Edition 202 RAIL LINK April 2021 News and information from the Association (Trust) and Wensleydale Railway plc

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY SERVICES – During April there will be no service or other events due the Coronavirus epidemic. We are hoping that we will be able to start running trains sometime in May. This is planned to be initially between Scruton and Bedale. ------WRA(T) – EBAY SALES Our eBay sales shop can be accessed at:- https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/wensleydale.railway/m.html ------

NEWS FROM THE WR PLC BOARD The Board met on 8th March 2020 via zoom. It was reported that the toilet block is on schedule to have two toilets facing the platform fully functional by May. The remaining four toilets will be completed as far as the shell and the direct works team will fit them out. The Board are in the process of applying for a further Culture Recovery Grant to aid us opening at the end of May. The General Manager has identified all points to be addressed in order to open the Railway and The Chairman will ensure all sections of the Railway meet on a regular basis in order to ensure we remain on track. C Williams is extremely pleased with the work the P-Way teams are doing. There are issues with rolling stock and Ham Hall moving in the right direction as timing is vital. C Williams, T Lampitt and V Middlebrough have had a site visit to Eggborough Power Station to view the rail offered to us. They were very happy with what they viewed and confirmed it would be very useful to the Railway. Contracts are being drawn up with Barzilay Ass. who will be aiding our PR to a wider audience. We have never pushed our marketing to a nationwide audience and this firm has the ability to do this for us. The Trust have received a comprehensive report from Vicky Thompson who has been engaged to raise our fundraising profile. The Fundraising group will meet to discuss what we can action. The Trust and the Board are meeting regularly to draw up a joint 5-year plan. They are able to support the Plc with regard to getting some of the track from Eggborough. Funds will have to be raised in order to lift all they have offered us. Thanks to T Lampitt for making this connection. The Trust was pleased to see that more unused rolling stock is leaving Leeming Bar which is helping to tidy the site up. It is an ongoing plan to tidy the site up and make it easier on the eye for our visitors. The Board held the AGM for the year ending March 2020 on the 27th of February by Zoom and everyone was pleased with how well it ran. Consideration will be given to how people can join a normal AGM virtually in future. Northallerton Business Improvement District group met recently and want to know how they can work with the Railway with regard to getting a link to us. It was pointed out that Northallerton West is not an easy station for visitors, and it was suggested using a vintage bus from the Town centre. They were asked to consider how they could help to finance this and will report back at their next meeting. There was a discussion about the offer of the Hertford East signal box coming to our line. Originally it was intended for Constable Burton, but the Board are to look at sighting it at Leyburn. Advice will be sort on the best location with a site viewing as planning permission and listed building consent need to be approved prior to its relocation. Our Chairman, Guy Loveridge will be at the Railway for the next 6 months helping to get the commercial side of the business up and running. We have booked Redmire Station House for the first week of June 2022 when we are due to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee. May Day Bank Holiday has been moved and so we will hold the beer festival on the Friday and Saturday. We aim to have the clean up day on the Sunday but are looking for ideas to utilise the early part of the week for events if we book the marquee all week. Please contact the office with any ideas. An article in the press which wasn’t reported in full, lead to some questions being raised about our Traction and Rolling Stock policy. We are referring everyone to the website so that they can read the policy in full and so therefore fully understand our policy. When it was posted on Facebook, we had a massive response which was very supportive. Our new cleaning team did a fantastic job cleaning the buffet and we thank them for all their help. The cleaning team is being led by Christine Butterworth and the new buffet team leader is Kimberley Brereton. Teresa Chapman (Minute Secretary)

Page 1 of 5 HERITAGE EDUCATION TALKS As you will know the Wensleydale Railway Association Trust (WRAT) has been given a grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore Leeming Bar station and to share its heritage with more people and in new ways. When the station house reopens, there will be a vibrant public programme of free events and activities with something to appeal to everyone. In the meantime, during March the Wensleydale Railway has been presenting a number of live Digital Talks via Zoom. These talks have been recorded and are now available to watch on our YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7sIvhAkShruyXFWCEOoGlg The following talks are currently available to watch:- Leeming Bar Station House - A Return to Glory (By Will Burnham) Brass, Steel and Fire (A Century of Model Locomotives) (By Anthony Coulls) The Day the Railway Changed Everything (By Connor Lagus) The Sierra Leone National (By Steve Davis) There are also a couple of short videos about Scruton Station in 1910. Life on the Wensleydale Line: 1910 | Meet Mr. Johnson the Station Master Life on the Wensleydale Line: 1910 | Meet Mrs. Johnson Wensleydale Railway

WRA EBAY – A POTTED HISTORY A number of years ago, a post was put in the Relay magazine asking if there was anyone with eBay experience that would be willing to come forward as the Wensleydale Railway had some donated items that would possibly be suitable for selling on eBay. I got in touch and together with various railway volunteers, was successful over a few years, raising much needed funds to spend on railway related projects. Model Railway and a collection of Edmondson tickets were notable successes. Suitable donated items dried up, and EBay selling was put on hold. Fast forward to the beginning of lockdown. I was contacted out of the blue, by Paul Kenyon, a Friends of Leyburn Station volunteer. There were plenty of donated railway related magazines at Leyburn Station, but because the railway was closed due to COVID-19, there were no customers to buy them. Was I still the Railways eBay seller and would I be interested in trying to sell a few on eBay? The account was dusted down and off we went. This was the start of a very successful journey. Paul started off identifying suitable magazines, creating a description, suitable pricing (taking into account postage and other costs) and a photograph of the magazines. I then listed the magazines for sale, answered any enquiries and dealt with any sales related paperwork. If the magazines had a successful bidder, I forwarded the postage details to Paul, who kindly posted them to the winning bidder, several of whom have been overseas. We diversified into railway related books and DVDs. Paul did some research to see if after taking costs into consideration, the profit margin would be the same as selling in the shop. Some suitable books and DVDs were found and listed on EBay. We now have Richard Holt, the WR Commercial Director on board as part of the eBay team, helping us to list some railway related DVDs and other items that were in the Leeming Bar shop. Once the railway starts running trains again, Richard Holt will be heavily involved with other railway related matters. Are there any WR members that live within easy reach of Leeming Bar station and have experience of selling items on eBay? A lot of the work can be done from home. If you would like to join the eBay team, please contact me on [email protected] After taking into account postage and other costs, since the start of lockdown, the eBay profit from donated magazine, book and DVD sales is currently approaching £1200. This money has been forwarded onto the WRA (T) Treasurer and spent on various railway projects. We are looking to spend the latest amount raised on one of the more expensive items on the Railway’s ‘Shopping List’. Once a suitable amount is available, we will see what is outstanding on the list that will benefit the railway most. There is now a link to the eBay account on the Wensleydale Railway website and it has been publicised on the railways Facebook page. You can find us on eBay at: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/wensleydale.railway/m.html Stuart Thompson

WRA 250 CLUB WINNERS MARCH 2021 1st Prize £100 No 401 Mr C Brash, Bordon 2nd Prize £75 No 327 Mr J Ellis, Thirsk 3rd Prize £60 No 121 Mr J Beckford, Kennilworth 4th Prize £40 No 126 Mr R Fall, Silsden 5th Prize £30 No 180 Mr C Taylor, Houghton le Spring Margaret Smith

Page 2 of 5 SHOPPING LIST REPORT Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we are very pleased to report that £10,085.90, including Gift Aid of £1,639.27, has been raised so far. Very encouraging and most helpful in getting the railway ready for running trains. The most popular item so far is Limestone Ballast with £1,470 raised; followed by £830 for Sleepers, £805 for Volunteer Medical Checks and £720 for Carriage Seats. £500 has also been donated for repairing the Wood Chipper which is now up and running! We will very grateful for all future donations to the Shopping List as we move on towards re-opening the line. With all best wishes and grateful thanks to all our supporters. John Smithson

NEWSLETTER PHOTOS OF THE PAST MONTH Whilst we still have no service trains some of our volunteers have been busy during the month This month we have:- 1. The works train has been out this month. 2. A view of the rear of the Restored Leeming Bar Station House. 3. The beautiful new William Morris wallpaper in the restored Station Masters Parlour in Leeming Bar Station House. 4. Work is progressing on a new toilet block at Leeming Bar. 5. Units at Leeming Bar. 6. Our new disinfectant spray unit to allow us to disinfect coaches for when we start running. 7. Other Covid 19 preparations for starting to run trains. 8. Our new EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) system which is being installed on the railway. 9. Our damaged class 121 Bubble Car under repair at Nemesis Rail. 10. We have stripped out for restoration and reuse the seating from several Pacer units that are going to be scrapped by Northern Rail. The monthly photos can be found at https://photos.wr-rail-link.co.uk/2021/2021-03.php Please send photos for future newsletters to [email protected]. Timothy Edwards (Rail Link Editor)

THE BIRTH OF RAIL LINK I have enjoyed reading the articles by Peter Harbord, who worked with me when I was the first Volunteer Coordinator, and Phil Smith who took over from me as Editor of Rail Link. We started Rail Link back in 2004, the first edition being March that year which was when we designed the logo and title which I am pleased to say is still in use today. Like Phil I used to spend quite a few hours labelling and filling envelopes each month. Printing was done at the copy shop in Bedale where I negotiated special rates. After the June edition (No4), each month was printed on different colour paper to ensure that they were not confused - we used about 6 different colours. Issue 1 was actually 4 sides, after which 2 sides was standard, although one year there was a Special Steam Operations Edition, which was 4 pages, sent out by Steve Dean. John Young

OAKWOOD PRESS BOOKS Oakwood Press Book No. 186 - THE CATTERICK CAMP MILITARY RAILWAY AND THE RICHMOND BRANCH by A. J. LUDLAM (2nd Revised Edition – September 2020) £13.95 + Postage £1.55 = £15.50 Other Oakwood Press Books available on “SPECIAL OFFER”, at list price, postage free are:- No. 86 – The Wensleydale Branch – A New History by Stanley C Jenkins (Revised Edition - 2017) - £18.95 No. 156 The Kendal & Windermere Railway – Gateway to the Lakes by Robert Western - £15.95 No. 232 The Coniston Railway by Robert Western - £12.95 No. 244 The Whitby – Loftus Line (Revised and Expanded Edition 2019) by Michael A. Williams - £18.95 These books are available for sale on a postal basis only and can be obtained from Paul Kenyon, 4 Welbury Court, Newbiggin, Richmond, , DL10 4DL. Cheques should be made payable to Paul Kenyon. All profits from the sale of the books will be donated to the WRA(T)Ltd/WR PLC (whichever is appropriate) Shopping List. Paul Kenyon – Tel: 01748 824249 Email: [email protected]

Page 3 of 5 BACK ISSUES OF RELAY AND OTHER & RAILWAY SOCIETY MAGAZINES SPRING SALE' Hundreds upon hundreds of the magazines have been snapped up on eBay with two thirds of the original stock having been sold. Prices have been reduced on the remaining stock to just 20p per copy + postage in a clearance sale. Have a look at the sales list now and get your order in right away to avoid missing out. The Latest stock list and sales details may be down loaded from:- https://wr-rail-link.co.uk/download/Magazines-of-Heritage-Railways.pdf Paul Kenyon - Tel: 01748 824249 Email: [email protected]

NORTHALLERTON WRA(T) BRANCH CLOSURE In last month’s Rail Link we made a final appeal for new branch committee members. As no one has come forward, we are unable to meet the quorum requirements of the branch constitution. Therefore the existing committee have decided that the branch will close as of 4th April 2021. All financial and material assets held by the branch will be transferred to the main Trust, so nothing will be lost to the Railway. Hopefully In the future when all the current uncertainties have settled down, there may be opportunities to restart the branch. The branch committee would like to thank all of the speakers and regular attendees to our meetings over the years. The Northallerton Branch Committee.

WANTED / DO YOU WANT This section is for any railway group to list items they are looking for and also for anyone to offer items to the railway that they no longer need. If anyone has any wants/offers for this section please send them to [email protected]. Wanted: A bench rotary brush/bench grinder. Also a bench pillar drill. If you can help, please contact Andy Feather on 01768 88668 Station gardeners! I have a handful of plants seeking a good home: - 6 x daylily (orange) - 3 x bronze fennel - 1 x pulmonaria - 1 x Japanese anemone (white) - 2 x Winter heather More plants may be available later in the season. Please contact Jon Trueman: [email protected] 4-hole rail chairs, c. 1919. These make very attractive boot scrapers when cleaned / painted and fitted with brushes. See below for a photo of one of the chairs and also one of a chair previously converted into a boot scraper. If anyone would like to do the conversion and sell to raise funds for WR, please contact Jon Trueman: [email protected] . As these chairs are now obsolete, they may be sold for scrap within the next 6 months unless a beneficial use can be found for them.

THE LITTLE WHITE BUS (various routes in Wensleydale/Swaledale) Current timetables for the Little White Bus are shown on the website www.littlewhitebus.co.uk Please note that the Hawes-Garsdale station LWB service has been adapted to fit in with the current Covid-19 adapted train services on the Settle-Carlisle line - and keep checking operators' websites for any changes as government restrictions are modified in the coming weeks. DalesBus services and timetables (which include the Sunday Northallerton-

Page 4 of 5 Hawes/Gayle route (and many others) are given on the website www.dalesbus.org.uk As general advice, ensure you know the return time of your bus or train before you set off for the day! Ruth Annison

INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT This month the Leyburn team concentrated on the track near the Wensleydale Caravans crossing near Leyburn where they changed 12 sleepers recovered from the Argill track relay site. To keep costs as low as possible we do try and re- use items where possible so the removed sleepers are sorted through and the ones in best condition are put back in the track elsewhere. We have also boosted our supply of bullhead fishplates and rail chairs from the relay job as the new section is Flat bottom rail on concrete sleepers. Working back west various dips in the track were jacked, stoneblown and levelled. Alternate fishplates were removed, oiled and replaced. The Bedale team did similar tasks east of Bedale with all fishplates on joints over a half mile section from east of Floodbridge UWC to the start of the Bedale east curve removed and oiled then re-fitted. It is a slow task and messy task as a lot of the rails are only 30 feet long so that is a lot of joints and quite a few of these fishplates haven’t been oiled for a few years so the fishplate bolts can seize,rust up and be very difficult to free off. Quite a few bolts have to be cut off with a Stihl saw and new bolts fitted. 25 sleepers were changed during the month and joints levelled. Old sleepers were collected up and stacked to give the railway a tidy appearance. The W.R. has been told to urgently improve its lineside fencing and pedestrian access at foot crossings along the line so a works train consisting of the locomotive 20166 with the Flatrol wagon, with the wood chipper on, and the Shark brake van ran during the month. In Leeming Yard the Flatrol was loaded with 4 x metal kissing gates and fence posts and rails that were dropped off at 2 pedestrian foot crossings just east of Bedale. These will be installed in the coming weeks which will keep pedestrians behind fencing and prevent easy access to the track. Whilst at Bedale we loaded the Flatrol with logs cut down by the Vegetation team who having been cutting back the trees back to the boundary fence. The logs were dropped off at Bedale Oil dock where there is road access. The Veg team sell off logs which raises funds for new and replacement equipment for themselves and also for Infrastructure teams. The works train continued up the dale and the team spent the afternoon chipping branches and brash from recent de vegetation work. The two Infrastructure teams have a hard core of about 15 active working volunteers who come out as often as they can but the average work party is only 6 or 7 people working one day a week. We urgently need new blood to boost our numbers. To everyone who reads this why not mention the W.R Infrastructure Department to your friends and family to see if we can recruit some new and hopefully younger volunteers. Andy Waite

EDITORIAL REMARKS Our railway could not run without our volunteers and staff who put in much work in so many different ways. If you would like to become a volunteer please email [email protected] Thanks to everyone who has sent me contributions and...... Deadline for the next newsletter is 19:00 on 30th April to - [email protected] Timothy Edwards (Editor)

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