Sunday 12 August

What a nice day for working on the railway! The Sussex sun was shining  and the temperature rose through the day but never got unbearable.

So we were happy to hang the second door on the northeast corner of the mess van and make final adjustments to both doors to ensure they fitted into the newly narrowed aperture, then bolt them in,  having first cut the heavy iron hinges to length and cleaned them up for painting. We then routed the planking lines into the plywood sheet which replaces the old planking adjacent to these doors.  We can finish bolting this sheet in place next week, adding sealant, and secure the cut planking as well. A few more man-days should finish off this door set, before we contemplate tackling the final - centre - door set.  The last of the door furniture was removed from the old doors, which can now be broken up and disposed of. 

Already the internal cladding and insulation work is about to resume in the last stretch of the mess van interior remaining to be tackled.

Close by, painting continued on the chassis of the three-plank wagon, and on the brake van and its verandahs.  

On the trackwork front, next week sees the delivery of large amounts of ballast followed by another stretch of new tracklaying, rapidly approaching join-up with the old 'b' line. This temporary join-up will eventually allow the rolling stock to be relocated away from the station during reconstruction of the terminus.

Steve G  

    

 

Wednesday 1 August

I have rather got out of the habit of writing a post here about what's been happening on the railway.  However, here goes once again...

Over the last couple of working days, we've been majoring on the vehicles at Robertsbridge while  contractor Andrew Woods gets on with excavating the track bed north of the loading pad (ie north of the mainline station car park). In fact he has now reached the loading pad, the ballast regulator having been moved southwards to enable the track here to be lifted. The ground level is now about two or three feet below where it was, ready for the sub base of crushed concrete and a layer of permeable matting to go down. A series of drains have been installed.

As for the vehicles, we have completed the changeover of the doors on the northern western end of the mess van, which is effectively the main entrance, and now started on the opposite side doors. This changeover sounds like an easy job, but in fact it takes about 12 man-days to complete.

We start by loosening all the bolts holding the doors and the stanchion, leaving just enough to hold everything in place until we are ready to go, plus we cut the bolts on the planking adjecent to the doors. Then the hinges are removed and the very heavy old doors are dropped to the ground. Then the stanchion has to be removed, and as the bottom end is welded  to the vehicle some sledgehammer work is needed. This iron post is also heavy, and it must be rebolted to the old holes, which fortunately remain in place since the vehicle doors were altered sometime in the late 30s/early 40s.

The four long door hinges then have to be cut back to their original length, and re-primed to keep the rust at bay.  One of the new plywood doors is then offered up, propped, drilled and lighly bolted in place. Then the other door. Some planing is required because the new doors are fractionally oversized. Final adjustments are made and all the holes drilled and bolted through.

This of course leave a large hole in the side of the van, so existing planking must be cut back, having previously removed the bolts holding it in place. A new 1 inch thick marine ply panel is cut to size and tried out. Then this has to be removed and carefully routed to represent planking, which has to match the existing planking lines. Then after any bare metalwork is primed, this plywood panel has its edges primed and its then bolted in place, and sealant applied. Then it is primed on the outside.

Meanwhile, all the old door furniture has to be removed from the old doors, and carefully transferred to the new doors, having been cleaned up and primed as necessary. It's generally easier to cut away the old wood from these fittings, rather than trying to unbolt or unscrew them. The old doors are broken up, salvaging any few planks that are still useable.  All this is time-consuming in the platform, but slower and slightly nerve-racking when undertaken using our work-tower. We have to take extra safety precautions over handling the heavy doors. Eventually the old door fittings are refixed to the new doors, after cleaning up and priming.  then the whole lot is ready for undercoating and painting in RSR green on the outside. In the fact. all the east side of the van is awaiting a top coat of green.

Once this door set is done, the final big job is the centre doors, the on;y difference being that the doors being fitted are original droplight doors rather than the new solid plywood doors inherited with the vehice when we bought it a couple of years ago. 

At the same time we are painting the LNER hopper wagon, which is due to be sold, and also Titan the green Drewry loco - while we have some sunshine.

Steve G

Sunday 22nd July

The glorious summer has now come to Robertsbridge which gave the oppurtunity to repaint the gate at Northbridge Street. The GBLV was also full during lunchtime. Lockers formally housed in the Network Rail huts at the mainline station have been moved to the old office building. Elsewhere, work has continued on the GBLV doors, the picnic area has been strimmed and the decorating of the museum/information centre is complete so the public can now use the new facility. The displays are being developed.

Membership Cards 2013/14 - Photo Proposal

In the Winter 2011 edition (11q4) of the Phoenix (page 13 to be precise) I outlined the plan for the new membership cards to carry the photograph of the most significant, or mood setting picture of the last 12 months. The first card carried Donald Wilsons "Charwelton at Udiam", reflecting the opening of the Bodiam-Udiam section of the RVR East on the occasion of the Junction Road Weekend.

And now time is upon us again to select a photo from the RVR photo archives. I had always intended the Membership should decide.

For my part I would like to nominate.

TEDS "Charwelton at Bodiam"

Steve Griffiths "Bridge 1"

Geoff Wyatts "Bridge 2"

The mechanics of how this will be decided I have not worked out, but opt for this to evolve during the quarter.

 

The decision to be announced prior to the Winter Phoenix.

Trevor Streeter for Membership Services streetert@rvr.org.uk

Wednesday 11th March

There have been several downpours today but that hasn't stopped work starting on narrowing and replacing one of the GBLV doors.

Back in the VSOE building, a cupboard has been built in the corner of the shop to store cleaning equipment and electrics. Next is painting it.
The Hastings Tramboys are continuing to relocate their premises.

12q2 Phoenix - Robertsbridge Junction Station Plans

We had the pleasure at the AGM of a presentation by Mike Hart of the new plans for the development of Robertsbridge Station, on behalf of the RVR Heritage Trust. Detailed drawings have been drawn up for submission to the local authority, and a number of these are now on view in our mess van, pending completion of the visitor centre refurbishment. These are mostly too detailed to reproduce successfully in this small magazine, but a sketch showing the proposed general layout of track and buildings has been prepared (opposite –not to scale). We hope to be able to get the full plans on display soon, and perhaps more into the next Phoenix.

As the sketch indicates, and as widely anticipated, developments include a long new platform to accommodate K&ESR-length trains, and a long carriage shed opposite the platform. A water crane (currently stored at Rolvenden) will be placed at the southern end of the platform, fed from a new water tower to be built south of the carriage shed. There is space for a signal box (non-functioning) south of the platform.

The new station will have a run-round for locomotives. Coaling of locos will take place near the small loco shed to be built on the outer edge of the curve heading towards Bridge 1. The headshunt for this shed will be capable of being extended into the mainline station’s bay platform, should the opportunity arise at a future date. This could be useful for stock transfers, for example. A lever frame will be installed to control the turnouts at this northern end of the new track layout.

In terms of construction, preparation for the track layout changes should be starting later this year, once it’s possible to move the existing collection of railway vehicles further up towards Bridge 1. This is expected to happen this summer once new trackwork reaches the loading pad area. Stores and workshops also have to be relocated. Levels need to be improved on the track bed to remove the current slope towards the southern end, and the bed needs to be moved eastwards to give room for the platform to be built alongside the existing main station car park.

Under the plans, the VSOE building will be retained until after the new station building is completed, which is not envisaged to be for several years yet. However, everything else at the existing station site is either being moved or demolished to make way for the new scheme.

Workshops, stores, staff facilities including parking, and loco fuel etc will be distributed between the loco shed and carriage shed areas.

12q2 Phoenix - Dates for the Diary

East Sussex Gauge 'O' Group's
model railway exhibition, 15 &16 September, Bexleyheath (see advertisement below). model show, Sunday July 15th 10-5.00, Pett Village Hall, E.Sussex.
Details from Geoff Wyatt on 01424 813300.

K&ESR Hop-pickers weekend,
8 & 9 September 2012. Passenger train running is being extended beyond Bodiam across the RVR metals to Junction Road over the event weekend, for only the second time since the stretch of line was restored. RVR plan a stand at Bodiam.

Charity Toy and Train Fair, in aid of the Association of Bexley Charities,
Wednesday 29 August, Falconwood Community Centre, the Green, Welling, DA16 2PG. (6.30pm to 9.30pm –free parking). Erith Model Railway Society’s