The Swanage Railway Trust

On Train Catering

The On Train Buffets are difficult to staff. On a happier note the Wessex Belle in on budget for this year.
 

Station Buffets

Figures for the Birds Nest and Norden Nest are above budgeted figures for the month and £6000 above budgeted figures for year to date.

We have recruited 4 new volunteers to the department which will make such a difference to the staffing levels as the season picks up.

On the night of Monday 29th May once again the Norden Nest was broken into via a window. The smashed window was replaced by C&W that day. Approx. £50 of ice cream was spoilt as the freezer lid was left open and approx £150 of revenue was lost for the day until the police had finished their investigations at 4pm. This is the second time the carriage has been broken into in 8 weeks.

The Norden Nest roof has been repaired and painted by a sub-contractor. There is still some bodywork repairs to the carriage outstanding. The lay-by for the 3 park benches situated opposite the Nest is finished, the seats are in place and the brass plaque to read ‘in loving memory of Brother Maynard’ is being engraved. Thanks must go to the volunteers who did the building work at Norden and to those who kindly made donations for the purchase of both the benches and brass plaque..
 

Retail

Shop opening times are 10.00am to 4.30pm daily and 5pm at weekends.

Due to the current shortage of shop volunteers, work is in progress to recruit more help. A recent article in the local Gazette asking for volunteers to help in the shop has not yet produced any enquires.
 

Operations

Rail Ale weekend was a success operationally, the only minor delay being caused by the class 37 having fuel problems with the 13:10 ex Swanage. This proved to be a blocked fuel filter, which was changed by members of the owning group, the train continued with a minimal delay. The class 37 should have left the railway during the following week but due to problems with the haulage contractor it did not leave until after the Bank Holiday Weekend.

On Tuesday 30th May a piece of stone fell from the viaduct at Corfe Castle, a 10mph speed restriction was imposed over the viaduct for all trains. The restriction was lifted on Friday after the structure had been inspected. I am concerned that the railway only has enough signs for one speed restriction on the line.

A small lineside fire on Wednesday 7th June burnt a lineside cable that connects Swanage signalbox with Corfe Castle; pilotman working was introduced until the fault was repaired. The following day the signalman at Corfe moved the trailing points under the last coach of the departing 10:30 ex Norden, this caused some damage to the point which was repaired by the S & T Department. The signalman was relieved of duty and has since been suspended.

The Bobcat has been out of service since Wednesday 14th June it should be repaired by Thursday 22nd, during this period all coal has been loaded onto the conveyor by hand.
Monday 19th June saw 80104 returned to the railway, it did not arrive until after 20:00 so 34072 did not leave for the works until Tuesday morning. After unloading at the works the lorry returned to Norden to collect the S160, which has returned to the Churnet Valley Railway.

From 30th May the 09:00 market train has been operating, passenger numbers are increasing with the return working arriving in Swanage on 20th with 52 fare paying passengers. Use of Herston Halt is increasing and plans are being made to ensure that revenue is collected.
 

Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon

Locomotives

• 80078 – Routine maintenance.
• 6695 – The vacuum brake system has a number of minor faults. Nick and I met with 6695 Officers and we have agreed a combined programme of work to remedy the faults.
• 5197 – Departed for Cheddleton on 20th June.
• 80104 - Delivered to Norden on 19th June. SLL are currently undertaking some outstanding repairs. I have decided to take the loco through a complete acceptance procedure, as if it were a new loco. Hopefully there will not much wrong with it, but I would prefer to find that, than allow the loco to enter traffic immediately and then possibly have some major faults – and then months of arguing!
• 30053 - Re-entered main shed at Gambles this week.
• D6515 – Available for traffic.
• 33108 – Available for traffic.
• 08436 – Available for traffic
• D3591 – The engine block and compartment have been extensively cleaned. I do not know the parts requirement until the pistons and cylinder liners have been removed, which is the next stage.
• 108 DMU – Routine maintenance and servicing.
• 117 DMBS – Vic Turp was just about to pass the vehicle fit for traffic when he found that the gangway floor had collapsed. The gangway has been stripped and structural repairs continue.

Carriages

• 4416 TSO – Re-entered service following re-paint.
• 1885 RMB – Intermediate Overhaul: Brake rigging currently being re-assembled. Corroded sections of Vacuum and steam heat pipes replaced. Overhauled brake cylinders, release valves and D/A valves fitted.

Wagons

• 1248 PMV – In Goods Shed for body rebuild. When 1885 is released to traffic in 2- 3 weeks time, the Queen Mary brake will go back in Goods Shed.

Infrastructure

As a Group, we have had a busy month, highlighted by the work at Motala.

• Corfe Footbridge. All 8 supports are now up. The tie bars were delivered to Herston Works on Tue 20 June to be shortened. The Atlas is booked for Tue 27 June to fix the smoke plates and turn the 4 sides over for the attention of the painting gang.
• Project Swanage (Throat). The Planning meeting between PDC and Nick Brown has confirmed that we may have a problem with the water tower going to Norden, which is one of the crucial parts of the planned works in Jan 07. A start has yet to be made on the drawings.
• Herston Yard. Drawings now received, but doubt placed on this work following PDC planning meeting.
• Container from HX now at Herston Bank.
• Drawings received from DCC have been copied for the ongoing Utilities Survey. Some drawings for stn areas now received from Brian Langdown.
• 9 ISG personnel have passed the PTS course
• We hope top retrieve 2 lorry loads of stores from Wimbledon West on Mon 26 Jun.
• Plan of Works issues 2 weeks ago
   

Permanent Way and Civil Engineering

General Maintenance

• Site visit with S&T at Swanage loop. The result is that there is only 2 inches of movement possible sideways in the trap without changing cranks, rodding stools etc. S&T state that it is not possible with the current workload until November.
• Fishplate lubrication completed.
• I day on Viaduct Inspection and measurements taken at Pondarosa twoce a week.
• Line inspections starting alternately from Norden.
• Lift and pack main by Swanage Signal Box.
• Tom Hedges repaired Up Platform wall at Corfe.
• Strimming crossings and fire breaks.

7 days work at Motala:

Unload Salmon, load 2 rails, shunt, drop rails ad return to Norden to re-assemble train, load ballast, add S&T vans etc.

Remove buffer stop, crane closure panel from bank, remove rails (not long enough), place in extra sleepers, cut rails to length, drill, drill new sleepers, fit lift plates, drop ballast, pack with Kangos, drop top up ballast. Await crane to remove buffer, rails and sleepers from site. Order and fit gate and fencing. Cant transition from 75mm to 40mm through traps. Check all curves as specified in report

With the bank slips at Pondarosa and Harmans Cross to deal with and realignments needed in three places together with drain maintenance in Swanage and rail changing as recommended in the Wheeler report I consider that it will not be possible to do the proposed relay at Herston/Swanage Industrial Estate.

Corfe Viaduct

After a section of stone had fallen form the structure onto the carriageway below a full survey of the stonework on this span was undertaken and all loose stone removed. It is proposed to carry out a survey of this span from a hydraulic platform during each bi-annual inspection of the structure.

Herston Bank – Proposed Siding and Platform

A drawing has been finalised for this scheme for submission to PDC and HMRI for approval. Assuming this is forthcoming a setting out drawing and construction details will follow.

Coal Dock – Additional Coaling Facilities

There is a requirement for a second coal conveyor to provide back up to the existing conveyor in case of failure. Also it is proposed to enlarge the coal handling area to ease movement. Because of the necessary design time and approvals process I propose to split this project, subject to agreement, into two stages. The first is to procure a new conveyor as a direct replacement for the existing and install this in the same location. The second stage will be the extension to the coal handling area. Concurrent with this I trust will be the refurbishment of the existing conveyor which will be relocated to a new position when the construction work is complete.

General

The extractor fan supplied for the Reservations Office has proved to be too large to fit the window without the frame requiring drastic surgery. It is therefore proposed to substitute the fan for a freestanding Evaporative Cooler/Heater Unit.
 

Signal & Telegraph and Telecom

General

The current maintenance schedule is up to date with new items such as battery inspections and track circuit being added to the schedule.

The updating of as built circuit drawings for signal box’s is nearing completion and a start will then be made on updating external circuit drawings.

A new volunteer has made a start on painting signal posts at Harmans Cross with number 6 and 3 signals complete and number 21 part complete.

Inspections

The Annual S&T inspections are still ongoing as they have been disrupted by the work at Motala. This should be complete by the end of July.

The documentation for the Level Crossing Risk Assessment is being checked by the Health and Safety consultant for comment and should be ready for use during the summer.

Faults

On Thursday 8th June the Swanage end trailing points where run through at Corfe Castle due to Signalman error. The facing point lock bar was badly damage and the point blade slightly bent. It took two days work to replace damaged parts and to bring the points back into a serviceable condition.

Although these points are protected by track circuits in the facing point mode which prevents the facing point lock being withdrawn, in the trailing point mode the facing point lock is not engaged. This enables the points to be moved as soon as the signal has been put back to danger.

A general instruction to signalmen has been issued warning them not to put the signal back to danger until the train has cleared the track circuit. We will investigate whether the points can be locked mechanically or electrically in the training point mode to prevent an incident like this happening again.

Internal Telephone System & Cable Network

On Wednesday 7th June at approx 12.00 there was a major failure of communications. Tablet and Key Token working, Swanage concentrator, the Internal telephone system and the Emergency system all failed simultaneously. The cause was that a trackside fire had melted 47 metres of cable near New Barn. This was one of three fires that day, and it was coincidental that the section that was burnt was the same section that was blasted by shotgun last November and is on the bank waiting replacement. However, the Telecom team (myself and Stuart Nutbeem) swung into action, found a suitable replacement length of cable from Herston Bank, and had it jointed in and all services restored by 5.00 which meant that no pilotman was needed for the evening Wessex Belle.

We have been doing some re arrangements at Herston. These entailed moving some cables that were connected to the Exchange and terminating them on our trackside Cabinet. These changes are in preparation for the eventual move of the Exchange to Harmans Cross. This has also given us the opportunity to rationalise and rewire the distribution frame at Herston, which was in a mess and very confusing.

Our two Exchange engineers, Peters Harris and Werba, have finally tracked down a fault at Corfe Castle that was causing intermittent failures of calls between exchanges. We are delighted that this problem has now been resolved, and this should further increase the reliability of the Internal System.

As Martin Trott has now moved his desk from the Booking Office to upstairs, he has been provided with a new Internal number (Swanage 27).

Business Communications Manager & BT Lines

Along with Martin’s move, BCM extn. 201 and the Fax 233 (01929 426680) have also been moved upstairs.

It has been identified that there is a need to change the voicemail messaging for Reservations so that messages can be left when staff are busy. This will be done ASAP.

The Corfe Castle BT line (01929 480827) has been converted to Broadband. This will save money and free up the telephone line for the Signal Box and other users.
 

Stations

Weedkiller has been dropped at all stations during the past month.

Swanage

Platform edge painted, further work to tidy the area around the Brick-a-Brac store.

W&D Bus damage. Cheque received. Waiting for Paul Mc Donald confirm a start date for the work.

Herston

The Halt has been repainted during the past month. The area around the new container has been tidied up. Over 300 plants have been planted at the area.

Harman’s Cross

Good work at the station continues. The toilet for the signalbox is all but finished. Drawings for the proposed Down platform have been received. A new gate is being installed on the Down side for the adjacent.

Corfe Castle

Maintenance work continues.

Norden

Dave Barrow has been working on the lights at this site.

Norden Ticket Machines. Planning Application is fully in the hands of PDC.

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Photographs

All photographs on this page by and copyright Andrew P.M. Wright,
Swanage Railway official photographer