25th September 2024
John ready to take Bronwyn round
Hi there
We had a great day as guests at the Parklands Railway on Wednesday 11th when we took John’s ‘Bronwyn’ and Peter’s Class 08 over to Hemsby for us to have some driving on that excellent railway before it closes in November.
After the locos had been unloaded and while they were being prepared there was chance to drive one of their Class 86 (?) electrics and (their) John’s Class 08 which was really good as we had visited before but not driven so we made the most of it which was very enjoyable, ‘Bronwyn’ was duly steamed and we all had a drive, somewhat apprehensively at first as we were not sure how the loco and its drivers would cope, but we needn’t have worried as the loco was in fine form and once we got used to gradients on Parklands she ran really well. So a great day out, and we were really grateful the the Parklands Gang for making us so welcome and helping us out, it was a great day out for us, The only sad part is that the railway will soon be no more, but there will be lots of happy memories too recall !
On the home front at the EVFR we have been fairly busy with those jobs that crop up from time to time on the railway…we have been painting the outside of the clubhouse,
Kevin and Tom are sorting out the body construction for their Tram loco, Brian B has taken his driving trailer home to do some mods, gardening work continues although the grass seems to have stopped growing now. We have started to get ‘Chieftain’ ready for repainting some areas of the bodywork that are ready for a spruce up. We are also considering the use of concrete edging kerbs in the station area and maybe elsewhere, as there is an opportunity to have some from Parklands when that railway closes. There is ongoing track maintenance where needed too, so plenty to keep us reasonably busy.
and last Saturday we had an impromptu running day as it was such a nice day, with ‘Prospero’, ‘Isabel’, ‘The Shay’, and ‘Chieftain’, all stretching their wheels, very pleasant !
