Good news regarding Sandstone’s line rehabilitation.
Under the guidance of Keith Flint of Flint Construction, an accredited consultant to the Rail Safety Regulator, our team at Sandstone are progressing steadily with a major reconstruction of portions of the line. The floods last year revealed some significant weaknesses in the line construction. For example, in some cases there was an underlying layer of clay which responded to the high rainfall of 2011 by moving and causing the line to subside and shift.
The report below from Stephan du Preez who is in charge of the Civil Engineering work at Sandstone Estates clearly illustrates the problem. Stephan’s report reads:
“Progress on rail works
Please find photos attached. The soil there is mainly clay which is why the rail was sinking into the ground. We are digging out the clay and will replace it with gravel. This will sort out the problem. Rod from Flint construction will be here on Thursday I will show him what we are doing. He will also mark out the curve at Pandora so we can start stripping the rail there as well. I will have to use a steam roller to compact the gravel at Pandora before we can relay the rail. The ballast also have to be cleaned there is a lot of soil in between it. As soon as the major earthworks are done I will plant cosmos on the banks which will probably be next week some time. We are making good progress so far.
Stephan du Preez“
This material is being removed and replaced with gravel. In line with our normal policy we are using a 1940’s Foden Dump truck which can be seen in the background to bring in the material. So far the consultants are very impressed with the quality of the work being carried out by Sandstone. It is likely that this work will continue flat out until our event in late March.
On the subject of the event, if you are reading this story and if you want to see more than 20 locomotives in steam at one time then you need to consider attending. Remember this is a bespoke event not for the general public or for general entertainment but to allow people who really understand a lot about Narrow Gauge railways to experience the thrill of seeing some of the most iconic locomotives in the world actually working together under the African skies.
Rod Finlay from Flint Construction is coming to inspect the work this week. He also intends to mark out the curves at Pandora so that we can start stripping the rail to alter the curves. One of our steam rollers needs to be brought into service to compact the gravel in this area before we relay the line. The ballast also has to be lifted, cleaned, and placed back in position.
We would like to use this opportunity of expressing our appreciation to Keith Flint and his team for assisting us. They recognised that we were by and large a non-income generating heritage project and they have given us an immense amount of assistance and advice on a no charge basis. Considering the tough times in which we live this type of support and enthusiasm for what we are doing is most encouraging.
Our 1940’s Foden Dump truck
