Projects

Wallingford Station Development

Having secured the Bunk Line and restored passenger services, the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway Preservation Society is now seeking to improve passenger facilities at Wallingford. Between 2002 and 2005 the railway operated under cramped conditions at Wallingford, whilst the adjacent Maltings were demolished and a new housing estate built in their place. Building works finished mid 2003 and in 2004 an extra strip of land was handed over to the society.

Although compact, the sociery has the necessary land on which to build a new station. finances and lack of manpower mean that development to date has been slow. The volunteer labour force is currrently concentrating most of its efforts on upgrading the permanent way. Ultimately, it is hoped to provide a new station building that can house better facilities for visitors. It is likely to be a steel framed, wood clad building, that, despite modern construction methods, will still resemble a GWR style building. The time scale in which this is achieved depends on funding and the number of volunteers.

Phase 1 of the project will see the installation of a long siding along the back of the site which will be used for stock storage and the loading and unloading of rolling stock. This siding will be infilled so as it can also be used for car parking during running days. Once this is complete, Phase Two will see the platform being rebuilt on a new alignment with run-round loop and station fittings. Further sidings will also be added. Phase 3 and beyond will see the provision of a station building, sheds, signalling and water tower.

Plans are still on the drawing board and an appeal to raise money for the works will be launched soon. Further details of this exiting project will appear here as they become available.

To date, pointwork to provide access to the yard has been moved into its correct position, however, further track laying will not be able to take place until the concrete surface has been removed.

Permanent Way Upgrade 2005-2008

An inspection of the permanent way at the end of last year revealed that the track-work requires significant upgrading if we want to continue to run trains in the future. The worst affected section is on the Cholsey side of the Winterbrook Lane crossing, where some components of the trackwork date from the 1930s. Spot re-sleepering took place here about 5 years ago, however, the older sleepers have since deteriorated such that they require replacement.

The inspector felt that it was vital to have a plan in place and some of this work completed in time for the start of the season in 2005. With this in mind, the troops, or anyone willing to help, were mobilised after Christmas to begin the huge task of re-laying the track.

Since January 2005, there has been a team of people, toiling away every weekend out in the bleak conditions of Winterbrook Curve. A number of wooden and steel sleepers were spot re-sleepered in the first couple of weeks. This involves digging individual sleepers out of the ballast, jacking up the track and removing the sleeper. This is then replaced with a new sleeper and the track re-aligned. It sounds simple, but can be back breaking work and is very time consuming.

The fact that there were more bad sleepers than good in a number of panels, combined with the prohibitive weight of the concrete sleepers, meant that a different technique was then employed. It was decided that it would be more efficient to remove the track entirely, remove the ballast, lay new concrete sleepers and then re install the rails. Due to the weight of the concrete sleepers, this is not a task that can be completed by hand. Thankfully, Tom and Dave Buckingham were able to lay their hands on a forklift/ shovel. With the aid of this, an efficient operation was established, whereby the machine was employed to shovel up the ballast and to lower the concrete sleepers into place.

Excellent progress has been made in 2005 and over 300 sleepers have now been changed in this way. A further consignment of sleepers has now arrived and has been taken by train down to the works site. There are about 600 sleepers that will need changing in the not too distant future, so there is plenty more work to be done. If you don’t have a bad back and would like some exercise in the fresh air then please give us a call.