Edition 173 RAIL LINK November 2018 News and information from the Railway Association (Trust) and Wensleydale Railway plc

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY NORTHALLERTON BRANCH MEETINGS - held at the Cricket Club, Farndale Avenue, Mondays at 19.30. Everyone is welcome. You do not need to be a WRA(T) member to attend. Monday 19 th November - Virginia Arrowsmith and Steve Davies (WRplc). December - No meeting, but Branch Christmas Lunch at one of the local inns. More details later. Monday 21st January - The Stockton & Darlington Railway 1825 -2025, birthplace of the railway age - Niall Hammond. Monday 18th February - Network Rail Enhancements Delivery Plan for the ECML and Trans Pennine routes - Edward Dunn. TRAIN SERVICES – During November there will only be trains on Saturday 3 rd November. BONFIRE Saturday 3 rd November – As usual there will be a special train from Redmire for the Bedale Bonfire and Fireworks. See the website for more details. https://www.wensleydalerail.com/future-events RACE NIGHT - 10 th November . Bedale station support group is hosting a Race night at Crakehall village hall. You can arrive from 7pm and the racing will start around 7:30. It is £10 a head. Also available is supper which is a jacket potato with chilli, cheese, coleslaw, or beans. There will also be a raffle and a cash bar. Tickets: from Bedale station or whistle stop cafe or from Brian Whitehead on : [email protected] or mobile 07999 374111 WREATH MAKING ON THE WENLSLEYDALE RAILWAY – Sunday 25 th November - Join Wensleydale Railway’s very own Helen Ashworth on a very special wreath making train! Helen will guide you through how to make your very own wreath using a wide range of foliage collected from around the Dales and along our line as you travel up to Redmire and back. For more details see below or the railway website. AUTUMNAL SCENIC LUNCH – Sunday 25 th November Enjoy a scenic journey through the Yorkshire Dales and marvel at the crisp autumnal scenery as we approach the start of winter, all while enjoying lunch served at your table in the warmth of one of our heritage carriages. Lunch will consist of a selection of locally produced sandwiches, pastries and cakes served on delicate vintage china. Your lunch will be accompanied by a welcome glass of mulled wine and unlimited tea and coffee. There will also be a bar on board for additional drinks. For more details see below or the railway website. SANTA SPECIALS AND SNOW SISTER SPECIALS - Tickets for the Santa Specials and Snow Sister Specials are now on sale. Tickets can be bought online or by calling the office on 01677 425 805 . https://www.wensleydalerail.com/santa-specials-2018 Also we have a lot of A4 posters and A5 flyers and would love some help distributing them. If anyone can help please can they come and collect the posters/flyers from Leeming Bar office. ------GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS Looking back over the past few months, it has been interesting time. During the August period we ran 98% of the advertised service, which has been an improvement over the past few years. Takings for the month of August were in excess of £74,000 which was up on previous years and ahead of expectations. Ticket sales were highest at Leeming Bar, followed by , Bedale and the Guards. Buffet sales were reversed, with Leyburn having the highest revenue, followed by Leeming Bar and Bedale. On train buffet revenue on the steam set was up over the previous years as well. I think a well done is deserved by all for helping to achieve these figures! Overall, however it has been a mixed year to date, May and June were unusually quiet, with things not really picking up until July. Quite why this is, I am unsure, although talking to passengers in September and October - where the numbers have been quite healthy, it may be an effect of a Tour de Yorkshire, where those not interested in cycling are stopping away to avoid the crowds – certainly that was the reason given by three groups of passengers. Next year’s timetable is in the printing design stage – there are a number of changes, some of which might seem odd. For example, Thursdays has been removed during August. Why? Well when reviewing the data, Thursdays was by far the worst day which was repeated over both the two years. In fact the passenger numbers followed a surprising trend – Tuesday was the busiest, dropping on Wednesday, bottoming out on Thursday before picking up on Friday and Saturday, with numbers dropping off again on Sunday. Running days will primarily be Tuesdays and Friday to align with the market days but also because Wednesday is the day when a lot of volunteering takes place – not having trains running increases the amount of work that can be done without having to work around trains. The biggest noticeable change will be the change to services. We will operate on slightly more days, but there will be a reduction in the number of round trips for a large proportion of those. Most days will operate on a yellow, 2 round Page 1 of 7 trip timetable. Again, why? Well put simply, the last service of the day was not particularly well patronised; on a number of occasions returning empty. Cutting this service means cutting out around 3600 miles of running and thus reducing wear, tear and cost. Will this cause lost passengers? Perhaps, but if we take in to account the cost of operating those services vs the number of passengers actually using it, we lost money. The Afternoon Tea service bolstered it on the days it was operating but the service needs to be able to at least break even on its own, which it wasn’t doing. In addition, it will also bring benefits to those having to work the services and enable them to get home quicker. Some of our volunteers regularly come from West, South and East Yorkshire as well as Lancashire. This meant when time travelling to and from home was taken in to account, some volunteers were looking at a 14 or 15 hour day, which is a long day by anyone’s standards. November is a “drawing breath” month, before the rush of Santa takes place. I think most people will be aware that there a few changes taking place this year, primarily aimed at improving the product. The most obvious change is that a marquee will be put in the car park to enable our customers to have somewhere dry and warm to wait. Up until now, it has always been pure luck as to whether the weather would be welcoming as there is limited accommodation for the customers to shelter in when waiting – and personally, I always think there is nothing as cold as a railway station to wait at when the weather is miserable, it must have been some Victorian design competition: which Architect can create the coldest, most miserable station! We have an excellent product to begin with, it is now about trying to sort out some of the things that customers have commented on that can improve the experience for them and mostly that is off train, rather than on train. As new things are introduced, there will be things that perhaps don’t work as well as expected but if we don’t try things out we will never know. Sales are at around £22,000 already, which is close to half of last years total. In the pipeline, Rebekah has also negotiated some advertising on Smooth Radio in conjunction with their “Make Some Noise” appeal which is yet to run. Hopefully this should help extend our reach this year. We have had a suspicious incident at Bedale dock over the weekend, where a number of items have been moved towards the gate. It looks like an attempt at theft which has been disturbed. If anybody is passing there and sees anything suspicious please report it to the police on 101. Finally, look out for the Railway on TV next year. Sue Threadgold, Gordon Steadman and myself were interviewed for the final programme of a series called “The Dales with Paul Rose” which features the line between Redmire and Leyburn. This is the follow up to the program “The Lakes with Paul Rose” and will be shown on BBC2. On Friday I was with a George Clarke delivering him to a property alongside the Railway as part of his Amazing Spaces programme, with filming of the 121 dropping him off at the property and also featuring as a backdrop. This will be shown on channel 4. Earlier in the year the J27 was filmed at Lane Station in connection with the Yorkshire Vet tv series on Channel 5 and finally, the J27 at the Railway will also feature on the programme that follows the NYMR(!?). So by the end of next year, hopefully people will be fed up of the Railway on TV!! Richard Brown

NEWS FROM THE WR PLC BOARD At the October Board meeting there was detailed discussion about the financial position. Although the turnover for the year to date has been in line with the budget (a considerable increase on last year), costs have been higher (particularly in operations) and the gross profit for the year has been less than expected. There have been welcome donations to enable much of the required track and infrastructure work to be carried out and we are expecting a large payment from a leisure company relating to changes in a track crossing arrangement. Plans were made to make a significant increase in income next year but the winter period to come will again be challenging. Reports from both the Events Coordinator and the Volunteer Coordinator were well received, with significant positive progress being made. The planned events for 2019 should help considerably with profitability. The planning of timetabling and running days for 2019 has been almost completed. Health and safety was again a major item for discussion, following a reportable incident and there is a plan to set up a small safety group covering both the plc and the Trust to advise on health and safety generally. Training in asbestos awareness and removal is to be undertaken. Reports were also considered about progress on the Leeming Bar Station House and Leyburn Station track works projects; also consideration of the Whistle Stop Café at Bedale, which requires considerable remedial work to bring it to required environmental health standards. Preliminary ideas on improving the locomotive watering facilities at Leeming Bar and provision of more covered accommodation for steam locos were considered. Also, a possible plan to change the status of the Company in order to reduce audit fees and other costs. In November, there will be a joint meeting of the plc Board with the Trust Council to set out a strategy for improving coaching stock.

Page 2 of 7 Finally, the Board agreed that a sleeper coach which had been offered at a very low price would be accepted to provide overnight accommodation for volunteers and the AGM date for 2019 was agreed to be Saturday 5 th October – a week later than planned because of the Cycle World Championships in the area in late September. Phil Smith

RAILWAY NEWS The first two loads of our donation of 1000 free copers from G-Tech Copers in Hull have arrived at Leyburn Station with free transport provided by Stuart Tweddle of SE & C Tweddle Transport for these loads. Only another 8 loads to go and another amazing benefactor in shareholder Keith Thorpe of Gainsborough of L & KR Thorpe Transport who has just volunteered this afternoon to transport the rest! He will delivering a load every fortnight for months to come. A huge shout out and thanks to these individuals. Congratulations to Andy Glendinning who is our new Crossing Keeper Manager following Adrian Lazenby’s retirement. We have produced a Group Bookings leaflet printed in a similar house design to the Volunteering leaflet produced earlier, supplies are in the office at Leeming Bar if you need any. The 2019 timetable leaflet will be going to the printers as you read this so we are getting more organised and shall require help distributing leaflets further afield than just in the new year. Don’t forget the Recycling for Good Causes that I mentioned in last month’s Rail Link, the Railway can generate funds from recycling broken and used gadgets like: game consoles; old mobile phones; film & digital cameras; laptops; even used printer cartridges; old jewellery including costume jewellery; old and foreign coins and notes; stamps and old stamp books. If you would like to arrange a free collection from your home call: 0800 633 5323 or email: [email protected] Helen Ashworth (Volunteer Co-ordinator)

FESTIVE WREATH MAKING ON THE WENLSLEYDALE RAILWAY Join Wensleydale Railway’s very own Helen Ashworth on a very special wreath making train on Sunday 25 th November! Helen will guide you through how to make your very own wreath using a wide range of foliage collected from around the Yorkshire Dales and along our line as you travel up to Redmire and back. During your journey you will be served a glass of mulled wine and mince pie to get you into the festive spirit! At the end of your journey you will have a beautiful wreath to take home with you. Train will be departing Leeming Bar station at 1.30pm and will be returning at approximately 4.15pm. Tickets are £38 pp and include: • Return rail ticket • Wreath making supplies and tutorial • Glass of mulled wine and mince pies To book tickets please go to our website https://www.wensleydalerail.com/future-events or give us a call on 01677 425805 (and save the booking fee!) Wensleydale Railway

HELP FOR THE WREATH MAKING If anyone is interested, I would like a couple of volunteers to assist Gill Thornton and myself help our guests with the wreath making. So if anyone could lend a hand that would be marvellous please. Just drop me an email [email protected] or call the office. Helen Ashworth

AUTUMNAL SCENIC LUNCH Enjoy a scenic journey through the Yorkshire Dales on Sunday 25 th November and marvel at the crisp autumnal scenery as we approach the start of winter, all while enjoying lunch served at your table in the warmth of one of our heritage carriages. Lunch will consist of a selection of locally produced sandwiches, pastries and cakes served on delicate vintage china. Your lunch will be accompanied by a welcome glass of mulled wine and unlimited tea and coffee. There will also be a bar on board for additional drinks. The train departs from Leeming Bar Station at 13.30 and is due to return around 16.00 approximately. Please arrive at least 15 minutes prior to departure. . If you have special dietary requirements please let us know in advance by e-mailing [email protected] . Tickets are prices at £30per person or £15 for children (up to 16 years) and can be purchased online by visiting our website www.wensleydalerailway.com or through our office by calling 01677 425 805 (Monday – Friday) you will also save the booking fee! Wensleydale Railway

Page 3 of 7 CHRISTMAS TREES This year Leeming Bar is looking for 2 large Christmas trees for the station for the Santa Trains: one for the platform and one for the middle of the North Pole Marquee. If you know of a company/garden centre or a supplier who may be willing to donate 1 or 2 trees of at least 15 feet/4.6 metres high please get in touch. Helen Ashworth

VACANCY STILL OPEN! We are looking for a volunteer First Aid Trainer who would be willing to go on a 3 day First Aid course and a Skills Instructor course so that they could then train our volunteers in first aid saving a lot of expense. Helen Ashworth

STAFF & VOLUNTEERS MEETING TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER Don’t forget Tuesday’s meeting at 7pm in the room downstairs at the Lodge, Leeming Bar Services. All welcome and partners. Richard Brown will be there for Q&A session and so will Rebekah Jerram who will be outlining plans for the Santa Trains and events for 2019. Helen Ashworth

SANTA VOLUNTEERING Santa Volunteering Roster is now on HOPS! If you are interested in helping out during the Santa specials this year can you please sign up via HOPS or send an email to [email protected] We really need your help to make this year’s Santa specials better than ever before so please do sign up! New volunteers welcome. Rebekah Jerram

NORTHALLERTON BRANCH Our third meeting of the new season takes place on 19 th November when Virginia Arrowsmith and Steve Davies representing the WRA(T) and WRplc will give a talk outlining their involvement in different aspects of the Railways future plans. The seasons might be changing but the time & venue hasn't: 7.30pm at Northallerton Cricket Club, Farndale Avenue. We look forward to seeing you there. David Hart [email protected]

RAILWAYANA AT TENNANTS An early member of the WRA was Doug Murray, who generously donated many of his railway possessions for the benefit of the Association (now WRA(T). Following Doug's death, his wife Mary drove all the way from the south of to Leyburn station to deliver his collection of railway books, pictures - and various items that were too large to fit into boxes. Everything was carefully sorted on arrival and some items have been sold in the station shop this summer. However some of the railwayana items were found to be of interest to Tennants and will be included in an auction titled Toys, Models, Sporting and Fishing, to be held at their Auction Centre in Leyburn. For sale details and illustrated catalogue (when available), see Tennants website: www.tennants.co.uk (tel 01969 623780. Sale Day is Wednesday 28 th November, starting at 10.30. Viewing will be the previous day (Tuesday, 27/11)) and on the morning of sale day. Tennants have an excellent and spacious cafe so it may be that some Rail-Link readers will arrange to meet each other there for coffee or lunch as a social break from interesting viewing and/or buying! (Please note that it will not be possible to identify Doug's items from amongst all the others in the sale). Ruth Annison

250 CLUB A new Club year commenced on 1st November, My committee colleagues and I are pleased to report that there has been a record take up of new members joining the scheme, together with those renewing. This has enabled prizes monies to be further enhanced, with once again double the number of winners in the Christmas draw. In parallel, we can help to fund more projects and equipment, large and small, on our Railway. Don't all rush to apply at once though! Recent grants have included rail lifting equipment, cool boxes for the events team, a contribution towards a new shelter at Redmire, training room tables/chairs and PPE clothing. Your 250 Club committee thanks all Club members for their continued generosity. Helping to fund those 'extras' that assist the Railway so much. David Hart - [email protected]

Page 4 of 7 250 CLUB WINNERS FOR OCTOBER 2018 1st Prize £95 No 283 Mr P Kirk, Manchester 2nd Prize £75 No 631 Mr J Trueman, York 3rd Prize £55 No 433 Mr G Collett, York 4th Prize £35 No 644 Mrs S Rayson, Chesterfield 5th Prize £25 No 489 Mr P Jones, Northallerton Margaret Smith

NORTHALLERTON BRANCH REPORT Our October speaker was Chris Henderson whose topic was the N.E.R. Nidd Valley Branch. The 11-mile line joined the Leeds Northern Harrogate to Ripon line near Ripley and terminated at Pateley Bridge. Its origin started in the mid eighteenth Century when the proprietors of lead mines and quarries were looking for a means of moving their products out of the Valley and of importing coal to fuel their machines. It was into the nineteenth Century before the line was built, single track with stations. In the 1930s Bradford Corporation wished to build some reservoirs higher up the Valley and built a railway connecting at Pateley Bridge. This railway was originally 3 foot gauge, but was later converted to standard gauge. Like so many railways, road competition took its toll, and the line closed in 1961. The station buildings still exist, having been sold to private owners. Chris’s talk described the personalities involved with the railway, with anecdotes of the Branch’s history, and he explained details of his slides. John Ellis

NEWSLETTER PHOTOS OF THE MONTH This month we have : 1. Various trains including a Sound Recording Special 2. Views from the line 3. The 'Bubblecar' decorated for Halloween 4. Kev of the Leyburn cafe busy 5. Some of the Bedale Station Support Group 6. Repair work to Bridge 20 (just West of Constable Burton) 7. A works train doing various bits of work at Redmire and Leyburn 8. The Vegetation Team doing lineside clearance work 9. The Direct Works Team at various locations Most of the photos can be found at https://photos.wr-rail-link.co.uk/2018/2018-10.php Please send photos for future newsletters to [email protected] . Timothy Edwards (Rail Link Editor)

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] . We are looking for some Perspex, wall mounted, deep leaflet holders to go into Leyburn Station to accommodate all our tourist information leaflets, both timetable size and A5. The current wall space is 9 feet so we need several. The ones we have are too shallow and the leaflets keep falling out and blowing around the station! Please contact me by email: [email protected] if anyone is able to help. Penny (Johnson) Leyburn Station Shop The growth in courses has resulted in the Training Department requiring more training equipment. Items required include flags, horns, whistles, in fact anything that may be used by any role on the railway so that they can be demonstrated in the training sessions. If anyone has any equipment that may be useful for training please contact us on [email protected] .

WENSLEYDALE RAILWAY BOOK The Oakwood Press Book No. 86, The Wensleydale Branch – A New History, by Stanley C Jenkins updated to 2017 continues to be on sale at the Station Shops at Leyburn & Leeming Bar – Price 18.95. Also available from Leyburn Station Shop only is Oakwood Press Book No. 201, The Eden Valley Railway, by Robert Western updated to 2014 – Price £9.95. NB. The Station shops are open on train operating days only. The books may be ordered by post, The Wensleydale Branch for £21.00 and The Eden Valley Railway for £12.00. If both books are requested to be sent to the same address then the total cost will be £31.00. Cheques, made payable to Paul Kenyon, should be sent to 4 Welbury Court, Newbiggin, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 4DL. Paul Kenyon

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“ MIDLAND RECORD” Copies of the first eighteen editions of this collector’s magazine have been donated to Wensleydale Railway and are open to offers as a full set. They're in mint condition and cover the Bumper Preview Edition, Edition Nos. 1 to 15 and The Supplements to Edition Nos. 1 & 2. (See on the right the front cover picture of the Bumper Preview Edition) In the absence of a suitable offer for the full set then offers may be considered for individual editions. As a guide, individual copies of these magazines are being advertised for sale at prices between £5 and £13. Offers to Paul Kenyon by email: [email protected] or Tel: 01748 824249 Paul Kenyon

THE WENSLEYDALE FLYER It is now a condition of rail franchises that operators support public transport connections between stations and local bus services - hence the availability of new funding. An urgent bid is being prepared by DalesBus (a volunteer group, using Dales and District vehicles and drivers) to Trans-Pennine for a grant to support the Wensleydale Flyer No 856, which runs a through return bus service between Northallerton and Hawes three times every Sunday throughout the year. Current sponsorship from Acorn Stairlifts runs out at Easter. The 856 route passes - in both directions - Northallerton station, Leeming Bar station, Bedale station and Leyburn station (though not Redmire station) so, when WR is running Sunday trains, the 856 is useful to WR rail passengers and volunteers, as well as to many other people. A detailed survey of 856 passenger needs and usage and an associated report produced by WR's own Andrew Turnbull is part of the funding application but individual letters of support for the bid would be very helpful, to be sent to [email protected] If you would like more information about this matter, please feel free to ring me in the next few days. Thank you. Ruth Annison (01969 650349).

THE TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT DEPARTMENT The Training and Assessment Department has been developing over the last year both in courses run and team members. We have just welcomed Terry Larder who will be involved in training for PRS and shunting. The PRS course has now been running for almost two years and a review is now in progress based on the wrong answer matrix and with various other issues raised over the year We have done many assessments, 11 Level Crossing Keepers, 3 PICOWs (with more due soon) and 5 Shunter (with several more due in November). A Guard’s course is currently being completed and will be rolled out soon with other courses due in the new year. The growth in courses has resulted in the Department requiring more training equipment. Items required include flags, horns, whistles, in fact anything that may be used by any role on the railway so that they can be demonstrated in the training sessions. If anyone has any equipment that may be useful for training please contact us on [email protected] . Bob Coombs

DIRECT WORKS TEAM (DWT) Scruton Station - Further work has been cleaning and painting the corrugated sheeting in readiness to put on the reclaimed wickham trolley shed. A roof repair of a container has taken place. Redmire - Work has continued on the station car park wall with the end in sight. Leyburn - Lighting has been set up under the road bridge in readiness for the completion of the passing loop/points at the west end of the station Bridge 20 near Spennithorne Station - The railway teams of DWT, track and vegetation joined forces for several days to work on the bridge repair resulting in a successful solution and repair. Well done to all involved. Alan Kitchen

Page 6 of 7 INFRASTRUCTURE (PERMANENT WAY) REPORT Re-railing to eradicate yet more rail defects at Spruce Gill and east of Redmire permitted the removal of two Temporary Speed Restrictions (TSRs) during October. Unfortunately concerns over deteriorating sleeper condition on Spennithorne embankment led to a new, fairly restrictive TSR being imposed there, which also gives us two relatively long TSRs in close proximity to each other. Consequently fundraising and physical planning are being stepped- up to deliver a further track renewal in January- February 2019, with the most likely candidate being an extension of this year’s renewal at Argill Farm westwards towards Harmby (currently subject to a 15mph TSR). Spot- resleepering has continued at a number of locations on the railway, usually as just-in-time intervention to prevent yet more TSRs being imposed. Andy Chapman is a regular sight up the Dale in our trusty Transit pickup, frequently by himself, with a load of sleepers and tools in the back: it’s a thankless task frequently carried out in poor weather, but it’s literally keeping the railway running. The Leyburn gang have completed spot-resleepering between Westfield and Wensley for the time being, ready for redeployment to the new turnout installation in November. Following tamping, the easternmost two-thirds of the new Leyburn loop has been brought into use as a siding for the time being, with the bulk of our works train currently residing there. Work has started on the S&T fit-out on the East points, the plan in the short term being to provide point operation via a basic two-lever ground frame. Although we’re ostensibly a track gang, we don’t mind turning our hand to something new, and its rather novel to be playing with point rodding, cranks, “stools” and “benches”!! All materials are now in place for the West points installation under the road bridge, which kicks off on Monday 5 th November - big volunteer numbers please. As ever, we welcome all the help we can get in delivering our busy workload! Andy Chapman, Andy Waite or myself ([email protected] ) are your contacts in the first instance. Don't forget to visit our blog site www.wensleydalepway.blogspot.com for all the latest news and photos of our activities. Alastair Connell

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 30 th November to - [email protected] Timothy Edwards (Editor)

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