Swindon - Kemble re-doubling

[Fat Controller]

For anyone interested in the plant we use in this type of activity, here's a link to Geismar's web page, lots of PLUM's, PEM's an LEM's etc.

http://www.geismar.no/index.cfm?tmpl=butikk&a=list&b_kid=191896

Geismar do make some dam good kit it has to be said. American I believe.

It would appear, from the link you sent, that they're Norwegian! What is it about on track plant and firms from hilly country?

[Gary H]

It would appear, from the link you sent, that they're Norwegian! What is it about on track plant and firms from hilly country?

I don't know to be honest. Ive seen their plant used a lot in America, I suspect this is because they have an American 'arm' as such but I thought from the website it looked like a French company. Perhaps someone could clarify?

[eastwestdivide]

Geismar.com is the French site, where

http://www.geismar.com/fr/cms.php?id_cms=4

tells you about their worldwide network,

 

http://www.geismar.com/fr/content/10-evolution

about their history (created in Colmar, France)

 

and head office is France, official name Société des Anciens Etablissements L. Geismar

 

In the US, they are Modern Track Machinery (MTM) at geismar-mtm.com

[LNERGE]

Yesterday i was pre-testing UK94R signal. I was fairly close to throwing the camera at something really hard.. I'd set it up to take a movie of an approaching 66 with a train of loaded side tipping ballast wagons. It decided to not take the movie. It has caught me out before so it's time for a new camera. The 66 could be heard miles away and when it passed me i was able to hold a brief conversation with the driver it was going that slow. How it made it over the top i'll never know.

 

The camera still takes stills when i want it to. Here's Good Ol Boy on the down..

 

[The Evil Bus Driver]

Banbury southward is a lovely bit of Railway Jim - enjoy the view mate!

 

Kemble - what a peach in a world otherwise filled with lookalike  concrete, steel and glass blandness.

 

I had the opportunity to travel from Marylebone to Stratford upon Avon last weekend. Lovely journey. I do believe there are lower quadrant semaphore signals at Banbury. The bit from Leamington Spa (Where you can see the former viaduct for the old Rugby direct line) to Stratford is partly single track and it's almost like the line just runs into some bushes then there's a platform, then you go through these little junctions in the woods. And to top it off there was Rood Ashton Hall waiting at Stratford with the Shakespeare Express to Moor Street. Great stuff!

 

And my ticket cost £12 too so good weekend and a few extra beers too..

[Southernman46]

My fellow N Swindon residents getting a flap on about train horns being tested at night.......blaming the poor old swindon and cricklade railway.

I have re educated them via FB about the engineers trains and possible horns from them

North Swindon.................................must make a change from sirens then..........................

[Captain Kernow]

Yesterday i was pre-testing UK94R signal. I was fairly close to throwing the camera at something really hard.. I'd set it up to take a movie of an approaching 66 with a train of loaded side tipping ballast wagons. It decided to not take the movie. It has caught me out before so it's time for a new camera. The 66 could be heard miles away and when it passed me i was able to hold a brief conversation with the driver it was going that slow. How it made it over the top i'll never know.

 

Yes, I was told about this shortly after the train arrived at Kemble to go into the worksite, apparently the loco had one traction motor isolated...

 

Here are some photos from yesterday, mostly featuring 6W86 unloading bottom ballast at Oaksey (all the photos were taken at this location):

 

 

 

 

 

[Gary H]

Whose contractors are on site, Tim? Is it all Colas staff?

I must admit, I do miss this aspect of the job sometimes but I just couldn't face living in digs anymore, like my home comforts to much.

I'd also mis my Border Collie 'Gemma' far to much!

[Mallard60022]

Superb pics again cap'n. It really is brilliant being almost track-side during an operation such as this and with commentary so a layperson such as myself more or less knows what's what.

Thanks mate.

P

[Captain Kernow]

Whose contractors are on site, Tim? Is it all Colas staff?

I must admit, I do miss this aspect of the job sometimes but I just couldn't face living in digs anymore, like my home comforts to much.

I'd also mis my Border Collie 'Gemma' far to much!

It's the Colas/Morgan Sindell Joint Venture for the PW elements, certainly. One of the Engineering Supervisors that I was talking to on Tuesday drove daily from Pontypridd...!

[Southernman46]

Not uncommon these days - living near Salisbury and last week I was working a few miles north of Lydney and this Saturday I'm at Chipping Campden where the front of the tunnel is threatening to fall off...........

 

The track renewals lads seem to often have to go even further afield for a single shift.

 

 

Checking RTT, this Tuesday AM seems to be worth a visit to Standish Jn for Kemble - Bescot trains (4 booked pathways), throw in the 2 Westerleigh tank trains and a couple of other things and an entertaining morning is in prospect..............

 

And I'm taking a LB for the examination of Tytherington tunnel - bugg*r it !!

[Gary H]

Not uncommon these days - living near Salisbury and last week I was working a few miles north of Lydney and this Saturday I'm at Chipping Campden where the front of the tunnel is threatening to fall off...........

 

The track renewals lads seem to often have to go even further afield for a single shift.

 

 

Checking RTT, this Tuesday AM seems to be worth a visit to Standish Jn for Kemble - Bescot trains (4 booked pathways), throw in the 2 Westerleigh tank trains and a couple of other things and an entertaining morning is in prospect..............

 

And I'm taking a LB for the examination of Tytherington tunnel - bugg*r it !!

Oh I agree. I used to do a lot of it at one time. Spent 2 years in the late 90's driving every day to Bristol Parkway depot from Looe! Looking back now I don't know how we did it. A gang of us used to leave home at at about 4 of a morning, dig wet beds all day at Sodbury or Yate area and get home at about 6 or 7 that evening only to be up 7 hours latter to do it all again. There was also a Saturday night included in that lot, normally somewhere in the Bristol area. Mind you, I was in my 30's back then and I could do it, now it would probably kill me!

Had stints at Eastleigh, Wimbledon, South Wales, the Heathrow electrification project and even had a couple of weeks digging trial holes on the Kemble to Swindon single back around 1997.

Nowadays im glad to be working at one place and going home every night. My days of living out of a bag are over for me now and the railway has certainly had the best of my back and knees!   It's a young mans job for sure!

[ZiderHead]

Fascinating thread and great pics

 

OK, here are some photos from todays activities.

 

...

 

Now to Bremhill, where yesterday we saw the sleeper train 6Y69 about to start unloading sleepers. These were laid in position overnight and the new rails put in place. When we were there, a man and a machine were clipping the rails to the sleepers:

 

13-8-13_Oaksey_pm_06.JPG

 

Any idea what the pad between the flatbottom and sleeper is made of? There cant be many materials which can provide damping under that kind of load and last long outdoors in all conditions.

 

 

I like the triple-whacker too, the only rookie initiation I ever fell for involved a whacker.

 

Having dodged being sent out for sky-hooks and tartan paint (building), a pound of chicken lips (hotel kitchen) etc etc I spent a good 20mins sweating in 90deg heat under the midday sun attempting to bump-start a whacker which was apparently playing up. I only realised when I heard the howls of laughter coming from the rest of my paving crew and the other 15 odd guys on site who had collected to eat their sarnies and watch me make an arse of myself ...

[Gary H]

Fascinating thread and great pics

 

 

Any idea what the pad between the flatbottom and sleeper is made of? There cant be many materials which can provide damping under that kind of load and last long outdoors in all conditions.

 

 

Those are 'G60' sleepers with their integral 'Fast clip' fastenings. Those sleepers are the heaviest that I know of in the catalogue for plain line and are just over 300KG each. (I think about 315KG )

The pad's on these are made of a very hard plastic, you got a job to bend one in half. Rubber is still used widely, I suppose you could expect a 10.5 MM rubber pad to last 20 years or so on straight and well maintained track.

[Miss Prism]

Will phase 2 be re-instating this?
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/7100015133/in/photostream/
 

[96701]

Will phase 2 be re-instating this?

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/7100015133/in/photostream/

 

Hardly, Miss. That bit of railway isn't on the SWM2, it merely used to connect it to the BAG. 

[Steadfast]

I went up to the Kemble area on Wednesday (14th) to see what was going on. Unfortunately in the time I was there before getting home to go to work, the answer was not much!

Here's the photos I did get, 66106 is waiting prior to the unloading see in the Captain's photos above. I must say thanks too for his help in explaining what's been going on in the work!

150238 sits at Kemble before working the shuttle service to Gloucester 14/8/13

 

 

66106 waits at Oaksey with side tippers full of ballast 14/8/13

 

Plant in use in the work to re-double the track between Kemble and Swindon seen at Oaksey. The platform remains here have been removed 14/8/13

 

To give some perspective of what it used to be like here before the work started, I've got these shots looking both ways.

37601 leads 37607 north on 1Q13 from Didcot at Oaksey on the single line between Swindon and Kemble 12/5/11

 

66844 dodges the shadows at Oaksey, south of Kemble, with a diverted 6O55 Llanwern - Dollands Moor 9/1/11

 

Hopefully I'll get the chance to get up there again somewhen in the next week or so get some more pictures of progress

 

jo

[big jim]

It's the Colas/Morgan Sindell Joint Venture for the PW elements, certainly. One of the Engineering Supervisors that I was talking to on Tuesday drove daily from Pontypridd...!

probably the same ES i dealt with the other weekend at the possession south of gobowen

[D1059]

 

 

66844 dodges the shadows at Oaksey, south of Kemble, with a diverted 6O55 Llanwern - Dollands Moor 9/1/11

 

Hopefully I'll get the chance to get up there again somewhen in the next week or so get some more pictures of progress

 

jo

 

I was out for that one too, albeit on the GWML

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d1059/5560988519/

 

Apparently it nearly stalled on Sapperton so it was double headed a few weeks later

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48175753@N03/5561633452/in/photolist-9tsPRW-9tssQA-9tst6u

[Gary H]

I was out for that one too, albeit on the GWML

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d1059/5560988519/

 

Apparently it nearly stalled on Sapperton so it was double headed a few weeks later

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48175753@N03/5561633452/in/photolist-9tsPRW-9tssQA-9tst6u

Im guessing this train is maybe 2000 tons gross with those 20 loaded covered steel wagons?

That's a fairly heavy test with poor adhesion in the winter months on Sapperton.

[Fat Controller]

Im guessing this train is maybe 2000 tons gross with those 20 loaded covered steel wagons?

That's a fairly heavy test with poor adhesion in the winter months on Sapperton.

A little shy of 1600t, I believe; the wagons are rated at 80t GLW, I think, whilst the maximum load for a pair of 92s through the Channel Tunnel is just over 1600t.

[Trog]

Those are 'G60' sleepers with their integral 'Fast clip' fastenings. Those sleepers are the heaviest that I know of in the catalogue for plain line and are just over 300KG each. (I think about 315KG )

The pad's on these are made of a very hard plastic, you got a job to bend one in half. Rubber is still used widely, I suppose you could expect a 10.5 MM rubber pad to last 20 years or so on straight and well maintained track.

 

G44 sleepers the white nylons and pads with the corners cut off at 45' show a sleeper set up for use with CEN60 rail.

 

 

Over the years rail pads have tended to get thicker and more designed.

 

Thirty years ago we were still using bits of old car tyre on F10 BJB sleepers and 5mm pads cut from ex NCB conveyer belt material on some others.

 

Cast iron baseplates generally use 5mm thick lipped pads made from hard EVA plastic, the lips stopping the pads working out.

 

The standard plain sleeper pad of the early 1980's was 5.5mm rubber, oblong with a strip of double sided cellotape to stop the pad working off the sleepers. As you can imagine this did not work very well even when we could be bothered to peel off the paper strip protecting the glue.

 

Later the pads became H shaped for Pandrol and cruciform for SHC F19 sleepers, holding the pads into place by fitting them round the housings. These were available in EVA plastic, rubber bonded cork and plain rubber. The EVA were cheap but not very good and were eventually used up on more minor lines, the plain rubber were the best.

 

The later F40 and 5F40 type sleepers took a 10.5mm thick pad, and at about the same time we moved over to using 7.5mm pads on the older sleepers that had previously used 5.5mm. These were originally rubber bonded cork or rubber, but then moved to a hard rubber pimpled pad like those used on the Fastclip sleepers of today.

[Mallard60022]

Is that a GWR/WR Water Tower in left top background in ewsjo's first pic?

P

[buffalo]

Is that a GWR/WR Water Tower in left top background in ewsjo's first pic?

Yes, it's a listed building! Unfortunately, it no longer has the smaller high level tank above it. There are many photos on the web, including this page.

 

Nick

[Mallard60022]

Lovely link buffalo - many thanks.  I have a feeling I might have stopped at Kemble once on a return run from Gloucester to Guildford behind 73096 in the late 90s. I admired it then but we didn't have time to go to the pub and I missed the water tower.

Wonder if anyone has modelled it? 

P