Images of Fawley

The photographs on this page illustrate some of the activities that have taken place at Fawley recently. The most recent activity has been the reconstruction of the tracks in the vicinity of the Station road crossing.

Track Work Diary; Winter 2025/26

17th February 2026: Finally we got some decent weather and the track from the signal box to the road crossing was tied down and checked for gauge and cant. Our Planet loco ERNIE was then used as a test load to check for any residual rail movement .

27th January 2026: Despite the miserable weather that we have had lately, including Storm Chandra, we have been able to make considerable progress with a lot of ballast being laid on top of the new foundations and all the sleepers being put in position (approximately in the case of the line from the yard to the station). There is plenty more work to do, though.

30th December 2025: Although we were supposed to have closed the site throughout the Christmas and New Year holiday, the brief emergence of (relatively|) warm and dry weather meant that we could make some significant progress on the next section. And get the project back on programme.

16th December 2025: During the first week of December, we continued the excavation of the rotten sleepers as we made our way down to the road crossing next to Somersham station. It was all going so well until the rain came and we found ourselves with a paddling pool that we didn't need!

18th November: Making good use of the late autumn weather, an excellent start is made on the first section of track. Firstly, the concrete top layer had to be broken out and the timber sleepers underneath exposed. These were found to be in very poor condition, it being 60 years since they were installed. The rotten timbers were hauled out and concrete replacements on ballast were installed in their place. A new concrete top layer will be laid in place after all the heavy replacement work is complete. Without the help of Site Manager Roy Twigger and his array of 'Tonka Toys', the whole exercise would have been impossible for us to undertake.

2nd December 2025: With the sleepers in place for the first track panel, it was time to refix the rails, ensuring that the height, gauge and cant were all within acceptable limits. At this stage, we were still enjoying some beautiful, mild and sunny weather.

By the end of the day, the panel had been ballasted and the area left (relatively) neat and tidy for the annual Fawley Hill Nativity Festival.