Working on the Drain Train
Volunteer Graham Murray recently spent a day guarding on the SVR’s Drain Train. Every year for two weeks, this carries out essential work cleaning and unblocking drains and culverts along the 16 miles of the line. Here, Graham gives an insight into his day.
We started just north of Country Park Halt, clearing drains installed (no doubt) by the GWR when Alverley Colliery Sidings were first built. The culverts here are mostly drains running parallel to the line, leading to chambers from where pipes run perpendicular to the track and disappear off into the woods. Team leader Brent assures me that there are further chambers in the trees between the Railway and river, but labour and funding restraints mean that they go unexplored this year.
Before half-a-mile had been traversed, the jet tank had been emptied, so off we trundled to Bridgnorth for a top-up. Whilst the tank filled, we took the opportunity to get teas, coffees and another bucket of coal for the brakevan stove!
By 11.15am we were back to the site of Alverley Miners Halt to continue work. Next was Highley, with the infamous (amongst Drain Train aficionados at least) Culvert 55. This has an absolutely huge, double-tiered chamber and, needless to say, nobody was going down there!
By 12.30 we’d run out of water again, but had managed to reach Borle viaduct. This time, we headed to Bewdley to fill up Lunch was taken here whilst the signal engineering team were hard at work with their mobile elevated working platform, renewing various parts of Bewdley North’s Down Main Home.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon between Borle and County Boundary. We got into a nice routine – I helped the jetters and replaced culvert lids whilst Brent went on ahead to dig out and lift the next one. Driver Dave sensibly stayed on the loco, no doubt reading up on the intricacies of HST powercars! The culverts here at Kinlet are similar to those at Country Park, but are more of a mix of modern, slightly less modern and downright old. Some of the pipes here were over 50m long and took a lot of effort from the machinery and the machinery’s handlers before they came clear. Several were packed full of silt, run-off from the fields, and before we knew it, the water tank was empty again.!
Before darkness fell, there was just enough time to run back to Bewdley to top up the tank then get back to Highley to stable the train for the night.
Not the sunniest of days, it has to be said, but quite productive nonetheless!
