Photo: Ballasting in Tebay 1967

[FelixM]

Dear all,

 

I recently stumbled across this flickr photograph of Tebay station in 1967, showing apparently a ballasting scene back in 1967:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/50999171967/

 

There is lots of interest in this photograph. Apparently the ballast has been new, at least that is what the bright colour tells me. There is a ballsting gap which has short sections of rails inside the 4 ft. Top right there is a double junction, but one of the turnouts misses its frog; it seems as if it is replaced with a straight section of rail. There are three men visible, one in the 6 ft, one on the platform and one on board the Standard Class 4 4-6-0. Coupled to the engine is a dropside engineers wagon, complete with E marking and DM wagon number prefix, but as it is fully loaded with new ballast it is unlikely to be the source of the new ballast.

 

I wonder if someone can provide more context to this scene.

 

Felix

[iands]

The short rails in the 4ft are to stop the sleepers moving as they are adjacent to rail expansion joints. I count four men, the 4th is just opposite the "missing frog". I think he is standing next to gas bottles, so he could be a welder.

 

I looks like there has been a recent track renewal job, concrete sleepers and probably long welded rails, so the ballast in the wagon was probably required for the job. If it wasn't used, it might fall into the "better to have ordered too much than not enough" bracket.

[Wheatley]

The chap on the platform is a photographer, the man in the 6 foot is loco crew going by his overalls. 

 

There is another 1967 photo on Disused Stations looking the other way, the concrete sleepers and re-ballasting only extends to the junctions at the south end of the station. The NER line curving away to the right had been closed for a couple of years by this time so the plain-lined crossing is most likely in response to a track defect, cracked crossing nose or similar, which didn't justify replacing the crossing. The line became single just off the right of the frame anyway. Oh for the next frame on the film showing what was going on behind the photographer!  

 

There is still plenty of old ballast visible, this isn't the aftermath of a complete lift and relay. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that this is either a topping up of ballast prior to running through with a tamper (or possibly hand packing but I doubt it at this date), or the tamper has been through and this is a finishing off job doing the bits the tamper can't do, like around the breather switches (there is another under the loco). 

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

A stab at the wagon;

LMS 13 ton ballast wagon built Wolverton 1939?

 

Mike.

[LMS2968]

I assume the crane in the background was part of the Pway work. Interestingly, there's a lamp on the back of the tender ahead of the wagon.

[beast66606]

The crew member is out on the up main, despite the signals controlled by No.2 box (top right) being clear for an up working although No.1 hasn't cleared yet (inner distant at caution) so probably not long left Scout Green so a few minutes yet.

[Trog]

Could be just off the end of a relaying job out of shot to the left. The new stone being what came out of the hoppers as the doors were closed down at the end of each run through the job and when the chutes were cleaned off before dispatching the empty train when they were finished with it. It looks as if the stone has been regulated a bit to fill light spots, but it was often the practice to have the local maintenance supervisor on the day shift of a relaying job, as he was the man with the most to gain from doing a neat job. If so he may have taken the opportunity to tidy up a bit of his section while his men were being paid for by the relay budget. There are rust marks running down the F23 sleepers from some of the Pandrol housings so the track shown is probably not all that new.

[Yardman]

I remember taking the train from Carlisle to Tebay in 1967 (went there to photograph steam on Shap) and it must have been the time this photo was taken as the track through Tebay station had fresh ballast. The track had been raised to the extent that staition staff were on hand to provide steps for passengers to get on and off the train.

[Michael Hodgson]

2 hours ago, LMS2968 said:

Interestingly, there's a lamp on the back of the tender ahead of the wagon.

The usual rules wouldn't apply if the Down Line was under possession at the time would they?

[PenrithBeacon]

The track going off to the right is the NER route which might have been disused by this time. This could be the reason for the plain track through the switch. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by PenrithBeacon

[Fat Controller]

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

A stab at the wagon;

LMS 13 ton ballast wagon built Wolverton 1939?

 

Mike.

It's an ex-LMS 'Haddock' sleeper wagon to Diagram D1953: this was one of the earliest to be built. They had full-length bodies, with fixed ends. The ballast wagons (Sole) built around the same time had drop ends, with the body ending someway inboard of the solebar, which gave support to the dropped end.

[LMS2968]

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

The usual rules wouldn't apply if the Down Line was under possession at the time would they?

Possibly, but is it under a possession? I was just pointing it out, as head and tail lamps turn up all over the place on some model railways: here's your precedent!

[Wheatley]

The NER line had been closed 2 years by the time of this pic, the station itself closed in August 68 so the steps wouldn't have been needed for long!

[doilum]

Keep a copy of the photo and when someone criticises your less than perfectly laid platform paving,...............

[Michael Hodgson]

13 hours ago, PenrithBeacon said:

The track going off to the right is the NER route which might have been disused by this time. This could be the reason for the plain track through the switch. 

People sometimes shove a bit of old track down somewhere as a disused line/siding, but I've never seen any model a points that has been plain line like that.