Members are reminded of the Steves Volunteer diary Weblog in the “Members Area”. This gives a more frequent update of daily happenings.

09

June

The priorities for the month are to continue tidying the Robertsbridge site and preparing the plant and vehicles for full operation.

BLCY under renovation works. Old hands and enthusiasts will have remembered this is the collectors coach. We expect to be going to appeal for this in the Autumn of this year. Later in the months new doors are to be refitted to the style of the original hangings. Our trusty mini digger, with modified reconditioned engine fitted, which we hope will be pressed into service in the next months.   Proving that nothing is impossible at Robertsbridge a new instrument panel is fabricated for said mini digger (below) Making ready to install the new point lever for the point into the bay platform.

May

The opening of the month concentrated upon the modellers weekend, upon which numbers were up against last year. During the rest of the month effort was towards getting the station area sorted out and other vehicle remedial works

Back to the Railway itself the Hopper Wagon has now been fully welded and returns to service after some time out of commission. this is a valuable return to further the renewal of the line

Modellers Weekend  9-10th May

What it was all about With a sencere thanks for all those visitors who made the event a success Not all the models were scale       {above} Helen - The organizer of this event discussing last minute details with Paul over the two scale models of Rye   {Below}- Denis - displaying his fine collection of railway memorabilia

April

The Bodiam end has now been completed with just a couple of finishing touches to perform. A warm thanks to the additional volunteers and contractors who made the track work possible in such a short time and within time. Back at Robertsbridge the RVR is gearing up for the Modelers Weekend (9-10th May 2009). A third casting for the platform coping has been performed and the last until after the weekend. The BLCY Vehicle has been brought out of a siding and now sits ready for painting and preparation for a 30’ track layout.

Bodiam News A view Westwards towards Robertsbridge Compare this to the January start. Eastwards towards Bodiam. Bodiam station on the neighbouring KESR is just beyond the trees. The boundary of the two railways being within those trees.       Robertsbridge End For the first time the BLCV sits in the Robertsbridge RVR platform, ready for preparation for the Modelers weekend BLCY in a blind siding prior to shift to the platform. To left of center the hopper van is now complete with new hopper doors for ballasting required later in this year.  Late April   More preparatory work to the Ramp. A lot of humping and muck at this time   Below left - The tenacious Dave despite serious health problems will not be stopped in helping out   .Below - Our MD, David prepping his wagon which is to be used for railway memorabilia at the coming Modellers Weekend

March

By the end of March march of the visible work at Bodiam/Udiam end of the line had been complete, although tamping and ballasting is still ongoing. Back at Robertsbridge:

Platform works continue apace with the third run of edging coping being laid. With this run we are now over half way to completion and hoping to be ready for the upcoming “Modellers Weekend”     A different team started preparatory works to ready the BLCY carriage, again with the Modelers Weekend in mind. It will house a large layout for the event. In earlier years this doubled as the collectors coach and so it is appropriate to put it to the Railways use once again. This vehicle is in private hands for the moment, but the owners bought this with the intent to offer it to the Supporters Association for eventual use as a Volunteers relaxation and recreation vehicle. Later in 2009 we hope to start an appeal to secure this. As may be seen as this has been out of commission for some time obvious TLC will be required!

ROTHERVALLEY RAILWAY HERITAGE TRUST ROTHER VALLEY RAILWAY LTD   BODIAM WESTWARD PROGRESS REPORT # 4    Further to my last report (19 February), the initial batch of 30 rails were duly delivered on time and relaying commenced immediately from the western (Udiam Farm) end. These rails came from the firm of K J Bownes & Sons of Worksop after we were let down by the original supplier. They have proved of excellent quality, the downside being that each rail cost £95 more, a total budget over-run of £7,410.  The first day saw four 60’ panels laid, which took the work out of the trees and on to the field section. Tracklaying across the field towards Bodiam continued at a frenetic pace with the contractor laying out the concrete sleepers and rail and the volunteers connecting and keying the rails up. The balance of rails were delivered on schedule on the 12 March and the connection with the existing Bodiam railhead was achieved late on Friday 13th March (lucky for some!), a magnificent effort by all concerned. Understandably, the appearance of the track was temporarily quite wavy, but it was laid, the first track that has existed on the section for some 40 years.  The first load of a total of 600 tonnes of ballast was delivered on Tuesday 17 March and was laid courtesy of the Kent & East Sussex Railway (KESR), using their two hopper wagons and “Shark” brake van. Ballasting continued during the week and was then tamped, again courtesy of the KESR.  The basic trackwork is therefore complete, and the first train has run over the section, well ahead of schedule, although additional ballasting will be required to fully finish the job. At least another 400 tonnes will be required, at £23 per tonne, but unfortunately our existing funds have now been exhausted. If anyone can and is prepared to assist with funding to complete this phase of the project, please contact David Felton via Robertsbridge or the Contacts page of the website.  The farmers occupation crossings are now being installed and the line will be fenced off in due course as required.  Very many thanks to everyone, who assisted and made possible this advance, in whatever capacity but particularly to all the volunteers who turned out in significant numbers, mostly midweek and whatever the weather.  And now on to the next section ………………..   David Felton 21 March 2009   The first set over the new Rails! Photos courtesy of Colin Avery For more of these inspired shots http://heritagetrains.fotopic.net/c1668741.html   Credit where credit is due. Excellent Job Guys Volunteers (press-ganged?) from our Associate Track prior to alignment, and ballasting   Compare the below shot to that of January. The new end of the line     Robtersbridge End   Whilst back at the Robertsbridge essential works continue

February

Tracks not seen here in 40 years! Looking Westward towards Robertsbridge and Udiam   BODIAM WESTWARD PROGRESS REPORT Alasdair Stewart, our Project Leader, reported on Friday 13th February as follows; Despite the appalling weather earlier on in the week, we have continued to make progress with the trackbed reconstruction effort at Quarry Farm. All of the sleepers required for the job are now on site and have been placed alongside the formation ready to be lifted into place when required. There are another 96 on order but I have asked the supplier to keep hold of them for a week or two so that they don’t clutter up the compound and make unloading of rails more difficult than it needs to be. Andrew Woods is working his way back towards the apple dock area and is likely to have produced an initial “first pass” formation by the latter part of next week. Assuming that the flood waters continue to recede he will be effectively finished by Friday 20th. On a less positive note, the original rails on order are now unlikely to be delivered until the first week of March. Subsequent to Alasdair’s report, in order not to delay the project, an alternative supply of rails has been located and a proportion of the rails required have been purchased for early delivery. These were to be delivered to site on Thursday 19 February and rail laying was due to commence immediately.   David Felton 19 February 2009 RVR Ltd Looking Eastward towards Bodiam From the Appledock this and more can be seen in the Members area.

Early February

As works commences at Bodiam Westbound the first weeks show significant clearance to the work already performed in 2004   Meanwhile back at the Robertsbridge end the crew are gearing up for our own pushes. The first of the hopper doors of the Hopper wagon has been made and awaiting fitting. In readiness for the boundary realignment the p-way store has necessitated moving . Taking the opportunity much of the materials have been sorted and more orderly stacked

January

Bodiam Westward A very significant event has occurred in the Railway the words best articulated in the form of this announcement. (click to open) Looking Westward   Further developments of the mapping and details of the development are in the Members Area.

To meet the Aspirations of the Railway the next six months priority of tasks has been outlined. We include a very brief summary here so that you may follow our progress.

Half Year Priorities

Civil Engineering Platform - Casting of the platform coping slabs takes all priority, subject to freezing weather in the early months. We should expect completion within the 1st quarter of this year. Once completed the platform area behind should be paved with tactile slabs Thereafter the Platform ramp can be completed within the second quarter   Plant A priority for the period goes to the repair and maintenance management of plant to maximise Volunteer time effectiveness. To this end a Plant and Tolls Manager has been appointed. Mini Digger - A new engine has been rebuilt in the last period. An outside contracter will prepare the engine mounts. Within January.   Platform Road - Requires realignment with the platform due to track settlement. Work probably to commence in the 2nd quarter.   Crane - The solid workhorse for the Railway. Needs maintenance to get back in to working order. Unloading Pad - Due to high usage some of the slabs within the 4’ need to lifted and packed to give an even level. Undefined start and end   Front End Loader - In need of a new Engine. Fitting will take a secondary priority Stock D77 “Dougal”- Complete the Vacuum brakes and Battery Charging circuit Brake Van - Awaiting fitting of Vacuum brakes. Hopper Wagon - New doors to be fitted   Titan - Handrails need replacing. Fit new roof Several new engine parts need to be fitted Matissa - Commence work on Renovation by end of 2nd quarter.