Permanent Way Huts

G'day. Was just curious to know whether the permanent way huts that were once used by track maintenance staff still exist? I can't imagine them being maintained any longer as i assume that maintenance workers retreat to the van when they have their lunch breaks?

Regards,

Richmond Commuter!

There's one on the now disused Horbury curve (near Wakefield).

The huts were part of the gang length means of maintenance, Some were the base for the gang and some were simply used for accommodation when the gang was working trackside in the length.

The move away from gangs being allocated to track lengths, and the increasing use of central locations of course dispensed with their immediate need. Sadly modern day society meant that they attracted all sorts of ne' er do wells and miscreants and some were deliberately set on fire or vandalised beyond repair, whilst others became the scene of all sorts of nocturnal and nefarious events.

Temporary site accommodation is still provided for track renewals gangs.

There was a campaign of knocking them down a few years ago, but some have escaped?

There are quite a few still lingering on the Midland Mainline south of Leicester, in various states of repair. Same goes for the Northampton Loop of the WCML.

During the period of rapid expansion of the railways, some refuges were constructed as integral elements of the infrastructure. Whilst many of the lineside huts/ bothys may now have dissapeared or decayed, some were integral to much larger structures and consequently still remain.
Surely the best examples are the refuges in tunnels (hard for a modern-day passenger to appreciate!) and on bridges (still very visible).

On another thread about Beautiful structures a few days ago, I referred to the castellated turrets around the refuges on the Killiecrankie Viaduct which flow naturally from the rising stonework of each pier as it was designed. You couldn't find much more of a permanently fixed bothy that those!

Old Timer said:

Temporary site accommodation is still provided for track renewals gangs.

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Could the old sleeper stock have been useful for that? Have a train with all your tools, materials, accomodation, and a carriage as amess area?

Rugd1022 said:

There are quite a few still lingering on the Midland Mainline south of Leicester, in various states of repair. Same goes for the Northampton Loop of the WCML.

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One of the last BR PWSS's at Northampton was keen on them and had some work done on some of them to keep them weather proof. Which combined with them being out in the sticks away from people is why the Northampton Loop ones are still there.
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Yew said:

Could the old sleeper stock have been useful for that? Have a train with all your tools, materials, accomodation, and a carriage as amess area?

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No on rail accomodation would only be useful if you could put it in a nearby siding. Too much in the way of your spoil and ballast trains otherwise.

Although rail cranes and ballast cleaners used to have mess coaches or old brake vans with them until the early 1990's. When someone started asking questions about when they had last been inspected etc. and no one who remembered that far back could be found.

There's a nice P-Way hut at Thirsk station made of tarred sleepers a few yards north of the station on the Up side, surrounded by heavy vegetation. I believe you can see it on photo's as long ago as the 1920's.