Reopening the Quarry

The quarry sidings, which have been derelict for almost a year now, have been brought back into use. This has involved removing all of the loose rocks, earth-slips, and fallen twigs and leaves, and stabilising the gaps between the rocks to reduce the risk of further earth slips. The smaller loose rocks will then be cemented in place to allow future leaf removal to be mechanised. The three live-frog turnouts giving access to the quarry from the main line have been replaced with dead-frog, which I have wired so that they do not require electrical switching when the route is changed. This will reduce the need for delicate cleaning before each operating session. The disadvantage, of course, is that short-wheelbase locos are now more likely to stall on the point frog. There is also a risk that some tweaking of frogs may be required to avoid momentary short-circuits as a loco crosses the frog.

The picture shows a Pannier tank loco testing the track at the lowest point in the quarry. It looks as if the track in front of the loco has been damaged by a rock-fall!

 

The lowest point of the quarry.

The second picture shows the loco testing the quarry siding climbing back up the 1 in 25 gradient out of the quarry. The sparse vegetation visible in both pictures is growing naturally, one of the benefits of a garden railway.

Climbing the 1 in 25 gradient out of the quarry.