performed to prepare for a return to Havenstreet as a large chunk of loop would be missing at the end of the day if all went well! Once ready a start was made on removing the fittings on the points, key's and fishplates removed and stored, and chair screws undone with aid of petrol driven wrenches. Meanwhile chaired sleepers were unloaded from the lowmac wagon ready for use in the plain lining. When the fittings team had finished the train was positioned to receive the rails and lifting of the various point component parts was carried out using either the Britannia rail cranes or a combination of Kevin's machine and a rail crane.

The 'Britannia' rail carrier was used to remove the pointwork.

When all the various bits were aboard a move was made so Kev could load the timbers onto the well wagon for return to Havenstreet. The daylight is short at this time of year as you all know so a decision was made to make for Havenstreet with our cargo along with Kevin and Komatso (that digger follows him everywhere). We needed to unload all the pointwork in daylight safely alongside the Griffins curve, handy for re-use when needed later. After unloading we got all the tools away and put the train to bed for the night. Sunday was dry again (Jim didn't even come with us, so acute was his embarrassment) and after more EWS driver checks we shunted for Kevin to climb aboard again and off to Wootton we went where a start was made on reuniting the two ends of the loop.

Tony French keeps a stern eye on the gang's progress whilst Jim Loe gives Graham Deegan a detailed explanation of his weather forecasting technique.

Realigning of both the loop and the single line points was needed and some silly chump had forgotten the slewing jacks so a hasty trip back to Havenstreet was undertaken in the company van to collect them. Use of Kevin and the slewing jacks was made to get both points and loop to correct position and then the digger was used to move ballast ready to move sleepers into place. Progress was steady and after much hard work we were ready for the first pair of rails to go in. The digger was used to drag the rails one at a time into the correct position and then traditional rail rolling techniques were used to finally get them into the chairs.

The siding point, installed along with the loop in 1978, is gone.

After fishplates were fitted to the existing loop rails, keys were fitted and 45 feet of track made the gap much smaller. Daylight ran out at this point so a short trip back to Havenstreet was made leaving the digger up at Wootton for use the next day. The weekend's bash was a great success, all the objectives were achieved so well done and thanks to all those that turned up on both Saturday and Sunday. Many thanks all.

Sleepers are manouvred into position, plain track replacing the removed point.

What else has been going on?

On the weekday front a number of jobs have been tackled including the continued efforts of G.R.I.N.D. (Griffins Railway Infrastructure for Navigating Double slips) as described in last month's offering. More bits of cranks, rods, baseplates and detectors have been fitted, adjusted, tweaked and sworn at during various times. A quantity of flat bottom rail was acquired from Islandline/Amec at Sandown for use with the inspection/wheeldrop pit scheme. Lots of prep work has been done for the aforementioned Wootton Area Removal of Point Exercise and Disposal, (W.A.R.P.E.D.) for short. Rails were selected from the stockpile at Havenstreet and taken to Wootton by Iron-men and Wickham. Redundant S&T equipment was removed and taken back for storage. We also removed the water supply to the groundframe as it ran under the track at the position where ballast would be moved. A mega-shunt of the last remaining vehicles at Wootton took place on Tuesday 2nd November when all stock was removed from the siding.

A rare chance to burn some of the cut trees and scrub on the bank towards Rowlands Lane Bridge presented itself in late October. The wind usually comes in from the Southwest and our neighbours have taken a dislike to smoke blowing over their property, which is usually the case, but a strong easterly wind came in by chance and we managed to burn all the large piles quickly annoying no one.

After the working weekend we carried on with the re-instatement of the loop at Wootton. Kev and his digger were present on Monday and we took advantage of this to get the track back in and move vast quantities of ballast to where we wanted it. A train came up later in the day to transport the digger back to Havenstreet. The next couple of days were spent Kango packing the new section and re-instating the signalling. All the work has now been completed apart from a bit of clearing up and putting walkways back in position.

Another cut of the bank at Wootton from the Station towards the crossing at Packsfield has been done and at the same time we undertook some ditching work to get the water to flow a little quicker. Pete has recently cleared several of the ditches around the long curve to allow free flow of water across the railway property.

Cutting back is continuing apace with Rob's razors the Friday/Saturday gang making fantastic progress along the Wootton-Havenstreet corridor and also nibbling away at the Rowlands Lane section. A great effort is made from this team and a large number of volunteers now come out every week. A big thank you to all those involved in this work.

DS70000 Rail Loading And Transport Vehicle

Roger Macdonald writes:
At the last working weekend some of you asked about the history of "HMS Britannia". As part of the programme of informing our visitors to the C&W Workshop of what they are looking at and what is being done, I have been writing texts for the display panels. Below is the text for DS70000. So now you know!

From time to time it is necessary to renew worn rails. In the early days of the Steam Railway we did it all by hand and muscle power but nowadays we have made life easier for ourselves. In 2001 the Railway acquired this vehicle which does all the heavy lifting for us. It has an interesting and varied history.

DS70000 originally started life in 1911 as the underframe for London and South Western Railway carriage No. 353 and was used on steam-hauled services in the London suburban area.

In order to satisfy the growing demand for rolling stock during peak periods following the success of the London suburban electrification programme, around 1921 it was converted for use in electric trains. It became the third coach sandwiched in the middle of and existing two-coach electric train. At this time it was downgraded to 3rd Class, previously having been a composite carriage with 1st, 2nd and 3rd class accommodation.

DS70000 undergoes maintenance in the C&W Workshop at Havenstreet, July 2004.

Around 1929 these trailer sets were disbanded and the vehicles were lengthened to 62ft and used to strengthen electric trains to four carriages. These trains continued in use until the mid-1950's.

In 1959 the underframe was modified for further use as the basis for a wagon in departmental service and numbered DS70000. The frame was shortened back to its original length and fitted with a compressor. At some time the buffer housings at one end were bolted on upside down!

In 1982 it was refurbished as a rail loading vehicle at Eastleigh Works and fitted with two Geismar rail cranes and was shipped to the Isle of Wight in the August of that year.

DS70000 works semi-permanently coupled with wagons DB452219 and DB453255 which act as runners. The latter wagon has an onboard generator which provides power for lights. Operating the rail cranes are two small petrol engines.

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Finally a quick word about a stalwart volunteer member of the team who retired recently. John Pusey, who many of you may know, looked after our small plant machines and could turn his hand to most things mechanical has decided to hang up his overalls for the last time. We had a small party for him on his last Thursday in late October and bid him a fond farewell. John has been a valued member of the team and his wit, enthusiasm and skill will be sadly missed in the future. I am sure that all of you, along with us paid staff, would like to wish him a long and happy retirement, and if he ever gets bored playing with his radios and electronics he is always welcome to come down and poke fun at our efforts at plant maintenance. Thank you John!

October's Working Party- Sleeper Changing Again
October's Outdoor Operation Orders Obstreperous Orange Oafs
Onto Overhauling Octo-Ten Obstinate Oaken Objects

With a threatening weather forecast ringing in their ears a sizeable gang assembled at the P.Way hut on Saturday morning. After a few months absence a Top Link driver was able to be rostered for the turn and a safe steady journey followed to Ashey Grounds crossing. Work started on the already dug out sleepers as the assembled masses split into two smaller gangs, each gang using half the tools each to change one sleeper at a time. At 10.30am another gang member arrived on foot with an excuse about having to go to the dentist. Further extractions continued amongst the blustery showers although by late morning the weather was turning out to be much better than that which was forecast.

By dinner Ashey station was almost reached so it was had in the sumptuous surroundings of the station shelter, okay so long as you had remembered to pre-book your seat. Less organised individuals made do with the platform or Wickham.

The excellent progress, and by now dry, clear weather, continued in the afternoon, though the two sleepers between the platform face and station house fence did bowl us a bit of a googly. Fortunately Surrey's master batsman, Mr.T. O'Brien, was able to read the spin and flay them away with his trusty willow (shafted pick axe).

Another demonstration of driving expertise strengthened the gang to ten at two(!) before a couple of refugees (from the board meeting and E.W.S. respectively) made up a round dozen at about 2.30 pm.

By this time the end of the pre-dug sleepers had been reached so a switch round saw the gang split into teams of two or three. Each group did a different part of the changing process, rather like a conveyer belt, moving on to the next once their job at that sleeper was finished. The taker-outers (for want of a better term) sometimes caught up with the dig-outers, and the packer/fettlers were a bit left behind at times but a bit of job swapping soon saw everything running smoothly with everyone working well.

Time was called at 5pm and a count up by persons of various arithmetical abilities gave the days total between 57 and 61. This is a fantastic days work and represents a lot of sweat and effort by everyone involved, thanks to everyone for their endeavours.

Sunday was another day which dawned overcast and threatening, but to even things up Saturday's forecast rain arrived about eleven and proceeded to stay all day. A much smaller gang (did the others know something?) was available but not to be deterred an inexpert Wickham trip coveyed the trio and tools to Saturday's finishing point. As it was an operating day, and after changing two or three sleepers, the Wickham had to be brought back by one of the gang leaving the others working away. A further inexpert journey, this time by road, followed to Deacons Lane, to meet up with the gang.

The rain arrived a bit later and it was quite atmospheric (and wet) to stand, as the (wet) rain fell down, on the lineside as "Invincible" and its train appeared from the (wet) mist and spray to trundle past in a cloud of (wet and warm) steam. Did I mention it was wet? Sanctuary was taken in the van for dinner, and a chance to take coat and hats off although the van windows did steam up alarmingly, good job its got Steam Railway written on the side really.

The final few sleepers were changed in the afternoon and to increase the air of celebration the rain did ease off, but only for a few minutes. With the tools in the back a van journey saw an arrival back at Havenstreet in time for a late cuppa at 3.30.

On Wednesday of the following week all the changed sleepers were dragged back to Havenstreet to be neatly stacked near the station. After extensive auditing and stock control the grand total for the two days exertions is, roll of drums and fanfare, eighty changed sleepers, a tremendous result. Many thanks again to everyone for all their hard work over both days. Although it is a bit naughty to pick out individuals an extra mention must go to Mike Parker who on Sunday, after a busy day on Saturday, came out to get wet helping to put the final sleepers in.

What else has been going on?

Since last times instalment work has revolved around the usual mixed bag of alternatives. The track close to Bridge 13 has received a bit of attention from the kangos and jacks, along with in odd spots on the length from beside the Barnfield toward the 5 mile post.

The grass area behind Ashey station received its final cut of the year in the last week of September, the pieces of bank around the crossing also being attended to.

The South side gate at Woodhouse crossing has been steadily collapsing under its responsibilities in recent months. Two new arris rails and a brace have restored its confidence.

The Griffins Railway Infrastructure for Navigating Double slips, or G.R.I.N.D, continues to make progress. The crank bed with its fittings of 12" crank and wheel has now been completed. However, the control/detection portion of the scheme is proving rather troublesome due to the unusual displacement of the slip's switches.

The cutting back squad continues their great efforts in tackling the railways enthusiastic legions of vegetation. With the grass growing season nearly over it will soon be time to return to other wooded areas. Anyone wishing to lend a hand is sure of a warm welcome at 8.30 on Friday or Saturday outside the P.Way hut.

Well that's all for now folks, see you all soon. Best Wishes The Trackpack Team.

September's Working Party- Sleeper Changing
Team Tackle Track Ties Turning Tasty Termite Tuck To Tremendous Tanalised Timber

Saturday dawned dry and clear and there was soon a large crowd thronging at the gate to enjoy the day's entertainments. The programme of events went something like this:

8.30am Display of Vintage Permanent Way tools and equipment.
A procession of these carried by glamorous assistants passed from the store door to the four wheeled trolley. Sponsored by Harry Tage Tool Services.

9.00am. Parade of Historic Vehicles.(well there was the Wickham and trolley).
A 1953 no.27 MkIII Wickham personnel carrier with trailer(s) of indeterminate age. Having been in the present drivers care for many years it demonstrated its famed braking capabilities(!) by stopping at positions marked by yellow crosses along the parade route. Displayed by Mr. R. Winter of Shanklin, I.O.W.

9.30am Shovel and Grafty
This duo's antics kept everyone entertained as they dug for buried treasure around the sleepers shown on their map. Well each one did have a cross on top of it!

Pete Snashall and Dave Walker move a new sleeper into position whilst Jim Loe is still desperatly searching for buried treasure.

10.30am Sleeper Beeching
Demonstration of a technique common in the 1960's where pieces of, or sometimes whole, railway tracks disappeared. Sponsored by Pusey's Petrol Powered Plant.

Julia Snashall fixes a date marker to a freshly laid sleeper.

11.30am Guess the Level
The first of our Silly Permanent Way Games as armed with only a shovel and a Mark I eyeball willing volunteers tried to remove just enough, but not too much, ballast from the old sleeper's bed to allow the new sleeper to fit snugly when it is slid in. Prizes awarded to the contestants with the best fitting sleepers; derision and forfeits (like removing said sleeper and more ballast) awarded to those not scraping out enough.

12.30pm Dinner

(L to R) Dave Walker, Steve Castle, Julia Snashall and Pete Corby take a break as the train passes. Passengers often ask why men in orange clothing appear to be having lineside picnics, and why do the picnics seem to last all day?

1.00pm Key(p) Fittings
With a new timber in place, a chance to see a display of weight (28lbs) lifting and club swinging by local enthusiasts. Presented by Loe's Gym, Upton.

2.00pm Blazing Ballast
Synchronised shovelling of the highest standard to move the stone to all those hard to reach places.

3.30pm Pin the Nail on the Loggney
Another one of our silly games as contestants in rigging gloves attempt to nail date markers on top of the new sleepers.

A Vintage Staff Demonstration, led by Jim Loe, nearest the camera. The other ancient gang members have ticked the 'No Publicity' box - but we all know who they are!.

5.00pm Display of Vintage Permanent Way tools and equipment.(Who said staff too?)
Another chance to see this fascinating display from another angle, (and direction).

Sunday saw a similar range of events, except for the vehicle's braking display, a round trip proving adequate.

Clearing Up
What else has been going on?

As previewed last month the track faults in the Bridge 8/ Ash bank area were tackled before the start of the Steam Show. Due to trains running, a couple of irregular hours shifts were used to get over most of the problems. Whether the pre-show campers adjacent to the Barnfield appreciated a late evening performance of "The Kango Symphony in C(urve) Flat is unknown.

After many hours of fiddling and twiddling the MarkII version of the electric signal lighting was unveiled in time for the Steam Show. With the power sources now moved nearer to the relevant signals larger wattage bulbs could be procured and installed, the supply from the box now merely being used as a control circuit. After a dress rehearsal at a Show Week "Fish and Chip Evening" to shake out the odd gremlin, v.embarassing with Commander Orchard in attendance, the system worked well. A bonus was the added atmosphere they provided for staff and exhibitors in the evenings before and during the Steam Show.

The painting of the "Britannia "rail carrier has now been completed and it fairly gleams on No.2 road of the C&W shed. The cranes have been painted the regulation "Warning Yellow" complete with "wasp stripes"on the outriggers. With new light fittings, tested from the workshop 110 volt supply, we should be in with of a chance of a prize at Havenstreet's next illuminated carnival.

When not oiling and greasing the control and detection apparatus, the Griffin's double slip is receiving the attention of the S&T Dept. With the cranks now reconditioned and painted a start has been made on a genuine Southern Railway crank bed, Drawing No. 3274-33/B, where the rod and wire turn to cross the track.

With the grass growing season now drawing to a close the cutting back gang are returning to more knotty problems in other places. Various areas have received attention in recent weeks including around both Wootton Distant and the bank to the West of Rowlands Lane Bridge.

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August 2004
It was a Sunday afternoon on the Island of Sodoff and the railway permanent way department was very quiet. Uncle Ray was having a day off, Uncle Peter was up the line shovelling ballast and Uncle David was sitting in the office tapping away at the computer keyboard as he didn't want to shovel ballast. He was working on Trackpack, full of stories of dodgy the digger and lurchy the loadall when they lifted lots of lumps of track. So read on and enjoy the stories in this edition of Trackpack.

What's been going on?

August Working Party- The Griffin's Sidings Switch Switchover
Switches Swing Safely Sliding Suitably Into Sidings

STORY 2. THE SIDING SWITCHES.

All the engines like to do lots of shunting. It's good fun because those troublesome trucks squeal and grind their wheels when they get pushed and pulled around. Mavis is always getting the troublesome trucks annoyed by doing lots of shunting. The trouble was that Mavis didn't have enough sidings, so the Sodoff Trackpackers came to the rescue and in August put another two points into the sidings so soon Mavis and her friends will be able to do even more shunting down new sidings. A happy band of Sodoff switch movers worked very hard suitably sloshed with sun lotion and safely attired with sun hats and sunglasses for a steaming hot day under the blazing sun. The existing point that had been used in the siding as a temporary measure was moved first thing by Cassandra the Case CX210 digger. Then the Ex-Eastleigh crossover (pre-assembled in the Griffins field) was moved into place. Lurchy the Loadall then helped to get all the bits in the right place so that it could all be connected up again. The pieces of crossover were moved one at a time by Cassandra, the very large machine supplied by Bennett's of Bembridge, whilst Kevin Cooley's smaller machine (Kevin the Komatso) prepared the trackbed and helped with smaller tasks. By the end of Saturday the crossover was complete and in the correct position. Only minor work remained such as fishplating and fixing of chairs, reconnecting to existing sidings etc.

The first lump of Eastleigh pointwork arrives.

Almost complete within hours.

On Sunday a much depleted gang carried on with the smaller jobs and by the end of the day most of the work had been completed. Both sidings were reconnected and most fixings were in place. Mavis and her friends will be very happy to hear those trucks squealing and grumbling again very soon and the happy shunters will be very pleased too. Well done all.

The finished A switch in place.

What else has been going on?

STORY 3. THE RUN OF THE MILL

Austin the Austerity and Frank the terrier had been running up and down the line for several months after the visit of Timmy the Tamper. When Timmy left the track was lovely. No bumps to trip over and all the corners were really nice. No wiggly bits that made their wheels knock and the trucks grumble. But sadly some bits of track did not stay where Timmy had left them. Bits have sunk down and other bits have become wiggly again. Uncle's Ray, Pete and Dave have been busy trying to get all the bits right again but some bits just don't want to stay put. The notorious ash bank by bridge 8 has slipped again and although we have done some work on it the levels are not good. A temporary 5mph speed restriction has been placed on it and we will try to get it sorted out as quickly as possible. Slueing has been carried out on the bank out of Havenstreet towards Wootton. This included a bit of Jim Crow work as well. This device is particularly heavy and is used to bend rails to shape. This along with our slueing jacks has made a big difference to the line in this location.

The Britannia rail crane wagon has gone into the C&W workshop for a repaint and whilst undercover we have taken the opportunity to do some work on the cranes themselves and a repaint of some above solebar equipment as well. Pete is replacing part of the 110V lighting with new lamp housings. When it appears from the shed it should look very smart with the general spruce up all round.

When Austin & Frank trundle up the line they like to look out on all the fields and see all the farm animals, they can toot to Larry the Lamb and Billy the bull, Percy the pig and Clarrie the Cow. Sometimes the lineside is all grown over with Boris the Bramble and Stan the Stinging nettle and this is where our Friday and Saturday Cutting Crew come into their own. A fantastic effort over the past few weeks by an ever-growing group of Rob's Railside Razors have made vast areas of lineside look very smart. Soon Austin & Frank will have to Toot all the way from Smallbrook to Wootton and will run out of steam!

Well that's all for now folks, hope you have enjoyed your special storybook edition of Trackpack, see you all soon.

July 1944

Frontline Branchline Austerity Issue

This is the HST Home Service. Here is the News and this is Alvar Liddell reading it…sorry was still stuck at the Frontline Branchline for a minute there! In spite of summer 2004 deciding to take a break in recent weeks, you will be pleased to hear that Griffin's field is holding up well. With the ground firm under foot the last big push of the sidings project is all ready for the upcoming weekend.

What's been going on?

July's Working Party- Griffin's Sidings Shenanigans
Wartime Weekend Workers Wrestle Waggly W(R)Ails To Less Wandering Way

Despite some gang members being called up by the "Frontline Branchline" event (thought railway work was a reserved occupation?) a sizeable gang paraded on Saturday morning on Griffin's field.To begin with the preparation work on the ex-Eastleigh pointwork was continued from where it had been left off last time. Since June's Working Weekend the weekday gang had managed to spend some time on it but there still remained a lot to be done. Most works consisted of moving the rails into position with jacks and bars although the mini-digger was used where a big move was needed. The rails were now to the correct alignment for its new location, careful measurement ensuring a 1000m, or 16 ½ chain, curve. The chairs, and therefore rails, could now be fixed down with chair screws. Most of the time the existing screw holes in the timbers could be utilised but quite a number needed new hole positions drilling.

Mr Parker, Tony O'Brien and Robin Reed model various styles of heritage Hi-Vis clothing.

After tea, the Squander Bug from the Forties event made an appearance and remarked on all the excess, untidy ballast on the Griffin's curve. Not wishing to get a fine, a small team started fettling up the track while the main gang progressed with the pointwork. The mini-digger, fresh from rail moving and with help from a dumper was soon engaged in laying out a shunter's path alongside the ballast shoulder around the inside of the Griffin's curve. With all these goings on the site was a-buzz with activity.

With the sun still out an afternoon of lovely weather followed, the point started to take shape, and the mini-digger began preparing the remaining area of trackbed ready for it. Having finished fettling, the ballast gang made use of the dumper to move some time expired sleepers to a more tidy location. It was then parked, by Mr. Parker aptly enough, and the excess ballast loaded into it and moved. The excess ballast from the old alignment was now used to build up the shoulder around the outside of the new curve.

The annual weedkilling programme did not extend to this part of Griffins Field.

By afternoon tea break the point was partially complete and the ballast gang linked up again with the point team. The partial construction of the turnout had revealed that some of the timbers further along it needed moving. The dumper, piloted by Mr. Parker (Mr. Driver not being available), was pressed into use to put the timbers into their correct location, hand signals, rude or otherwise, being supplied by Mr. Pointer.

Sunday saw a change in the weather, not for the better, but not in the work to be done. The gang carried on with the turnout tweaking, but at about ten o'clock the wartime goods train with its Top Secret cargo left the headshunt siding. A couple of men now finished off the pegging out alongside the headshunt before a start was made on lifting and packing it to the new profile, guided by the pegs, as laid out in the design. Even with the gang being supplemented by extra people from time to time this took most of the day before the correct levels were arrived at.

The point gang were not idle while all this was going on and by mid afternoon had got enough of the ironwork to gauge and fixed down for a spot of slueing to take place. Using the mini-digger a curve similar to the entrance one was aligned into the exit road, thus allowing the rails to be eventually fixed down in this area. There wasn't time to do it on the Sunday but it can be progressed by the weekday gang now all the heavy shunting by the digger has been done.

Manning the bars this month are Dave Walker (left) and Ray Winter.

With the best part of the turnout ready to move and the headshunt to its new elevation, as well as a lot of ballast tidied up, a great deal was achieved over the weekend. A big thankyou to everyone for their efforts and hope to see as many as possible for the concluding part next month, see above.

What else has been going on?

After a week of dry weather, the chance was taken to attend to the grass bank to the east of Ashey station. It had been cut the weekend before by the weekend gang and was in just the right condition to be burnt. After informing the relevant authorities and armed with extinguishing devices it was lit in stages, this removing all the dry material. After making sure everything was out, the specially ordered rain arrived the next afternoon to damp it down completely. Unfortunately the storeman got the quantities wrong and the rain seems to have been falling ever since!

Wootton's single line points have received a dose of kangoing around the switch and lead in area. The job, which took most of the day, now allows the switch etc. to work more efficiently.

More time has been spent fettling and fixing down the ex-Eastleigh pointwork ready for the Working Weekend. Many chairs have refitted into the existing locations, but several have had to have the timber moved and be re-drilled to suit their new situation. Some coiling of the chair screw holes has also been necessary.

The new double slip control system is progressing with all the cranks etc. cleaned and hardened off ready for their new windswept and rain strewn lives by the trackside. The compensator in the rod run has now been moved the required 6 foot, 7 and 17/32nd inches towards the lever frame, along with the concrete horses, and been re-connected into the rod run.

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Last but not least, a bit of good news, I'm sure all readers will be pleased to here that Ron Lee, the railways illustrious chief operating bod, is making an excellent recovery from his recent illness. He expects to be returning to work very soon.

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June 2004
Greeting Dear Citizens, and welcome to the prologue. We are here at Sweaty Havenstreet by the Sea where the weather has been particularly warm and muggy and has led to some very smelly armpits, feet, and other unsavoury areas of the PW staff. This was very much the case during the last working weekend when moving the point in the Griffins complex, but more of that later. Anyway much has been happening despite the heatwave so enjoy the rest of the story, dear reader.

What's been going on?

June's Working Party- The Griffin's Sidings Switch Slue
Super Switch Slue Sees Sidings Safe To Shift And Shunt Stock

This view shows the extent of the slue required to marry the pointwork up to the realigned curve.

A happy band of siding sluers arrived suitably sloshed with sun lotion and safely attired with sun hats and sunglasses for a steaming hot day under the blazing sun. Sunny Sidings situated in Griffins field was the site of work and a start was made on lifting the curve to correct level first thing as we had to wait for the super sluer (a JCB Loadall from Coppidhall Farm). This was not available until mid-morning as it was in use moving cow do-do's on the farm and even after Mike Lightbown (super sluer pilot) had brought it down to the railway and used it for several hours the pleasing rural aroma was still quite noticeable. Once here the super slueing machine was attached to the switch and proceed to move the whole thing sideways 5 feet or more. The trick was little and often and by attaching the chains at various positions and dragging with the JCB the whole point was moved successfully in a few hours. Meanwhile the lifting and packing team was going great guns round the curve doing massive lifts of up to 8 inches and ballast was disappearing at a frighteningly quick pace. The afternoon was to involve more of the same, slueing and re-connection of the sidings was carried out. The curve from the double slip had to be cropped and re-drilled to allow connection to the pointwork and this was done using the rail saw and rotor broach. Meanwhile lifting and packing teams toiled on under the baking sun.

Tony O'Brien gives Ray Winter a motivational chat as Ray prepares the Rail Saw for use.

Once the Loadall was finished Mike vacated the plush cab of the JCB for the more basic surroundings of the Bray loading shovel used by the CME for loading coal onto locomotives. This was used to move the stockpile of ballast to top up the curve where great gaps had appeared as the track came up to level. Work finished about 5pm when the poor old packers had run out of puff after a day slogging it out in very hot conditions.

Sunday was another scorcher and again the cry went up "give us more lifting and packing" "Hurrah" said the guvnor' "just get on with the final bits on the curve and then start on the double slip". "Oh bu%*er, we were only kidding" said the gang.

So we got down to it again, the lifts were not nearly so big and Kango hammers were used on the more tricky bits round the slip. Good progress was made and by the end of the day all the main packing was done with just a few bits left on the approach lines to be finished and the headshunt to be done at a later stage. Well done all a tough task was completed in even tougher conditions. Thank you.

John Crang and two men in white floppy hats jack the curve to the required level.

What else has been going on?

With the growing season for lineside nature now well under way a time has been spent cutting the areas around occupation crossings to ensure good visibility for footplate crews. Other areas have received our attention including Wootton, Woodhouse, Ashey and the bank towards Rowlands lane. The weekend gang has been hard at work too, in the other grassed areas towards Smallbrook making the lineside look really smart. Apart from the safety aspects a clear lineside also allows the railways passengers to enjoy the views from the carriage windows.

The Gang are very proud of their large shoulders - Graham Deegan (left) and Mike Parker tidy up the ballast shoulder whilst the rest of the team man the Kango hammers.

A temporary point lever has been fitted on the double slip to allow easier access to the running line from the sidings. This in due course will be supersede by the proper signalling arrangements using the groundframe and a start has been made on this too. Some fence maintenance has been completed at Woodhouse and Packfield, mainly post straightening and wire repairs. Fishplate oiling has been completed with both Smallbrook station and Havenstreet Up loop done recently.

Weedkilling has been carried out today (16th June) and all staff should be aware of that fact. Make sure you read notices if you are about the line for the next couple of weeks. Please make sure you follow instructions on the notice.

On the Saturday evening of this months working weekend the long, heavy, metal bars were exchanged for the bar of the Yarbridge Inn Real Ale Festival. (L to R) Steve Castle, Pete Snashall, Ian Corney, Mike Parker and Graham Deegan get in the festival spirit. This was one of a series of vitally important practice runs for our annual visit to the Pompey Beerex on 21st August - Practice makes perfect!

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Finally some of you may be aware but for those that haven't heard Ron Lee (the Operating Officer for the Railway) suffered a heart attack whilst on holiday with his wife recently. Fortunately after a stay in hospital he is making good progress. I am sure, like us, you all will want to wish him best wishes and a speedy recovery.

May 2004
Hello there and welcome to this special early Spring heatwave issue of Trackpack. So long as the office fan doesn't muddle up my memos there will be a packed weekend of work for you all to look forward to. For more details read on…

What's been going on?

May's Working Party- The Griffin's Sidings Complex (or is it the Complex Griffin Sidings)
Terrific Team Take On Triple Tasks To Tackle Turnout, Twist Track And Tidy Tat

As the morning broke over Havenstreet (Wild) West Yard a reassuring sight greeted arriving members of the P.Way posse. Safely aboard his faithful dumper "Silver" (Trigger belonged to Roy Rogers), "The Lone Ranger" was already hard at work herding chalk coloured steers (stones surely) from the corral in the middle of the field to fresh grazing by Griffin's curve bank. It took a whole days driving but by sundown the varmints were safely installed in their new home, "The Lone Ranger" being grateful for the help of Kev the Cool on the lasso to catch the more elusive critters.

These days the only bars the gang get to see during the working day are the long, heavy metal ones and no Track Pack is complete without a shot of them being wielded in anger!

The rest of the posse spent the day rounding up the herd of Hampshire Hardbacks (from a dealer in Eastleigh) that some nasty rustlers had hidden on various parts of the prairie. Some of them were moved by posse members on foot, while Sheriff Lightbown's yellow mare "Lodehall" was especially useful to move the heavy ones about. Some of the brands were a bit hard to spot, with F's looking like E's or C's along with J's, I's and L's too. A bit of deduction soon got everyone in the right order though.

Taking a break - and this month no jokes about it being well earned! From the left: Pete Corby, Mike Lightbown, Dave Walker, Ian Corney, John Crang, Robin Tagart, Julia and Pete Snashall.

For a second consecutive day the weather defied the unwelcoming forecast, the sun shining warm and dry all day. The first job was to slew the Griffin's curve over onto the new, freshly ballasted chalk embankment that had been built the previous day by dumper and mini-digger. With the outside rail removed (on Saturday) to prevent a collision with the carefully placed alignment pegs, the mini-digger soon made short work of installing it on the new alignment. After a bit of careful persuasion the outside rail, with the mini-digger taking some of the strain, was replaced after dinner. One or two of the sleepers needed adjustment before the rails dropped in, but once done a small team easily got it all re-keyed and plated by the days end.

Meanwhile the fettling work on the ex-Eastleigh crossover continued in the corner of the field where it was temporarily laid out. Some of the ironwork was screwed through freshly ferruled chairs to the timbers to give an idea of the further work that would be necessary for it to fit into its new home.

Whilst the ex Eastleigh pointwork was being assembled Operating Manager Ron Lee, complete with red tie and clean shoes, took the time to give the team some much needed advice.

A big thankyou to everyone who turned out on both days to help move about the big lumps of timber and iron that we seem to collect. It was good by way of a change on Saturday morning to also have big lumps of concrete (shaped like fence posts) aswell as sleepers and chairs, to tidy up out of the way of the new embankment. Many thanks again.

By mid-afternoon things became a bit too much for Olde Tyme P Way Man Derek Bishop, he was missing his normal after lunch snooze!

What else has been going on?

Since the Working Weekend most efforts have been directed towards getting the London end of the Griffin's curve reconnected to the double slip. Two new closures were cut and installed. A certain amount of lifting and packing was then necessary to fill voids and slacks. This enabled it to be used for stock berthing in association with H.M. the Queen's visit to the railway on May the 19th.

Some cutting back has been carried out around Whitefield crossing where the grass was starting to get rather long.

W8 'Freshwater' leads its train past the IWSR version of Clapham Junction - the Double Slip at the entry to Goosefield/Griffins Field Sidings.

On the S&T front a now largely recovered Viv Orchard has had the gang spending time "bulling up" the outside installation in readiness for the Royal visit. We now have the shiniest cranks this side of an eccentric polishers conference!

After further scrub clearance in the area to the Smallbrook side of Whitefield crossing the Cutting Back gang are due to start their annual round of grass cutting soon. Anyone who feels like lending a hand should Fly Mo-ver to Havenstreet on a Friday or Saturday morning. Operatives who are unable to mow in straight lines should not be deterred.

What's been going on?

April's Working Party - Moving Double Slip and Associated Sidings
Slight Slew Sends Slip Several Centimetres Station Side Of Sidings
(Yes I know centimetres starts with a "C" but is sounds like a "S")

After much peg bashing and tape measuring we came to phase 2 of the Siding saga which involved the members of Anonymous Siding Sorters (ASS) moving the double slip from it's position to one 6.301 metres closer to the station. The S&T items were removed a few days before the weekend so Saturday's task began with a dismantling of the various parts and with the aid of two hired machines then transported to the new positions.

Graham Deegan undertakes 'Peg Bashing and Tape Measuring' duties.

The new layout being marked out with pegs the slip was moved both lengthways and slewed slightly to make the Griffins curve less sharp. Anyone who has any experience of double slips will know that there is a large amount of metal work in a small area and along with long timbers make it a very heavy item to lift and move around. Thankfully the machines coped well with the weight involved and although the surrounding area got quite badly churned up by the tracked machines everything else went well. Meanwhile a small gang were busy dealing with slewing the down loop. This meant a possession on this loop, all trains during the weekend using the Up loop in both directions. The slew at the Wootton end of the loop meant that the alignment was much better and the point to the sidings was in the right place to connect up with the double slip.

(Left to Right) Mike Saunders, Pete Snashall and Ian Corney at work on the Double Slip.

By the end of Saturday the double slip had been re-assembled and a start made on several jobs to start re-connecting the lines to it.

Sunday saw activity in many areas, the machines were used to move materials around the site whilst also making a start on extending the embankment out for the new alignment of the Griffins siding. A splinter gang of ASS called Bent Until Magic Society (BUMS) were busy bending rails with the Jim Crow to allow better curves on the approach rails and cutting and drilling rails to form the new connection from the down loop. Yet another group called Get Into Track Slewing (GITS) were slewing and lifting the existing siding from the Goosefield ready to connect to the double slip. At the days end the slip was again connected to the down loop.

Fellow gang members take the opportunity to observe Robin Tagart hard at work.

Many thanks to everyone whether you were a GIT or an ASS or just BUMS you were very much appreciated; the weekend proved very successful. Hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves and took pleasure in seeing the plans come together so well.

The Double Slip in it's new position - 9th April 2004.

What else has been going on?

The tamper again paid its bi-annual visit and worked it's magic over the whole line during its 7 day visit from 18th to 25th March. This time the finished job was improved by having all the curves aligned using radii worked out by our own mathematician/inventor Peter Corby. This worked wonderfully and after tamping the curves were excellent but more work is required to get the straights looking right. We are working on this at the moment, so watch this space. The use of sighting boards helped with correcting many of the long slacks that were impossible for the tamper to get out using its onboard equipment. We lifted and packed one sleeper in five and the machine did the rest. Several places have been made much better and we hope to keep the usual slip areas a bit better between tamps using this method.

A by-product of tamping is taking the cattle grids up at all the crossings to allow tamping and ballast brushing to continue right up to the actual crossing. These grids have been built now for many years and although the design has been good and lasted the test of time it was felt that the sheer weight of the bigger grids was unacceptable for two people to lift. This being the case we have spent sometime replacing the grids at most of the crossings because we have made adjustments to the design. We have standardised the size of screw fitting to allow for quicker release and have taken the opportunity to make the moveable sections much smaller and easier to lift. Hopefully next tamping time the grids will be quicker to lift and put back and without the back-braking weights involved.

The Tamper at work in Rowlands Wood

After last month's working weekend several days work continued to connect up three of the four lines onto the double slip. The headshunt was a priority as the operating department required some carriage shuffling, as was the goosefield purely because we could not get the Wickham and trolleys to and from the PW hut to get work done. We slewed the headshunt to the approximate shape first and then cut and drilled rails to fit the gaps. We then moved on to the Goosefield side where the Jim Crowing of the weekend had left the rails a little out of shape. We did a bit of bending again with the aid of the aforementioned Mr Crow and got a reasonable shape back into it before doing some more cutting and drilling to connect another line. We packed a few stones under some timbers and sleepers and trains could run again with blades clipped for the required route.

S&T work has taken a bit of a back seat for a while with the tamper and other mentioned work being carried out. Viv Orchard has continued his recovery and has made it out to the railway on a few occasions. We had a fault occur on No.1 signal indicator which was quite suprising because we had only just replaced the wire and indicator after the lightening strike a couple of month's ago. We eventually tracked down the problem to a faulty wire on part of the overhead system. So up the poles we went again and had to renew a complete section, twice in two months!

Such is life, full of up's and down's especially ladders!

The Cutting back gang is still making good progress along the lineside near Calloways crossing. The newly cleared areas have become a picture with primroses and other wild flowers out in profusion all over the banks. It is well worth a train ride just to look at the lineside banks. Well done to the Friday/Saturday gangs.

Seen from a passing train on Good Friday - The Cutting Back Gang at Rowlands Lane Bridge.

What's been going on?

March's Working Party - Fishplate Greasing
Prototype Portable Power Pack Perch Prevents Prolongued Pains In Proximity Of Pelvis And Posterior

Gang members arriving for the usual 8.30am start were in for a surprise after the doom foretold in the last edition of Track Pack. After a measure of head scratching and bruising of knuckles a Mk II version of the power wrench carrier was on proud display outside the P.Way hut. Careful readers may remember that the problem was the nuts for this year were on the outside of the rail, i.e. outside the span of the Iron Man. By recycling some scaffold tubes and clamps, that had once formed a lightweight parapet wall on Bridge 12 apparently, a rotatable arm was fashioned; the end of which projected beyond the outside of the rail. In conjunction with the spring used last year this enabled most of the weight of the power wrench to be taken by the Iron Man while it was in use, and it to be held above the ground while being wheeled the 90 to 120 feet between rail joints. The rotating feature allowing the wrench to be transferred from one rail to the other each time.

Iain Whitlam and Pete Corby with the Portable Power Pack Perch.

With the twelve strong gang aboard the trip was made to Smallbrook, expert driving being required what with the four wheel trolley carrying a super-tanker sized load of lubricant and both Iron Men rattling along behind.

After a brief shunt at Smallbrook to get everything in the right order, a little time was spent getting the tools set up to everyone's satisfaction, then the procession set off towards Ashey and Havenstreet. Three people went ahead with their Power Wrench/Iron Man Combination to undo the nuts and four followed with the trolley carrying the grease and pressurised grease applicators. Bringing up the rear came the rest of the gang with the other Spanner Combination to tighten up the nuts and fishplates, then using a traditional fishplate spanner to finally nip up everything. Between the Greasers and the Tighteners the Wickham was expertly driven up and down passing on important messages and carrying the gangs provisions.

Ian Corney and Julia Snashall operate the pressurised grease dispenser. Those familiar with former greasing methods will marvel at the cleanliness of the operators clothing!

With the sun out and the weather mild good progress was made up the bank and around the curve out of Smallbrook, with just the odd joint on the curve proving troublesome. A stop for tea was taken between Calloways and Whitefield Crossings before powering on to the summit and beyond, reaching Ashey station for dinner.

The traditional use of railway stations as a place to say farewell came in very handy after dinner as this proved to be the last time the Greasers and Un-doers would see the Tighteners until after 5pm! Several factors seemed to cause this, the need to change some bolts to ones with a standard sized nut, and awkward access for the Regulation size 12 boot to hold the bolt head in place being among them. The only troubles however at the front end were the occasional grease explosion when the pressure went wrong and the bruised heels of the Un-doers from where the Greasers would sometimes catch them up!

The front half of the big parade reached Bridge 9 at 3.35pm, a cup of tea then being enjoyed in the splendour of the Gas House Mess. The rear half, having got stuck in the one-way system and getting a puncture, trundled into sight at about 4.30, everything getting put back in the hut by 5.

Loosening fishplates near Whitefield Crossing.

Next day more of the same was in order, the smaller gang size being matched almost exactly by the smaller length of track there was to be tackled. No expert Wickham journey was required, work starting more or less right outside the P.Way hut.

Once again the weather was excellent, lots of lovely sun from a sky of scattered cloud though it got a bit breezy on the exposed section around the Long Curve. It even managed to rain (or hail!) at the right time, a couple of big, black clouds carrying drenching showers arriving while everyone was safely aboard the Wickham eating their dinner.

Enough about the weather I can hear you cry, what about the grease. By dinner time the Un-doers had reached the Single Line point at Wootton, the Greasers and Tighteners at Woodhouse and the Forest Crossings respectively. After dinner the platform and loop roads at Wootton were loosened, greased and tightened with everything being put back together by 3 o'clock. The Un-doers "getting to Wootton quickly" bubble was burst equally quickly when it was pointed out they had missed two pairs of plates at Woodhouse and in the Forest. These were attended to on the trip back to Havenstreet.

After de-greasing the greasing equipment and putting it away there was plenty of time for everyone to have a good wash before starting their variously durationed journeys home.

Many thanks to everyone for a great weekend that proved to be so successful. Hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves and the various appliances on offer took most of the strain.

What else has been going on?

I'm sure you will be sorry to here the news that Viv Orchard, S&T Supervisor, has been suffering a period of ill health recently. After being taken suddenly unwell and with some time in hospital you will be pleased to hear he is now well on the road to recovery.

While on the subject of S&T the usual pre-season oiling, greasing and checking has been in full swing. A new crank was installed and assorted other works were carried out on No. 6 points at Havenstreet.

With the arrival of a certain noisy yellow monster on the horizon most efforts have been channelled into making its visit as profitable and successful as possible. As well as the measuring and marking out of cant and curves, mentioned in passing last month, copious amounts of ballast have been dropped in the usual troublesome spots. Any large dips or places of questionable level have then had one rail lifted to the correct position. One in five sleepers are then packed to hold it in position and provide a datum for the Tamper.

In addition to several ballast trains the Britannia wagons were also pressed into service on the 17th of March to recover the remaining displaced rails at Woodhouse.

The Cutting back gang are making good use of a recent consignment of new tools. The area between the Smallbrook curve and Calloways Crossing, aka Swanpond, is the current area receiving their attention.

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What's been going on?

February's Working Party- Sleeper Changing and Siding Slueing
Sleepers, Sawing And Serious Slewing Send Some Silly With Strength To Snap Shaft

Once again sleeper changing featured strongly on the Saturday with another 28 of Finn Forest's finest specimens going into the single line between Havenstreet and Rowlands Lane Bridge. We have finally finished the last of the 2003 deliveries of sleepers and that means that since last January we have managed to put 450 new sleepers in the line. A marvellous achievement and at last we are getting on top of the life expired sleepers in the single line. We are getting to the stage where we are renewing sleepers before they are no longer doing their job and are totally rotten! We hope to continue a big programme of renewals every year and more sleepers will be arriving soon.

Sleeper changing on Saturday 7th February - Dave Walker, Andrew Middleton and Robin Tagart.

Anyway I digress, back at the sleeper changing, two gangs set to and good progress was made, and at lunch only 4 or 5 remained to be changed. After a couple of smoked salmon sandwiches, some quail eggs and a glass of Chablis it was back to work and the last ones went in the line. Once completed it was all change, some of the gang started on lineside clearance close to No 1 signal, whilst others went on to sleeper clearing with the Wickham (again expertly driven) to remove the recently removed redundant sleepers. Another small team went to assist with more pegging out in the Goosefield for some re-alignment planned for Sunday. By evening another load of undergrowth was reduced to ashes and a complete run of bank from Havenstreet towards Rowlands has been cleared and looked very smart.

The Jim Crow in position and ready to tackle another kinky bit.

Sunday saw a smaller team ready to do battle with the Jim Crow and iron out a few alignment problems on the two points in the Goosefield. Although the sidings had been levelled and put in use a few niggly little faults remained and proved so stubborn that a Mister Jim Crow was required to bend a rail or two to get the smooth line we all like. After much grunting and other assorted noises (many resulting from last evening's beer intake) the rails were persuaded to take on the shape we wanted rather than the shape they liked and straight bits appeared where kinky bits had been. Mind you there's nothing wrong with a kinky bit in the right place. So came some bigger pushes and all available jacks came into play as we started to move a few tons of point to a new position. A little over exuberance with a wooden jack handle led to three members of the gang having to explain why their handle was 6 inches shorter than it was when they started. Robin Tagart clearly enjoyed load testing the pitchfork last autumn and he obviously thought jack handles should go through the same rigorous destructive testing procedure, although no doubt he will blame the author of this piece who joined in the jacking just before the aforementioned apparatus failure. After much work a nice smooth line through the points has been achieved and all that remains to be done is peg out and line the sidings for final infill and fettling.

The gang achieve maximum effort with the Jim Crow.

What else has been going on?

Much of the work this month centres round the continued work on the sidings in the Goosefield. Number two siding was completed and connected to the C&W Workshop by mid January. Lifting, packing and slewing was done on all the sidings during the later part of the month.

We also finished work on the relaying site between Woodhouse and the long curve putting lift plates where required and shimming. We also ran a rail recovery train on the 21st January to pick up a load of redundant 45ft rails. There is still another load to pick up at sometime in the future. A problem joint in the Locomotive Works was tackled as this was preventing proper use of the No.2 siding. The joint had dropped badly and after breaking up the surrounding concrete was found to be due to rot in timbers used for support of the rails. New lengths of timber were cut and placed in position. The joint was then plated and secured firmly to the new timber before being concreted in.

Gang members admire the fruits of their labour (Left to Right) Ray Winter, Iain Whitlam, Pet Snashall, Robin Tagart and Graham Deegan.

P. Way HQ on Sunday 8th February during a break that was described by those present as "Well earned" (Left to Right) Robin Tagart, Robin Reed, Iain Whitlam, Dave Walker, Julia Snashall, Graham Deegan and Ray Winter.

A freak storm on the evening of the 28th January resulted in a short but sharp electrical storm followed by a period of heavy snow. In all my days on the Island I have never seen such a storm. The upshot of it was that we had a lightning strike on the section of track between No 17 signal and No 1 signal at Havenstreet towards the Ashey direction. As this section has not only overhead wires but also a track circuit this has proved to be quite a problem. The track circuit was the first to be noticed as faulty and after investigations all the fuses were found to be blown. More detailed examinations found all signalling and telecom systems to be out of action. We have since had to replace all line wires on this pole route and to replace No.1 signal indicator in the signalbox as this had been damaged by the voltage surge.

Work is still continuing but most should be finished shortly, the telephone at No.1 signal being the most awkward problem.

The cutting back gang on Friday and Saturday's continue their work apace along the lineside between Havenstreet and Wootton. The progress is staggering and Jim reports that that particular section of line is the best it has been for many many years. It is a fantastic effort and really does look superb. The view from the train this year will be the best it has ever been and this it due to the efforts of all those that come out and work on the clearance gang. They will shortly be turning their attention to the Smallbrook section so if you wish to join in please come along. The department has invested in lots of new tools recently so there are lots of decent cutting tools available and many hands do make light work.

The Goosefield Sidings and C&W Workshop on 8th February 2004.

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The state of play in the Goosefield Sidings on 23rd December 2003. Pete Corby and, somewhere in the distance, Ray Winter undertake some surveying.

What's been going on?

Saturday's Working Party- Sleeper Changing at Swanpond and Woodhouse
Jigantic Joists Juggled, Joggled and Jerked with Jemmies and Jacks to Junctures Jostling Joints
and with Judgement of Jacketted Janitor to Jettison Junk

A gang whose numbers had been ravaged by the demands of Christmas and the latest round of 'flu set off in high spirits for the first Working Party of 2004. After a pleasant petrol-propelled perambulate in an inexpertly driven Wickham an arrival was made at Swanpond Copse. Conveniently this was the first worksite, and after splitting into two gangs a start was made on replacing an area of life expired sleepers. To aid detection they had been dug out beforehand (quite a long time beforehand actually!) and so progress was fairly brisk.

One gang started at the West End of the worksite, while the other started in the East and worked towards each other. With a closing speed of 1 and ¾ MPH it was quite easy to avoid a head on collision. In any situation like this it is easy to get all competitive about which team changed the most sleepers, but we managed to stay above such petty nonsense. Though just to say the East gang changed 7 to the West End's six.

After a refreshing cup of tea, and a chance to compare sleeper changing techniques, the return trip to Havenstreet was uneventful. On arrival the break to exchange Single Line Tokens was enlivened by an extended game of "Hunt the Farmer". Our team will need a lot more training if we are to come back with a medal from the Athens Olympics.

Having safely located Duncan, the said Farmer, and with the numbers now swelled to a giddy eight, we bumped along off toward Wootton.Arriving at Woodhouse the site of the relaying job of fond memory, in time for dinner.

After blowing away the cobwebs it was possible to see the extent of the works to be done and undaunted the gang cracked on. There were still three joints which needed working on and all of them needed at least to two sleepers changing, to release LSWR chairs as well as an extra new sleeper to make the spacings correct. A lot of shovel work was necessary, but by about one-thirty we managed to reach double figures for gang members so easing the burden a lot.

By half past three all the joints were complete but there were still five sleepers going spare so being mad, reckless fools a start was made on putting these into the line in place of some dubious LSWR chaired sleepers. Luckily it was a fairly bright afternoon but with light levels falling rapidly the last key was knocked in just before it disappeared into the gloom.

Loading the ballast at Havenstreet on 4th January 2004.

Sunday's Working Party- ballasting between Havenstreet and Smallbrook
Sunday's Shifting Squad Sees Special Sausage Shaped Stone Store Stretch from Smallbrook to the Street

Sunday dawned grey and chilly, but at least it was dry. The day's plan was to change the enormous, by steam railway standards anyway, pile of ballast in the Barnfield into a nice, neat stone sausage stretching from Havenstreet to Smallbrook To aid us in this task various pieces of equipment were available. As well as the hopper waggons and 03 diesel Shunter a mechanical shovel was also available to load the hoppers after each ballast run. After the requisite shunt round the station to collect the hoppers ballast running was soon in full swing. All of the gang had done this sort of thing before so things went well; the most important thing to remember being to shut the hopper's doors before the digger starts to refill it!

The Gang are a picture of Job Satisfaction: (Left to Right) Mike Saunders, Ray Winter, Pete Snashall and Ian Corby.

By the end of the day most of the ballast had been moved to where it was wanted, and everyone seemed to have enjoyed the opportunity to use the train.

Many thanks to everyone who turned out over the two days to help with the work. By your efforts the line is nearer a state in which it will be possible to get full value from the visit of the Tamper later on.

What else has been going on?

To coincide with the naming of Queen Mary Two there was a further maiden voyage, although not so fancy and a bit shorter. On the fifth of January the first carriage was pushed over number one siding and into the new C&W Shed. By this time No.3 road had been slewed and connected. The slewing proved to be quite a job, with much use of a hired mini-digger, expertly (really) operated by Eddie Beavin, to clear the sleeper ends and infill from the top of the sleepers. After pushing to shape with the slewing jacks closures were cut and inexpertly (Eddie was off!) lowered into the chairs, and No. 3 road was connected by the end of 2003. Following Queen Mary day No.2 progressed steadily, the track laid and connected by the seventh, the lifting and packing to level taking another couple of days. Just the final adjustments remain to be done.

(Left to Right) Ray Winter, Dave Walker and Pete Corby connecting up No.2 Road outside the