Mountsorrel Railway takes a giant leap forward!

Over the last week local digger contractor, Steve Barsby, has been hard at work scrapping mud from the surface of the trackbed. The original trackbed base was buried under an average of three inches of mud and leaf mulch that had built up on the surface since the railway fell out of use. Contractors have removed all of the mud to reveal the original trackbed for the first time in almost 50 years. We now have a length of over 1,100m, which is two thirds of the total trackbed, poised to receive ballast!



(more recent photos available at our Flickr site)

This work was only possible thanks to the very kind donations of our many supporters. The on going progress of the project depends entirely on your financial support, so please send a donation (on a cheque made out to RVP Ltd, with Mountsorrel Railway written on the back) to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 7EW, or contact george@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.

The next task is to stabilise several soft areas of the trackbed. J. McCann (Nottingham) Ltd have very kindly agreed to undertake this work for us at NO cost to the project! We hope to complete this work in March. We will then start work on laying the ballast that Lafarge Aggregates have very kindly donated to the project.

These are very exciting times for the project, so why not become involved yourself? As well as the continuing process of rebuilding the railway, we are also about to embark on a series of site visits with several local schools. This will allow the children to experience the history of the railway first hand. Our Ecology Group is also under way, developing ideas and initiatives to encourage and study the wildlife along side the railway. There are many areas and we have something to interest everyone. To enquire about volunteering with any area of the project please contact Steve Cramp at steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.

Cold snap fails to halt restoration work!

Whilst most of the UK grinds to a halt in the current cold snap, contractors are hard at work preparing the Mountsorrel Railway trackbed to receive ballast kindly donated by Lafarge Aggregates.



Local digger contractor Steve Barsby has been braving the heavy snowfalls so that the project is not delayed. The hope is that by the end of the week over 1,150 metres of trackbed will effectively be ready to receive ballast! We had thought that the worst snow for 18 years would delay the project, but the determination amongst our volunteer team seems to have spread to the contractors working for us and they are as eager as we are to get the job done!

The project is also very proud to be able to offer paid work to local companies during these difficult economic times. Please support the project with a financial donation to ensure that work can continue; you can send a cheque made out to RVP Ltd, with "Mountsorrel Railway" written on the back, to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 7EW.

We are also delighted to announce that Humphrey Perkins High School at Barrow Upon Soar, will be undertaking a series of site visits to the project to allow their students to study and learn about the history of the railway. We hope to start visits as soon as practically possible!