Despite the weather, progress on construction of our locomotive servicing pit has been rapid with the arrival of our building team.

Out have come the blocks, concrete mixer and Keith our ever hard-working expert, such that not only have we laid the three courses of double skin blocks that will form the walls of the pit, but we have also completed access steps at one end and the oil intercepting drainage chamber at the other.

In the photograph we can see reinforcing bars which have now been installed vertically in the void between the blocks, packed out with concrete. These will form lateral reinforcing for the cap beam which will form the rail bearing top of the construction.

Already shuttering is being installed at the top of the blockwork into which the reinforced concrete beam with rail fixings is being cast.

If all runs to plan, we hope to cast the beams in the next two weeks and we look forward to installing the rails in early May.

The rail levels will be key to final levelling of the yard to allow track rebuilding to calculated track bed profiles.