Spring Bash - The Blog

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Picture gallery is here

Sunday 9th March

Last day of the Spring Bash, and much of the day was spent preparing the railway for the start of the daily service on 15th March (next Saturday). Stop signs, stop blocks and whistle boards were put up on the section from Pen-y-Mount to Traeth Mawr.

A gang from the northern end of the WHR helped us to finish off work on the Harbour Branch, slewing the newly laid track into place. And there was plenty of clearing up to do around the site.

In the Big Shed, the museum gang finished painting the floor, and sealed the door with severe warnings of what will happen to anyone who goes in there before the paint dries!

Saturday 8th March

The gang spent part of the day doing some finishing off tasks on the newly laid Harbour Branch, including clearing up any mess left along the route, checking that every sleeper had its full complement of bolts. They then turned their attention to the Pen-y-Mount to Traeth Mawr section, doing some of the last few bits of winter maintenance, including tamping the track to get it back level and putting in the stop blocks at the new end of the line (the section is a little bit shorter since we removed the loop at Traeth Mawr).

Back at Gelerts Farm, Pete Jenks continued his support crew role by loading ballast; Bob Washington was engaging in his own individual civils week, extending the loop at the end of his 7¼" miniature railway.

And there was plenty of activity in the Big Shed, where the remaining sections of the floor were scarified and given a first coat of paint. The museum volunteers have now got an art to turning the floor grey: one goes ahead as an advance party, literally lying down and doing the fiddly bit, before the roller squad move in with their trays and do the large volume bit in the middle.

We finished off Saturday in the same way as last weekend, with a three course dinner in the Russell Tea Rooms at Porthmadog (WHR) station. The combination of a three course meal and a little bit of alcohol soon brought out the stories that we haven’t been able to publish here - until now......

Just which gang member was it that broke wind just as he and five others were in close formation carrying a rail? He soon found himself very alone with 60lb/yard of solid metal. And who was it who managed to put their foot through the floor of Caravan Number 3.....?

Friday 7th March - Pob lwc i Gymru yn y Rygbi yfory!

Not technically Friday, but the gang capped off a hectic week by winning the quiz last night in Spooners Bar at the Ffestiniog Railway Porthmadog Harbour station......

In the Big Shed, the museum group were taking extra care not to trap themselves into a corner when painting the floor. It turned out that we’d managed to paint around someone's coat yesterday, with no way of getting to it. Today, it became a 3-D problem, as we also started painting railings and benches in there as well.

But the results are already stunning. People really have been wiping their feet as they come into the shed, the newly painted floor looks so nice.

Out on the track, the gang finished the tracklaying on the Cross Town Rail Link by moving the catch point down to the head of steel. It was rolled down by rail, and is currently sitting on a temporary panel of track, and will ultimately be jacked up and the temporary panel removed before the catch point is lowered into place.

The focus then moved back to Pen-y-Mount. Part of the gang unloaded four lorry loads of ballast to go on the newly laid line. They're also preparing for some fettling up on the existing section from Pen-y-Mount to Traeth Mawr (the bit we opened last year).

Work continues on restoring the original WHR steam locomotive Russell. David Pritchard (Daffy) has been churning out nuts for the spring gear. In the shop at Porthmadog (WHR) station, Lyn Seale has been taking deliveries ready for the start of the daily service on 15th March.

Thursday 6th March

You don't normally get photo finishes in track laying, but we came quite close today in more ways than one. We actually managed to get ahead of the contractors at one stage - they were laying ballast, we were putting the track on top. There was a point when we were poised with a load of rails and sleepers, champing at the bit, but waiting for the ballast to be ready (which thankfully didn't take long).

The other reason for calling it a photo finish is because today's final panels of track were laid in sight of the Harbour Branch webcam. Word soon got round the enthusiast community, and an international audience was watching as panel 28 was bolted into place. Comments on the WHR discussion forum included:

- "This is the best we have seen so far - the webcam brings the hard work into the limelight...... Well done WHR(P) and friends."
- "It engenders a great feeling of fellowship that so many of us are watching progress on the webcam, and urging the gallant tracklayers on…… Keep up the magnificent work!!"

Total 5 panels laid today, bringing the total to 28. Or perhaps it should be 5½, because a further temporary panel was laid with a minimum number of sleepers. This extra panel will be used to slide the catch point into place, before the track is connected up to the Cae Pawb Crossing, where the line crosses the Cambrian.

Scarifying and painting continued in the Museum at Gelerts Farm, with a pause to allow some passengers to visit! By the end of the day, another section of the floor had been prepared and given a first coat of paint. Work also continues on restoring the original WHR steam locomotive Russell - some pictures should be available by the end of the weekend.

Watch out for a big WHR announcement on Sunday as well...... more details soon......

Wednesday 5th March

The Spring Bash Fringe Festival (in the museum at Gelerts Farm) stepped up a gear with a crash course in scarifying. This is the technical term for scrubbing the floor with a machine to remove dirt and dust before painting.

None of us knew why the process is called scarifying, though the results are certainly scary if you don't know what to expect. Sometime about 10:00, Richard Warren turned the machine on...... and disappeared in a cloud of dust. After checking that the concrete was still in one piece, Richard and colleagues managed to scare (?) and then paint the first section of the museum floor.

No-one can actually remember seeing Gelerts Farm so busy. As well as the museum department cleaning up and putting up new displays, there were people laying a new cable to the signalbox...... painting one of the goods brake vans...... loading the chassis of the new replica Ashbury Carriage for transport to Llangollen (where it's having mechanical work done)...... refurbishing the track on the 7¼" gauge miniature railway...... working on Russell, the original WHR steam locomotive...... and digging holes to improve the drainage around the site.

Further up the line, the tracklaying gang found that sometimes fewer people can mean more work done! By the end of the day, we were seven panels further along, with only three or four more to go before we have to stop. Once we've got that far, there'll still be slewing to do, as well as some tamping on the section from Pen-y-Mount to Traeth Mawr Loop.

As well as laying seven panels, the gang also installed the last few fence posts along the footpath from Gelerts Farm to Pen-y-Mount.

Tuesday 4th March

Watch the video of today's work here.

We started the day with more people than we knew what to do with. Seven members of the Tuesday Gang from the northern end of the WHR came to join the day's tracklaying.

It meant that our chief fishplater, Chris Wilson, could have a day off. Chris has made a name for himself as being quick and neat in sorting and installing the sections of metal which join each rail. In practically every photo, he's the one who's always working, even when others are standing around waiting their next job.

Chris and some of the other WHR(P) volunteers turned their hand to fencing alongside the section. The posts have now been planted, and are ready for the wire. The technique to install a fence post involves using a large red metal tube which sits on top of each post, and allows you to bash the post into the ground. For reasons unknown, it's called a "donger". (Whether this means the week should be called "Spring Dong" rather than "Spring Bash" we won't discuss......)

Five more panels laid in total. We're now past the half way point from Pen-y-Mount to the Cambrian Crossing. The entire section has now almost been ballasted, apart from a small piece close to Gelerts Farm Works.

The Spring Bash Fringe Festival has now kicked off, in the form of the Museum Working Party at Gelerts Farm. Resident loco driver Mark Herbert stunned everyone by arriving for duty at 09:30, fired up his favourite engine, and helped clear the stock out the Big Shed ready for floor cleaning and painting.

Monday 3rd March

"Snow on the tops, sleet in the air, and b**** cold on the ground", was how one gang member summed it up. But today, we got into our stride on the tracklaying front, and managed to get six panels done by the end of the day. A team of nine people soon found that track on wooden sleepers is in fact more pleasant to lay once you get used to it (the last major piece of new track we did used metal). They're easier to handle, and the fixings go in a bit more easily.

The gang were joined by an extra team from Carillion (the civil engineering contractor for this section), who laid out a line of sleepers in front of the head of steel. The WHR(P) is due to have a visit from the Tuesday Gang, who usually work at the northern end of the line. Amazingly enough, they've chosen a Tuesday to come and visit Porthmadog......

At Gelerts Farm, it was a case of making a square peg fit a round hole...... or actually, making a round bar fit a hexagonal one. Work is going on with restoring the original WHR locomotive Russell has moved to the spring gear, and the Locomotive Department needed some hexagonal shaped bar. However, they weren't able to find any that was up to the required strength, so have spent part of the day re-shaping some round bar to fit.

Outside, Pete Jenks and Owain Brown have been digging holes in the yard to lay pipes and improve drainage. Mark Herbert has been putting a final coat of paint on the wheelchair accessible carriage – using lots of heaters to make sure it dried in the cold weather.

Tomorrow should be the start of the Spring Bash fringe festival – work on improving the museum in the Big Shed. Although Pete and Jennifer Smart were spotted doing some painting to kick things off a day early......

Sunday 2nd March

How many volunteers does it take to lay a panel of track? The answer is at least seven. We discovered that the quickest way to get the rail into place was to have six people lifting, plus one driving a diesel locomotive to provide some push from behind, and ideally a shunter to signal as well. Not bad considering we've built large sections of track using four people to a rail.

Today was the first day of proper tracklaying, and even though we've done plenty of it before, it was still a learning curve. One panel went down in the morning, and then we got into a stride and slammed a further four down before we lost the light. The track is slower to lay with wooden sleepers as they have to be drilled, and the rails screwed down individually.

It got bitterly cold towards the end of the day - have a look at the picture gallery, and you can see the blue haze in the later photos! We also brought the junction point into service where the Cross Town Link to Harbour Station separates from the WHR(P) main line.

Back at Gelerts Farm Works, Andy Jones, Dave Gibbs and Martyn Knight continued to fit the inside panelling to the original WHR Buffet Car, which is being restored. John Powell managed to put a coat of undercoat on the Vale of Rheidol Brake van before the weather got too cold.

The last thing you want when you get home after a hard day is to find yourself locked out of your caravan. Hero of the hour award goes to the man who had thankfully left a window open...... and the man who managed to squeeze through an impossibly small space!

Saturday 1st March - St David's Day

If only it was Hornby model railway track...... the main problem at the start of the morning wasn't laying the stuff, just that all the rails had been left in the wrong place. The gang spent most of the day moving the rails out of the stack in pairs, and using one of the locos to move them to where they're easier to reach. Tracklaying tomorrow......

Two regular tracklayers from the other end of the Welsh Highland had also come along to help, which meant there were enough people on site to form a second gang. They duly started installing the fence to divide the footpath from the WHR(P) main line between Gelerts Farm Works and Pen-y-Mount. The shift system of mixing concrete to hold the fence posts almost worked, until the staggered tea break.

At Gelerts Farm Works, it was strange to see the Big Shed locked up on Saturday, but this time, it wasn't because there was no work going on in there. Pete Jenks and the rock pecker were busy in the South Yard, breaking up concrete slabs, in the area where the new museum building is to go. The locked door was to keep the dust out of the shed, and people out of his way...... and goodness it was noisy!

In the Big Shed, Mark Herbert and Tommy McNeilly were sanding down the Wheelchair Access Coach for a final coat of paint. Work is also progressing on the Buffet Car. Martyn Knight, Andy Jones, Giles Clifford, Geoff Clifford, Marilyn Clifford and Dave Gibbs have been variously fitting the interior matchboarding, and working on the brake system.

At the other end of the line, Porthmadog (WHR) station, civil engineering on a smaller scale was going on...... Will High and Jamie Moore were relaying the track on the model railway in the shop, with carpet tiles to make it less noisy.

The gang finished St David's Day with dinner and song in the Tea Rooms at Porthmadog (WHR) station.