Porthgain in 009: surveying...

What a wonderful day today in Pembrokeshire, and how better to spend it then on a beach... hold on? What's this on the walk to the beach? Porthgain? And you happen to have a tape measure, pad and pencil with you...

Elly and I spent a happy hour with said tape measure and sketched out some critical dimensions for the buildings at the Porthgain end of the short line on the cliff tops. The idea being that in my life time I've seen a large chunk of the engine shed collapse, and perhaps if it's not recorded now, then it won't ever be... so we've not done the best job in the world, but the critical dimensions and photos should allow a reasonable drawing to be produced (see below).

Alex helped a little too - he's standing in the doorway for scale! This is the small weigh bridge hut at the only real bend in the line. Every wagon was weighed as the quarry workers were paid on their output. The apparatus is long gone, even the lintels too but the hole in the floor, and the pit outside give some idea of the arrangement. A few old wooden sleepers confirm the alignment of the line, and the fact that it definitely crossed here on the way to the shed...

Elly and I were speculating what these curious stone pillars were for, I speculated some sort of water tank, but I can't work out why, as the shed had one anyway? Does anyone know for sure?

We then strolled back along to the engine shed. This looks like a 3 window affair until you start to measure and walk around and realise the fourth window has collapsed. Very little remains of the other wall, and the second shed, built alongside infront of the water tower has vanished and I couldn't make out any key dimensions.

The water tank was on 4 large pillars at the back side of the shed. This covered one window space, it's hard to know what the arrangement was - it looks like the sides of the tower were bricked in at some point, with a small opening on one side - but why?

The back side of the shed sports no windows or doors, the only access would have been through the front door. Unfortunately very little remains at the front of the building so working out the arrangement will have to be from the one or two rare photos, or guess work.

What you can't really see here is how close the corner of the shed is to the quarry!

Here is Elly measuring a sleeper for me.

We made all our notes in a reporter pad with a 1960s draughtsman pencil. Very retro!

However, less retro was the work I started when we got home, converting these drawings into a scale model I can use to build a model of Porthgain at some stage!

If anyone is interested in scale drawings, plans or a book on the subject please get in touch. I'm toying with the idea of expanding the works that were completed in the past, with a more thorough coverage of the railway. This would require a long research period I expect, but I'd love to do something of this peculiar little railway.

More soon...