Removing Track

[Andy873]

I've touched on this before, but until now I didn't know back in 1965 (on my old branch line) it actually took workmen 3 months to remove 4 miles of track. This was done during the period October to December 1965.

They were removing the down line only at this point, and using the up line to help with the removal of track and sleepers...

Does 3 months to remove 4 miles of track sound slow? fast? normal? in 1965.

By the end of December 1965, they still had another 4 miles to go, would bad winter weather postpone this. or would they carry on in all weathers regardless?

Finally, on a branch line like this, would they have simply worked their way from one end to the other, or come at it in both directions?

Thanks,
Andy.

 

[Gloster]

A couple of random thoughts.

It is quite possible that they weren’t doing the job continuously. If they were railway staff they might only be there when they had no other jobs on. If they were contractors staff they might also be shifted about to wherever the most profitable scrap was.

They would most likely have started at the far end and worked back. On a loop like this one junction might be disconnected or not normally in use, so that would be the far end. They might go through once picking the sections of track that were good enough for reuse and then do the rest later.

It does seem quite a long time. Perhaps they collected the reusable stuff and came back later for the rest. And of course, trains are needed to remove the lifted track and this is a low priority duty.

 

[2192]

The contractors dismantling the SHipston-on-Stour branch had a depot half way along the line at Stretton-on-Fosse, a crane on caterpillar tracks which stood on the previous bit just dismantled, picked up the next track panel, then edged forward to put it on a flat railway wagon. A little diesel loco then moved the wagon back a length and the process was repeated. I only saw this on the Moreton side of Stretton.

 

[Gloster]

One further thought is that if they only removing one line and the other remained in operational use, even if it only saw a few trains, then the labour would probably be BR staff, either the local gang on days when they had less to do or from a nearby line that had been closed or had reduced maintenance requirements. Contractors were generally only brought in to lift completely closed lines.

 

[Pinza-C55]

I've seen a video of the Whitby & Scarborough railway where a special train was run along the line in 1968 , 3 years after closure, to let demolition contractors see the line to put bids in. After the track was lifted the contractors used bench circular saws to cut up the sleepers into fence posts.

 

[Ploughman]

Time taken depends on the incentive.
BR staff may take longer to keep the job going.
Contractors believe time is money and want the return ASAP

I recall one incident in the Wakefield area where BR staff were lifting a branch on midweek days, probably about 1/4 mile per day.
Over a weekend a gang of itinerants stripped out 3 miles.

 

[Gloster]

Time taken depends on the incentive.
BR staff may take longer to keep the job going.
Contractors believe time is money and want the return ASAP

I recall one incident in the Wakefield area where BR staff were lifting a branch on midweek days, probably about 1/4 mile per day.
Over a weekend a gang of itinerants stripped out 3 miles.

But the BR staff might have been lifting it with a view to seeing what is worth reusing, which takes longer. The itinerants just wanted to get it into the back of their lorry.

 

[john77]

3 miles of 95lb bullhead track would be 528 sixty foot rails, weighing about 450 tons. If the sleepers were timber they would weigh about 400 tons. That seems quite a lot of material for itinerants to remove over a weekend, without the aid of cranes and trains....

 

[Andy873]

Interesting thoughts and comments, thanks.

I've seen a video of the Whitby & Scarborough railway where a special train was run along the line in 1968 , 3 years after closure, to let demolition contractors see the line to put bids in. After the track was lifted the contractors used bench circular saws to cut up the sleepers into fence posts.

Yes, I've seen this video, it's interesting to see how it was done on that line even though it's sad to see.

Contractors were generally only brought in to lift completely closed lines.

But the BR staff might have been lifting it with a view to seeing what is worth reusing, which takes longer. The itinerants just wanted to get it into the back of their lorry.

With the exception of around two miles on the East part of the line, the rest of it was closed at this point around a year before. I know contractors were used to demolish at least one of the two stations, the demolition of the two stations was happening at the same time as the track was being removed.

From what being said on this topic, the track removal time depended on who was doing it and what priority they assigned to it.

It looks like (from the following photo) that the down line was being lifted from the Western end Eastwards...

Last Days of the North East Lancs Loop line - ghr053 - SteamingNorth.com ... (Click on a picture to open that album and then on a picture to enlarge it...........Pictures copyright of Author

www.steamingnorth.com

A slightly different view here:

Last Days of the North East Lancs Loop line - GH BackStation - SteamingNorth.com ... (Click on a picture to open that album and then on a picture to enlarge it...........Pictures copyright of Author

www.steamingnorth.com

You can see just where the track removal has got up to, i.e. the footbridge of the station.

As far as I can see, the rest of the down line through and beyond the station is just about still there at this point (when the photo was taken).

Any thoughts, anyone please?

 

[Ploughman]

3 miles of 95lb bullhead track would be 528 sixty foot rails, weighing about 450 tons. If the sleepers were timber they would weigh about 400 tons. That seems quite a lot of material for itinerants to remove over a weekend, without the aid of cranes and trains....

They just took the rails.
Police reckoned it was done by using Quad bikes or similar dragging it to where it was cut and loaded.