Sunday 24th February

Not a great deal to report this week.  It looks as if the top ballast has gone down on the recently laid track.  Some of the last guard railing has been installed and a start on putting in the permanent perimeter fencing has been made.  Also some overhead cabling has been installed.  There was no obvious change to the viaduct so I didn't take any more pictures.

Apart from the first four sleepers after the end of the viaduct, ballast has been laid here.

Looking to the right, quarry behind.

Moving further along, a small gap can be seen in the ballasting.

 And further round still.  No that is not a train on the new line!  Just one passing on the existing Cambridge branch.

Now at the west side of the main line, the former Midland Railway bridge is getting security fencing after 156 years!

Access to the new line for maintenance being put in place.

Guardrails being installed on the ramps that lead up from the bridge to the start of the new line.

More guardrail work at the entrance to the scrapyard. 

 Overhead cable attached to the first gantry on the link between the junction and the viaduct.  I think this is the power feed for the contact wire that will be installed in the next month or so.

 The new cable can be seen gradually moving closer to the existing cables until it joins the nearest one just before the third gantry.  If my calculations are correct it is sixteen weeks to commissioning tomorrow unless there has been some slippage.  However I think it is still on schedule.  The recent bad weather does not seem to have affected the work.

Saturday 16th February

I took advantage of the much improved weather to visit the site.  Very different from the very cold, snowy conditions of Tuesday when the tracklaying was completed.    There was a road rail machine operating on the viaduct with a group of workers.  It was towing a small wagon of concrete sleepers.  My best guess is this was some remedial work prior to the top ballast going down.

Looking from the rear of the scrapyard, you can see the road rail machine through the piers of the viaduct

 The machine moves on with the gang of workers preceding it.  A First Capital Connect service advertising the delights of East Anglia heads north.

 A closer look at the machine.  The workers were quite vigorous with what looked like crowbars.  Maybe replacing sleepers not up to standard?

 Final shot from further north.

At the other end of the viaduct, I took a few shots of the embankment with track now in place from end to end.

 The beetle bank appears to have been finished all the way along.

 You can just make out the road rail machine on the far side of the main line.

  Last two pictures show the recently laid track on the embankment from Hillgate.  New fencing has been erected inside the temporary fence marking the final boundary of the railway when it is completed.  Next major change will be the erection of the overhead gantries.

Track laying finished

I was fortunate enough today to be able to see the NTC track laying machine in action.  It had nearly reached the farm accommodation bridge which is a good spot to watch as the adjacent field is almost level with the track at this point. Although I have seen videos of it working, it is still very impressive to actually watch it work.   It subsequently reached Hitchin East Junction later in the day.  Some minor work to put in some expansion joints by the bridge is still required but track is now in place all the way round.  Ballast work will follow shortly and then the overhead line stanchions will be installed.

View of the track layer across the snowy field adjacent to the Cambridge line.

Some workers were preparing the track ahead of the train.

The sleeper moving unit arrives with fresh supplies.  It waited for the conveyor to empty before dropping its load.  It moved surprisingly fast.

The sleeper wagons stretch around the corner.

The front of the train being controlled  by wire whilst another worker watches the sleepers drop..

 A closer look.  You can see the sleepers moving down from the left and dropping onto the ballast behind the worker on the left.

 This is the unit that clips the rail into the chairs.

 A closer view of it.

 Here you can see how close the train is to the bridge.

And just how little there is to go to the junction.

Track laid on the viaduct

Went down quite early this morning to see if the track laying machine had started as scheduled and I wasn't disappointed.  Unfortunately it had made such good progress that I missed the actual track laying.  It had reached the far end of the viaduct and a number of construction workers were in evidence along its length.  They appeared to tying down the wagons that had contained the sleepers.  There still seemed to be two flats still loaded with sleepers.  Soon after they all departed on foot along the viaduct to waiting vans on the former Bedford line embankment.  Then off for a well earned breakfast I am guessing.  I waited for a while in the hope that I might see a loco arrive to take it away but no luck.   There were one or two other small developments since last week.

First picture taken from the end of Wilbury Way shows the entire length of the track laying machine

The front almost at the end of the viaduct.  The strange white contraption is used to bring sleepers forward from the flat wagons and drop them on the conveyor belt.

The middle containing the empty flat wagons with workers appearing to be tensioning straps that probably held the sleepers down.

The rear of the train with some sleepers remaining.

 Some workers leave on foot whilst the others finish off.

 Whilst strictly nothing to do with the construction work, this was a welcome development.  New steps have been installed since last week.  No more slithering down a steep muddy bank.  I would like to think they have been installed by friends of the blogger but the chances are they were done by the"Friends of the Purwell Valley" who created this river side walk.  Anyway I am very grateful!

 All the gaps in the guard rails have been marked by blue netting, health and safety in action.

 The line of vans etc about to depart with the construction workers just visible on top of the embankment.

 Rear of the train seen from the conservation area on the west side of the ECML.

 The front end looking through the piers of the viaduct from the higher ground.

 I was correct last week that this was drainage pipework now in evidence all the way along.

 Here you can see the pipework connected to the drain holes in the viaduct.

 Pipework not going very far yet but definitely working!

 More drainage work at the start of the viaduct.

Wider angle from same spot.  Some extra earthworks have been added.

Finally first overhead gantry support post has been installed, likely to be the only one on that side of the line.

February 2nd Update

Again not a huge amount to report.  Last weekend there was very little change due to the snow which must have restricted work considerably.   It looked as if cable ducting work was under way but I need to confirm this.  This week with the weather back to normal, more rail has been moved into place in readiness for the track laying machines's visit.  The drainage work next to the scrapyard is virtually finished.

Here the drainage work seen last time is covered over.  Some tidying up still to do.

The large drain pipe now capped with drain cover in place.  This is next to the recently constructed outfall by the River Hiz bridge.

 

 Some minor landscaping works using that most basic of construction equipment. the wheelbarrow.

A look above the Hiz bridge.  Ballast is quite thick at this point.

Looking north from the far side of the scrapyard, it appears that the guard rail work is substantially complete.  Just an odd bit missing here and there.  Brick rubble and other hard core has been piled up here since my last visit.  It appears to have been removed from the triangle of higher ground.  This is probably the start of landscaping the area and returning it to its original state.

Here is a small addition since my last visit.  It looks like a down pipe attached to one of the piers.  The area was so waterlogged today so I couldn't get any nearer.  There was another one further on so could be part of the drainage system.

This was taken last week in poor light from Hillgate.  It appears to be cable ducting being installed.

Looking slightly to the left from the same spot.

Looking to the right towards the junction with the Cambridge line.  The beetle bank seems to trap water at this spot.

Taken from the same spot this week, continuous lengths of rail can be seen all the way round to Hitchin East Junction.  I disturbed a flock of birds checking out the beetle bank which are in the process of taking off. 

A large stack of cable ducting waiting to be installed.

Looking right over to the junction, I could just make out a newly installed signal cabinet with a line of ducting stretching away from it. It is the grey object just left of centre.  It looks as if everything is set for the visit of the track laying train next Sunday.  I will try and get down and takes some pictures of it in action.