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.

Rewinding the clocks back....

It's official, Winter is here. The clocks went back on Sunday, and after an extra hour in bed, the team of volunteers made their way to Waldersea to do some overdue work. Upon arrival, volunteers had a look to see how the line was looking. Some clearing was required to get the work done.

Photos from Sunday are shown below.

Towards the end of the day, you can see the main parts of the track are now clear. This week, we hold our meeting in March, all members and anyone interested are welcome to come along. Sunday, the group will be meeting again, at Elm Road Crossing, March from 11am until 4pm.

More information on this, and our other activities can be found at http://www.bramleyline.org.uk/

The Road to Peterborough....

Show Report

It's hard to believe that we started the ball rolling so long ago with the Peterborough show!. Going back in time to May, we approached British Railway Modelling about exhibiting at the National Festival of Railway Modelling at Peterborough. We booked a small six foot space, with the sole purpose of going out and meeting with people who have an interest in our railway.

We decided the Information stand we had was not great, and we would need to see if we could better it. Sometime ago, the group bought a second hand information stand which went up very easy and worked on magnets. These where contained in two bulky boxes, which have been stored for sometime. We opened them up and built the frame. Very easy, it looked like a winner. Then we tried to attach the blue backgrounds. Disaster - they where far too big, and just fell off.

The solution - Modify them. Our Vice Chairman spent an afternoon cutting these down to size, and repositioning the magnets on the back. This worked really well and the the stand was erected for the first time at our Wisbech meeting in September 2009.

Now we had this six foot stand, what on earth were we to put on it?

We spent a whole Sunday doing posters, and sorting pictures out to go on the boards. We feel we got the stand right. Once done, it was time to get everything ready for the 2009, National Festival of Railway Modelling.

When we set out to do this show, our aim was not to make lots of money, while that would be nice, it was our aim to get out there and speak with people interested in our cause, from far and wide. We did bring along some Bramley Line merchandise to sell from our range in the gift shop, including the new replica Wisbech East Platform tickets. Over the weekend we spoke to many people, some from Railway Industry, others local to the area, others from a far. We enjoyed talking to everyone who come to our stand, and would like to thank everyone who purchased merchandise.

We hope that we have shown the cause to everyone in a good light, manged to dispand some of the myths which have existed, and it was very good getting to speak to so many supporters. We raised a total of £160 at the event for the cause. We would like to thank Warners Group and Market Deeping Model Railway Club for their hospitality.

Our attention now returns to working on the line and obtaining the rest of the money for getting the lease. Sunday October 25th details to follow.

Moving forward

Despite reports that the weather was to be poor on Sunday, it was actually a very nice day out on the Bramley Line. Work started at 9.30 where we left off two weeks ago in clearing the track heading North towards Coldham. We made Stirling progress with the clearing and some of the photos from the day are shown below.

At the Start of the day, with some clearing having already taken place before the photo was taken looking north towards Coldham.

Bowing down, no really getting to grips with all this grass!. We love grass. Grass stops the weeds growing and is also very easy to clear once the line is up and running.
The view from the track looking back towards March Elm Road. It's looking good, even if we do say so ourselves

Work continues into the early afternoon and the team are moving forward
From a distance, the grass that needs cleared from the Coldham end looking south towards March Elm Road

At the end of the day, the view looking up towards Coldham and the line that has been cleared. The Civil Enginnering Department are continually looking for new and active volunteers. Can you help? If so, please get in touch. E-mail us at office@bramleyline.org.uk.





Also on Sunday, while all the Clearing of vegetation was taking place, another team of volunteers where putting together our stand for the 2009 National Festival of Railway Modelling which is this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the Excel centre, East of England Showground, Peterborough. We hope to see you there and speak to as many people as we can.

We will have all our merchandise at the show, including two new additions -
These are :-



Wisbech East Replica Platform Tickets - 50p each


An Advance ticket, which once the line is operational, can be exchanged for a Family day rover allowing 2 Adults and 2 Children to travel. These are LIMITED EDITION tickets and cost £10 each, which will offer a significant saving when the line opens, but will not be valid on Special Event days.

We will also have our Sponsor a Sleeper, Bramley Line Mugs, Baseball caps, Polo Shirts, Sweatshirts and Fleeces, as well as some old merchandise available for good prices.

We are stand 134 and we look forward to seeing you there.