Boat Sea Containers & Traps! - 30th April 2020

Prior to the Lockdown two steel sea containers appeared at Boat of Garten Station, just North of the Up Platform.

 

 

In late 2019 Royal Scotsman requested a facility to store spares for their train at the same time as our Catering department found that they need to resume usage of the Catering room at Boat. Robert Walters, resident Stationmaster, proposed a scheme involving two modified shipping containers, the larger for Royal Scotsman (Belmond Hotels), the smaller for use as a station store/workshop.

 

 

Robert is in the unique position of actually living on the station and so has been able to continue work on cladding the containers, hopefully turning a rather scruffy part of the station into a tidy storage facility. If one has to be locked down, Boat of Garten Station is not a bad place to live!

 

 

Georgie has also been very busy, above is the switch for PWay Siding or into Morley's (mark II) Shed.

 

 

The track geometry did not allow for conventional Trap switches to protect the Mainline from unintended rail vehicle movements onto it but as ever Georgie has come up with an old fashioned ingenious solution!

 

 

Two single switches - one for each of the "Roads" (routes), which if not set for the Mainline will derail errand rail vehicles before a dangerous situation could occur. The brand new switch on the Mainline will be mechanically interlocked with the two Trap switches but that is a further job for Rob Law and the S&T Department, which incidentally will be starting their own Blog soon I hope! (I will include this in "Associated Blog" section to the right of this)

 

Thanks to Stationmaster Walters for words/photos and Rob Law for the very up to date photos.    

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Visible progress during Lockdown - April 2020

Whilst the Strathspey Railway is in Lockdown to volunteers.
 

 Georgie gets to grips with the control system differences from the O&K RRV, seen here training with the clam shell bucket and telescopic counterweight in action, creating the route for the point rodding for the new switch (note practising takes place with S&T projects!)

 

Georgie changed two sleepers for hardwood timbers, so that S&T Dept can securely attach their cranks and rodding to.



 

 

A new Boat of Garten - Broomhill Section Signal has been planted, .

 

 

as well as the bench that the ground shunt signal will be attached to, for access to Morley's

 

 

You are possibly wondering what a bench is? Basically it anchors the foundations, preventing any movement of the structure that is attached to it, 90 percent of the above bench likely to be underground! (hence not much to see for the amount of work required) 



Switch almost there by the looks of things

 

And on to the next one!

Thanks to all that contributed.



Views from Boat of Garten Stationmaster - March 2020

 

This was the scene on the Sunday after "The Big Lift",

 

 

 Georgie had scooped ballast out of a wagon using the O&K Road Rail Vehicle (RRV) 

 

and carefully dropped it in the required spaces.

 

By the following Saturday, Stationmaster Walters (ex-PW Engineer) decided to take his permitted daily perambulation, towards Morley's Mark 2 (although work ceased currently due to Covid 19 Lockdown, article likely in "Express") though he failed to dodge the hail and sleet showers!

 

 

Finding that Georgie had been quietly keeping herself busy, tidying all the ballast. He reports "Given the compound curvature both vertical and horizontal, the alignment is superb, above photograph appears to show an issue with the outer rail beyond the check rail but it looks much worse in the photo than in reality! "

 

The locomotive crews will tell us soon enough! once the service eventually recommences.....



 

 

Mid week the new (to us, again article likely in "Express") Colmar RRV was delivered, having had it's rail brakes fitted

 

 

and it wasn't long before Georgie fitted the grab and was testing it out!

Thanks to Stationmaster Walters for nearly all the photos and Info.