Richard with ‘Viceroy’ and Andrew

Hi there, we thought it would be nice to run a few ‘Mince Pie Special’ trains last Saturday to celebrate Christmas, so the day, which was dull, misty and mostly dry, saw ‘Isabel’, ‘Prospero’ and ‘Viceroy’ out and about with several of us having a drive in the very atmospheric conditions until we had had enough at which time it was decided to separate the tenders and take the locos up to the top workshop for their warm winter storage just in case it turned cold over the Christmas and New Year period. So a good day was enjoyed by us all, and we were also  joined during the day by some of Peter’s family who also enjoyed their visit too, even Stuart was allowed to drive ‘Viceroy’!, There was much ‘mardling’ over some mulled wine, teas and coffees,and the satisfying consumption of mince pies, sausage rolls, and other tasty offerings! 

Happy Christmas everyone !

Peter leaf clearing

One of the jobs we need to do on the railway, is to replace the sleepers and edging boards to the old ‘tunnel’ section as the timbers are not in a a good state, as this part of the track was always damp as the water drained down the gradient here and it was always a shady spot. So some timber has been procured, and on Saturday John and Brian cut  it up into sleeper lengths and placed the equivalent of about three track panels in the creosote bath. We had made a mesh ‘basket’ frame to lift the sleepers in and out but this needed a minor ‘mod’ for it to be effective. Peter, meanwhile was busy on leaf clearing duty!