Flood Lighting Goes Full Steam Ahead At East Lancs Railway

WRTL’s i-MasT™ division has designed, manufactured and installed a new floodlighting scheme within very tight cost and time constraints at the main East Lancashire Railway (ELR) locomotive works at Baron Street in Bury.

As part of the Metrolink tram network Track Renewals contract, undertaken by Carillion for the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE), use was made of the ELR Baron Street site for the storage and movement of bulk materials. This work involved extensive night operations and safety conditions were therefore paramount.

The Baron Street works has extensive areas of track and sidings and in order to meet the necessary safety requirements, a Railway Safety Case was submitted to the Health & Safety Executive for the installation of 10 WRTL, 25 metre high masts, fitted with 64, 400W Mario SON-T floodlights, as specified.

“WRTL’s i-MasT team were able to provide the whole service from scheme design to mast and lighting installation,” says ELR Director, Malcolm Vickers. “This meant that there was only one point of contact throughout which greatly helped communications and decisions. The site team kept to the tight working schedule despite the difficulties of a location with limited access and working space, and with working rail and other vehicles on site.”

Upon completion, the lighting project (funded by the ELR with significant assistance from GMPTE) will provide illumination of all trackwork within the Baron Street Locomotive works site lit by i-MasT floodlighting to offer additional security for the buildings, train sheds and workshops, as well as improving safety for working during the winter months.

The thriving ELR has been operated by volunteers from the East Lancashire Railway Preservation Society since 1987 after closure of the line in the 1970s. It offers a number of different rail days, weekends, weeks, Santa specials and other events, and connects Bury, Rawtenstall and Heywood with links to the Network Rail railway network.

14 November 2007