2013 Railway News

Santa trains were sold out in 2013 by mid November and were very well received again. The trains were double headed with 8 or 9 coaches.

A programme of track works to add extra sleepers and new ballast means there were no trains in the early part of 2014.

Victoria finished her service this year in mid October with the expiry of her 10 yearly boiler certificate. She will be dismantled over the winter months.

The Petrol engine No. 2 Modred has had a lot of attention to her wiring and cooling systems and is running well. An extra siding has been added so that everything will be able to be stored under cover. At the same time work to the shed roof is underway to remove some minor leaks. The workshop & engine sheds have had a major tidy up.

The steam gala Sep. 21, 22 was our busiest ever with all 9 locomotives in use on both days. The old shed lean too was life expired and has now been replaced with safer clearances.

Daily trains have finished for the summer at start of September. Traffic has been good with numbers up to date on 2012. All the locomotives finished the main season in working order which is pleasing. Trains are now running Wed, Sat & Sundays. A major site tidy up is underway and Santa train bookings have now started.

Mark Dean has left us for pastures new and we would like to thank him for all his work and wish him and his family well in the future.

Four new bogies have been manufactured ready for yet more coaches to be built.

A new loco lift has been collected from Devon and has been installed. It works very well and is a great asset. It can be seen in the picture below.

A large hole has been dug for the new sewerage system and a very large rock broken up in it.

No.9 Pendragon had a weepy boiler stay so the boiler was removed and we have replaced all the tubes whilst the boiler is off. Its hydraulic test was passed on 24 May

A new water crane has been built and was installed on 28th of April and can now be used. Its fed with treated water from the water tank.

Two new large station benches have been made and installed at Rudyard station

The glazing has also been fitted to the from of the birthday party area so this is much warmer if its windy. And a music system installed as well for party games.

We are building a further three 4 wheel goods wagons ready for use at this years steam gala. The first chassis is well under way. We will also be home to a Bo-Bo diesel Glen Auldyn from Mull which arrived in late June.

Our steam engine No.6 Excalibur has had new tubes fitted to the boiler and is now being put back together was running again by early April. Merlin has had some quick repairs to the left hand cylinder head which had worked loose. It was repaired on Good Friday between the 11am train leaving and was finished in time to pull the 2pm train.

Due to heavy snow trains did not run on Saturday March 23 but did run on Sunday 24th

The new 12 seat enclosed LTM coach arrived in December 2012 and was used for the first time on the Santa trains. The air brakes on this carriage were installed in January.

The railway now has 13 coaches and 6 steam engines available for its trains.Excalibur has been dismantled for a 10 year boiler overhaul. The smoke box is being repaired and the boiler is being re- tubed. The old tubes have all been cut out and the boiler inspector will be along soon to inspect the boiler. Attention to the motion, bearings and valve gear has been carried out. The boiler should be retubed week beginning 25th March.

Work to install the new toilets is underway with the old flower beds removed to make room for a very large hole! This has meant many tons of rock and soil have been moved.