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The New Platform

The platform on the up side of the line at Thuxton has been disused since the removal of the double track in the 1960's. The original platform here was built by the GER at the time of dualling to accomodate 5 coaches, however like with most of the rail network this was rationalised by BR in the 1950's to the 2 coach platform it is now.

As part of the loop works this platform will once again come back into use, however we need the 5 coach capacity back to cater for our broad range of loco hauled stock. As ever we took up the challenge and assessed how best to do this during early summer 2009. Most of the original GER foundations had been damaged so the only choice for us was to dig out a 50m long trench and re-lay the concrete. We achieved this by hiring in a mini digger and digging a foundation 50m long by 2-4 feet deep.

Danny getting to grips with the Mini Digger. The foundation footings progressing well - 20 July 2009, Bill Collins

Once the foundations had been dug out the team laid a very thin layer of hand mixed concrete to the bottom of the trench to act as blinding; this ensures that any loose material that falls into the trench can easily be removed and provides a level and solid surface on which to pour the structural concrete. On completion of this we decided to construct shuttering on the side nearest the track to avoid contaminating the ballast with concrete. We used the sleepers as our shuttering point, this was acheived by simply nailing small lengths of 4x2 to the sleeper tops and attaching 12mm plyboard to the ends of these (see picture below). Once again before the concrete was poured we needed to bend reinforcing bar into shape and place it into the trench to ensure the poured concrete would be at optimal strength.

(Above) The Shuttering is almost complete at this stage, also notice the thin layer of blinding concrete at the bottom of the trench. - 9th August 2009, Bill Collins

Once all the shuttering, re-bar and blinding concrete was in place the next job was to pour the concrete; logistically this was going to be difficult due to the very long nature of the work site! We came to the conclusion that it would be best to use 18.5 cubic metres of flocrete, this is a specialist type of concrete that acts like a fluid when poured and levels itself without too much human intervention. The pour would come in straight from the lorries via 4 chutes placed at 10-15m intervals, this ensured that no one part of the foundation was too far from a pour point and minimised the distance the concrete had to flow.

(Above) Chris overseeing the pouring operation. The four chutes can be seen along the length of the foundation on the embankment and the nearest chute is delivering its first load of flocrete! Notice the way it is levelling itself over the pre-prepared reinforcing cages. - 25th August 2009, Bill Collins

 The concrete just after the last pour. 25th August 2009, Bill Collins

The next job was to make a start on the block work wall; the blocks were already waiting for us on pallets near the level crossing so around 300 were trolleyed up to the worksite ready for us to use. Chris, Danny and Ian managed to lay all the required blocks within 3 days over the summer bank holiday weekend. The aim is to build the front brick skin in front of this block wall and fill the gap with rough cast concrete to form a solid structure.

Chris, Danny and Ian working on the southern end of the platform block wall. - 31st August 2009, Ian Martin

Chris and Ian commenced the brickwork on the 1st September and it is hoped to be completed by November 2009. The brickwork is being laid using English bond in cream bricks; all of the joints will be pointed to the original GER style. After the brickwork is complete work can begin on the platform copings and surface. Watch this space....

The front face of bricks as they looked on 5th September 2009. Notice the rough cast concrete between the block wall and bricks. - Ian Martin