The P/Way gang pose at Stanton Road bridge having reached this important milestone. Note the freshly-painted span of the bridge on 22nd October 2006.


How do you make sure the sleepers are the right distance apart? With this cunning device christened the 'Hawkins gauge' developed by the P/Way department!


The GWR's fire brigade help to clear the drains.

Quietly getting on with the job and usually out of public view is a highly committed band of volunteers on whose efforts, quite literally, the GWR's operation depends. They are, the permanent way department who, over recent weeks, have been slowly taking our northernmost railhead ever closer towards Broadway. 

The team this month reached the psychological milestone of the bridge that takes Stanton Road over the line almost exactly a mile from Toddington station. This bridge has a steel span which has itself recently been refurbished and painted in chocolate. The pictures, by permanent way member Paul Fuller, show recent progress.

Fortunately, when British Railways lifted the track in 1979, they left a substantial bed of ballast. Although gradually overcome by undergrowth over the years, in fact Head of Permanent Way, Ivor Dixon, estimates it will meet about 60 per cent of that required on the extension. The ballast is being 'screened' before use - put simply, the ballast is dug out and passed through a hired power screen which gets rid of the muck.

"The useful ballast is then laid to a depth of about four inches (10cm) on the formation and the sleepers laid on that. New ballast, obtained from Clearwell quarries in the Forest of Dean, will then be laid on the track, which will then be lined, levelled and tamped ready for use," he explains. Ultimately, the total ballast depth will be about 12 inches (30cm) and while none of the route has yet been fully ballasted, a first run near Toddington station has received an initial delivery of which has been 'sharked'.

The track over the impressive 15-arch Stanway Viaduct is laid on hardwood sleepers. Although the rest of the route uses concrete sleepers. On these flat -bottom rail is laid, much of which is brand new. A breather has been installed just north of the viaduct and beyond that the line is being continuously welded, removing the bolted joints which sound the familiar 'clickety-click' from the coach wheels.

"This might be a disappointment to some people, but it does significantly reduce the maintenance requirements," says Ivor. "And, given that we rely entirely on a finite number of volunteers and the line is getting ever longer, this is a pretty important consideration." The joints are being welded using 'thermit welding' courtesy of Carillion Rail as part of a staff training exercise.

Extending the line isn't simply a matter of laying track, however. The bridges and culverts need attention - for example, the Stanton Road bridge has recently been refurbished, while corrosion has been found in the B4632 bridge necessitating temporary supports for the span, a weight limit and single file traffic while the repairs are attended to.

Fences have to be repaired and the undergrowth cleared. And the cess needs cleaning and repairing to ensure the drainage works properly and the GWR's own fire brigade have been assisting with this work.

"If the job is there to be done, they do it. On a couple of occasions recently some of the gang have worked to past 8pm or even 9:30pm. On one occasion we started at five in the morning because we knew we had a long job that simply needed that time," adds Ivor.

Yet they are volunteers - they don't have to get up at sunrise. There is a great sense of team spirit, too. So next time you visit the GWR, spare the P/Way gang a thought. You might just catch a glimpse of them in their orange, high-visibility jackets if they are repairing the running line. But often they are out in the countryside, like pioneers, forging the permanent way ever northwards for us all one day to enjoy.

The pictures in this article are courtesy of Paul Fuller. To see more of his photographs, visit Paul Fuller's website. See also Nigel Black's gallery. Please note that GWSR plc can accept no responsibility for the content or availability of external websites.