Permanent Way
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The Permanent Way team generally meet on Saturdays. The photo shows a typical day out on the line with the engineering train. A trip in the brake van, with its coal stove, and friendly banter, is an experience not to be missed, but which money cannot buy... all you have to do is volunteer! No formal skills are required. Experience the railway from "the other side" - the platelayer's view - authentic railway charm, but with modern safety standards.
The simple combination of wooden sleeper, stone, and steel, has not changed for almost two hundred years. Its maintenance is not only a physical challenge, but also a mental challenge, as it has intricacies to confound the best of us. Whatever your physical build, or walk of life, you are sure to enjoy working within our team.
If you volunteer then you are helping to maintain surely the most scenic line in Scotland, if not Britain. Come and help us realise the potential of this fantastic line.
The next scheduled PW days are:
Saturday 3rd July, sleeper changing Strathmill Bank
***There is always light work every week!***
Bulletins
Spring 2010
There were heavy snowfalls or blizzards in late December 2009, January, February and March 2010. Occasionally there has been a slight thawing but the weather has prevented much work being done on the permanent way.
SNOW AND MORE SNOW
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These photos show the weather conditions which prevented PW work being carried out. The one time a loco moved out of the yard it was preceded by a volunteer with a shovel, ensuring that the track was still in place beneath the snow.
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The railway was blanketed in snow from Dufftown to Keith.
Winter 2009
During the winter much work has been done on replacing the sleepers, chairs and general improving the condition of the track.
SECOND WASH OUT AT TOWIEMORE
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At the beginning of November the area suffered torrential rain and severe flooding in many places as it had done at the beginning of September. Once more the line just south of Towiemore had suffered from flooding and was washed out at the same section of line. The photos above show the line, on 2nd November, with some sleepers suspended in mid air as the floods had washed out the ballast. There were 2 sections of track where sleepers were left suspended in mid air. On one section 10 sleepers were left hanging and in the other 3 sleepers were left hanging in mid air.
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Photo 1 shows the worst affected area with ballast and embankment washed out below the sleepers. The area on one side of our line is low lying and wet and several burns drain the surrounding hills into it. The burns should then drain through a culvert below our line into the River Isla on the other side of our line. On this and previous occasions the culvert cannot cope with the loch that builds up behind our embankment. The loch eventually spills over the top of our embankment and washes out ballast and spoil from the embankment down to the bank of the Isla, see Photo 2.
Photo 3 shows the stop sign as the works train conveying volunteers, tools and Permanent Way equipment approaches the site on Saturday 7th November. Tom Dubern’s digger was taken by road to Towiemore then made its way to the work site and arrived before the work train and can be seen in photo 3. One of our volunteers stands in the gap washed under our track, Photo 4, with the sleepers at mid thigh height rather than at boot sole level.
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Tom’s digger was soon hard at work recovering spoil and ballast from the river bank and depositing it around and under the track. The opportunity was also taken to install some extra drainage pipes through the embankment to provide extra flood relief. Although the digger speeds up the work and reduces the amount of physical effort involved there is still plenty of manual work to be done. Much manual effort is required to wheelbarrow, shovel and tamp the ballast into its final place. The works train was run slowly over the reinstated section of line and adjustments made in the light of its passing to and fro. After several run pasts and adjustments the track was passed as suitable to carry our trains again.
Fortunately this washout occurred after our schedule services season had ended so no scheduled services were affected by the washout. The line had to be repaired in time for our first Santa Service on Saturday December 5th and time allowed for any further adjustments to the track before passenger services ran over it again. The Permanent Way gang and train crew were made up of Tom Dubern, Rod Furr, Mike Langford, Mark Pillkington, Alan Stuart, Ian McKenzie, Bob Balmer and Graham Barron. The press were alerted and a ”Press & Journal” photographer attended the works on 7th November. The following week there were reports of our work in the “Northern Scot” and the “Press & Journal”.
GORDONSTOUN SCHOOL VISIT
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Gordonstoun pupils paid their second visit of the year to the railway on Sunday 18th October. After a safety briefing on the task the boys from the group took the hand trolley to get tools and rail chairs to take up the line. Just beyond the limit of shunt they unloaded jacks, banks gun etc. to replace cracked chairs in the area. 25 chairs were replaced, a most commendable effort on their part.
The Association very much appreciates the efforts put in on track repair by Gordonstoun School and extends our sincere thanks to all involved.
Autumn 2009
WASH OUT AT TOWIEMORE
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On 3rd and 4th September the area suffered torrential rain and severe flooding in many places. An inspection by road and foot on Friday 4th showed that the line just south of Towiemore had suffered from flooding. Photo 1 shows the line with some sleepers suspended in mid air as the floods wash out the ballast. Picture 3 shows the line and in the background a loch where normally there is a field with a small burn running at the foot of our embankment.
The Line was open to Drummuir after an inspection on Friday Night. A training run was used on Saturday morning to further inspect the line to Drummuir. Tools and Permanent Way equipment, including Tom Dubern’s digger were taken to Towiemore ready for a work party.
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The washout involved five and a half sleepers being left suspended with the ballast washed just beyond the cess. By 12 30 the ballast had been replaced and tamped along with another ten sleepers which had been left hanging at their corners. The first train from Dufftown on Saturday 5th September at 11:25 ran only as far as Drummuir and return. The 14:00 train from Dufftown was allowed to run at caution through the area to make sure there were no dips we had missed and the last train of the day to Keith Town ran at line speed. A big well done to the Permanent Way team of Tom Dubern, Angie Neal, Malcolm McNeil, Bill Falconer and Bob Balmer who put so much effort into the repair work. The first two photos show the track on Saturday morning after the flooding had subsided. The last photo was taken on Friday and shows the road as impassable near our line at Auchindachy. All our services ran normally as per timetable to the end of the season.
Summer 2009
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During the summer much work has been done on replacing the sleepers on the bank from Keith Town to Strathmill siding. The work was slow at the beginning of summer as we were working in restricted space below the road bridge at Keith Town Station. Work speeded up once we had cleared the restrictions below the bridge and were able to employ mechanical aids rather than human muscle. As the PW gang work at weekends when services are running there are limited clear periods when the sleepers can be replaced. When the season ends in September progress should speed up again.
The photos show a view down the bank to Keith Town with red stop sign signifying that no trains can pass this point until the PW gang notify drivers that it is clear to precede and remove the red stop sign. The other photo shows the view looking up the bank from Keith Town to Strahmill siding showing the sleepers which have been replaced.
May 2009
GORDONSTOUN SCHOOL VISIT
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In May we had a large party of schoolchildren from Gordonstoun School spend a working day at the railway. This was volunteer work, which Gordonstoun School call a “service work” day, and sixty children aged 13-14 took part. Most of them worked under the auspices of the Permanent Way Department, and gave us the opportunity to carry out jobs that simply require “numbers” rather than experience. The weather although threatening all morning, was finally kind. With such large numbers it was essential to split them into groups, and the six groups carried out the following tasks:
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Groups 1 and 2 wire-brushed and painted one side of bridges UB189 and UB190 (Keith Town), and wire brushed most of the other sides.
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Group 3 had the job requiring most experience of all (sleeper changing) and with reduced numbers and it being their first day they did well to change three sleepers in Keith Town platform.
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Group 4 had to distribute two tonnes of gravel from a road trailer in order to level the platform at the south end, which they did at lightning speed. They then scrubbed the fence by the station top entrance in readiness for painting, and did some weeding along the platform.
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Group 5 re-fenced the east side of the track from Corsairtly Farm underbridge along the field going north, a problem area for cows getting onto the track.
Group 6 worked on the Grampus wagons at Dufftown Station.
The Keith and Dufftown Railway Association would like to thank Gordonstoun School for their invaluable assistance which is much appreciated. We hope that the pupils enjoyed their day out as much as we enjoyed their visit.
March / April 2009
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February and March saw very cold weather. For weeks on end the ground was frozen as hard as concrete making work impossible.
Following this there were many fallen trees blocking the line.
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Finally the English Electric "UDV" shunter hauled a works train through to Keith to deliver sleepers.
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More track has been re-laid in Keith Town Station, and sleeper renewal continues from this point towards Dufftown.
Winter 2008 / 2009
Works on UB188 Keith Town (Strathisla) Bridge.
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1. The scene at the outset
2. The vegetation has been cleared, thanks to Bill and Malcolm.
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3. The bridge deck is made of steel trough with a pitch coating in the troughs. Plastic liner is put into the drain hole and large stones are laid over to ensure the drain holes remain clear.
4. The rails are removed and the sleepers are slinged out
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5. Keith Town bridge UB188 with the rails back in ready for ballasting and tidying.
6. By way of a change from Keith Town bridge this photo shows the works train despatched to deal with a small mudflow. Forestry operations near Drummuir had caused the mudflow which blocked a culvert.
October 2008
Work has been ongoing at Keith Town Bridge UB188 for several weeks now. This is the bridge over the River Isla nearest Keith Junction.. As our scheduled passenger services stop at Keith Town, some way short of bridge UB188, the bridge had become somewhat overgrown. The PW crew now have the bridge in hand and are clearing the vegetation, checking / replacing sleepers, ballasting and painting to bring the bridge back to pristine condition ready to carry trains towards Keith Junction.
August 2008
Now that the running season is over, the larger permanent way jobs can be done. This winter we will be focussing on the bridges. The work done by volunteers will be in the light-to-medium categories: key removal, chair unscrewing, spoil tipping by barrow, chipping steelwork, and painting.
Summer 2008
We are currently out-and-about walking the line, and preparing for the end of the running season. During the summer period it is difficult to carry out major works.
May 2008
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In May we did various jobs including tree trimming, fencing, maintenance of equipment used over the winter, and painting. The picture shows the opened-up view from the A96 at Keith Town, now that the signal post has been painted, and trees have been cleared. The new Isla Way information board on the right, features the railway prominently.
April 2008.
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April saw the end of the long job at Keith Town. The photos show "before" and "after" views.
March 2008.
March saw good progress at Keith Town station. This is more than a sprinkling of ballast - drainage of various types has been installed, and the sleepers sit on new ballast. We will soon be in a position to move on to other sites, and we do not expect to revisit this site for many years to come.
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February 2008.
More progress with the trackbed at Keith Town Station. The sleepers have been completely renewed. Now the problematic clay in the ballast is being dealt with. Spoil is removed by digger and a clay-proof membrane is installed under the track. The Dogfish wagon has ferried back and forth delivering new ballast to the site.
January 2008.
Volunteers installed new fencing along Towiemore Straight.
© 2007, the Keith & Dufftown Railway Association
