Ignoring the people who think that the railway runs on thin air and we raid a box of monopoly money when we need to replace something the following was taken from a permanent way update.
It’s worth reflecting that track components are expensive. New bullhead rail (forget serviceable bullhead rail from off the network, its like rocking horse droppings – non-existent!) is currently costing £1252.00 per 60ft length. New timber sleepers are costing £55.00 each and ballast is approaching £40.00 per tonne. To relay a quarter of a mile of track you need forty-four rails, five hundred and fifty sleepers and almost 700 tonnes of ballast. That’s a bill of over £100K and that doesn’t include any small materials such as chairs and screws, heavy plant, labour etc. It can be done cheaper using serviceable concrete sleepers (circa £25 each) and serviceable flat bottom rail (circa £500 each if available) but you need a deeper dig and more ballast (approx. 150 tonnes) to fit the concrete sleepers in. Expensive whichever way you go.
And that ladies and gentlemen is why donations are always welcome. Should you wish to donate to the railway you will find a link at the top of the railways main web site. Click HERE to go directly there.
Just remember the above if you’re one of our regular non-paying visitors.