Against all the
odds Seaton Tramway has overcome huge physical hurdles to repair its
track in record time after the devastating storm on Valentine’s night
which washed away half a mile of track and flooded the company’s
Riverside Depot.
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| Seaton Tramway operates narrow gauge heritage trams between Seaton, Colyford and Colyton in East Devon's glorious Axe Valley, |
With only hours to go until the attraction was due to
open for February half-term, staff were horrified to discover the
devastation that had been caused by a combination of high winds, tides
and abnormal river levels. Not only did they have to suspend the service
to visitors but had the added problem of having to work from flooded
offices. Managing Director, Jenny Nunn, said at the time that “unlike
the poor people on the Somerset Levels, at least we had warm, dry houses
to go home to!”
A concerted
effort has been made by staff at the Tramway and contractors, Axminster
Excavators, to get the track fully open again in time for daily service
which starts on 29th
March. Much like the line at Dawlish, parts of the damaged rail and
track were salvaged and removed for diggers and rollers to access and
level the site. In total over 600 tonnes of fill and ballast were
brought in by road and then transported along the line to the site of
the damage, compacted and then the track relayed and packed on top.
Jenny went on to
say that “it seems difficult to comprehend that, what the storm took
away in a matter of hours, has taken six weeks to put back and even now
work will continue after we re-open on Saturday to ensure the track can
withstand any future incidents like this. Now we’re looking forward to
getting back to the real job which is running a tramway and welcoming
visitors from far and wide to take this unique trip along this
much-loved route by the River Axe.” |
On another note, later on Friday afternoon trams 6 and 8, which were transported by road when the damage first occurred to keep the service running between Colyton and Colyford, will be brought back to the Tramway’s Riverside Depot to re-join the rest of the fleet before service commences at 10am on Saturday 29th March.
http://www.tram.co.uk/p/route
http://www.tram.co.uk/p/fleet-list
