The repairs of points № 128 are slowly but steadily coming to an end. We are looking forward to the successful finish, while this set of points is the main access route from station to the Shed.

A couple of words about the points. It is a normalised switch with a 1:9 slant. The construction of this type of switches was designed by the German railways (DRG) during 1920’s and 1930’s, right after the introduction of the heavy type of rail (49 kg per meter – later known as S49). After war the S49 rails become standard type of railway track surface, making the lighter type C obsolete. The decision resulted both from the state of the post-war railway infrastructure and the fact that the rail was as wide as the pre-war Polish type S42. Of course, the points in our Shed are not as old, most of them was built during 1970’s. The repairs were needed as the slippers were incorrectly laid on a very thin and dirty ballast. There was hardly any drainage and many parts were simply recycled from main line tracks.

Current repairs were a complete overhaul of the switch. Each section of the points was disassembled for removal of old ties and ballast. We had to deepen the track trench to make the new layer of ballast thicker and ensure that new ties have no contact with bare ground. After ballast sifting, it appeared that we have to order several cubic meters extra to fill in the shortage.

During the last weekend, the last section of the switch was completed. The heaviest parts – the frog and guard rails – were laid on their place with our railway crane (manufactured by Maschinenfabrik Wyhlen in 1938). All parts were joined together and secured with new screws.

During the repairs we discovered that the join track between points № 128 and previously overhauled double slip in track № 57 should be completely replaced. There was hardly any ballast under the track and the ties were completely rotten. Thankfully, we still have some extra ties left from the repairs of the turntable – enough to complete the works. We still have to level the points and check the geometry of the new track layout, but we may say the works are nearly completed.