Extra detailed news from and for the volunteers and supporters.

If you want to receive these fortnightly reports as "Word" files attached to emails before they appear here, please contact gcmudd@ntlworld.com

22 July 2010                WEARDALE RAILWAY UPDATE : No.42

NEW TIMETABLE AND NEW STAFF  - THE FIRST TWO MONTHS
WEARDALE TRAINS NOW TRACKED BY SATELLITE
NETWORK RAIL DIRECTOR VISITS WR

 

Northern Rail drivers on a visit to the 
Weardale Railway  ( Photo : D Scott) 

 Newly arrived DMU 141113 on a test run to 
Stanhope on 11 June.    (  Photo  T Wansbury)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Junior Club members breakfasting en route to Edinburgh    and on the Platform at Bo’ness station (Photos : D Million )

 

 

 

  

·         JUNE 20 : CHARTER AND BIG BOYS TOYS : Michael Wilkinson reports: The thanks of the Volunteer Liaison Officers go to all those who gave their time on Sunday 18 June to make this years “Big Boys Toys” event better than ever. Despite a couple of minor issues all the trains, including the charter, ran to time and this is due to the dedication and hard work of all those involved who are intent on making the line the success we know it can be.  This commendation applies to the Juniors and Adult members equally without whom we could not make this work. Congratulations all on making this an event many will remember for a long time”

 

Rush Hour at Stanhope -
both 141 units  present on June  11th
(Photo ; T Wansbury)

 A reminder that posters for events are available to 
download from the website for distribution by volunteers
                                (Photo ;J Askwith)
 

 

 

 

Well what can I say , only that I had a great day out today. The weather helped but I would have  enjoyed it anyway. Could you also pass on my thanks to Mr. JOHN ASKWITH for his history of your work and advising me on how I could look into being a volunteer with yourselves . ONCE AGAIN, A GREAT DAY OUT ....THANK YOU ...... JOHN .  STANLEY, Co DURHAM

Having travelled on the newly opened service from Bishop Auckland West to Stanhope today, I just wanted to write and thank you for an enjoyable day out. I do however have one or two comments to provide feedback on the service which I hope you don't mind me mentioning….. The morning service results in arrival into Darlington far too late for commuters or passengers wishing to transfer to services elsewhere in the North East in time for work……… I am also interested as to the future plan for new stations/halts along the line. I note that the service stopped at Kingfisher Country Park for operation of the crossing, and that this could be an opportunity for an additional halt to service the adjacent caravan park. I shall travel the line again, and spread the word about your timely rail service, and look forward to hearing from you in regard to the above.  

ANDREW C

I saw a request for feedback, so here is mine. I live in Northallerton. In May my wife and I joined a walk on former rail lines, starting from BA station to which we travelled by train. On Sunday 20 June we thought we'd try the Weardale service, as it was a Sunday (when 'main line' services can be disrupted) we drove to BA and parked at the station. It took us a couple of minutes to work out we needed to walk the current detour, as we initially missed the notice. We caught the 10:30 departure, travelled to Stanhope and returned to BA departing just after 1pm I think. While at Stanhope we walked round the town, and had lunch at the Dales centre. Overall we were very impressed. There was a slight delay on the return journey, while our train was shunted into the sidings at Wolsingham to let a special through - I quite enjoyed that unexpected extra and see there are plans for a passing loop so this should be less of a problem in future. We work as volunteers on the North Yorks Moors Rly, and know there needs to be attractions along the line. Obviously I like railway interest but it could be much wider. Stanhope station is certainly of interest to me, but so are the wider area and towns. In many ways the Class 141s are a benefit as we were able to see the countryside, and occasionally the line ahead. Steam-hauled would be great, but I appreciate it's costly and I think it's more important to keep the fares low. Key message: it was a successful trial trip & we'll be back. Admittedly we won't be travelling every week so our revenue won't make a huge difference, but every little helps. We're also likely to buy lunch etc in the dale, so the wider community benefits. Fingers crossed it's now up, up & away. Keep up the good work.

 KEITH  R
 

Edited by Gerry Mudd   Comments, suggestions, contributions, corrections all welcomed.
                                      gcmudd@ntlworld.com  or 01932 889 811  or 07773 800 554

TAILPIECE ONE : VISIT OF NETWORK RAIL DIRECTOR, CHRIS GREEN. Here is the full report from Donald Heath : -

"During the course of his visit he travelled in the cab and viewed the route which he rated as very picturesque and definitely a feature which we should be majoring on in our marketing. He met and talked with Trust chairman David Scott, Trust council members Brian Cox and Malcolm Simpson, Maintenance Manager Steve Race and working volunteers Messrs Slack, Swindle and Wilson. He was very taken with the professionalism of the people he spoke to as well as those he observed at work. 

He was very disappointed  by the interchange arrangements at Bishop Auckland: to have to walk around the back of two warehouses when, in the short term, there should be a direct path alongside the railway linking the two stations in the most direct way possible was incomprehensible as well as totally unacceptable (he said). He undertook to use the  conference to highlight the situation and to urge all the parties concerned to get together at the earliest possible moment to resolve these problems. 

 He was complimentary about the facilities at Stanhope, but suggested that more could – and should -  be done to highlight the café facilities within the main part of the centre of the town. He recommended some pro-active advertising be provided at the east and west entries to the town as well as within the town centre itself.  Likewise, he found the references to the station at Wolsingham to be almost non existent – there should, he suggested, be large signs at the entrances to the town, in the Market Square and by the caravan sales outlet. 

 His strongest recommendations arose from the lack of advertising. We had, he emphasised, a wonderful attraction to sell and we ought, he suggested, we put at least an order of magnitude  increase into our advertising effort and expenditure. We needed to find reasons for inviting  - separately – all of the big names in railway journalism to Weardale with a view to getting them to “write” the railway up in the most positive and attractive fashion possible. If necessary he offered to help by providing some contacts. 

 Altogether a most successful and useful visit. If half of his contacts deliver in the way that he intimated that he is going to ask them to do, then our operation should take a big step forward. As ever with Chris, it was pleasure to spend a day out with him savouring the joys of  a real railway whilst, in parallel, gaining the benefit of his independent professional advice.”

TAILPIECE TWO : JUNE 20th RUNNING THREE TRAINS SIMULNTANEOUSLY : Here is the full report from Donald Heath :-

"June 20th saw the arrival – and departure – of the third main line excursion to come on to Weardale railway metals. Unlike the previous two occasions, this was done round the normal public service albeit somewhat altered to accommodate the hand over times determined by the NetworkRail train planners. It was also the occasion for four notable firsts in our train operations. The “first first”: we had no less than three trains in traffic on the railway simultaneously – the 141 dmu running the community rail service to Bishop Auckland, the class 73 loco hauling the Mark 1 coaches offering a heritage service between Wolsingham and Stanhope and the return working of the excursion which ran from Alnmouth and back with the stock going on to its home at Bowness afterwards. The “second first” was the use of the down loop at Stanhope for the platforming of the dmu when the up platform was occupied by either of the heritage or excursion trains. 

To facilitate this, Malcolm Dean had some special ramps made which, when positioned opposite the dmu’s doors, enabled passengers to alight/join the train just as if they were on a standard height platform. This required very careful liaison with the driver and the guard – the first to stop the unit in exactly the right position, and the second to ensure that the doors were not released for opening until the station master was satisfied that the ramps and doors were, indeed, in perfect alignment.    

The “third first” was running a quite complicated service by only using the train staffs and, when consecutive movements were made in the same direction, arranging to return the train staff to the other end of the section by road transport. This involved the “controller’s agents” at Stanhope, Wolsingham and Scotch Isle in a lot of running around – in particular, Dave Butler, who kindly took on this role at Wolsingham station, must have gone to and from Stanhope/Scotch Isle at least 6 times during the course of the day. (The alternative to this is the use of paper tickets to authorise the first of two consecutive moves which avoids the need to resort to road transport. For the record, this is a well tried method with a history that goes back well into the nineteenth century and, by way of example, is still in regular use on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.)  

The “fourth first” was the passing of trains at Wolsingham depot ground frame. This was done by running the dmu on to the depot exit road stopping it outside of the depot gates. The Scotch Isle staff was then either walked to the Scotch Isle stop board or taken by road to Wolsingham station so as to facilitate the passage of the excursion train through that section. When the latter had cleared the end of the section the staff was taken back to the depot ground frame allowing the dmu to return to the main line and proceed on its way to either of Bishop Auckland or Stanhope as was required. 

All of the above is relatively simple to describe but it took quite a bit of detailed planning. The instructions to the 3 controller’s agents and the train crews took some 10 hours to write and then there was the need to brief everybody involved so as to make sure that everybody clearly understood what they had to do and when. The fact that everything went exactly according to plan is a tribute to the professionalism of all concerned and it gives me great pleasure to publicly acknowledge this. My thanks to Brian Cox, Reg Kemp, Steve Raine, John Hargreaves, David Million, Michael Wilkinson, Mike Wood, Dave Butler, Alistair Gregory, Kevin Hillary, Ian Jowett, John Asquith and, especially, Kelso Yuill who carried out the role of Controller in his  inevitable cool, calm and collected manner. 

The only regret about the whole day which, incidentally, had superb weather, was the fact that to run the excursion it was necessary to lose one return community service working to Bishop Auckland and that we had to retime half of all of the advertised service. Perhaps we will need to review whether this disruption to our normal service is, overall, worth it? In that context it is worth recording that the excursion spent just under 2hrs in Stanhope which gave the visitors plenty of time to go into Stanhope town and make additional direct contributions to the local economy.” 

 

 

Pevious Supporters' Snippets

Volunteering with the Weardale Railway

 If you have ever visited or contacted the Weardale Railway then chances are, you will have been helped by one of our volunteers – simply put we couldn’t exist without them!
Volunteering for Weardale Railway is a great way to get involved with your local community, make new friends and learn new skills (which could even help you find work or develop a new career). Whatever your age, whether you’re male or female, if you have a couple of hours to spare or can make a more regular commitment, we need your help. Our normal age range is from 11 – 70 (but there is no upper age limit).  We now have a Junior Club with members of school age who will be able help under supervision.

 So what can I do?
We always have regular and one-off projects that we need help with, so whether you are working, at home, studying or looking to develop your career or skills, volunteering with Weardale Railway is a fantastic way to spend your time.

We are always looking for help with a whole host of tasks and roles including: 

  • Ticket sales
  • Book-keepers
  • Guards and ticket inspectors
  • Promotion and marketing
  • Administration
  • Station maintenance
  • Café
  • Gardening and planting
  • Drivers
  • Crossing keepers
  • Controllers
  • Painting and plumbing
  • Track maintenance
  • Depot maintenance
  • Track patrollers
  • Gift Shop
  • Organising events

 And the benefits…
Great company, a friendly working environment, free travel on the railway and a quarterly newsletter.

 Interested?
Potential volunteers must first become a member of the Weardale Railway Trust in order to provide protection under the Trust's insurance. Once this has been done new members can apply to become a volunteer. 

Please click on the following links for each form: 

Weardale Railway Trust Application Form Volunteer & Junior Club Application Form

For more information about volunteering please download this volunteer recruitment pack.

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