VolkerRail helped the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) prepare a section of track in readiness for the arrival of the famous Flying Scotsman locomotive on Saturday 12 March.
Finished eight hours ahead of schedule, VolkerRail used its ALC switch and crossing plain line beaver tamper to complete the work on Thursday 10 March. This involved successfully aligning a 200m section of track and levelling two switch and crossing assembly points, between Levisham and Pickering station.
The ALC switch and crossing plain line beaver tamper is a high output, compact tamping machine with certifications to work on both light and heavy rail infrastructure and was chosen for its ability to be easily transported by road and quickly on-tracked.
Mark Jackson, plant general manager at VolkerRail said: “It was a pleasure to see how well VolkerRail’s tamping experts worked alongside our customer’s team to jointly prepare the route for such an iconic locomotive.”
Nigel Trotter, NYMR infrastructure civil engineer, was directly involved in the success of the project and commended the crew for their hard work: “VolkerRail has done a brilliant job and I was amazed with the efforts everyone put in to ensure this project would be complete in time for the Flying Scotsman’s first visit.”
The Flying Scotsman was retired from service in 1963 but following a £4.2 million, 10-year refit, the locomotive has been fully restored and is currently touring the country. Built in Doncaster in 1923, the Flying Scotsman was the first UK locomotive to reach a speed of 100mph, a feat achieved in 1934.