First entry isn’t for this week, but it’s unusually quiet so far.
A couple weekends back we laid the first of the S&C to form Claydon East Junction – consisting of a crossover between the Up and Down bletchleys and a turnout to the as yet uninstalled Claydon loop.
The S&C is all modular for this layout – the track was delivered to site in pre-built panels by rail, then lifted and positioned with the Kirow crane (with the engineer’s role being to ensure that each panel landed in the correct position). It basically fits together like a huge jigsaw puzzle!
Once all panels were in, we then install the shrouds. Shrouds are a steel plate which fit over the sleeper ends in the centre of modular layouts, they secure bearers on adjacent panels together and as a result ensure that gauge is maintained through the crossover/turnouts.
This was only the second time I’ve laid any modular layouts, so I was working alongside more experienced colleagues to ensure that no mistakes were made.
