Monday, 30 June 2014
Progress Monday 30th June 2014
Gone are the quiet Mondays! The Booking Office was kept busy with a continual stream of booking enquiries today and even secured another driver experience booking as well, amongst other general administration.
Tony Watt ably hosted a testing customer who arrived very early. The VCT were a little depleted so they did some housekeeping tasks instead.
Down the yard, the LMSCA were taking advantage of the excellent weather to continue their major bodywork quest on Brake Third 27001.
Reports from the deep south suggest that several bags of brash at Duffield have been filled and some fencing has been treated to improve the look.
Not too bad for a Monday as we head towards peak season with Tuesday and Thursday operating this week.
Leigh
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Progress Report Sunday the 29th of June 2014
Dear all,
A rather average day of odd showers, cloud and bits of sunshine nevertheless saw us quite busy with our usual Sunday selection of passengers and lunch guests plus the best part of over 120 Brownies.
Around the station Hulland Ward Parish Council mowed the wideway, and the staff at Duffield took steps to keep the weeds under control.
Down the yard, the Austerity Team painted the inside of their frames the
same colour as a pair of Victorian bloomers and the LMSCA painted their struts green, as well as undertaking a great deal of welding on the BTO.
The DMU Team repaired a door on unit 50170, dealt with the fan belts on
51188, and addressed an oil and fuel leak on 51073 between trains, amongst many other activities.
All the best,
Anton
Saturday, 28 June 2014
Saturday 28th June 2014
A steady but quiet day on our railway today, the weather being slightly chilly for the end of June.
The DMU's ran on the scheduled services without undue delay except for sheep on the line at Hazlewood plus a defective headlamp bulb.
Our Drivers Apprentice and his guest enjoyed their experiences which included some sump checking and starter button pushing.
The conscript of the day mowed the picnic area and made a neat job.
A First Aid course was run by John Ball and Julie looked after the Model Railway, also an Induction Course was run by Anton for the benefit of the new recruits. There was a steady flow of visitors to the Pullman Buffet and the bookshop.The LMSCA were making progress with the body end on the LMS BTK vehicle.The 8F Group were found to be machining parts for the main spring hangers and sorting and bedding the axle box bearings on the "Duke".
A very much depleted DMU Group being Joe with myself as the audience managed the greasing and oiling on 50170, Throttle EP Valve on 55006 and fuel for 51188.The rest of the group were sunning themselves at Barry Island South Wales examining two potential DMU vehicles.
Fred and Iris examined the station flower pots and did some strategic watering.
A good and steady day really.
Regards
Graham
Friday, 27 June 2014
Progress Report Friday the 27th of June 2014
Dear all,
A slightly damp Friday saw us handling a number of Drive a Diesel guests including some of our friends from Trent Barton. Down the yard, the DMU team sorted their way through assorted DMU challenges, and the LMSCA carried on with the rebuild of the south end of their LMS Brake Third Open (BTO).
The Booking Hall spent the day dealing with the population of Britain
whose main pastime appeared to be a determined attempt to keep the phone ringing at five minute intervals from dawn to sunset in order to prevent the staff sitting on the new chair. Meanwhile, the Station Foreman effected a multi-million pound repair to the front of the Booking Hall, involving some 3 ply, bathroom sealant and a tin of primer. Similar efforts were taking place at Duffield involving our picnic tables.
All the best,
Anton
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Progress Thursday 26th June 2014
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Progress Wednesday 25th June 2014
Tuesday, 24 June 2014
Progress Tuesday 24th June 2014
Monday, 23 June 2014
Progress Monday 23rd June 2014
Sunday, 22 June 2014
Progress Report Sunday the 22nd of June 2014
Dear all,
Today provided the culmination of a deeply pleasant weekend of diesel boggling, up and down the valley. The weather was delightful, the pace leisurely but on time and the passengers happy. After a morning of ritual carriage window cleaning we despatched an evenly loaded first service and this continued for the rest of the day. The picture attached shows yesterday's activity at Duffield.
The Duty Conscript was presented with a pair of loppers and the school path to sort out, and this has improved it no end. The Theme of Prunes, as opposed to the Game of Thornes, also continued at Duffield.
There was no report from the shed today as the DMU Team have been attending the Llangollen DMU Mardi Gras and Pride in the Valley event.
The chief DMU superintendent celebrated the Silence of the Tools by
going on a short refreshing walk of a mere several miles to the Middleton Top Sheep Wash Festival.
Progress continued to rectify the Air Con of the Pullman set and now that working class has been successfully dealt with, upper class will be addressed in more detail tomorrow.
JCB Purves had a dedicated afternoon of total painting, managing to use almost the entire contents of the paint store normally kept for Painting Emergencies in the back of the Passenger Department Clio.
All the best,
Anton
Supplementary Sunday 22nd June 2014
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Progress Report Saturday 21st June 2014
Dear All,
What a glorious day here at the gem of the Peak District and an excellent start to our diesel locomotive hauled weekend with very satisfactory visitor numbers. The narrow gauge and model railways were open and proved popular with our younger visitors. Down the yard worked continued on Iris with her dome being painted and 50253's TPWS had further attention. The 8F group and Oakes Enterprises worked on the Duke's frame and the booking office was kept busy dealing with a number of Station Master Luncheon and Driver Apprentice bookings. The Pullman Buffet dealt with a continuous stream of customers throughout the day.
Todays photographs are of a group of enthusiasts from the Grantham Railway Society admiring the restoration skills of Tim Oakes et al and the Class 31 looking rather resplendent in the early morning Wirksworth sun.
All the best,
Tom
Friday, 20 June 2014
Progress Report Friday the 20th of June 2014
Dear all,
A very pleasant warm sunny day in which we pottered around with our steam experience guests and various other visitors brought out by the sunny weather.
The main thrust of the day was carriages and the LMSCA exercised their parts around the site as well as making final readiness checks to their SK and BSK for the Diesel Weekend tomorrow and Sunday.
The Passenger Department strove to field further Amazon bookings and
dealt with event related preparations for the weekend, as well as tidying up Ravenstor after yesterdays all night international rave, which appears to have involved tearing up a couple of school books and having a cup of tea. The youth of today. At least they don't carve their names in our seats with a penknife like their raving granddads did.
Work continued to being the Pullman air con on line and the second class
is now an island of chill in a sea of humidity.
Down the line, the Foremen fitted some handrails at Shottle and the
staff at Duffield weeded their way around the site so that our fine pair of diesels can be seen in their full glory.
All the best,
Anton
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Supplementary Thursday 19th June 2014
Progress Thursday 19th June 2014
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Progress Wednesday 18th June 2014
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Progress Tuesday 17th June 2014
Sunday, 15 June 2014
Progress Report Sunday the 15th of June 2014
Dear all,
A curiously damp Father's Day saw us quite busy with passengers and lunch guests as well as people discovering us on their holidays.
The main activity of the day was around the shed with railcar 50253's restoration tearing along, including trim, pelmets, various sanding, painting, box fitting and examinations taking place.
An electrical investigation of the catering set's air con also took place following its lunch turn.
The Purves Jenkins Massive endeavoured to bring the overgrown hedge on the school path under control and the number of cars bouncing along the car park was much reduced indicating recent successes in the filling of potholes.
ATB, Anton
Supplementary Saturday 14th June 2014
Thoroughly enjoyed chugging along (in heritage diesel trains) at a speed which allowed us to view the scenery. Spent a short time on the platform at Duffield station watching the mainline trains passing through, a pleasant leg stretch on a lovely sunny day. Sat behind the driver on return journey along with the train buffs. The driver answered all their questions, which I am sure made their day, and added to ours.
Back in Wirksworth we caught the train for a five minutes ride to the end of the line at Ravenstor where we had a few minutes walk on the platform with staff giving us the history of the line and pointing out items of interest, before the short ride back again.
Time for tea! What a tea... First Class dining car with linen tablecloths, napkins and china. Dainty sandwiches with very tasty and unique fillings. Best scones we have ever tasted, with plenty of strawberry jam and clotted cream - apparently this was the cook's first batch of scones and she was complimented by all the diners! Amazing assortment of dainty cakes and pastries - which we did not have the space to try - but like everybody else we took a "doggie bag" to enjoy later. The waitresses were suitably dressed, very attentive and genuinely enjoyed their job.
Our day was enhanced by the lovely weather but the Railway Staff were also very helpful to my mother and obviously enjoy their work and interacting with the public.
The site is not entirely suitable for those in wheelchairs, (unless you can also walk a few strides with assistance for boarding trains, or the toilet) but this is a heritage site and efforts have been made within those limitations. However for those walking with sticks everything was accessible and the Staff quick to help with boarding trains etc.
The whole day was very relaxing and enjoyable and would be a dream day out for a train mad family - especially if you book Afternoon Tea (Tuesdays) as part of your visit.
Have recommended to everybody we know!!"
Martin
Saturday, 14 June 2014
Saturday 14th June 2014
Today we had a steady productive day on our railway.
The trains wended their way through our very scenic route to Duffield and Ravenstor, passenger numbers held steady but maybe we would have had more except for those football games in Brazil.
On the productivity scene the DMU Team managed to start the engine on 50253 and it had its first run in anger on No 1 Road to Wash Green,also we repaired an oil leak on 51370 and prepared the gearbox for removal from 50170.
Other tasks were as follows Dan continued with the roof painting on the 8F coach.
The LMSCA fitted insulation to the bodyside of the LMS TO and fitted the ceiling supports on this vehicle/also preparation was made by Derek to the BSK in readiness for next weekend loco hauled weekend.
On the infrastructure side new chicken wire was fitted to the North End Crossing walkway as an anti slip measure for people passing from Platform 1 to 2.
Anton was seen to be moving what looked like wooden gateposts before going to Shottle with the strimmer to tend to the vegetation.
The Class 31 had a check over and the electric were looked at on the Pullman Buffet.
The Model Railway was in operation and the Book Shop generated interest from our passengers.
An interesting and Productive Day
Graham Walker
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Friday, 13 June 2014
Progress Report Friday the 13th of June 2014
Dear all,
A lovely day for pottering around with our Driver Experience guests. The main activity today was courtesy of the LMSCA who have been insulating
their carriage ceiling in the TO, fitting mirrors and painting compartment grills in the SK and painting the roof of the 8F group support coach. Around the station we had another day of potholing and mowing.
All the best,
Anton
Thursday, 12 June 2014
Progress Thursday 12th June 2014
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Progress Wednesday 11th June 2014
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
Progress Tuesday 10th June 2014
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Progress Report Sunday the 8th of June 2014
Dear all,
A rather pleasant sunny day with a short rainy moment during the afternoon. We entertained a reasonable number of passengers and lunch guests as well as a "Driver's Apprentice", which is rather like a sorcerers apprentice but without the music and pink elephants.
Down the yard, the DMU team strove to scrape and paint assorted seat
frames from 50253, as well as giving unit 50170 its routine examination.
Back at the station some further gravelling went on around the Clochemerles, the wideway got a mowing, the station approach got some more potholes filled and the Marks and Spencer Synchronised Singing Team fixed some gates and other structures. The Duty Conscript was given some fence painting along platform 1 and this can best be admired from the back.
All the best,
Anton
Saturday, 7 June 2014
Progress Saturday 7th June 2014
Hi Guys - The early morning downpour certainly kept the punters away but The Saab Rally saved the Day. Some groups worked inside.The DMU Team continued with the Lining on Iris, roof painting on 50253 and 50170s C exam after erecting temporary storm shelter. 55006 even manged half a body wash. The Pullman Buffet worked to full capacity with Saab rally.
Mike Evans
Progress Report Friday the 6th of June 2014
Dear all,
A lovely summer day, sunny, warm and pleasant. We entertained a number of steam Driver Experience guests and the sun brought out assorted visitors to the buffet and the station.
Down the yard the sun also brought out the painters and paint brushes were waved in various directions around the railcars, around carriage
roofs and around the class 31, which is now ready to receive its down side decals. General engineering and restoration work also took place courtesy of the LMSCA and an escapee from Marks and Spencer.
Back at the station, the foremen have begun to strip the platform waiting shelter ready for its own major repaint, this is likely to take several weeks but will be much improved once completed.
All the best,
Anton
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Progress Thursday 5th June 2014
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Progress Wednesday 4th June 2014
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Progress Tuesday 3rd June 2014
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Progress Report Sunday the 1st of June 2014
Dear all,
A wonderful warm sunny day here in the Peak. We pottered around with passengers and Pullman guests, and the station looked busy with people sat around watching the trains go by.
The yard was a hive of activity with work being done on the LMSCA SK
carriage floor, and this vehicle is now setting the standard which we would hope to achieve in all our hauled stock. Nearby a vast amount of painting took place on both mainline locomotives, in the case of the 31 in Locomotive Green and in the case of the 33 in Rail Blue. Painting also took place on the solebar of Iris the Railcar and her new paint job is very wonderful to behold.
The DMU team occupied themselves with wide ranging tasks from valve replacements to 55006, to work on 50253's blinds, doors, door backs and droplights.
Back at the station the most strenuous efforts were made to get on top of the mowing, lest it become impossible to find the station in the undergrowth, and the guerilla gardeners overlooked our work in the
picnic area, and on the Ballast Dock ramp. This work spread as far as
the down side of Wash Green where the point rodding was stripped of a large amount of clematis and other greenery which was impeding the
efficient working of that fine hand-crafted machinery.
Stokes Enterprises accompanied the mowing with some work on the station mobile phone network.
All the best,
Anton