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This week's update from the railway. On Thursday, a small but productive team of volunteers were busy at Lawley, bolting down chairs on the run-round loop/siding to make it useable for the storage of more wagons. On Saturday Peckett 0-4-0 saddle tank No 1722 'Rocket' was in steam for one of our popular 'driver experience' events. Once this had finished, we used her to shunt the wagons at Lawley, which has now freed up the track adjacent to the station and will enable us to start work on improving the platform. On Sunday, as well as 'Rocket' running services, a gang of volunteers finished off de-chairing the sleepers from the day before. We now have a stack of them ready to sell for garden use at £10 each. If you are interested in buying any, please contact [email protected] to arrange purchase and collection. Work was also done on repairing North British 0-4-0 diesel hydraulic No. 27414 'Tom' in the shed, as well as ongoing electrical repairs to the site, and garden maintenance. Carriage update
We are now looking forward to our Queen's Platinum Jubilee event running from 2nd to 5th June (see our Facebook and Website pages for more details). Thanks to Ben and Mark for providing additional information for this update. This week I am really pleased to be able to give you another update from our mid-week volunteers, courtesy of Paul S. It's the growing season, so lots of weeding, watering and tidying have been taking place around Horsehay and Dawley station, Café and Railway House. The gates, fences and posts at Spring Village continue to be painted, and work progresses on both the Brake Standard Open (BSO) and Tourist Standard Open (TSO) coaches. Repairs to the seats that will eventually be put into the BSO are ongoing nicely which, when completed, will be a fantastic addition to the railway. A big thank you to all our mid-week volunteers for the great work they do. On Saturday, two of our volunteers drove to Wishaw to fault find an issue with our diesel 08757 'Eagle' not starting. The fault was quickly found and fixed. Most of the other repairs to the 08 have now been done and once everything is completed, she will be on hire to Hams Hall freight dept as a standby loco. The volunteers remaining on site moved rail and point work from the yard to the headshunt where it was neatly laid out next to the running line. Concrete sleepers were then moved to join the others in the headshunt as well. Two volunteers were also cleaning some benches for use on the railway. On Sunday our Peckett No 1722 'Rocket' was in steam and hauling the service trains. After the usual lovely cooked breakfast at the café, we had a quick shunt around of stock to get Rocket in place for the 11am departure from Spring Village. When trains were running, volunteers dechaired some more sleepers in the yard ready to sell, continued to put new LED lights into the TSOs for the Polar Express, and fitted a new running board onto Brake Van CRC2. Mowing of the picnic area and around the café also took place. There was still time to do a track walk to check all the keys were in place and the fishplates were all tight. A busy week as usual, but with lots of happy passengers (some all the way from Canada!) it makes it all worth while. Have you ever thought about becoming a volunteer at Telford Steam Railway? It’s simple to join and there is so much to discover, including meeting new people who share your passion for steam, diesel, the history, and everything in between! Visit our website or email [email protected] for more information
Another busy week at the railway, with our fantastic volunteers working very hard as usual. On Monday we took delivery of the steel that will eventually form our Carriage Shed at Spring Village Yard. This is now stored in the yard until it is needed. On Tuesday the last (I hope!) of the wooden sleepers were brought up from Doseley. These are now in a big pile to be de chaired, or re used, as appropriate. On Wednesday, Class 08 Diesel shunter 08757 "Eagle" was collected for some repair and maintenance work before going out on hire for the summer. Work on our coaches continues with the mid-week volunteers. Tourist Standard Open (TSO) no. 5193 is having its kick boards replaced and repainted. Also the gates at our Spring Village site have been given a new coat of paint, and are now looking beautiful! On Saturday, Brake Standard Open (BSO) Coach no. 9406 had 4 of its windows resealed so that the panelling can be secured on the inside. This was a major success with no leaks found after the recent rainfall! More work was also done on the seats for 9406 so that they can be refitted when required. TSO no. 5220 was finished being fitted with new LED tube lights for use on the Polar Express. These new lights will reduce power consumption, and will extend the life of the on-board batteries in the event of anything happening to its generator. Whilst this was being done, another group of volunteers were tamping the two panels of rail that the RAF volunteers helped us with last weekend. The old sleepers that were left trackside were then collected and brought back to the yard. On Sunday we were open to the public. After a fantastic cooked breakfast in the Café, and a quick catch up with the volunteers running the brilliant model railway, we got down to the business of getting the Class 108 DMU ready for the first train at 11 o’clock. The sun shone in between the showers, and everyone looked to be having a great time. The other main job done on site was the de chairing of the wooden sleepers. There are still plenty more to do, and most of these are then made available for sale to the public. So, another enjoyable week at the railway! Have you ever thought about becoming a volunteer at Telford Steam Railway? It’s simple to join and there is so much to discover, including meeting new people who share your passion for steam, diesel, the history, and everything in between! Visit our website or email [email protected] for more information.
This Saturday saw the railway again welcome trainees from RAF Cosford to work alongside our volunteers. A lot of hard work was done, with two panels of mainline track spot re-sleepered and an extra 30ft of siding installed. Some trainees had a go at driving our industrial diesel 'Jammo' under supervision, and a great time was had by all. Many thanks to the trainees for all their help, and we look forward to working closely with RAF Cosford in the future. Sunday was a running day with the Class 108 DMU. Before anything started though, we all met in the cafe for a cooked breakfast. Lovely. After that, most of the volunteers were involved with running the trains and looking after our passengers for the rest of the day. Other jobs took place though, with some concrete sleepers and rail moved and organised so that it can be moved to the headshunt later this week. More painting of signals and sign also took place on the shed and work continued on cleaning and repairing the railways seats and benches. The fruits of these efforts can now be seen at the café, and on the platform at Spring Village. Have you ever thought about becoming a volunteer at Telford Steam Railway? It’s simple to join and there is so much to discover, including meeting new people who share your passion for steam, diesel, the history, and everything in between! Visit our website or email [email protected] for more information.
Rocket was in use on Sunday, so the day started with giving her a clean and filling up the coal bunker whilst the driver and fireman began preparing her for the days work. A quick break for breakfast and a mug of tea, and then back to polishing her brass and paintwork. The fire was now burning nicely and the driver completed his oiling and checks to make sure everything was ready for the first departure at 11am. Even though we were running trains, the volunteers were getting on with lots of other jobs as well. A new electrical 3 phase supply was installed at Horsehay & Doseley Station which will be used during this years Polar Express. The electrics in the old ticket office were repaired, meaning this can now be re used again. Work continued on installing our power wood saw, and the frame was bolted down onto its plinth. Once electrics have been connected, this will make the job of cutting wood for the steam engines, and other projects, much quicker and easier. Painting of signs and signals continued in the shed, which once complete, can be put back out onto the railway. On Monday it was the turn of Rusty to haul the trains. We gave her a quick wash and then had a lovely cooked breakfast up in the Railway Café. Jobs undertaken today, in addition to running trains, was to dig out a hole ready for a panel of track to be laid behind the sleeper coach. This will be done next Saturday by some RAF trainees from Cosford, who have very kindly agreed to help us as part of their training. We look forward to having them on site. One of our Pacers was started up to check the engines, and the insides were swept clean. Work on repairing one of the carriage doors from our BSO continues, with it receiving a coat of primer. Some volunteers also went down to the barrow crossing, south of Horsehay & Dawley station to do some track work in preparation to removing some of the rails. This is all part of the plan to relay sleepers and track to the barrow crossing at the required standard for passenger use, although no timescale has yet been agreed for when this will happen. Have you ever thought about becoming a volunteer at Telford Steam Railway? It’s simple to join and there is so much to discover, including meeting new people who share your passion for steam, diesel, the history, and everything in between! Visit our website or email [email protected] for more information.
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THE OLD LOCO SHED,
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