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In an unprecedented three day marathon the WSRA P.Way gang has severed the West Chord of the triangle at Norton, taken out three lengths of rail and sleepers, graded the trackbed, installed, bolted, lined and levelled a complete point and the replaced the rails either side of the new point before ballasting it all.
The West Chord of the triangle was originally laid in plain line through the location where the East Chord will leave it. This was because the location forms the unloading site for the HOBC and we didn't have a suitable turnout. However since then a refurbished bullhead lead had been donated to the Association and was available in three large sections at Norton. With the HOBC on temporary stand down now was the time to put the lead into place.
The weekend job started on Thursday when a GPS survey of the site was done to find the exact position to place the new lead, which has a turnout radius of 184m to align it with the 200m radius of the chord. The centreline was marked and the sleeper positions pegged out. On Friday three 60 foot panels of rail were lifted out and the sleepers put to one side before a large loading shovel was used to grade the trackbed down to the required level.
On Saturday a Hiab equipped lorry was used to lift the three pieces and place them in exactly the right position defined by the GPS survey before the three were bolted and aligned as a single but still isolated lead. On Sunday the four rails either side of the new lead were cut, drilled and then bolted into place before the whole length was jacked to level and ballasted.
The completed lead was then clipped, locked, scotched and plated before being offered for hand back inspection. Photographs of the various stages have been posted on the website in recent days.
Whilst this takes a few minutes to describe this is was a very large job to be undertaken by our volunteer P.Way gang in such a short space of time and I am both grateful to them for their efforts and hugely impressed at what they have achieved - so impressed I must get another 500 concrete sleepers for them to lay, because whilst they were doing this job someone else was ever so quietly marking out the alignment for the next batch to be delivered........
Thank You Guys
David Holmes
Chairman WSRA
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In the last two weeks Network Rail and the WSRA have exchanged contracts on the sale of a short length of the original Barnstaple branch to the Association. Paperwork is still awaited from solicitors but the land which will be incorporated into the triangle works has been sold to the WSRA for the consideration of £1. It will enable the headshunt at the Taunton end of the triangle to extend to a locomotive plus four or five coaches if necessary and may in time permit the re-connection of the Barnstaple line junction with the Minehead branch.
Earlier this year Network Rail permitted and supervised some undergrowth clearance work in preparation for the final transfer which will make the process of restoring the trackbed much faster and easier.
The deal has been several years in the making because of the complex and contorted system of due diligence that has to be observed to ensure that land which is sold is truly redundant and is of no further use to the national network. The sale has come just in time for the Norton project as recent ballast deliveries mean that further work can be carried out on the formation before the autumn weather sets in.
David Holmes
Chairman WSRA
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| NORTON FITZWARREN |
| CHANGE FOR |
| MINEHEAD |
| AND BARNSTAPLE |
| BRANCHES |
...so read the Running in Boards on the original Norton Fitzwarren station platform before it was closed and demolished in the 1960s. The branch line to Barnstaple disappeared in the 1960s and long sections of the trackbed have since been built over or ploughed back into farmland. However the Minehead branch still survives and is nowadays home to the very popular West Somerset Steam Railway. No trace of the station remains although the original Up Relief line, now the West Somerset Railway's connection to the main line, still deviates as if inviting the original island platform to return.
However Norton Fitzwarren now has a new island platform and a new station. The new station is a more modest four-coach affair with one face to the West Somerset Railway and one face that has yet to have track installed. The station, the newest in Somerset brings the 20 mile railway's total to eleven stations, two of them built since the preservationists took over the former Taunton to Minehead line in the 1970s.
Built on the edge of its 37 acre site by the West Somerset Railway Association, the new platform was built in just six weeks by Tiverton based John Luffman Trading and inspected and passed for operational use by an Inspector from the Office of the Rail Regulator on Friday July 17th 2009.
The new platform has been designed and built to current modern day standards and can therefore be used by both the steam and diesel heritage services normally run by the railway or modern visiting trains from the National network.
Currently the platform will not be open for regular services but will be used to bring passengers to events such as the railway's Steam Traction Engine and Vintage Vehicle Rally to be held at the site on August 1st and 2nd or for Gala services which will run to the platform from the railway's usual terminal station at Bishops Lydeard thus offering the visitor a new destination on the line.
The local Parish Council who were treated to a pre-view of the station before the ORR inspection declared they were delighted to have a station back in the village and looked forward to the day when it might be possible for the steam railway to run regular services from Norton Fitzwarren or for Norton to be again regularly connected to the national network just 300 yards distant!
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Working during the coldest weekend of the winter and with the agreement and approval of Network Rail, volunteers from the WSRA Cutting Back and P.Way gangs have removed years of undergrowth from the ditch between the original Barnstable Line formation and the Up Exeter to Bristol Main Line.
The short section of branch trackbed is due to be transferred to the Association in the spring for incorporation in the triangle works currently ongoing. The heavily overgrown ditch will mark the new boundary between the WSRA land and Network Rail and needed to be cleared before the transfer could be completed.
This is the second occasion when WSRA volunteers have been permitted to work on Network Rail land – the first being the removal of artefacts from the original Taunton steam shed site. Whilst the work is carried out to strictly agreed Methods and does not involve working ‘on or near the line’ Network Rails’ approval is a reflection on the professionalism of WSRA volunteers
Brambles, overgrowth and tree stumps have been removed. Further work is planned to lift the willow roots out of the ditch and prevent re-growth. This work, which will require the use of a mechanical excavator, will be undertaken by John Luffman Trading and is likely to involve the attendance of a Network Rail supervisor due to the proximity to the Main Line.
The trackbed behind the ditch was cleared by a bulldozer just before Christmas to allow access to the ditch and means that subject to final grading the entire triangle is now ready for progressive ballasting during the spring of 2009.
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The West Somerset Railway Association has announced plans to build a four coach platform at its Norton Fitzwarren triangle site in time for the 2009 Steam Fayre – due to be held on August 1st and 2nd.
The station, which will be an un-staffed Halt, will lie alongside the existing West Somerset Railway. Its main function will be to bring visitors to the site, although it is likely to have a role to play in future Gala events, and at busy times may be used for overspill car parking with a shuttle to Bishops Lydeard. It will be built on the trackbed of the original down line constructed in 1936 but lifted in the 1970s. The site has most recently been used by the HOBC to discharge ballast before the line into the triangle site was completed in April last year.
Norton will be the eleventh station on the 22 mile line giving the WSR more stations than any other Heritage line and more stations in Somerset than Network Rail. As a new station it is required to comply with current regulations and standards, although the WSRA do not consider it will be necessary to include a painted yellow line 600mm from the platform edge!
Exploratory discussions have been held with the Office of the Rail Regulator, Taunton Deane Borough Council, the Environment Agency and Somerset Highways in addition to the local Parish Council. All have signalled their approval in principle and the WSRA has now entered a Planning Application with Taunton Deane Borough Council.
» Full story...
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The West Somerset Railway Association report work in progress to level the Allerford length of the old Barnstaple branch prior to ballasting.
The works have revealed the original formation was widened on the Up side using locomotive ash - probably from Taunton shed. This is more likely to have occurred during the installation of a second track in the 1930s.
The formation rises sharply as it approaches the remains of the bridge over Allerford Lane and the formation is being lowered slightly to reduce the slope - the extra material being re-used to widen the trackbed to accommodate the ten foot requirement between tracks on what will eventually become a siding and a headshunt.
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 On the Barnstaple formation
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The WSRA Norton Fitzwarren site was a busy place on 13 July. The day saw the combined forces of the WSRA Permanent Way and Special Projects teams preparing for the Steam Fayre and laying the first section of track on the Barnstaple formation.
At one time there were five different groups, preparing the crossing from the public cars park ready for the Rally, taking shuttering off the last culvert under the East Chord, erecting a banner to face the mainline and advertise the Steam Fayre, safety railing a footbridge across a ditch and of course a further group laying a further three 60 foot panels of track on the original up formation. In all approximately thirty volunteers.
Meanwhile Wessex Water has almost completed the installation of a metered hydrant at Norton Bridge to supply water for the Steam Fayre and in the future for visiting locomotives - the connection being near enough to the WSR line to connect a hose from hydrant to locomotive.
A stop for morning coffee was timed to coincide with the passage of Tangmere on the Torbay Express service, and there were plenty of FGW and CrossCountry services passing during the rest of the day to admire our progress.
If you've not seen Norton be sure to make a date for 2-3 August for the Steam Fayre when the public will be admitted to the site....
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 The West Chord Junction
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After an atrociously wet winter work has recently restarted at Norton…only to be stopped almost immediately by another ten days of rain. However the surface is drying out again so we hope to bring the plant back and continue work again shortly.
So far this year we h | | |
