Mid Week "potterings" and Weekend works Aviemore - Week ending 11th April 2021

  Small mid-week squad, fire in the messvan was priority number one, as it was bitterly cold, Georgie complained that I didn't have stoker MacPhail's abilities, eventually we unloaded the tools and proceeded to worksite.

Timber changed for a shorter one as was interfering with new layout. Georgie packing, Mike drilling & Roddy ready for screwing down.

Switch laid out, towards new road, planned to terminate at coal bench (once footbridge and old signal cabin removed) note amount of interlaced secondhand timbers.

Old ferrules replaced with new, easier said than done, removing old is time frustrating part and couple of AS2 chairs were screwed down, after reaming old holes.

  All the old holes had to be filled with pegs (thanks to Roger making them sometime ago) and hammered in flush with surface.

We finished later than we expected as we were all preoccupied with the tasks in hand. 

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Above looks prior to work commencing (nearly all smiling) and a tad cold!

We welcomed - Bart (left) for the first time, hopefully not his last! Lauren, Justin and almost an old hand now Kevin (far right) 

Angus reports "Large squad assembled at Aviemore, promptly split in two - Andrew, Roger and me started plugging holes is sleepers. Holes too small in some, so Andrew & Roger used belt sander in carriage shed to sand down hardwood plugs to size. About  50 plugs done.

Later Andrew and me helping Georgie laying rail and keying it" (must have been cold for Georgie to be wearing a high viz jacket)

Ian reports from the "heavy lifting squad!" - 

 "we freed off the stock rails from 2 sets of check rails for the new points as the stocks were scrap, and referuled these and the other switch which was not already in place. We then dug ballast out to permit the fine alignment of the siding towards the former Speyside Bay platform. Following this we dug out the last 2 sleepers requiring changing and changed the first 6 of the last batch for this year from the signal box down towards the switch into the carriage storage shed...although they were not drilled and rescrewed or filled in."

Highland Mainline quieter than usual due to a derailment at Dalwhinnie in the early hours.

Thanks to Ian, Lauren, Kevin, Andrew, Martin, Roger, Justin, Bart & Angus kindly supplied the photos (thumb included) and half report.