Thermite welding

Saturday at Gretton

Six allowed, five registered, four on site. Bit of a countdown, that. So we were just four to drive the greasing railhead further southwards. But we did well!

Having completed Winchcombe tunnel mouth to Broadway, we started today at the Gretton end of the tunnel and worked south. The Landie got up the very bumpy track from Working Lane OK, but the private cars had to stay at the bottom, as there are some nasty potholes along the way, and there isn't anywhere to park at the top.

 

 

The first thing to do was to unload, and get the trolleys on to the track.

Then wheel them down to the starting point, which was Mp 12 3/4 by the tunnel. Then think about who does what, with a reduced team.

 

We soon found a rhythm, with yours truly ahead with Bert Ferrule undoing the bolts and greasing, and on the second trolley Chris and Tim doing up again and tightening with the torque wrench.

This stretch always produces a lot of cracked fishplates. The probable cause is crippled ends, already present at the original site from there this track came in 1987. Here Bert's beady eye has detected another one, just starting to go.

We had lunch in the 'shelter' of the Working Lane bridge parapet. It was pretty breezy out - the forecast was for 7 degrees, but it would feel like 2 degrees (it did too, in that wind) 

The lucky ones were Tim and Chris, who got lots of physical exercise heaving on those torque wrenches.

We trudged past Gretton village, the skew bridge there, and paused at the (missing) Mp 13 1/2, which can be identified by the bridge rail post on the left with the number painted on it.

This wider, grassy area was the site of the upside platform once.

We worked on for another 100 yards and then stopped at the next underbridge, after receiving signals that the others had had enough. We didn't need much more prompting ourselves, it was quite hard and repetitive, this Interflonning.

Next time we will continue down this long straight, through Far Stanley, and after that we should hit a stretch of 120ft welded lengths, which will accelerate progress.

Can't wait!

 

 

Wednesday, thermit welding

Well, actually Tuesday first, as the concrete came for the final part of the unloading road.

It was time for the big wellies and the rakes - luckily the contractor's men were standing in the sludge, as we stood and watched from the sidelines.

A quick check was made to make sure no one was in the goods office, as the bottom of the stairs would soon be enveloped.

Half way through the process it was already looking quite good.

The acid test will come with a heavy downpour, so fingers crossed the water will all flow the right way, and that the drains will cope.

 

 

On Wednesday then we assembled for PWay duty as usual, and it was a good day, as there were custard doughnuts, thanks to Martin.

In the car park there was an unexpected piece of kit, a cherry picker on a road railer. This, it turned out, was going to be used to inspect two bridges in the Winchcombe area. Now is a good time to do this, while we are not running. And so is fishplate greasing, and Thermite welding, of which more below.

Landies, ready to go, outside the new GWSR HQ - 'Churchward House'

We were about to set off for Gretton to continue greasing when a phone call advised a slight change of plan. The blue Landie had to split off for a test, while a volunteer was needed to accompany a team of welders to rectify some misalignment issues on the Broadway extension. That would be yours truly.

After a review a few months back we felt that a number of welds could best be re-done to correct small alignment issues in the welds effected on the CWR section.

In this picture you can see the alignment issue (slightly) where by the yellow patch the wheel marks briefly veer to one side. This is caused by the ends of the rail not being perfectly opposite each other when they were joined.

The solution is to cut the joint again, remove a 80mm section, re-align the two rails in question, then weld the gap shut again.

Here the rail has just been cut. The cut was from the bottom and when the blow torch had reached about 2/3 of the way to the top, the upper section snapped with an audible bang. Just a few mm, mind, nothing hair raising.

This is where we were working today, at Little Buckland. The misalignment was just where the track came off the bridge, so there may have been some unevenness in the initial track laid when the original weld was made here. You may recall that this bridge required heavy repairs, and a big hole was dug behind each abutment to construct a new but invisible abutment behind the old one.

On the LH rail is the grinder that is used to polish off the excess from the new weld.

Once the old weld has been cut out a new alignment is made. The rail is unclipped for a few yards on each side and is pushed into place with wedges. You can see one wedge in place on the left. The alignment needs to be right in both horizontal and vertical planes.

In this enlargement you can see how the straight edge used for checking the alignment has revealed that the LH rail is still too low, so a few more taps on the wedge under it are required.

Our welder today came with a 'sorcerer's apprentice' - you learn on the job. It's quite skilled, not something you read in a book. For example, they had only one bar with them and an SHC clip was stuck. All the tugging on the bar wouldn't budge it. But it popped off nonetheless thanks to the use of a wedge to just lift the end of it up enough to free it.

After fitting the two halves of the mould and heating the area of the weld to reduce the temperature difference between the rail ends and the hot molten metal, the multiple use crucible was loaded, aligned exactly over the middle of the weld, and lit.

How that went, you can watch on this short video:

https://youtu.be/c3h1L1xzPPc

The aluminium in the mixture melts out, leaving the steel behind to make up the weld. The aluminium is lighter, so floats to the top and pours into the receptacles on the side.

After the crucible is removed a big, red hot lump remains, and this is removed, while still hot enough to be pliable, with a hydraulic pusher. Any unevenness that still remains is then removed with a rail grinder. And then on to the next one.

On the return journey we had a quick look at Toddington yard, where ballast was being delivered to make up the new approach road. As explained earlier, this is a temporary arrangement, so it won't be tarmacced for a while.

And how is the unloading road doing? They got this far on Tuesday, but there is a gap still to be filled on the end.

You can see the downhill slope quite clearly now. We will return to remove the strips that held the guide rails in place, now that they are set in the concrete, and extract the battens that were placed in the flangeways.

 

 

Dereks steam pictures from 1964

This week Derek is still in North Wales, on a grim March day. There is still a bit of snow about on the hills.

Our small group from the Oxford University Railway Society (OURS) was continuing with the tour in Wales and starting a new day on 20^th March 1964 at Llanfyllin with 2-6-0 46516 preparing to depart on the 9:45am to Llanymynech.

Below is the same train from the front, ready to depart. Of particular interest to yours truly are the GWR lamp posts. Tall, aren't they? They are yard lamps, recognisable by the fluted column at the bottom, which was added to a standard lamp post to make it longer. We have two in the yard at Toddington now, with their ladders too. We think one (the one recovered from nearby Dumbleton) was probably from Honeybourne, where the same arrangement of yard lamps with an extra light fitting on top was used to light a larger station. Why they did this at Llanymynech is not clear, the usual 6ft lamp posts would have been perfectly adequate at this small station.

46516 is now seen departing with this train from Llanymynech.

This Swindon built Ivatt 'Mickey Mouse' tank was one of 128 produced. At the time of Derek's picture it was based at Oswestry, as all the Swindon built examples were based on the Western Region. It was a successful light and modern engine, and many survived to the end of steam, 46516 being 14 years old at the time of its withdrawal. No fewer that 7 have survived, also a sign that many were present at the end of steam.

Llanymynech was an unimportant settlement but important in railways terms, as it was a junction in an area that generated a lot of mineral freight in its heyday. In 1963 it was re-allocated to the LMR and after the Beeching report it was soon closed. Today the station is buried under a larger tarmacced lorry park, itself already disused. The station features in longer term plans to reopen a heritage line from Oswestry.

A change of trains, and now heading west with an intermediate stop at Abermule whilst 7803 approaches with the Cambrian Coast Express.

Another stop at Moat Lane Junction where Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T 80131 takes on water. Another chance to sport our headboard.

Moat Lane was another junction more or less in the middle of nowhere. It closed in 1962, although Derek's train stopped there in 1964 to take on water.

There's a short clip of a similar train at Moat lane Junction here:

https://youtu.be/d8W8PwTG4Fc

Derek then paid a visit to the Talyllyn, at the time just 12 years into preservation.

Still on 20^th March 1964 we next took a trip on the Tal-y-Llyn Railway. No.2 Dolgoch is with its train at Towyn Wharf.

The grey engine in the background looks like Manning Wardle built 'Jubilee 1897', lastly at Penrhyn  from where it came to the Talyllyn in 1955. It was later cosmetically restored and placed in the Tywyn museum. In 2016 it was decided to fully restore this large 11 ton quarry locomotive and it eventually found a new home with the Vale of Rheidol, who hope to have her running by 2023.

No.2 is seen here taking on water at Dolgoch.

Isn't that water tank small! Something similar can probably be found in your attic....

 

Then running round its train at Abergynolwyn.

Later (1976) the line would be extended round the bend to Nant Gwernol at the foot of the Alltwyllt incline.

On the next day, 21^st March 1964 we headed home and here are three pictures from that journey. Regrettably there is no mention of the locomotive that was in charge. The first (above) is taken between Aberdovey and Dovey Junction.

For the second my notes just quote 'Cambrian Coast Express'. It must have been before we got to Talerdigg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

The third is taken approaching Talerdigg Summit and the loco was working hard.

The train would have been steaming out of Talerddig cutting here, once the deepest rock cutting in the world when it was completed in 1862. It is 37m deep.

If you like a bit of noise there's a good video of 7802 Bradley Manor hacking up the bank with a packed 8 coach train here:

https://youtu.be/LA85BUk_y_c