Saturday 28 November 2009

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.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

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.


Sunday 15 November 2009

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.

Monday 9 November 2009

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.