Rheilffordd Corris Railway

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Category: Photographs

Photographs taken between 8th & 13th June 2020

18th June 202018th June 2020 David Coleman 0 Comment Photographs

Friday, 12.6.2020. The rain forecast for the past two days has largely failed to materialise, so locally resident volunteers finish off levelling stone and stitching the lids down of the gabion baskets.

Monday, 8.6.2020. It rained on Saturday, as illustrated by the work site at Pont y Goedwig …

… but it has made no difference to the very low river levels!

Dai levels the material piled behind the south end of the gabions last week …

… and during the afternoon, contractors for Scottish Power arrive to change signs on their poles, and add extra barbed wire to the stays.

After most had finished for the day, Richard starts creating a new access to the rear of the gabions …

… as we can no longer get stone to them.

Tuesday, 9.6.2020. Using the new access, Jack supplies stone for Dai to spread as foundation drainage layer …

… with the dumper being loaded by Richard. Two scoops is enough!

This allows very easy access to fill the gabions!

After a grand shunting move to swop machines around, Richard rolls the material deposited last week – before more rain is forecast to arrive.

By evening, we have some stone in every remaining basket, as we try to reduce pressure on the cross-diaphragms as the gabions step up …

Wednesday, 10.6.2020. With easy access, the baskets are filling up quickly …

… and Gareth reckons he has found a stone resembling a shark. Maybe?

We are almost there …

… when the heavens open! The last dumper load of the day was all hand-picked small stone, and when tipped had a high proportion of liquid content!

Friday, 12.6.2020. The rain forecast for the past two days has largely failed to materialise, so locally resident volunteers finish off levelling stone and stitching the lids down of the gabion baskets. That’s it – for a while.

The line of completed gabions stretch into the distance …

… from whichever angle you look!

Meanwhile at Maespoeth, Richard commissions new CCTV cameras to cover blind spots that have become more apparent since Lock Down.

Saturday, 13.6.2020. More stone has arrived, and most plant has been removed from the site. It will be big machinery work from now on!

Is life gradually returning to a new “normal” at the Slaters’ Arms?

Photographs taken between 29th April & 5th June 2020

12th June 202012th June 2020 Andy Cooper 0 Comment Photographs

The stainless steel smokebox wrapper and front plate for No.10 supplied by Barnshaws Plate and Section Rollers near Wolverhampton

Friday 5.6.20. The stainless steel smokebox wrapper and front plate for Falcon Locomotive No.10 supplied by Barnshaws Plate and Section Rollers near Wolverhampton.

The small flats will be welded on to form bolting down flanges and the centre of the hole will become the baffle plate for the smokebox door.

Falcon 3D showing cab arrangement. (c) Graham French 2020.

On the new build carriages the roof supports are hidden by 'U' section curved channels of meranti and in this case oak strip. Sides are clamped to the new jig.

The strip is then glued into the rebated sides.

Seven finished channels after three coats of varnish.

The vestibule seat frame for carriage 24 has been made and will be trimmed to length when fitted.

Sliding doors for carriage 24 under construction.

Easier to fit the handles before assembly.

Clearance for the handle.

With the handle fitted.

Grooves were ploughed for the lower panels and rebates cut for the glass next.

The first door complete with brass rubbing strips and the second door being glued up.

Initial coats of varnish to save time later at Maespoeth.

Both doors finished as far as possible for now.

Photographs taken between 1st & 5th June 2020

10th June 20209th June 2020 David Coleman 1 Comment Photographs

Tuesday, 2.6.2020. In the background, the larger machine excavates stone while the smaller one makes more room in which to tip it. Gabion filling has reached the first step up.

Monday, 1.6.2020. It is lunch time, and the dumper is full of rock, being emptied by hand into the adjacent baskets (when staff are present!).

Meanwhile, Lez has been excavating foundations for a continuous support to the grating around the water crane in Maespoeth Yard, but has given up for the day – it is far too hot!

Afternoon drinks break. Richard Evans’ new B I G JCB – as every Welsh child knows – is a Jac Codi Baw (Jack Lifts Earth)!

Tuesday, 2.6.2020. In the background, the larger machine excavates stone while the smaller one makes more room in which to tip it. Gabion filling has reached the first “step” up.

By the end of the day, the site has been considerably tidied, and all is ready to receive more stone – but the weather forecast for tomorrow is not good!

Thursday, 4.6.2020. After a day’s break due to rain, fresh supplies of stone have been delivered …

… after a load of blinding stone arrived from Aberllefenni Quarry, which has been spread and rolled to form the foundation and drainage layer under the first part of the future embankment.

More loads of stone arrive …

… and then it is all hands to roll out geotextile …

… which is tied to the back of the gabions. Suitable material is excavated and placed on the geotextile to keep it down in the breeze, which is then lapped back over again, and the next layer of foundation stone laid beyond.

While we are working, inspectors on the Trunk Road have marked one of our trees above us as needing attention – an Ash suffering from die-back.

Friday, 5.6.2020. By evening, the gabion wall filling has advanced further – about a week’s work still to go!

Meanwhile, Lez has finished the excavation, and concreted the foundations for the dwarf wall around the water crane in Maespoeth Yard.

Photographs taken between 26th & 29th May 2020

3rd June 20203rd June 2020 David Coleman 2 Comments Photographs

Tuesday, 26.5.2020. The first of three lorries of stone (today) arrives for gabion filling …

… and a delivery of materials has arrived at Maespoeth for use around the railway.

Wednesday, 27.5.2020. Stand clear! Another load of stone is tipped …

… before being lifted by machine into the baskets. It is then a case of getting inside, and arranging the stones to give a good face to the outside, and minimise voids.

Before going home, time for removing the waggon of building supplies from the roadside ...

… to a location handy for work to continue elsewhere on the railway.

Friday, 29.5.2020. After working in sweltering temperatures elsewhere yesterday, Dai takes no chances of overheating today!

At lunchtime, opportunity is taken to lift the grillage around the water column within Maespoeth Yard …

… so that more permanent (and attractive) support arrangements can be made ...

… and Steptoe’s horse passes by to check on our progress.

Congestion! You could smell the brakes to inform us that a lorry had stopped to deliver Richard’s “new” excavator to make a real impression on the earthworks next week …

… but before then, more gabions need to be filled – urgently!

Photographs taken between 18th & 22nd May 2020

26th May 202026th May 2020 David Coleman 1 Comment Photographs

Monday, 18.5.2020. Under the porch of The Insitute, Corris, a swop shop food bank has been established – with necessary sanitisers wipes, of course!

Dai has been sweating this morning …

… cleaning out behind the gabions ready to take a drainage pipe with a connection under the gabions.

Gareth rolls out geotextile as Richard positions it in the trench, and Jack stops it sliding down too far!

With the geotextile in position, the pipe can be fed in …

… followed by clean stone, the pipe being held in position with feet as the stone is gently dropped in place …

… until the whole of the length behind the gabions has been filled.

The geotextile is then folded back over the stone (to prevent pollution by soil) as the excavation at the end of the gabions is widened to take to solid ground – and in the distance, a lorry load of stone is delivered.

Tuesday, 19.5.2020. Today starts with a bit of tidying …

… the big pallet neatly fitting in the waggon positioned in the car park at Maespoeth, ready for the delivery of building materials next week.

The (currently) surplus gabions are removed to store elsewhere on the site, ready for their story to continue!

Richard and Jack then start stripping top soil on the next lowest section of the new embankment …

… followed by excavating the sub-soil down to a firm foundation, levels being checked constantly.

Coarse stone is riddled to provide a drainage layer, and levelled off. No action took place on site on Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday, 22.5.2020. Dai prepares stone to commence filling the top row of gabions …

… interrupted by two deliveries to the railway, one of which was of geotextile for the start of the embankment.

By the end of the day, the first of the top gabions had been filled …

… but there is a long way to go!

Photographs taken between 11th & 16th May 2020

18th May 202018th May 2020 David Coleman 1 Comment Photographs

Monday, 11.5.2020. A riddling bucket has arrived for the small excavator, which should remove the remaining earth from the gabion stone …

… which is delivered almost to the site by dumper …

… before being passed to the baskets by machine, and placed by hand. Preparation for the next step up of gabions is in progress, rolling by machine but next to the end gabion, by hand punning.

Tuesday, 12.5.2020. Access by machine to fill the baskets is getting difficult, so stone is brought down to hand pick from the dumper, Dai moving choice stones forward as Richard places them in the basket.

A few big stones are separated out for alternative use in due course.

Wednesday, 13.5.2020. Dai is wary of the camera as he cuts bracing wire, and Richard tops up the sub-base by hand to obtain the necessary level for the next lift of gabions.

By the end of the day, a start has been made on filling the last gabions at the north end of the wall.

In Corris, Idris Stores is only doing take-aways during limited hours, but meanwhile displays thanks to essential workers.

Drainage pipe for the Pont y Goedwig Deviation project is delivered to go behind the gabion wall.

Friday, 15.5.2020. After a day off yesterday, a start is made on filling in front of the gabions for safer access for personnel, and cleaning the track behind them ready for access to fill the top row of gabions …

… as the last of the bottom row of gabions (at the north end) has now been filled.

Saturday, 16.5.2020. The top row of gabion baskets is assembled and wired to those below …

… at both ends of the wall. Curving square baskets is not easy!

To give some perspective to the overall scheme, this is the view from the (temporary) slate waste deposited on the south side of the Nant Goedwig last year. The culvert is the structure just beyond the tipped slate waste, with the new gabion wall stretching away in the middle distance. Disappearing under the tree canopy beyond, is the access track to the site and just beyond the end of that, is the end of the headshunt in Maespoeth Yard.

Photographs taken between 4th & 8th May 2020

11th May 202011th May 2020 David Coleman 3 Comments Photographs

Southern Extension. Pont y Goedwig Deviation Project. Monday, 4.5.2020 – Star Wars Day. A site radio has arrived to boost productivity – complete with battery and unburnt aerial!

We are rapidly going through MoT Type 1 sub-base as we step up the gabions …

… so Richard fetches more – from Arthog!

After shaping and rolling, levels are checked at front and back …

… so that the next batch of gabions can be assembled and a start made on filling the end one …

… while the next row of gabions is assembled on top.

Tuesday, 5.5.2020. It’s a cold start, filling gabions at the north end of the existing wall …

… but it soon warms up! A magnificent day, and the erection of the next layer of gabions enables check levels to be taken – 19mm too high. That will do!

By the end of the day, we are two-thirds of the way with the first lift of gabions.

Wednesday, 6.5.2020. Laser levels are checked for the next section of gabions …

… but there is nothing to beat the human eye!

Access to machine fill the baskets is getting awkward, so a lower access track is formed with the machine operators packing stone by hand in between deliveries. It is a hot day!

Thursday, 7.5.2020. It is a very tight fit to get the dumper down …

… and after rolling, small adjustments are made by hand (before rolling again).

More stone arrives for filling gabions …

… but it is so quiet (apart from bird song) that the sound is noticeable when one of the few aircraft heading across the pond leaves a vapour trail. The RAF continue low flying, however!

By the end of the day, we are well on the way with the next step, and ready for the following one.

Friday, 8.5.2020. No site work today, but in Machynlleth, a sign of the times – a Rainbow and Thanks for NHS and essential workers, and VE Day celebrations.

Photographs taken between 27th April & 1st May 2020

7th May 20204th May 2020 David Coleman 0 Comment Photographs

Southern Extension. Pont y Goedwig Deviation Project. Monday, 27.4.2020. After the recent superb weather, it is cooler as Socially Distant work continues, assembling gabion baskets and filling them by hand …

… which stretch out ever further, but by the end of the day …

… progress has clearly been made.

Tuesday, 28.4.2020. It has lightly rained much of the day, but work continued regardless.

Wednesday, 29.4.2020. By afternoon, the sun had re-appeared, making site conditions much more pleasant!

Thursday, 30.4.2020. With steady rain for much of the day, opportunity was taken to fetch more stone for filling the gabions.

Preparatory to the re-location or replacement of reptile / silt fences, a remote control flail has been brought in …

… which attracts interest from the gabion fillers!

By evening on a mostly wet day, there is one stone in the southernmost (for now) gabion basket as the men pack up …

… but the flail is still going – by now, in the pouring rain!

Friday, 1.5.2020. More stone is delivered to the work site, but clingy mud is a very real problem.

A surveyor has arrived to set out the rest of the Phase 3 works …

… which requires ferreting around in the undergrowth!

The batter boards to the left indicate the side slope (+1.00m), while the blue painted crosses and red flags slightly to the right, indicate the line of the edge of the proposed embankment.

As a final check (as we were using 3 different surveys stitched together), the surveyor checks our existing track and infrastructure for position – all within readily acceptable tolerances!

By the end of the week, we had reached the southernmost (for now) end of the gabion wall …

… and started the step up to the next phase at the north end.

Photographs taken between 11th & 25th April 2020

4th May 202029th April 2020 David Coleman 3 Comments Photographs

Saturday, 11.4.2020. Father and son, Richard and Jack, work together to get the site ready …

… and towards the end of the day, Richard measures the perceived height of the gabion wall as a reality check for digging the foundations. It was a hot day!

Wednesday, 15.4.2020. Richard completes clearance of all the softer soil so that levels can be taken through the top of the foundation layer to inform the designer …

Thursday, 16.4.2020. … and warning posts and bunting to indicate the presence of overhead electricity lines to operators of larger machines have been set up.

Monday, 20.4.2020. Dei excavates for the gabion wall foundation, with Jack checking the depth of excavation via. a laser level. The paint marks indicate where he is “spot on”…

… but that is to be expected, when Dei is working “by the book”! Some big boulders were encountered in the trench.

Wednesday, 22.4.2020. Dei continues excavation for the gabion wall and access into the trench thereby created, while Jack loads and ferries sub-base …

… which is tipped on a geotextile sheet and spread to approximate depth by machine.

By late afternoon, a further load of sub-base is delivered to the loading point.

As the site is closed down for the day, substantial visual progress has been made.

Thursday, 23.4.2020. With but half an hour’s warning, Kieran arrives with two pallets of gabion baskets for us. Fortunately, a local builder was able to drop tools (on his own house) to off-load them …

… and ferry them down to nearer the work site.

After the sub-base had been rolled and topped up as necessary to final level for the back of the gabions, extra material was placed towards the front, using a template knocked up on site, to give the baskets the necessary design batter.

To minimise waste, required careful co-ordination between the excavator and …

… and dumper operators, so that material was placed exactly where required.

After rolling, Richard puts his eye to the job to ensure all was even. Some further adjustments and rolling was required!

Saturday, 25.4.2020. Caged! Richard and company have assembled some gabion baskets, and after setting them to line, Richard starts filling the first one.

Lunch break. Jack has fired up his on-site kettle – he couldn’t be away from steam for long!

While Richard fills baskets, other operatives continue their assembly until …

… by the end of the day, good progress has been made. However, once this section is done, we have to work the opposite way – but stepped up – and add another row on top!

Photographs taken between 1st March & 9th April 2020

30th April 202030th April 2020 David Coleman 1 Comment Photographs

Southern Extension. Pont y Goedwig Deviation Project. Sunday, 1.3.2020 – St. David’s Day. A lorry pulls up at the south end of Maespoeth Yard, laden with a mini excavator …

… which is soon off-loaded …

… leaving the excavator ready for work in the near future!

Friday, 6.3.2020. Dai has been working all day, clearing the area around the site entrance …

Saturday, 7.3.2020. ... so that with Richard and a dumper, they can move previously dumped material …

… to form a reception pad where lorries laden with spoil can safely manoeuvre off the road and reverse down to the desired location.

Sunday, 8.3.2020. This leaves the electricity pole in the middle of the site somewhat exposed, so it is taped up to render it more visible!

Tuesday, 10.3.2020. After further work yesterday, the reception pad is almost up to level – as far as can be prepared from material already on site.

Tuesday, 17.3.2020. Material has been delivered from a site in Dolgellau, and is spread to bring the reception area up to level …

Thursday, 19.3.2020. … to which has been added tar planings and a roller.

Saturday, 21.3.2020. Following the addition of more material from Dolgellau …

… the area is levelled …

Sunday, 22.3.2020. … and the planings spread (although not rolled at this stage – the roller had been vandalised).

Monday, 23.3.2020. With the roller fixed, fresh material was being spread down the ramp to provide lorry access to where the material is needed.

Friday, 27.3.2020. Passing on a shopping trip, it was noted that material was approaching the bottom of the access ramp ...

Tuesday, 7.4.2020. … and very soon, work stopped with as much as could be done completed pending setting-out and excavation for the new toe wall.

Wednesday, 8.4.2020. Surveyors have arrived to set out the new wall and slope …

… the front of the new wall being marked out with blue pegs …

… followed by the batter boards (which indicate the wall height and slope angle + 1.00m) …

… like this.

Thursday, 9.4.2020. A start has been made on excavating for the foundation of the new wall and widening the access track to feed materials for its construction …

… but there is a little way still to go!

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