Sunday 24 February 2013

Westonzoyland Navvies

Today saw the movement of precisely 16.44 tonnes of hardcore into the base of the extension. A front loader tractor would be ideal for this however one was not available! Bring on the Westonzoyland Navvies, our volunteers shovelled and barrowed all 16+ tonnes from the pile into the base. The petrol wacker plate then dealt with compaction! As can be seen in the pictures they were so keen they even put the rest of the sand in to start the blinding layer.

More sand will be delivered this week and we can finish blinding, a dpm (damp proof membrane) will then be laid, on top of that 100mm of insulation will be installed, hopefully completed by end of play next Sunday. Check back here to see whether we still have any volunteers willing to help!











Wednesday 20 February 2013

substructure at dpc

On Sunday the block layer completed the below dpc work as can be seen in the pictures, hopefully this weekend we can have the cavities back filled, hardcore spread and compacted and the site generally tidied.



Monday 18 February 2013

WZLR Chassis

After giving you a preview of the chassis in construction I thought I would add to it with these pictures of the main fabrication and painting of the chassis complete. It will now be turned over and have its main air brake piping added and the floor decking before work on the box van body begins.







Sunday 17 February 2013

Substructure

Yesterday saw the start of getting the facilities extension project out of the ground. A brick layer has come to help move things along and yesterday saw one wall taken up to DPC level with him hopefully finishing off today. This will give our volunteers plenty to do, back filling the cavities with concrete, filling the over site with 150mm compacted hardcore, insulation and pouring a 150mm reinforced concrete floor slab. Within this drains for the toilets will be incorporated.









Saturday 9 February 2013

a sneak peak...WZLR

This is very brief look at a project that I (Jason) have been working on for some time. If you look back at the archive blogs you will see the arrival of a pair of mining wagon chassis. I have always had the idea along with others who work on the railway we really should aim to give rides on the railway to our visitors.

To start the ball rolling I am turning one of the mining chassis into a fully fitted out box van with veranda, air braked with all the mod cons. You might be wondering how this helps in getting to a passenger carrying position, however the design of the chassis and the air brake system is a trail for a second chassis to be built which will be a passenger carriage, the two will be able to be run together to add interest.

So far the new chassis has been formed, wheel sets given suspension and air brake system and brakes fitted. A lot more work is needed to get it to rolling chassis/decked but once this is done a start will be made on the body. Watch this space for further updates.







Insulation

A local company recently offered lots of left over panels of industrial refrigeration panels. Initially I couldn't see a use for them but after a quick conversation with our private building control company it was confirmed these panels, made up from a layer of frp (fibre reinforced plastic) 40-50mm of dense polystyrene and another layer of frp could be used to insulate the floor and walls of the new extension I agreed to accept delivery. 4 loads later and they had been stacked neatly on site with the help of the dumper also fixed on the same day.

Insulation is an expensive component of the build so we are very grateful for this donation and the offer of delivery.