Section Activities A round up of recent activities in our Sections AS PUBLISHED IN The Journal April 2018 Volume 136 Part 2 Sections BIRMINGHAM CROYDON & BRIGHTON DARLINGTON & NORTH EAST EDINBURGH Our online events calendar holds all GLASGOW of our Section meetings. IRISH LANCASTER, BARROW & CARLISLE You’ll also find full contact details on LONDON our website. MANCHESTER & LIVERPOOL MILTON KEYNES NORTH WALES NOTTINGHAM & DERBY SOUTH & WEST WALES THAMES VALLEY WESSEX WEST OF ENGLAND WEST YORKSHIRE YORK SECTION ACTIVITIES lighting Towers that sprang up on the railway organisation. On one occasion, John was landscape during the modernisation days of called into to record Pickfords moving the A round up the 1960s and 70s. Dickens Inn from one end of St. Catherine’s Dock in London to the other. Photographers were based at the regional of recent offices and in the various railway workshops A less glamorous assignment, but nonetheless which were around at that time. John was fascinating (and unnerving) was recording called in to take pictures of work in progress on the water jets spraying out of the brickwork in activities in new trains and then at their launch. Abbotscliffe Tunnel. This required elaborate lighting to ensure a clear shot could be On some occasions, it was just a case of recorded. Works for the opening of the our Sections. being in the right place at the right time. On Channel Tunnel including over bridge deck his way to another job in Gloucester he was raising and tunnel floor lowering provided a lot able to get in position on a signal gantry at of work in the early 1990s. Reports may be abbreviated for Swindon station just as the prototype Advance publication in the Journal. Full Passenger Train (APT) drew up beside the One of John’s last jobs for BR in 1995 was to versions can be downloaded prototype High Speed Train (HST). This photo record the new stock for the Waterloo and City has appeared in many publications but like line. from our website: much of John’s work it simply says under the photo “Copyright BR”. Tim Kendell concluded the evening by www.thepwi.org/technical_hub/ proposing a vote of thanks for a very John’s work was to portray the modern image interesting and informative talk. section_activities of the railways and many photo shoots were undertaken on trains and in stations for EDINBURGH CROYDON & BRIGHTON advertising campaigns. However, at the end of the 1960s John was able to get some shots of 1st December 2017 14th November 2017 the last days of steam. Eden Mill Technical Tour Copyright BR John Goss Royal occasions were an opportunity for John The Edinburgh section travelled to to be called in, not particularly to take a picture Guardbridge, to visit the Eden Mill Brewery for Tim Kendell the Section Vice Chairman of the Queen, but rather to take a picture of the annual social technical tour. introduced John Goss, an old friend to many in whoever the Queen was meeting! Hoverspeed the room to present his paper “Copyright BR”. and Sealink provided opportunities for trips The section was welcomed by the brewery across the sea but the photographer usually where the host provided a brief history of the John commenced his career on the railways had to find his own accommodation rather site. The brewery itself is set on the banks of in 1965 as one of the band of official railway than enjoying a plush all expenses paid and the river Eden estuary at Guardbridge, near St photographers, of around 70. He started in arrangements made trip. Andrews and has had a long history of brewing the Western Region photographic office at and distilling. For most of the 19th century, Paddington taking very few photographs but Many unusual assignments came along; for the Haig family operated a whisky distillery printing many. Opportunities soon increased example, Pickfords was part of the British at Guards Mill. In 1860, they started distilling to get out on the railway taking pictures from Transport Commission and therefore came whisky elsewhere in Fife and turned the site a wide variety of ingenious locations including under the organisations covered by the BR into a brewery and paper mill. The brewery many at the top of the substantial number of publicity unit which funded the photographic closed in 1882 with the last brewery in nearby EDINBURGH SECTION Former section secretaries Gordon McRae and Alan Morrison; along with Mark Taylor proudly accepted the Syd Smith golden Pandrol trophy 84 SECTION ACTIVITIES St Andrews closing soon after in 1902. Finally, and general railway round, along with a good Network Rail quickly assembled a the paper mill closed over 100 years later in mix of general knowledge and the rather tricky multifunctional team including design 2008. question of what do the cumulative sum of all consultants Tony Gee associates and the numbers on a roulette wheel add up to? framework contractor Costain to assess the Eden Mill is now a specialist independent After a slow start, the team “Tamsens scale of the damage and the feasibility of repair microbrewery and distillery located on a Threesome” came back to steal the trophy from solutions. 38-acre site owned by the University of St the other two teams due to a very good score Andrews. Brewing restarted in July 2012 and in the Track technical section. Former section Detailed records of the 150 year old then in 2014 Eden Mill became Scotland’s first secretaries Gordon McRae and Alan Morrison; construction were very limited therefore combined brewery and distillery when they along with Mark Taylor proudly accepted the intrusive site investigation and archive began the production of Scotch whisky and gin. 2018 title. research of the sea wall was required which revealed that the track was actually supported Looking to the future, Eden Mill have plans for 1st February 2018 by a timber viaduct. a £4 million expansion project in Guardbridge Dover Shakespeare Seawall set to see the historic former paper mill Alan Ross, Director Route Sponsorship, It further revealed that in 1927 a retaining wall buildings refurbished to become Eden Mill’s Network Rail nearly 10m high and 1km long, back filled with new home – allowing them to increase their local chalk and restrained by bull head rail ties production of gin, beer and whisky, and create Alan started the evening by providing a had been retrospectively added to sustain the more innovative and pioneering products, and background to the Dover Shakespeare sea wall timber viaduct. It was clear the strong seasonal retain space for further expansion. reinstatement project when he was Director tide mixed with some exceptional weather had Route Asset Management for South East resulted in a loss of some 3.5 metres of beach 11th January 2018 England. depth in a matter of days. Although Network AGM and Technical Quiz Rail owns the beach from the high water mark, In line with the start of many stories, “it was access to the lower sections to transport The evening then progressed onto the annual Christmas eve” but on this occasion the track personnel and carry out engineering activities quiz with three teams competing for the Syd patroller identified a defect on Christmas Eve during the 2 x 4 hour daily tide windows Smith golden Pandrol trophy. Rose Smith, 2015 that led to the closing of the Folkestone required consent from the government the wife of the late Syd Smith, who were both to Dover rail route for nine months. Whilst authority. historically regular attendees at many national affecting the main A20 road directly above PWI events sadly passed away just before where 20,000 trucks traverse, access to the Within days, rock armour was ordered and Christmas 2017. In a strange coincidence, Shakespeare beach, where many channel sheet piles prepared for installation. Due to her funeral was held on the same day as the swimmers traditionally commence their non-availability of the larger 10 tonne rock 2018 annual quiz which was comforting for her passage was also affected. The scale of armour in the UK, this material had to be family to learn. this action was so significant that when shipped in from Norway. A peer review group “consultation with the PM” term was used of civil engineering experts were brought on Quiz master Russell Kimber provided six regarding the closure, this was not with board and reviewed nine different designs. rounds of subjects, including a track technical reference to the project manager. Replication of the original viaduct principle but KEEPING YOU ON TRACK Progress Rail is a market leader in switches, crossings, Maintenance-of-Way equipment, signaling, rail recycling and fastening systems. Our global manufacturing capabilities, including U.S., European and Australian facilities, enables our team to deliver high quality products, keeping Anchor performance and reliability top of mind while meeting our customers’ needs. E-clip Contact us today to see where ME63 Progress can take you. 180035 Progress moves you forward. 85 SECTION ACTIVITIES utilising 134 number 30 metre deep concrete activity, they developed their own brand of rail the Roadshow, which are to allow RSSB to piles supporting a new concrete deck was handling equipment. engage with the Infrastructure community, agreed as being the most suitable solution, provide an overview of what they do and quite a credit to the original Victorian design. This evolved into their TRT unit, which can speak about specific technical topics. One handle rails from the lineside, with no need for of the main parts of the presentation was the Additionally, a sea defence and rock-fall an OHL isolation and can be used in single ongoing opportunity being taken by RSSB to capture wall was also included and designed to line track possessions.