Whilst noting that progress continues elsewhere with both our A1 and P2, the focus in Darlington must be on getting the track down in time for S&D 200 next year and, thanks to our supporters' generous donations to the ballast fund, great strides have been made by our team and elements from the Royal Engineers.  In July two turnouts from the sidings at Darlington Bank Top station were removed as part of the track changes at the station where a new platform for eastbound trains is being installed. Corners Transport were contracted to do the heavy lifting and deliver the components to DLW.  By late August two new, plastic (!) waybeams had been delivered for installation on the Otley Terrace bridge and the business of clearing vegetation and work on the turnout adjacent to A1 shed continued, jacking the track to the correct height then packing it with ballast.  The vast assortment of rail that had been collected on site was laid out for measuring and cutting to length but progress was slowed by the torrential rainfall of September and October, requiring a drain to be dug next to the formation (at a gradient of 1:110 at that point) to carry the water away.  Despite this, 260 tons of ballast had been delivered to the headshunt, ready for grading and tracklaying.

By November both tracks out of the A1 building had been laid and connected to the turnout. In total three turnouts have been assembled and were in position, over 110m of plain line had been laid by the 1861 shed, Otley Terrace bridge had been cleared and the way beams delivered along with 80% of bottom ballast for headshunt.  The next steps were to get bottom ballast delivered for plain line and turnouts, define the location for individual rails, cut to length (£15 per disc per cut!) and prepare for an Army visit in mid-November for four weeks for training on constructing permanent way.  

The team made good progress during the first weeks in November. All the bottom ballast was delivered to the headshunt and we built up a stockpile for top ballast for the plain line, in total 1700 tons having been delivered, including 400 tons sourced in 2023. All the rails north of the network rail turnout to Honeypot Lane bridge were in location alongside the rolling mills and cut to length making 13 panels in total. The stacks of rails stored lineside up the headshunt had been moved to create access to allow sleepers to be moved into position. Once the ballast was levelled and rolled by the Army they could get straight onto building the track.

32 Regiment moved on site on Monday 18th and made great progress. We gave them a detailed introduction and site tour then demonstrated what we needed them to do. By Monday afternoon they were jacking the track and moving sleepers. By Tuesday afternoon they had finished the work done by 507s in June and were laying new track. At the time of this update they had laid four panels (approximately 70m of track) and have started to level the ballast on the headshunt. We are ahead of the plan on tracklaying and now could do with more ballast ordered to maximise the work the 32 Regiment can do for us.  We are ever grateful to our supporters and their generosity has allowed rapid progress this year.  Please support the Track Gang appeal and help us fund the balance of this work.

Building a railway requires a team so we must thank our supporters for the generous donations to the Ballast and P-Way Gang funds and give special thanks to all the volunteers from the A1 Trust, DRPS, the Army and our track mentor James Hodge.