Track laying diary part 2

April 9th 2011

One new panel was laid. This may not sound like much compared to the previous week's four, but we had so many other tasks to undertake as well. We had to move and lay out all the sleepers for the new panel and also key up all one side of the four panels laid last week, both which took quite a lot of time and effort. We also had to move some of the ballast bed to support the new panel as the track is moving slightly off centre to where the ballast was laid. This is because since the ballast bed was laid in November 2009, we have been able to achieve a better track line to ensure that we have a constant radius for the full length of this long curve.

The head of steel (HOS) is also becoming some considerable distance from the rail stack, so the opportunity was taken to use two rail trolleys to move the rails. The trolleys would become a great asset to us over the coming weeks.



The Tuesday group had taken on the challenge of cutting and drilling rails ready for Saturday's laying sessions.



April 16th 2011

A further panel of track was laid this week leaving only four more to go during our current track laying phase. The Tuesday group spent the day laying out sleepers for the next panel.











April 23rd 2011

It was Easter weekend with many volunteers away making the best of the good weather. Our numbers weren't high enough this week to move rail but the GCR had brought a wagon to the branch with 40 more sleepers. The opportunity was taken to unload the wagon and construct a new sleeper stack near to the HOS.



April 30th 2011

With volunteer numbers restored a further panel was laid, plated up, slewed into position and keyed up. The GCR was almost out of sight in the distance behind us.





Third and final part of this diary to follow later this week.

BBC Radio Leicester coverage

Earlier this week BBC Radio Leicester DJ Ben Jackson came to the trackbed to interview Mountsorrel Railway volunteer John Mace.

The interview was broadcast yesterday morning and is available on the BBC website for the coming week. Please click below and fast forward to 1 hour 33 minutes into the programme:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00ghncr

Bond Lane bridge restoration hit by stone theft

We are unhappy to report that our volunteer work to restore the Bond Lane bridge has been hampered because of the theft of some of the bridge stones. The bridge is at the end of the section of the Mountsorrel Railway being restored.

The end section of the bridge wall was collapsing (see previous news update). Volunteers had numbered and labelled key stones so they could be cleaned and replaced in their original positions as the wall was rebuilt. Our aim was to maintain the original appearance of the wall almost exactly how it would have been when originally constructed.

The wall was carefully disassembled with hammers and chisels, and each stone carefully cleaned, before being stored nearby ready for reconstruction to commence. What makes the stones so special is that they were all hand dressed at the quarry over a hundred years ago. Finding new hand dressed stone is very difficult today: you can only normally find rough blasted stone which is not in keeping with the original look of the bridge. So you can see it was imperative to preserve all of the original stones.

Despite being stored in what we hoped would be a safe location, we were extremely disappointed to find that a significant number of the stones had been stolen. This included almost half the carefully numbered stones, making it impossible to rebuild the wall exactly how it would have been. Our volunteers were devastated by this, which we believe was most likely carried out by one or more local people. When you give your time freely to try to bring a useful and beneficial resource to the local community it is disappointing to see your efforts undone in this way.

Fortunately we discovered the theft early, before all the stones were taken. The person appeared to be returning each evening to take more stones, so luckily we were able to move the stones away for safe storage at one of our volunteer's houses. Not an easy task in itself as there were almost five tonnes of stones to move!

Not all is lost. The rebuilding of the bridge wall is a priority while we try to find suitable stones to replace the ones that were taken. The remaining stones are being returned to site for each work party and then removed again at the end of the day. This extra handling and transportation is hindering the bridge volunteers, but it has to be done.



The photo shows the bridge wall under reconstruction. The temporary fence in front is to protect members of the public from the works, and will be removed when the wall is completed.

On a brighter note we would like to say a special thanks to project sponsors Languard Vegetation Management of Husbands Bosworth, who have been back with us again to weedkill the trackbed base. Weed control over a mile and a quarter of railway would be a mammoth task to undertake ourselves, so we are immensely grateful to Languard for providing this work at no cost to the project. We would also like to thank Lafarge Ready Mix for donating the concrete pour for the new Bond Lane bridge wall foundations. Their support represents a significant saving for the project.

If your company might be able to help the project in any way please get in touch with Steve Cramp. We are always in need of many items both large and small for tasks that involve plant or other machinery. We would very much like to hear from you if you think you can help. Thank you.

Mountsorrel Railway volunteers start restoration of Bond Lane bridge

Back in early 2009 we took on the restoration of the granite railway bridge at Wood Lane at the Mountsorrel end of the railway line. The bridge required sections of the parapet wall rebuilding and both road facing walls completely repointing. The distinct historical importance of the bridge made the restoration all the more difficult, with the need to reuse the original stones and to ensure that key stones all went back in exactly the right place.

The contractor quote for the work was just under £19,000, but our volunteers undertook the restoration ourselves, completing the work to a very high standard at a cost of only £120! This was made possible thanks to a donation from Mountsorrel Parish Council, Lafarge who supplied some of the materials, and several people who donated. The work took over 15 months to complete and many volunteers of all ages came from the community to help.

Last summer, vegetation clearance around the bridge at Bond Lane, at the end of the line, revealed the parapet walls to be in the same poor state of repair as the Wood Lane bridge we had just restored. It soon became clear we had another ambitious restoration on our hands! Our thanks go again to Mountsorrel Parish Council for sharing our desire to preserve Mountsorrel's heritage and making a further donation for the cost of tools. We are also grateful to Lafarge who have kindly agreed to provide the materials needed for the restoration.



Exploratory work started last October with help from Loughborough University students.



Work got underway properly in January with over 20 local volunteers descending on the bridge with hammers and chisels to remove the old mortar ready for repointing. Remarkably this extraordinary number of volunteers enabled the entire south side of the bridge to be chiselled out in only one day!







Our volunteer stonemason has already made a start on the repointing and the bridge is starting to return to its former glory.





Our next task is to take down the collapsing end wall, so that new foundations can be dug before the wall is rebuilt using the original stones.



This is an example of how community volunteers were able to come together with local industry and the council to preserve our heritage. The "Big Society" in action!

If you'd like to come and help with this work we have volunteer sessions each Tuesday and Saturday. Please get in touch with Steve Cramp for more details.

Come and see us on the weekend of 29th January

At the forthcoming Great Central Railway winter steam gala, you'll be able to talk to Mountsorrel Railway volunteers and see photos of the project.

We'll be in the Rothley station waiting room, on the platform, on Saturday and Sunday 29-30 January. Please see the map below for directions.

Local artist John Cramp will be with us on the Saturday to talk about the limited edition watercolour painting which we are currently selling to raise funds for the tracklaying. Prints of the work will be on sale throughout the weekend, at prices to suit every pocket.

We look forward to seeing you there.


View Route of Mountsorrel Railway in a larger map

Mountsorrel Railway limited edition prints on sale

A local artist has painted a superb watercolour scene of the Mountsorrel Railway. The painting is evocatively titled "The Way Forward" and shows sole surviving Mountsorrel Railway steam loco, Peckett 0-4-0 tank engine "Elizabeth", coming through the Wood Lane bridge with a rake of Mountsorrel granite wagons.



The painting gives an exciting insight into the historical recreations the restored branch line will be able to portray.

The artist has kindly allowed us to commission a run of limited edition prints of the painting, which we are selling with all proceeds going directly to the Mountsorrel Railway track appeal.

The prints are available in two sizes:

1. The first comes in a 20" x 16" mount for only £20. A frame can be supplied for an extra £7 if desired.
2. The second size comes in a 12" x 10" mount for £15 with a frame available for an extra £5 if desired.
   

If you are not local we can mail the prints to you, charging postage and packing at cost.

The limited edition run is of only 150 in each size. The larger prints will be available on the week beginning 15 November 2010, with the smaller size the following week. We have already taken many advance orders, so interest is high!

If you would like to see steam trains run along the Mountsorrel Railway and onto the Great Central Railway again, then please help the track appeal by buying a print.

For more details please e-mail direct the volunteer coordinating the Mountsorrel Railway project, Steve Cramp, at: steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk

Thank you

October update

We had another cracking day on Saturday with over 25 volunteers attending the work party, including three Loughborough University students. Work was done to clear the line of sight to the signal at the Great Central Railway junction, as locos will approach the junction around a curve. As well as the clearance work a survey team of volunteers was also plotting a new curve alignment.

Watercolour prints to go on sale

Below is a low resolution version of a superb watercolour painted for the project by local artist John Cramp.



Appropriately entitled The Way Forward, the painting indicates what we are working towards, and also signifies that the painting's creation might hopefully help us to raise the funds to get there!

The painting shows Peckett 0-4-0 saddle tank engine Elizabeth, bringing her rake of Mountsorrel granite wagons through the Wood Lane bridge on their way to the Great Central Railway.

Elizabeth is the only steam loco to have worked on the Mountsorrel Railway that still survives. Currently under restoration at the Rutland Railway Museum by its owner, a local resident, we hope that Elizabeth will visit the restored branch line to recreate this scene.

We don't currently have a firm price for the prints as we are investigating what costs we will incur in creating them.

However, to give you some idea, we hope to offer the prints in up to three sizes, and priced appropriately so they are affordable by everyone.

Each print will be signed by the artist, and will be numbered as part of a limited edition run of 100 or less.

Each print would come with a mount and in a cellophane sleeve. If buyers want their print sent by post we can do this at an added cost. In addition to this we may also look at providing frames for an additional cost if people want this.

To register your interest for a print please e-mail George Overton.

Media coverage

The project featured on the BBC Radio Leicester breakfast show this morning and our third anniversary was mentioned in several news bulletins.

The four minute interview between DJ Ben Jackson and project coordinator Steve Cramp can be heard by going to the following page of the BBC iPlayer; the interview is just after the 41 minute mark.

Additionally the Loughborough Echo kindly continues to give the project excellent coverage most weeks.

Short survey online until 1st November

We'd like to know your thoughts about a handful of things to do with the Mountsorrel Railway project. It shouldn't take more than a minute for you to fill in this online survey. The survey closes Monday 1st November midnight GMT.

Please remember that at any time we're grateful for your thoughts and opinions about the work. To get in touch please e-mail George Overton.

Your support is much appreciated. Thank you

70 volunteers attend the project's third anniversary work party!

The project's third anniversary was marked by a mammoth work party as we pushed forward with the many restoration tasks ahead of us. Our volunteer team was joined by 48 volunteers from Loughborough University making a record work party attendance of 70 volunteers!

This allowed us to undertake work in FIVE separate areas of the trackbed:



1. The restoration of the Bond Lane bridge was started.



2. A large group worked alongside our volunteers to tackle exploratory work on the trackbed drainage shafts near to Bond Lane.



3. Another group looked at ecology with a view to restarting the junior ecology sessions.





4. A fourth group were at work fencing our boundary near to Wood Lane.





5. The largest group, consisting of both students and our own volunteers, numbered 25 in total and tackled the annual line side clearance work near to the GCR junction.

It was fantastic to see the trackbed so alive with activity! The feedback from the students showed that they all thoroughly enjoyed the friendly atmosphere of the project and they were amazed by the progress made so far by our own volunteer team. Their help really showed just how much more can be achieved with a high number of volunteers. Our student volunteers allowed us to achieve five times as much as we would normally achieve in a single session and we would like to say a big thank you to both the students and Loughborough University for making the visit possible.

Loughborough University actively encourage their students to volunteer with local groups. Last year the university placed over 1,200 students with local community projects. The university sees voluntary work as an important personality and experience builder for their students. Volunteering says a lot about a person. Being willing to give your time freely to help others and the community around you is an important attribute when graduates are looking for work at the end of their degree. In the current limited job market employers are looking out for applicants that have that little extra. We are pleased to have been able to offer the students an interesting and enjoyable opportunity to volunteer.

Our hope now is that we can build a ongoing relationship with Loughborough University which will lead to regular help from their students.

If you would like to volunteer with the Mountsorrel Railway project please get in touch with Steve Cramp.

September Mountsorrel Railway news

Our volunteers continue to make good progress:



Work on the access path for our proposed platform at Bond Lane has been completed for now. The path will be left to settle for a few months before the handrails and top surface is added. Also at Bond Lane volunteers have cleared and strimmed the roadside grass verges around the bridge and alongside the road to Cuffins Pit Lane some 70 metres away. This was done to tidy the area and to create a safe walkway for users of the Leicestershire Round footpath, which passes along Bond Lane at this point. Walkers can now walk along the grass verge instead of having to walk along the road itself.



Work is also underway at Bond Lane, courtesy of Mountsorrel quarry, to repair the drainage problem which is delaying the ballast laying along the final section of the trackbed. We hope to have this problem resolved within the next few weeks.

We are in discussion with Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate with a view to gaining their approval for the design and location of the halt at Bond Lane. We hope to have some good news to report very soon.

Volunteers have also made a start on the annual program of strimming the trackbed shoulders and trimming back the hedgerows. Good progress has been made over the last two Saturdays with over 600m of trackbed trimmed and cleared. This work will continue throughout the autumn.



Our small team of volunteer surveyors have been at work plotting out the exact route of the track near to the junction with the Great Central Railway. This is in preparation for the next phase of track laying which will extend our length of track by an additional 100-200m depending on funds and availability of materials. Please donate to our track appeal! We hope that track laying will proceed towards the end of this year or early next.

Railbus work continues to make progress with the construction of a temporary frame which will allow the chassis to be wheeled out from under the body of the vehicle. The chassis will then be rolled into a near by work shop allowing work to progress on the mechanics overall of the vehicle. The railbus team are on the look out for volunteers with both welding and mechanical skills to help with the restoration work. If you have these skills and can spare a few hours of your time, please get in touch with the railbus project leader Stephen Mellor.

The Mountsorrel Railway project is pleased to be teaming up with Loughborough University to allow their students the chance to undertake a whole raft of different voluntary work with the project. These tasks could include the repair and repointing of the bridge at Bond Lane, vegetation maintenance, lineside fencing repairs, surveying and plotting out, platform construction, railbus restoration and various aspects of ecological work, including possibly the continuation of our junior ecology sessions with local children.

This coming weekend September 25th/26th, our volunteers will be taking the project stand to the annual Soar Valley Model Railway Club exhibition in Loughborough. If you are visiting the exhibition please drop by our stand to say hello.

We round the update off with an appeal for both additional volunteers and donations to the project. Our work can only continue with your support so please come and lend a hand or donate, all amounts large and small will be gratefully received and put to very good use. For further details please contact George Overton.

Mountsorrel Railway August news

August has been another busy month on the project. Work has continued between Wood Lane and the end of the line at Bond Lane. The trackbed has been readied for ballast laying. The next task is to repair the drainage pipe that runs along the side of the cutting; once this is complete we will start to lay the ballast. We thank Lafarge Aggregates Community Fund for their continued support.



Volunteers have spent the last few weeks constructing a volunteer access path at Bond Lane. This path has been built with the correct gradient and dimensions to allow future wheelchair use and will be developed over time to become our public access to the Mountsorrel Halt platform, once the railway is completed and open to the public.



Sourcing of materials for construction of the platform has taken a big leap forward with the kind donation from Lafarge of enough granite blocks to construct a 45 metre long full height platform wall. This kind donation represents a massive saving on the construction cost of the platform. We still require a concrete pour and re-bar for the foundations, plus other materials.  If your company would like to donate materials to help with the platform construction please get in touch.

Lesley Humphries ran her final junior ecology session in July; she has left us now to study at university. So far our attempts to find a volunteer to take over the ecology sessions has drawn a blank. If you or a friend, has an interest in ecology please get in touch with us. The junior ecology sessions can only continue with your support.



Thanks go to our weed killing sponsors Languard Vegetation Management of Husbands Bosworth, who have been back with us for a second session of weed management.

We have successfully completed our second year of wild flower planting sessions with local schools and young people groups. Since these sessions started last year over 400 children have been able to learn about ecology and the railway's history. If your school or group would be interested in taking part in next years sessions please get in touch.









Work continues to progress on the railbus restoration with the body now separated from the chassis. This is to allow work to commence on the mechanics whilst the body is overhauled at the same time.
 
The trackbed appeal is still in full swing. With ever increasing metal prices, we need your donations as soon as possible to secure the track we need, so please see our donations page for full details of how to donate.
 
Finally, an appeal for more volunteers. We currently have trackbed restoration work parties each Saturday, together with a railbus work parties also on Saturdays. We have also recently started a trackbed weekday work party, usually on Thursdays. So we should have an area of the project that interests you, regardless of whether you can only volunteer during the week or at weekends. Please try to find time to volunteer if you can. You'll always be assured of a very warm welcome! Thank you.