A Busy day at Waldersea

Well, we don't think Waldersea has ever seen so many cars or volunteers, with a count of 12 at one point, all in the same location, but not all doing the same work. We were very fortunate to welcome along two guests from the Heritage Railway Association today, who where given a tour of line, and spoke with us over the day about our project and we thank them for their time for coming along today.

A very bright morning started just after 9am when following the paint having now dried on the crossing gate, the replacement red target was placed on the painted gate. Once done, it's reflective target was then returned, making the gate look superb again.

As you can see this really sets the gate off as being a level crossing gate again. What you can't see is the new red target has been made from old wooden pallets, donated to the group by local farmers, which otherwise would have just been burned.

Having done this, there was the last of the fencing work to do, to join the new wooden fence from post to post. The last support fence post was dug and put in place, and the last fencing put in place.

Moving on from there, we are now erecting more fencing from the gates, all to make the crossing more pleasing to the eye, and the railway more secure. With the sun shining and the holes being dug, a good work mommentum was there all day, however at one point the heavens opened up and we could see clear blue sky each side of us.

We then took these photos of the approach and back to show you the difference between the before and after, and we hope you agree, it is much more pleasing an area to look at now.

Work continues at Waldersea on Sunday, December 20th 2009, to complete the fencing on the Friday Bridge side of the crossing. Work starts from 10am onwards. To get involved, please get in touch, e-mail bramley_line@yahoo.com

Christmas tree magic at St Peter's Church, March.

The Bramley Line Christmas tree is now on show at St Peter's Church, March for their annual christmas event. The tree was decorated by two members of the Bramley Line. Information on the Bramley Line and leaflets are also with the tree.

Each year, the Church has a number of trees on display, decordated by local good causes and groups. Our thanks go to St Peter's Church and Gordon & Sue for the time and the work they have put in to making such a wonderful christmas display.

Waldersea Gate takes shape

Following the work being undertaken on the March side gate at Waldersea, due to poor weather, very little work was done on Sunday, December 6th, but we did take the rotten red target off the gate, and paint undercoat on the wood underneath. On Wednesday, December 9th, the gate was repainted with Gloss paint over the undercoat already used. We also repainted the black metal fittings, which we think will need to be redone again. This took the majority of the day. The gate is looking very good now compared with how it used to look.

Once this work was done, some time was taken to have a look at the Wisbech side gate to see if there was anything we felt we could do to repair the gate to make it look as good as the one on the March Side. It has been decided that the gate on the Wisbech side is beyond repair, and will need to be replaced. Unfortuantly, this will need to wait until the lease of the line is completed. Some photos of the gate are shown below to highlight why that decision has been taken.

This sunday we will be working again at Waldersea. The plans are to finish the fencing on the March side and put the new Red Target on the gate. We will then be looking at other Fencing at Waldersea. Members are welcome to join us from 10am onwards.

It's amazing what a quick lick of paint can do....

Waldersea seems to be a hub of activity for the Bramley Line at the present, with the new fencing going up, we decided it the gates where long over due a clean up too. Despite turning up, and it started to rain, we went off to Wisbech to get materials for the job. When we returned, the rain was gone, and so we got to work.

These two photos show the gate back in the Summer of 2009 from both sides before any work was undertaken there.

We first sanded and wire brushed the good gate on the March side of the crossing. The Bad gate on the Wisbech side is in a very poor state, and we think this may need to be completely replaced. To start with, we will be concentrating our efforts on the March side. Having wire brushed the gate, we started to paint the gate. We decided to paint White undercoat on the main gates woodwork. This took much longer than we first thought, completely wrecking two paint brushes on the wire fencing. We also painted wire brushed the rust off the metal work on the gate, and painted it black. As the light faded, we stood back and looked at the work.

The three photos above show the gates as the light was begining to fade. We will return next week to gloss the gates. Then the replacement Red Circle will be put on the outside.

Work on Sunday, December 6th, work will continue to finish the fencing at Waldersea, clear the vegetation the Wisbech side of the gate, and also continue work on the painting of the Gate on the March side.

Progress continues despite small team

Despite being low in numbers today through work commitments by a number of the civil engineers department, some fencing work was carried out by 3 available members. That was until the rains came and so heavy, they had no choice other than to stop.

The first picture shows the site being prepared for them being able to work safely, followed by the connection of a couple of panels to put in place soon after. After getting these panels up firmly, so the third picture shows how good it now looks. It was very soon after taking this photo, that the sky opened and the guys got under cover fast.

Forced to abort the job until two weeks time when they will return, the guys went to the office to do some work, but on their way home again, went via Waldersea again and to get a picture with the gate open and showing the work needed to smarten that up with a good clean and lick of paint.

Even with just 3 of the team out, the banter continued to shine through the rainy weather. This Sunday, 29th, we will be at Elm Road Crossing and retracing our steps towards Coldham, ensuring the weeds and trees are still under control.

The Calm after the Storm at Waldersea

The work planned for Sunday looked doubtful as a Storm battered the area on Saturday, however, nice and early, a group of volunteers made there way to Waldersea to do some work. We have felt the fencing on the approach to Waldersea Crossing on the road from Coldham is a bit bland, and the wire fencing is way past it's best.

Some work was carried out to remove vegetation from the area around the wire fencing, and bright and early, the work began. After digging the hold for the first post, the first bits of fencing were made up.

ole was then dug for the second post and the fencing moved into place. The fencing then moved into position and attached to the poles, while another volunteer packed the poles and filled the holes back in around the posts. The process then repeated, but a much larger hole was dug for the third post. The idea of this was to make the fence more secure.

In what seemed like a scene from Time Team, the different layers of the ground where evident. A lot of rocks, but also yellow stones, clay and chalk. The photo above shows the third post waiting to be secured in the hole, while the fencing is taking shape along the side of the line.

The photo above shows the point we are up to. We have about another days worth of work to do to finish along the end of the wire fencing. Some more photos from today are shown below.

Work then started to get a lot of the stuff growing on the crossing gates scraped off in preparation for repairing and painting them in the next few weeks.

The next working day at Waldersea is scheduled for Sunday, November 22nd from 10am onwards, when volunteers will be working to sand down the gates ready for painting.

Retracing our steps...

In line with the way we have been working, the track clearing team have been going over old ground, which has been cleared since September 2009 until now. Our first Sunday, November 1st, was a complete wash out, with some work being done, but because of the torrential rain, some of this work has been delayed, but this did allow us to do some work in the office, which has been getting put off to allow track work to continue.

Sunday, November 8th, saw a small group of volunteers working on the line at Waldersea, to finish off some of the work that had been done there a few weeks ago. A couple of photos are shown below.

Sunday Nov 15th, there will be two teams working.

Firstly 9am onwards at Coldham Level Crossing, tidying the general appearence of the crossing and starting the task of clearing the track from Coldham towards March.

Secondly 10am onwards at Waldersea Level Crossing, where some new fencing is being put in place.