| Electrical | |
Work is continuing with the re-wiring and refurbishment of the domestic and three phase supply on site at Springwell. Ron Wild, our resident volunteer electrician, has been kept busy refurbishing cable work, wiring new machines, the workshops and installing external lighting. The latter will make after-dark working a safer proposition and improve night time security.
| Buildings/Workshops |  |
As the final phase of the refurbishment of the Engineering Shop, Derek Young our resident volunteer carpenter has built and installed a new sliding door at the wheel lathe end and has built a new double door for the centre of the workshop. Both doors are being constructed to the same design as the originals. With the reinstated connection to the track in the Courtyard, it is now possible to roll wheelsets straight inside and onto the wheel lathe
In the Joiners' Shop a `period' chisel mortising machine has been installed and commissioned thereby speeding up the production of mortise and tenon joints on some of the larger carpentry jobs such as the construction of new workshop doors mentioned above.
The Builders' Store lean-to next door to the Garage has been cleared out and turned into a battery loco garage for our collection of Clayton narrow-gauge locomotives which have been acquired over the past year. The former boarded-up windows have had their glazing re-instated.
In the coming months, a reconstruction of the platform at Springwell will be necessary. The present structure which was built out of timber in 1980 by Tyne & Wear Industrial Monuments Trust has reached the end of its useful life and with more and more of the structure suffering from rot, the time has come to rebuild it and modify the layout to improve access for disabled passengers.
The timber structure of the Signal Cabin in Springwell Yard also requires attention to replace the floor timbers. Ideally this work will be carried out in parallel with track replacement work on the main line during the summer of 2006. In preparation for this work, the underground cable runs feeding the cabin have been modified.
| Trackwork |  |
The YMCA work training scheme continues to replace rotten sleepers within Springwell Yard and has also carried out work on the East Incline and PMJ curve.
To get on top of the sleeper replacement work the Bowes Railway Co Ltd applied for a Heritage Lottery Fund ‘Your Heritage' grant for close to £50,000 to enable it to engage contactors to replace literally hundreds of sleepers on the Inclines. The grant was approved at the end of May and will expedite work which would otherwise take years to complete. The track-laying campaign has required us to close the main line during the summer months to allow the work to be completed. We then aim to re-launch the reopened track with an autumn Coal Train Day.
The PW team has re-connected the track leading in to the wheel lathe bay of the Engineering Shop, thus allowing wheel sets to be rolled in for machining.
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This page last updated 1st July 2006 |