Moving a 30 year old track section cabin?
02 Aug 2005
All in a morning’s work for Doncaster away at Wigan!
Jarvis OHL Projects are part way through a job, which they claim is unique. Although they have recently set up new depots at Crewe and Rugby, it was their long established Roberts Road Doncaster depot, that took on the challenge of Wigan.
Loop lifted in the 60’s
A bi-directional loop line on the Wigan Springs Branch is being reinstated on the original track bed. The original loop was lifted out way back in the 1960s. However, without it, Liverpool to Wigan trains have to cross over both lines of the West Coast route. With the loop line uplifted, resourceful engineers, looking for least cost solutions, sited a lot of equipment on the former track bed. Overhead line engineers installed an SSP (signalling supply point) transformer, Wigan TSC (Track Sectioning Cabin) and a new damper structure.
Done and Dusted by lunchtime!
Undeterred, Electrification Plant Manager Martin Foster decided the 30-year old TSC could be moved. A comprehensive plan and method statements were provided to client Network Rail, and preparatory work started. This included relocating the damper onto a new foundation, and constructing a new concrete foundation for the TSC itself.
On the day of the race, Senior Supervisor Tony Baines and twelve Jarvis employees started work under a T4 at eight o’clock in the morning and were done and dusted by lunchtime!
Cork Seals not even cracked
APP Lifting Services supplied track jacks and tirfors, as well as the steel frame work used in the operation. A collar was fitted all round the TSC base with jacking points. The whole structure was then lifted on the track jacks and a steel plate resting on type-1 sleepers was slid in. The TSC then moved easily on rollers using the tirfors.
Telecommunications, SCADA (the remote control system), and domestic supplies were maintained during the move with a minimal number of alarms disconnected. The distortion of the TSC during the move was so small, that even the cork seals showed no signs of cracking!
After the move the TSC was re-painted and the old concrete base was broken up and removed from site. As we went to press, the TSC building should be back on line. The bi-directional loop line itself will be re-laid later this year and reconnection is scheduled for completion in November.