PERMANENT WAY
- photographs 1

More photos can be found on the second page of the phtogallery.

An early P'Way team at work in the mid-70's installing a crossover at the west end of Embsay station to allow locomotives to run round. Motive power is the Bug. (c) Charles Boylan.

Ruston 887 is on hand here for some ballasting work on the extension to Skibeden Loop in the very early 80s. Supervising the activity is Dave Hutchinson (left), still the department manager. (c) Charles Boylan.

The re-instatement of Embsay Junction was completed in 1982 to accept a DMU from Skipton and coaching stock as it was bought for the line. (c) Charles Boylan.

Hard work is sometimes the order of the day, as can be seen here. The team are aligning the track using crow bars and brute force! (c) Charles Boylan.

For the Stoneacre extension a Shark brakevan was borrowed to plough the ballast, distributing it evenly. This helped speed up the process a lot. (c) Charles Boylan.

Installing new trackside drainage system at Stoneacre Loop. (c) Dave Barlow.

When the railway was built to Stoneacre before the final push to Bolton Abbey, the P'Way was greatly assisted by 75 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, whose TA Field Squadrons became adept at tracklaying by constructing over ¼ mile in a two-day exercise. The soldiers and P'Way staff are seen here at the end of the job. The NCO in charge shakes hands with Extension Project Manager, David Barlow. (c) YDRMT.

A selection of the team on the furthest point of the extension in 1993(?) with the visiting 4F on hand. (c) YDRMT collection.

P'Way stalwart Mike Mason is seen here on the Bolton Abbey extension cutting rail using a disc cutter - a much quicker method than previous ones. (c) Pete Walker.

Assembling a track panel at Bolton Abbey station for the steam crane to lift into position to facilitate the completion of the link-up to the rest of the line. (c) YDRMT collection.

The P'Way team demonstrating products and overalls in some night work at Bolton Abbey station. (c) Pete Walker.

Remodelling the loop at Stoneacre from a run-round loop to a passing loop involved craning out lengths of track to remove the hump of ballast... (c) YDRMT collection.

...which will allow through trains to Bolton Abbey. The diesel railcrane was used on this occasion, demonstrating more of the equipment available. (c) YDRMT collection.

Another day, another task requiring cranage. This time the stripping down of a bridge near Embsay to replace the girders and decking (still ongoing). (c) William Lister.

A GrantRail road-railer helped complete this project, and two of the team (Mike Mason & Dave Barlow (chairman)) are seen posed in front of their machine. (c) YDRMT collection.

More ballasting work, this time using dogfish hoppers and the visiting Lambton tank. This was in preparation for GrantRail bringing their tampers and ballast regulator for training purposes. (c) William Lister.

During flooding parts of the line were washed out, and the P'Way team had to react quickly with other departments on the line to repair the damage... (c) William Lister.

...making use of the cherry picker mounted on a flat wagon and the dogfish hoppers to drop quarry waste and new ballast. (c) William Lister.

Another location presents a problem here as it is inspected. Fortunately with the help of GrantRail the problem was rectified quickly and the embankment reinstated. (c) Mike Mason.

Another team photo here as a work party is pictured at Healy Mills to load up track materials left over from the RAILTRACK LEEDS FIRST project for use in the shed yard layout. (c) Dave Barlow.

The weather can provide interesting(!) working conditions, such as the snow here, as the gang lay the headshunt and tandem turnout for the shed complex. (c) William Lister.

More action around the new shed as the team are pictured at the end of another working day having completed another few lengths in the yard. Come along and join us! (c) Tim Warner.

The P'Way Depot is located at Priors Lane and the siding from the main line into the yard has recently been extend and a new compacted stone surface provided up to rail to height. (c) Dave Barlow.

P'Way staff at work levelling the extended siding prior to 'stoning up' with compacted fill. (c) Dave Barlow.

Grant Rail's Matisa tamper and ballast regulator posed at Bolton Abbey station. (c) Dave Barlow.

View of Priors Lane Depot with Grant Rail's Matisa Ballast Regulator and locomotive number 68005 on ballast hoppers. (c) Dave Barlow.

One of GR's Matisa tampers at work in a night-time possession. (c) Dave Barlow.

View of BA looking east. Duke's siding to left with hoppers & shark. Staff working on new storage siding. (c) Dave Barlow.

One of GR's Matisa tampers levelling and lining the new storage siding at Bolton Abbey. (c) Dave Barlow.

Work along the line includes caring for lineside fencing and hedges. This work is usually undertaken by the volunteers of the Yorkshire Dales Conservation Volunteers (YDCV) group, affiliated to the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV)... (c) Dave Barlow.

...A prime example of their excellent work is shown here in these photos - a hedge laying project near Priors Lane. (c) Dave Barlow.

The following photographs were taken during the P-Way team's post-Christmas / pre-New Year working day, showing the steam crane in use to move containers. They were taken with the full permission and knowledge of the operating staff. Some of these locations are not available for the public to take photos. Trespassing on the railway is dangerous and illegal, even more so when this type of work is going on.

This picture shows one of the containers being moved at Bolton Abbey. There were two that were moved down to the other end of the site, out of the way. (c) Tim Warner.

The crane arrives at Stoneacre loop ready to move the container which was used during the construction of the signalbox. (c) Tim Warner.

Viewed from the bracket signal, the chains have been fastened to the container ready for lifting. (c) Tim Warner.

The container is lifted from its resting place in the grass (and in the way of photographs taken from the signalbox!)... (c) Tim Warner.

...and swung across onto the rail wagon for transport to Skibeden footbridge. Cranford provided the haulage. (c) Tim Warner.

Finally at the end of the day as the light grew poorer, the container was unloaded at Skibeden footbridge to assist with the repairs starting early in 2002. (c) Tim Warner.