Saturday, August 08, 2015

Rebuilding Dottendorf station

The line between the shed and Dottendorf station runs round a whitebeam tree. The trunk has grown, seemingly exponentially, since the track was first laid. Three years ago, a minor realignment avoided the need for a major rebuild. However, that day has now arrived, so there was nothing for it but to close the line and lift the track through the station.
Relaying the line meant a wider curve round the whitebeam tree and extending out further into the flower bed, so the first phase of works saw the track and station lifted and the flower bed cleared.
The new alignment at Dottendorf. It's obviously looking pretty raw at the moment, but more decking boards will hide a multitude of sins. The village will also be moved forwards slightly to take advantage of the level(ish) base left by the former track bed.

The big gain from the rebuild has been the opportunity to create a passing loop at Dottendorf. This will enhance operational flexibility. It's electrically isolated from the main line and can serve either main line or rack line traffic.

To maintain space/track length for the rack line, the latter extends towards the tree. I see me needing to shorten this...