Minford Stockton Track Renewal


Maintaining the track at Brambleton is a never ending task. The photos below show the renewal of the track-base between Minford and Stockton.

This section of track lies in a cutting, which means it is damp for much of the year. Perhaps because of this, the wooden planks that formed the track base had rotted. The track had been patched up for a number of years, but as the photos below show, the track condition was in very poor condition.

Old O gauge track

Rotted O gauge track base

At the start of 2007 the decision was taken to renew the track base. The PECO track was lifted; most of it was later re-used. The wooden track base was removed and the cutting completely cleared. Screws were used to hold the wooden track base in place. These screws were screwed into wooden battens in the concrete base. These wooden battens had also rotted and so were replaced.

Battens in track base

The next stage was to create the track base. Fortunately, the club had been donated some plastic planks by a local firm RB Plastics. Hopefully, using plastic rather than wood will mean the new trackbase will have a much longer life than the original. The photo below shows the planks cut to size.

Plastic o gauge track base planks

The plastic planks were then wrapped in roofing felt to give a more realistic colour. The track was then relaid.

o gauge track being laid

The final photo shows the completed section of track.

o gauge track