This is the final stage of the major construction
work on the
Welsh Highland Restoration. The Cob is to be widened and a second
platform created at Harbour Station to accommodate the
Welsh Highland trains.
The
plan for reorganisation of Harbour Station as at 25th October 2011 has
now been published by the Construction Office.
Click on the
plan for a full size version::
20th October 2011
Work
was started today at Harbour Station to widen the Cob to
accommodate
the proposed WHR platform. A digger was in action today preparing the
ground, removing the wall on the seaward side of the railway and
creating an access ramp to the foreshore..
24th
October 2011
Preparatory work is under way at the Ffestiniog & Welsh
Highland
Railway Station at Porthmadog for its major Cob widening project. The
work is needed in order to improve the historic station – which dates
from 1863 – to enable it to be used by Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland
trains simultaneously. At present, the single platform layout precludes
a direct interchange between services from Blaenau Ffestiniog and
Caernarfon.
A temporary crossing over the rails and an access ramp from the station
siding area to the beach will allow access for the plant and some 5,000
tons of fill material required to widen some 200 metres of the 200 year
old embankment on the seaward side to allow additional railway tracks
to be laid at the Porthmadog end. Says project manager Mike Hart: "The
crossing will be completed in December ready for closure of the station
in January when the basic Cob widening gets underway. The challenge is
to have taken all the fill material over to the seaward side of the Cob
before start of services in March - although stone deliveries will have
to largely stop for the half term week services in
February. By then
we anticipate having completed most of the work to widen the Cob with
finishing taking another few weeks past then in finally shaping up the
embankment using material that will, by then, already be on site.
Opening up the wall along the back to of the station helps us access
the site over the next few days to dig some trial holes to double check
ground conditions."
When the widening work is completed, volunteers will start to lay track
on the new section of the Cob over next summer, which can be done
without interfering with passenger services. Track materials will be
delivered to site by rail. Winter 2012/2013 will then see the new
platforms constructed and the rest of the trackwork and signalling
completed. Report and pictures by Andrew Thomas
27th
October 2011
The preparatory work has removed a section of the wall on the
seaward side of the station and created a ramp giving access to the
foreshore. A "Terrier" sampling rig was used on the foreshore
to
enable a ground investigation to be undertaken.
5th
November 2011
No 6 Road at Harbour station was being removed to provide turning space
for
lorries delivering stone for Cob widening. Pictures
by Andrew Thomas
18th November 2011
Tarmac was delivered to create the haul road across the
tracks for stone deliveries. Moel Hebog was on hand
to create
flangeways while the tarmac was still soft. Picture by Andrew Thomas.
26th
November 2011
On Sunday 13th November steam locomotive Gertrude had become the first
Gelert's Farm-based locomotive to travel over the F&WHR metals
from
Pen y Mount Junction to the Cob as she travelled over Britannia Bridge
en route from Gelert's Farm to Boston Lodge. The trip was to
facilitate Gertrude's outward journey to the Warley Model Railway
Exhibition at Birmingham's NEC. WHR Ltd director Richard Harrison was
at the helm, as the loco was towed by F&WHR diesel Criccieth
Castle, driven by F&WHR General Manager Paul Lewin.
The return journey was made on 26th November 2011, towed by SBR
Mallet No 9. The accompanying video by John Wooden shows the journey
and
incidentally gives a good view of the haul road across the tracks at
Harbour station, created in readiness for the Cob widening.
3rd
January 2012 The contract has been signed for the works to widen the
Cob - see News
5th January 2012
Jones Bros have moved on to the site and set up their compound around
the haul road.
Picture by Andrew Thomas
11th
January 2012
Rock deliveries for
widening the Cob started today. Andrew Thomas reports:
The first load of the 25,000 tonnes of rock needed for the Ffestiniog
& Welsh Highland Railway Cob Widening Project was delivered at
1250 today.
Jones Bros of Ruthin are the contractors for the first phase of the £1
million project which will see 260 metres of the embankment, built in
1811, widened to allow the construction of a second platform at
Porthmadog Harbour Station. This will enable trains from both the
Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways to use the station
simultaneously.
When the work is complete, in time for the 2013 season, the
improvements will allow the railway to offer a much-improved service
for passengers, with cross-platform interchange between Blaenau
Ffestiniog and Caernarfon trains.
The rock delivery phase will be completed by mid-February.
Pictures by Andrew Thomas
12th
January 2012 Mike Hart explains: The basic plan is that a
trench is dug in the sand which is then covered with a plastic membrane
on which the rock is placed. During low tides the area of work will be
able to extend with further sections of membrane laid and sufficient
rock placed to get above most of the higher tide water levels. Then
when the tide is in work will move back to increase the height of
sections that have already seen that initial depth of rock cover.
Further stone deliveries took place today. The photo by
Andrew Thomas shows the situation on Day 2:
13th
January 2012 Stone deliveries continued, pictures by David
Firth:
14th January 2012
The stone which had been delivered by the end of the first week was
being levelled. Picture by Andrew Thomas.
19th
January 2012
Pictures by Andrew Thomas
at low tide show the excavator digging the trench for the bottom layer
of armour stone. The trench is lined with a geotextile mat to avoid
erosion beneath the stones by wave action.
20th
January 2012
Pictures by Andrew Thomas show the extent of the widening works so far,
with the
excavator engaged in positioning the armour stone.
24th
January 2012 Work proceeds apace on the Cob widening with frequent
lorry loads of both fill stone and armour stone throughout
the
day. Around half of the stone required for the task has now been
delivered. Time lapse recordings of each day's activity are
being posted on the Festrail website. As a brief
overview of progress, a series
of stills from each day's video has been created.
The
picture by Andrew Thomas shows the current situation.
26th
January 2012
Pictures by Andrew Thomas show the slope of the Cob beginning to appear
during placement of armour stone.
27th January 2012
The latest video from John Wooden shows the work in
progress, including the placing of armour stone on
the geotextile base. He explains that the extension is being built up
above the final
level to provide a stockpile for use during the half term week when
trains will be running.
5th
February 2012
Stone for the Cob widening is now stockpiled to a level
well above the track. The picture by Andrew Thomas
shows the situation on 2nd February
Mike Hart reports: As at last Friday about
¾ of the material was already on site and we want to get as much as
possible of the balance needed to finish the job squeezed on site by
end of this week. Then, during half term week the contractor will
concentrate mainly on continuing to build the armour rock wall with
only restricted access available over the level crossing at Harbour
Station.
8th
February 2012 Mike Hart Reports:We have just
about squeezed in all in the general fill stone, plus a stock of armour
stone, that will fit on site for the moment. Most of the lorries you see now will be a limited
number bringing in more of the large armour stone for the seaward
facing slope so as to keep up with the usage rate. Once the slope is
finished we don’t expect more than a few loads of general fill will be
needed, with the embankment construction finished by end the month
9th
February
2012 The latest batch of video
stills clearly illustrates the growth of the Cob
over the past month. The stockpile of stone and placement of the armour
stone on the geotextile membrane are clearly visible.
John Wooden's new video depicts the process
10th
February 2012 Passenger trains start again tomorrow for the half term
service. The first passenger stock since the beginning of the
year entered Harbour Station
today in preparation for the resumption of services. Pictures by Andrew
Thomas show the
haul road being cordoned off and the train entering the station.
11th
February 2012 The station is back in service for the half
term trains.
The extent of the widened Cob is evident with the stockpiled armour
stone piled up behind
the barrier fence.
A set of points at the station is in the process of
being motorised, and an
indicator board has been erected.
23rd
February 2012
Andrew Thomas reports: Phase 1 of the Cob
widening should be complete around the end of next week (March 3rd). A
splendid effort by all concerned and helped immeasurably by the fact
that we have had no snow. 24th
February 2012
Pictures by Andrew Thomas show the final phases of placimg the
armour stone
28th
February 2012 The
new king point for Harbour Station is taking shape at Price's in South
Wales. The FR main line turns left, the WHR goes straight on.
Report and pictures by Andrew Thomas
13th
March 2012
The last delivery of armour stone was made and the last piece put in
position:.
Pictures show the Cob widening almost complete:
17th
March 2012
The following press statement on completion of the first phase
of widening the Cob was issued by the Company today:
Porthmadog, March 17th
2012. Phase One of the £1.1
million project to redevelop the historic Porthmadog Harbour Station is
now complete. Contractors
Jones Bros of Ruthin have placed almost 40,000 tons of fill material
and armour stone, sourced from nearby Minffordd Quarry, to widen 260
metres of the 200 year old Cob Embankment which stretches for a mile
across the Glaslyn Estuary. The
work will enable the construction of a second platform at the station,
which opened to passengers in 1865, enabling a cross-platform
interchange between Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland trains. At present,
both railways have to share a single platform, which places severe
operating restrictions on service levels. Although
most of Jones’ plant has now been removed from site, one excavator will
remain for up to two weeks to work on a separate Environment Agency
contract to carry out maintenance work on the original Cob beyond the
widened section.
Later
this year, when the widened section of the Cob has settled, contractors
will return to level the surface, remove the existing wave wall and
build a new one along the seaward side. Only then can a start be made
on relaying track in the station area and the construction of a new
island platform serving both railways. All
main line points and signals will be electrically-operated and a
prototype point motor has already been installed for testing purposes.
It is anticipated that work will be complete in late 2013 or early 2014
as the intensive service on both lines which starts at the end of March
effectively precludes any significant civil engineering work before the
winter. The
railway has produced a DVD – available from Harbour Station shop or by
mail order - detailing the project and including stop motion footage
covering the entire construction phase. For further information
contact andrew.thomas@festrail.co.uk or on 01766 516072
31st
March 2012
Work was undertaken to relay the siding which forms No 6 Road at
Harbour
Station. No 6 Road had previously been
removed to make space for the works
to widen the Cob. Picture by Hazel Prent
19th
April 2012
The King Point for the revised Harbour station layout has been
delivered to Minffordd. Picture by Andrew Thomas
17th
September 2012
Work is starting on Phase 2 of the Cob widening. The haul road is being
reinstated after a section was removed for the summer season,
and a base is being prepared for the site office. The various
contractors on the site will be sharing a single office to reduce
costs. Pictures by Andrew Thomas
The proposed phasing of the
work is shown in the plans drawn by Stuart McNair and released by the
Construction Company:
24th
September 2012
The picture by Andrew Thomas shows the site office in place and the
haul road reinstated
9th
October 2012
Tuesday Gang South report that the trench to bury the water pipe across
the haul road at Harbour Station was dug to depth. Protective orange
ducting lengths were joined with duct tape and inserted.
10th October 2012
Cob Widening Phase 2 is underway. Contractors have today
started work on the new wave wall. The photo by Andrew Thomas shows the
trench being excavated adjacent to the new armourstone.
16th
October 2012
The first concrete was poured today for the new wave wall footings.
Meanwhile rails from the Isle of Man have been stockpiled at Minffordd
in readiness for use as the WHR platform road and sidings in the
redeveloped Harbour Station. Pictures by Andrew Thomas
5/6
November 2012 The foundation for the new wave wall has been completed
and can
be seen in the first picture. The old wall is being cut into sections
and removed. Pictures by Andrew Thomas
Precast
concrete blocks are being used to construct the new wall. These have
been delivered to the site and are being put into position. Pictures by
Andrew Thomas
17th
November 2012
Pictures by Andrew Thomas show progress with the wave wall
during the past week:
19th
November 2012
The final blocks to complete the wave wall were laid today. Pictures by
Andrew Thomas
21st November 2012 Minor works to complete the wave wall were still in
progress
14th
December 2012
Harbour Station Resignalling
Plans are well advanced for the signalling system to accompany the
remodelling of the Harbour Station layout. It will be
controlled from a new signal
box on the Cob with a separate relay room
nearby.
An appeal
in memory of Alan Pegler has been launched to fund the
programme.
Work commenced early in December 2012.
On 5th December 2012 the concrete was being poured for the base of
the
relay room. (Picture by Andrew Thomas)
On 10th December 2012 the
walls of the relay room were being erected. (Picture by Andrew Thomas)
The roof trusses
were placed by the Tuesday Gang on 11th December 2012. The
slates will be laid in January.
(Pictures by Tony Baker and Stuart McNair)
The base of the signal box
was being prepared at the same time. (Pictures by Stuart
McNair and Tony Baker)
8th
January 2013
Work is now underway on the next phase of works on the Cob.
(All
pictures by Stuart McNair)
On Thursday 3rd January the sleepers were removed from the track where
the new king point is to be placed. This also left
the cable duct
which previously ran alongside the old wave wall free to be lowered as
it will need to run under the points
On Monday 7th January the contractors were digging the trench into
which the cable duct is to be lowered
On Tuesday 8th January a further trench was being dug outside Spooners.
A trench for the power supply had also been dug at the other end of the
platform.
10
January 2013
The latest phase of works on the Cob and at Harbour station is well
under way with much activity on site.
The remainder of the old wave wall is being demolished and
removed:
The cable duct which runs along the Cob is being lowered into a trench
in the area affected by the station remodelling works:
A new series of cable ducts is being laid to service the signalling
system:
Provision for a new power supply is being made with a trench
across the
tracks
near the water tower:
Rails are already on site for future tracklaying work.
The
yard points have previously been delivered to Dinas and are being
stored
there pending installation. The King point has
been in store at Minffordd since April 2012.
13th
January 2013
The latest pictures by Stuart McNair show the progress since 10th
January
14th
January 2013
All but a few feet of the wave wall beside the disc signals has now
been removed and much of the work on the cable ducts to supply the new
signal box has been completed. The blue boards on posts are for the
offset to the ducting trench, but are roughly where the new seaward
platform edge will be. Pictures by Andrew Thomas.
17th
January 2013
The WHR loop point and the king point were delivered to site ahead of
tracklayers' working week starting on 19th January. Pictures by Andrew
Thomas
19/20
January 2013
Over the weekend the tracklaying working party positioned the king
point and the WHR loop point. Each of the points had been delivered in
two sections and unloaded on to the track close to the station. The
sections were dragged one by one along the track into their approximate
positions using a winch. The WHR loop point was positioned
first
and
the king point dragged over it into postion. Pictures by
Andrew
Thomas and Stuart McNair
Slates have been delivered and work has started on roofing the relay
room. Picture by Stuart
McNair
The trench to carry the
power cable to the signal box is now being filled in. Nos 1
& 3 roads have been reinstated while no 2 remains to be done.
Picture by Andrew Thomas
22nd
January 2013
The Tuesday gang spent the 22nd of January working at Porthmadog. The
first part of the day was spent in Minffordd Yard unloading and
stacking recovered sleepers that had been changed for new by the
Network Rail gang. The second part of the day was spent on the Cob
digging out life expired sleepers. The surrounding ballast was dug out
but the sleepers left in situ for a future working party when they will
be replaced. Thirty four sleepers were dealt with by the gang.
Roofing work on the relay
room is progressing:
Meanwhile tracklaying is
proceeding
24th
January 2013
John Wooden has produced a video of this phase of the project:
The Rest of the World Gang
pose for the
camera after completing the installation of the new King and WHR loop
points at Porthmadog Harbour Station. Four welded joints and ballasting
remain before the line can be returned to use for the Half Term trains
next month. Pictures by
Andrew Thomas
26th
January 2013
Ballast was packed around the King point, after which rails
were brought up by the North Wales/Black Hand Gang from the stock in
the yard and positioned for the first panel of the
Ffestiniog platform road.
27th January 2013
North Wales/Black Hand Gang were levelling and packing the track. The
initial spurs of track for both WHR platform road and FfR platform road
have been laid in readiness for welding the joints..
The base for signal 7A/7B
has been cast:
The proposed signalling
plan for
Harbour station shows the location of signal 7A/7B at the end
of the extended platform:
The work on the relay room
by the students from Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, Dolgellau is
progressing. Following their offer to make the door and
window frames, they have taken on the slating of the roof as
well. The picture shows an interior view:
29th
January 2013
The Tuesday Gang spent the day at Porthmadog working on the
Relay Room. They had previously installed the roof trusses and today
turned their attention to the internal floor and walls. A plastic
membrane was stapled to the floor, hardboard panels were
screwed down on top of it and wall panels were
fitted .
Meanwhile the Coleg Meirion Dwyfor students were installing
slates
on the roof in the rain.
31st
January 2013
The steel framework for the signal box has been erected on the
concrete base.
The view from within shows the floor joists where the lever frame is to
be mounted, with the relay room and Boston Lodge beyond:
Roofing of the relay room
is well advanced
and the plastic cladding to resist the sea air is now being applied to
the rear of the
building. Wood cladding is proposed for the remainder of the
building.
1st
February 2013
The interior of the relay room is now fully lined and painted, ready
for electrical installation to start. Also visible is the slate punch
used for the roofing work.
The new points use S30
rail,
whereas the mainline and yard are laid in 75lb rail. To avoid the need
for composite fishplates where the two types of rail meet, short
lengths of S30 rail have been welded to
the 75lb rail ends adjacent to the points.
4th
February 2013
During a three day working party over the past weekend, F.R.E.D
(Ffestiniog Railway Electrical Department) volunteers installed
sockets, light fittings, heating and emergency lights in the relay
room. By the afternoon of Monday 4th, only one heater and three double
sockets remained to be fitted; the sockets will be done after
new racking is installed in the future. Once the armoured cable to the
signal box has been installed, a second armoured cable will carry the
supply forward to the relay room from the signal box. Report and
pictures by Ross Williams
The next two new points for the Harbour Station Project have been made
by
K.J.G Price Ltd. Their photos show
the S30 left hand point (made of new S30 rail) which is to go into the
FR
platform road as the start of the yard cross over,
while the 75lb right hand point (made from good 2nd hand 75lb rail to
match the approach tracks) is for the Britannia Bridge end of the WHR
platform tracks.
The points are subject to a final inspection visit next week, then
planning for delivery by month end. (Andrew Thomas)
5th
February 2013
The Tuesday Gang spent the
5th February changing life-expired sleepers
on the
Cob at Porthmadog. A cold northwesterly wind guaranteed that everyone
worked hard in order to keep warm. Thirteen sleepers which had been dug
out a fortnight ago were pulled out and changed for new sleepers. It is
anticipated that the rest of the candidates for replacement will be
dealt with in a fortnight's time on our next visit to the FfR.
Further toward the station itself a gang of Network Rail
apprentices
were dealing with a dip, and kango packing. (Report and pictures by
Tony Baker)
6th February 2013
The newly laid points were being packed with ballast
9th
February 2013
A successful outcome to the recent activity is shown by the first train
of the season passing the construction site
12th
February 2013 The Tuesday Gang spent the day painting the steelwork of
the new Porthmadog signal box with a black bitumastic waterproof paint.
Harbour Station was a hive of activity with contractors laying in the
new platform kerbs and elsewhere signalling apprentices fitting out the
Relay Room. Half term trains were running and the pictures show Lyd
passing the newly completed platform kerbing. Report by
Tony Baker, pictures by Tony Baker and Stuart McNair
19th
February 2013
The Tuesday Gang spent the day continuing with the replacement of life
expired sleepers at the Boston Lodge end of the Cob. Todays working
party was joint with a Ffestiniog Railway Society working party and
replaced a further 23 sleepers completing the job started on the 22nd
of January. The sun shone all day from a cloudless blue sky and there
was no wind on the Cob giving ideal working conditions. Report and
picture by Tony Baker
John Wooden has published the second instalment of his series of videos
chronicling the recent Cob widening works:
23rd
February 2013
At Harbour station the point for 4/5 roads was removed for
reuse as one half of the FR yard crossover by the new
signal box. Its place was taken by the point relocated from
the Caernarfon end of Hafod y Llyn, where a new point has been
installed. The picture taken by Andrew Thomas during the works shows
the replacement point on the haul road awaiting installation on 4/5
roads.
7th
March 2013
The Tuesday Gang were at Porthmadog on the 5th March. Their main job
was
to reinstate 6 Road. This had been lifted up in panels to allow the
contractors to work on the wave wall. They were assisted by a
contractor
with a mini-digger. The first picture shows 6 Road panels on
top of 5 Road. The second and third pictures show thework in progress
and the
finished job. They also ballasted the points leading to 4
& 5 Roads; these points had been brought in from Hafod y Llyn
in place of the previous set. Rails were also unloaded for future work
by
the FR Dee & Mersey Gang.
The final picture shows the
new block work in place at the base of the signal box.
The new signal posts for
Harbour station resignalling have now been
delivered to Minffordd yard where they are stored by the rail stack.
11th
March 2013
New points were delivered today from South Wales to Harbour station
17th March 2013
Work was in progress on the cladding of the Relay Room and on the
structure of the signal box. Pictures by Stuart McNair
19th
March 2013
Tuesday Gang were at Harbour Station ballasting and shovel packing Road
6 which they had reassembled a fortnight previously. The ballast used
was second hand and possibly originated from the new Moelwyn Tunnel.
The size of some of the lumps did not make the task of shovel packing
to get a level siding an easy one but the result was
acceptable. Report by Tony Baker
12/13/14/15
April 2013 The ROWG April long-weekend working party ran for 4 days
from Friday 12th, when they were tasked with laying more track on The
Cob. On Friday they had a works train from Minffordd to deliver track
materials to site, including about 100 timber sleepers and ten 11m
lengths of 75lb ex-IoM rail. Two 18m lengths of SAR rail were selected
from a number already on site and used to extend the new FR mainline by
a panel. The extant panel off the King point was also put into good
order. Further progress cannot be made here until the
scaffolding around the relay room is dismantled. The remainder of the
time involved laying a further seven panels of the RhE
loop-line along the kerb of the new platform, and fettling the extant
one off the Queen point. Picture
by Steve Broomfield shows a track panel being laid, and the background
progress with the relay room/signal box. Report by Phil Nock,
pictures by James King
16th
April 2013
Tuesday Gang report by Tony Baker:
The plan was for the gang to make a start fitting the roof trusses to
the new Porthmadog signal box. However, the weather had other ideas. A
strong wind meant that fitting the large triangular trusses into place
would have been difficult if not well nigh impossible. So the day was
spent instead fitting more of the wall panels in the signal box and
painting the outside of the Relay Room. When finished this will look a
real treat. The walls are a soft cream and the barge boards, soffits
and fascias are "Signal Box Red" .The plan is to have a go at the
trusses in a fortnights time on our next visit to Harbour Station.
The second picture is
of the 10:00 ex Caernarfon arriving on the Cob before
reversal.
19th April 2013
Steve Broomfield reports:
Over the last two days, another 6 wall panels have been
fitted to the new Signal Box and the roofing of the Relay Room
has been completed by the college students.
Next Tuesday (weather permitting), it is planned to fit the Signal
Box roof trusses, currently 'stored' within the structure -
these can be seen in the first photograph.
Andrew Thomas adds: The Signal Box wall panels are nearly
complete. The Relay Room roof has been finished off and the scaffolding
can now come down on the latter.
23rd
April 2013
Combined Tuesday Gangs. Tony Baker and Steve Broomfield
report;
Having been prevented the previous week by strong winds on the Cob from
installing the roof trusses on the new Porthmadog signal box, we
returned a week later to much calmer conditions and completed the job.
Both gable ends and all trusses and relevant bracing were
fitted. Nine volunteers supervised by Alan Norton were
involved and to
celebrate the completion we posed for a group picture (see below)
The
roof now awaits some final strengthening ties and a visit from the
students at Dolgellau college who will be continuing with their
excellent roofing work previously carried out on the relay room.
30th
April 2013
The Tuesday Gang spent April 30th at Harbour Station preparing the site
for the forthcoming Gala. Metal fence panels were used to mark out the
area which is a construction site and not accessible. However the
public will be allowed to cross the haul road and use an area between
the construction site and the No 6 road siding.
The pictures show ongoing work on the signal box by the joint Tuesday
Gang / FRS working party with the roof of the signal box now
felted. This task is being pursued with some urgency as the building
needs to be made weathertight at the earliest opportunity to permit the
work of installing the signalling to start..
13th
May 2013
The Rest of the World Gang were ballasting the Welsh Highland platform
road. Picture by Stuart McNair
18-25th
May 2013
The Rest of the World Gang's working week in May started on Saturday
18th. Report by Phil Nock: We
had two principal tasks: ballasting and clearing sight-lines on
level-crossings. The length of WHR loop-line we laid last month at
Porthmadog International, was ballasted the old fashioned way,
shovelling some 30 tons of ballast off a train of Hudson and RAF
drop-side wagons and then jacking and shovel packing. There
is renewed emphasis on sight lines at level crossings at the moment.
Our contribution was cutting back the excess vegetation at
level-crossings between Bontnewydd and Rhyd Ddu.
14th
June 2013
The window frames were fitted to the signal box.The frames have been
made by the students at Coleg Meirion Dwyfor. Pictures by
Stuart
McNair and Steve Broomfield
18th
June 2013
The Tuesday Gang spent June 18th at Harbour Station signal
box. They installed insulation between the floor joists,
pulled in an earth cable between the signal box and relay room and made
a start on installing the wall panels. At the same time Tuesday Gang
South were installing concrete troughing between the relay room and
signal box to carry the signalling cables. Report and pictures by Tony
Baker
The concrete bases for the
new trident signal (see below), the advanced starter and the
distant
signals are due to be cast on 21st June. A large quantity of concrete
will be required and will have to be pumped up from the Cob road below.
This will involve closing the Cob
road overnight. Image by Simon Hose
21st
June 2013
The concrete bases for the signals out on the Cob were poured this
evening after train services had finished. Concrete was pumped up
from the Cob road which had been
closed for the purpose.
7th
July 2013
The scaffolding has now been removed from the signal
box, revealing its true form - picture by Stuart McNair
22nd
July 2013 Now that the scaffolding has been removed from the signal
box, tracklaying on the Cob can resume. The Rest of the World
Gang made good progress over the weekend, laying track
past the box for the FR platform road and positioning the FR loop
points.
23rd July 2013
The
Rest of the
World Gang continued their working week with further
tracklaying work including work on the yard point.
The Tuesday Gang were also on site and spent the day putting together a
new point for access to roads 4 and
5 which is made up from
components of the original point previously replaced by the
ex Hafod y Llyn point. The team laid out the sleepers
and positioned the main components. with the Rest of
The
World gang assisting in lifting the heavier items. The first picture
below gives a signalman's eye view of the track southwards:-
24th July 2013
Latest pictures of track work today on the Cob:
At the end of the day a
works train is the first train to pass the signalbox, bringing up some
yard points and a hopper load of ballast
which was deposited along the newly-laid track.
6th
August 2013
Handrails were fitted by the Tuesday Gang round the new signal bases on
the Cob:
20th
August 2013
The Tuesday Gang day were at Harbour Station. Two members of the gang
put some finishing touches to the signal box. The rest were moving
heavy point timbers from where they had been dropped beside the FfR
main line to the side of the construction site. They also moved some 18
metre rail lengths onto the rail stack from where they had been
dropped, ready for the next session of track laying. The rail
movers (RRM's) were used. the first time for some years that
they had used these useful machines.
28th
September 2013 During high summer with the busy train service in
operation there has been little outward sign of change on the Cob,
although preparations are being made behind the scenes for
the intensive works needed during the winter to complete the project.
One of the continuing activities has been the signalling
system with work in progress in the relay room and the signal box. The
picture by Stuart McNair shows the interior of the signal box recently
with the
lever frame taking shape.
Rest of the World Gang Report - September Working Week We spent our last
working week, which started on Saturday 14th
September, making steady progress with the two new platform roads at
Porthmadog International, in weather that alternated on a daily basis
between wet, including horizontal liquid sunshine blasted by 60mph
gales and gorgeous, mild autumn days that burn the tops of your ears. The up end of the FR
road was ballasted and loosely Kangoed, but more
ballast is needed here before this (and the rest of it), can be brought
up to the correct level and more thoroughly tamped. Fitting two pairs of insulated
fish-plates at the platform end was no
mean feat, with rail alignment and length, (or lack of it), making this
an awkward, but ultimately successful task. This allowed a certain amount of regapping
between the king-point and platform end,
that had been lost during earlier ballasting. Sufficient track
components to lay a further panel at the down end, were loosely positioned there, but time
precluded laying them properly, as an
insulated joint to be positioned there, requires rails to be extended
by welding, to get the joints in the correct position, relative to the signal. The entirety of the
current track in the WHR platform road and up to
the queen-point was aligned appropriately with slewing jacks, no easy
task with the track being so low in places and impinging on the concrete haunching
holding the platform kerbs in place. Ballast
was dropped and the whole lot jacked and Kango-packed to the finished
level.
Pictures by Bob Zeepvat show slewing and packing the WHR
platform road.
5th/6th
October 2013
The Black Hand Gang worked at Harbour Station over the weekend. They
were reconstructing a 75lb turnout for the second half of
the cross-over to link with the sidings at the Ffestiniog side
of the new platform. They were joined by the WHR Society President Dave
Kent and John Maxey from the S&T Department, who worked
alongside the gang to fit bond wires to the various point components
for the track circuiting. In addition to installing the point, the gang
also extended the Ffestiniog platform line and installed the first of
the insulated fish plates.
Report and pictures by David
Firth and Stuart McNair.
14th
October 2013
Continuing progress is being made with the signalling system.
Point motors have been fitted to the three newly-laid
points:
Installation of the lever frame in the signal box is well under way:
The installation of the wiring and the relays in the relay
room is essentially complete
and testing is in progress to ensure that the system operates
correctly in all circumstances:
The first of the new posts
has been erected next to the current starting signal:
20th October 2013
The Black Hand Gang were working at Harbour Station on Sunday 20th
October. They continued installing the second half of the
crossover from the Ffestiniog platform line to the sidings.
They also installed a insulated fish plate in the middle of the point
and extended the platform line by one panel.
4th November 2013 A new page
has been created to cover the second phase of the works over the
winter of 2013/14. See this page for future reports
Back to WHR Project homepage
