Home - Location - Timetable - Facilities - FAQs - Events - Stately Trains News - Photogalleries - Digital Archive - History - Shops - Departments Stocklist - Shed - Signalling - Membership - Volunteering - Links Grant Rail have spent a considerable amount of time on the railway; these photographs show some of the work they carried out during the equipment testing / training they carried out. Their website can be found at: http://www.grantrail.co.uk/ The ballast regulator arrives at the newly completed Prior's Lane siding, as members of the P-Way department look on with interest, having just completed the siding. The machines arrived in October / November 2000, staying on the line until February 2001. (c) Grant Rail. The ballast regulator is lowered down from the trailer - the rails of the siding are just visible beneath. (c) Grant Rail. Nearly there! The last few feet are moved very carefully until the whole 'thing' is on the rails. (c) Grant Rail. One of the first tasks was to learn the route, giving rise to this photo of the ballast regulator seemingly about to depart from Embsay station with a passenger train! Ignore the date on the photo! (c) YDRMT. The ballast regulator is in action in Hambleton Cutting - it re-distributes the ballast evenly along the track and gives the ballast shoulder the correct profile. This can be seen in the photograph. (c) Pete Walker. A close up of the plough in action at the same location as the previous photo. (c) Pete Walker. One of the Matisa tampers and the ballast regulator line up in Bolton Abbey station prior to shunting into the siding ready to provide a demonstration for Grant Rail employees the following day. (c) Pete Walker. The two machines are safely installed in the siding, which has road access, allowing the visitors to observe the various goings on that day. The tamper is the rear of the two. (c) Simon Gott. Close up of the plough in action on the demonstration day. (c) Simon Gott. Close up of the tamper in action on the same occasion. It forces the ballast under the sleepers in order to bring the track up to the same level all the way along to give a smooth ride. (c) Simon Gott. The tamper in action again, this time at the throart of Bolton Abbey station, tamping the points. (c) Pete Walker. This photo shows how the tamper manages to get around the various different rails in the turnout to tamp them. (c) Pete Walker. Working by night was also a feature of Grant Rails visit in order to prepare them for engineering possessions, most of which would be at night. The light available to the operator is clear in this photo. (c) Pete Walker. Another night picture of the tamper near Bolton Abbey during one of the possessions. (c) Pete Walker. A line-up of machines at Prior's Lane - two tampers and the ballast regulator. (c) Dave Barlow. Grant Rail also brought one of their road-rail vehicles to assist in the removal of the decking from one of the bridges between Embsay and Bow Bridge. Here it is posed on the rails with Mike Mason and Dave Barlow. (c) YDRMT. ...and here it is again, this time in 'road' mode as it lifts the rails from their slepers on the bridge. (c) YDRMT. Back on the rails, the sleepers are lifted out, and the life-expired decking is ready to be removed. (c) Dave Barlow. Some more photos of this operation can be found in the 2nd P-Way photogallery. Yorkshire Dales Railway Museum Trust Registered Charity No. 517804 - Registered Museum No. 60 Bolton Abbey Station, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 6AF General Enquiries: 01756 710614 - Talking Timetables & Fax: 01756 795189 enquiries@embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk webmaster@embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk