Volunteer Liaison Update | 24th May

​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 vlo@telfordsteamrailway.co.uk for more information