taupo quay, castlecliff branch trackwork 2017
on the weekend of the 11th and 12th of march, i noticed a lot of action happening behind steamrail so went to the walkway for a closer look. they had removed the track and sleepers and were in the process of digging out the ballast and residual silt from the floods a couple of years back.
the two 12-ton diggers were masterful to watch, gently picking up the new sleepers and placing them precisely, then doing the same with the rails, nudging them gently into position. by the end of the afternoon, they had the curve laid, with a few touch ups and re-levelling to be done. they still need to do behind the shed itself, which will be done tomorrow. due to work, i might miss that bit, but at least i got to see today.
i went back on sunday, this time going into the yard to look at some more archival work with greg. by the time i finished work, they had laid the track behind the shed, jacked up the crossing joint and done the ballast top up. it is essentially ready for traffic tomorrow. likely a once in a life time chance, especially to see all the ground work that had to be done before the sleepers could be placed.
monday - replacing the sleepers
after work on monday, i stopped where they were putting new sleepers in across the road from the steamrail curve. was fascinating to watch how the digger would shovel back the ballast, twist the old wooden sleeper free and slide it out, then slide the new concrete sleeper into position, scraping ballast back underneath and then holding it in position while the crew put the new plates and clips on to hold everything together.
once that was done, i went back to the pathway to get photos of the completed curve. i then went to the overbridge and got some higher up photos of the sleeper work being finished before the afternoon shunt.
once that was done, i went back to the pathway to get photos of the completed curve. i then went to the overbridge and got some higher up photos of the sleeper work being finished before the afternoon shunt.
tuesday - prep work for curves
tuesday saw them basically finish with the steamrail curve. they packed up a couple of sections, and then laid some sleepers down around the edge by toll.
i went for a look down by tenix and found the crew there preparing to get ready for the next job. only a handful of photos today, as they werent doing anything major.
i went for a look down by tenix and found the crew there preparing to get ready for the next job. only a handful of photos today, as they werent doing anything major.
wednesday - track drop off, works train
unfortunitely, due to work and the train being late, i didnt get to see it loaded up, but was able to see it in the yard, and also see the DC go on the turntable. i then went down to tenix and took a couple of photos of the track that was dropped off. due to another appointment, i didnt get to stay, but will get back down tomorrow for a few minutes and see whats happening.
saturday and sunday - tenix curve re-lay
due to life getting in the way, i didnt get out on thursday and friday. all i have heard is they moved the track along into postion ready for the weekend. i managed to get down for an hour or so on saturday and sunday, and was able to see them threading in the new sleepers, and hoping to see the heavy track placed tomorrow furthur down the line a bit.
sunday - track drop off
roughly a month later, they started work out by gilberd st, digging and relaying the new track bed under two sets of track. the works train went out on the 9th to drop off track
good friday - digging and re-bedding
the work out gilberd st took place over easter weekend. i was a bit surprised that it was a dig out and re-ballast, despite the large piles of ballast appearing in the taupo quay yard. i could only get decent photos of one crew, as the other was furthur down in an area i couldnt access.