Swindon and Cricklade Railway - heritage line

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Swindon Advertiser:

Families have been flocking to the Swindon and Cricklade Railway this week for some exciting half-term entertainment.

More than 100 people queued for their chance to board a steam train at the station yesterday and hundreds more are expected at the weekend when the spooky Halloween ghost Trains get under way.

Dave Peacey, the vice-chairman of the railway trust, has been volunteering at the railway for about 20 years. He said: ^The Halloween ghost trains have been running for many years now and they are always a success. We have been working on all the Halloween decorations and there will be volunteers down here dressing the train out and the platform with lots of pumpkins and scary decorations.

^We are expecting about 300 people over the Friday and Saturday. We used to do it over one night but it was so popular we had to spread it out over the two nights.^

The station, which usually opens to the public on weekends, was open yesterday to keep families entertained during the school holidays.

^We have had a steady flow of families through,^ said Dave. ^I think they just like to ride in the trains, they get to see what is in the engine shed, the steam engines being serviced ready for Christmas, locomotives being restored and there is always lots of people here who are willing to answer any questions the youngsters or their parents may have."

The Ghost Trains run from 6.30pm to 8.45pm on Friday and 6pm on Saturday. Hot soup and rolls will be served.

Dave said: ^d encourage anyone to come along on Friday or Saturday, it^s a great way to celebrate Halloween. All the children come in their costumes and lots of the staff dress up too. I^ll be the station master so unfortunately I won^t be able to dress up but there will be lots of ghoulish activities going on for the children.^

Family tickets cost ^22. For more information visit the website at www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Swindon Advertiser:

Swindon and Cricklade Railway receives ^6,000 grant



A renovation project in Swindon which has been hit by delays has been awarded a grant of ^6,000.

Swindon & Cricklade Railway has secured the extra cash from The Hills Group after its coach renovation project suffered a setback due to two extreme winters. The extra money will now ensure the project is finished and the fully-accessible coach is in use for Easter 2013.

The recent grant is in addition to ^21,000 awarded in 2009 through the Landfill Communities Fund, which is administered for Hills by Community First, the Rural Community Council for Wiltshire.

Mike Hill, chief executive of The Hills Group, said: "We have long supported the work of the Swindon & Cricklade Railway which not only provides a marvellous facility for local people and visitors, but maintains a piece of heritage which would otherwise be lost.

"The renovation project will provide them with much-needed extra resources, but they have been hampered by poor weather, a daunting set of repairs and marshalling the volunteers. We're happy to help to make sure all the hard work put in so far is not lost. I certainly look forward to riding in it once all the repairs are complete."

Swindon & Cricklade Railway is Wiltshire's only standard gauge railway and run by volunteer enthusiasts. It runs for three miles between Mouldon Hill and Hayes Knoll.

In 2009, Hills made the first grant to help convert a 1959 corridor coach into an open and integrated vehicle with wheelchair access including an onboard disabled toilet. It was badly damaged by rust and work repairing it was delayed by two ferocious winters and the loss of a volunteer.

Brian Pound, chairman of Swindon & Cricklade Railway, said: "Having the use of this coach will be a great asset to the railway as it means wheelchair users can ride in the same carriage as non-wheelchair users and in a much more comfortable manner."

[bobm]

From the  Swindon Advertiser

Trespassers warned to keep off rail track



From left, Brian Pound and Dave Peacey of Swindon and Cricklade railway warn about crossing the tracks

^STAY off the tracks before a serious accident happens^. That is the warning from volunteers at Swindon and Cricklade Railway.
 
They say they are constantly seeing adults and children crossing the railway tracks as a short cut into fields near Mouldon Hill.
 
Vice-chairman Dave Peacey said the problems were mainly happening on the southern side of the track.
 
^It is just sheer stupidity,^ he said.^People come out from behind the hedges, which means the drivers have to slam the brakes on, but what people don^t seem to realise is that if the trains are travelling at 10 miles an hour it can take 100 metres to stop ^ there^s no way they can stop any sooner.
 
^It^s an endless problem and we have got it all the time but it is probably only a handful of people who are doing it.
 
^We need to catch them and, if we do, we will be prosecuting because it is a criminal offence.^
 
In a bid to end the problem, the volunteers have put up wire fencing and warning signs but say trespassers have cut the fencing down and smashed the signs in a bid to cut a few minutes off their journey.
 
Chairman Brian Pound said: ^We see people walking dogs along the lines, lifting bikes over the fence and cycling along, holding their children^s hands and crossing the lines. ^We haven^t prosecuted anyone yet, but if we can catch them we will.
 
^We need to take a stand, we^d rather prosecute someone than somebody get killed.^
 
Dave said: ^We have to think of our crews. If something did happen, it would prey on their minds forever, but it wouldn^t be their fault.
 
^We travel that section of track all the time.

^At weekends we are up and down every hour, but we also go down there a lot for maintenance reasons so it is in use 24 hours a day.
 
^I know when people moved into the homes that back on to the railway, it was in their deeds that a railway ran along the back of their gardens so if they didn^t like us being there, they shouldn^t have bought the houses.
 

[stebbo]

I've seen people walking their dogs along the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) line near Winchcombe. The other year, as I was walking my dog and approached a bridge, a local resident scrambled down off the embankment with her dog just a minute or so before a well-known 9F arrived with a train.

Madness!

[eightf48544]

The people of Endon are going to be in a similar position when Moorland and City run through from Caldon Lowe to Stoke on Trant.

[bobm]

To be honest up until a couple of years ago I had never heard of the Swindon & Cricklade Railway but it has been on my list of places to visit since discovering it.

Popped in for three hours today and I wasn^t disappointed.  It operates on a small part of the former Midland & South Western Junction Railway which ran from Andover to Cheltenham.

Bearing in mind it is ^land-locked^ with no rail access at either end there is an interesting array of rolling stock. 

In the last year it has opened an extension south of its Blunsdon headquarters to Taw Valley Halt which now gives four miles of track with a trip from Blunsdon to Taw Valley, back through Blunsdon to Hayes Knoll and returning to Blunsdon ^ eight miles in total ^ taking around 50 minutes.


Blunsdon Station with the first train of the day about to depart

The main station at Blunsdon won an ^Highly Commended^ award in the National Railway Heritage Awards Competition 2012 for its buildings.

The stock itself is well preserved with the carriages nicely refurbished


The line currently has one operational steam locomotive, the 1942 built saddletank Salmon. 


Salmon arriving at Blunsdon from Taw Valley Halt

To the right of that photo you can just see the railway^s caf^ which is based in two coaches which originated in Scandinavia and are licensed to stage weddings!

There is a small but well stocked shop with quite a large range of second hand books as well as new books and souvenirs.


Motorists on Tadpole Lane are in for a surprise as Salmon passes under the road bridge and prepares to pick up the token on the way to Taw Hill.

The car park looked to be full to capacity when I left, but the site is accessible by public transport.  Buses to north Swindon reach to about a mile from the site and there is then a 20 minute walk along a moderately busy road which was quite pleasant in the sunny weather.


The view from the walk to railway ^ but soon to be the site of 1700 homes

The railway suffered last year because of major roadworks cutting it off from the Swindon direction but is bouncing back.  It is certainly forward thinking with plans to extend further south, and also push the northern terminus forward to Cricklade which will certainly add to its popularity.

[PhilWakely]

From the Swindon Advertiser

Blaze destroys vintage train

The ^Thumper^ train and destroyed wagons

A TRAIN valued at more than ^100,000 was completely destroyed by fire at Blunsdon this evening.

The vintage diesel Thumper unit owned by Swindon and Cricklade Railway was parked up near the Hayes Knoll end on the main line when the fire was discovered late in the afternoon.

^It is completely beyond repair,^ said a heartbroken trustee Dave Peacey.^

He said he was returning to the railway between late this afternoon he was told what had happened. ^We don^t know when the fire started. I would imagine it has been burning most of the day so how nobody spotted it I don^t know.^

^As far as I^m aware there are only three of these left in the country. It is a very rare train.^

The most depressing thing, he said, was that volunteers had spent January and February completely refurbishing it.
^We are all devastated to say the least,^ he said.

Three box wagons containing electrical equipment were also destroyed. Mr Peacey said it appeared the blaze may have started in the wagons and spread to the two-car unit.

He added that the railway volunteers would have to find an alternative engine and crew if it was to run a service over the weekend.

A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire service said the alarm was raised just before 6pm.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

[Spaceship]

Thats a great shame  , I feel for those guys who spent their time refurbishing it earlier this year.

[patch38]

Very sad.

Doubly so for me - I was due to drive it later this year, courtesy of an inventive birthday present.

[trainer]

How very sad for all. Monetary compensation is not enough for something so rare, I know, but can you get insurance for these things? I'm sure all the volunteer hours and care will be beyond calculation.

[onthecushions]

It seems that it was the DTSO (that's the driving trailer) not the DMB (the car with the diesel engine) that was gutted. An exact replacement may not be possible as the 207 trailers were  narrower than standard for Hastings line use, it seems. A 2-EPB or 2-HAP would do nicely, drawgear permitting.

OTC

[grahame]

There is indeed talk of reforming with a different trailer.  Personally, I would like to see the opportunity taken to use one of these - though huge work needed: http://bulleid4dddoubledeck.co.uk/gallery.html

Failing that, choice at http://www.electricrailwaymuseum.co.uk/what.html perhaps making it up to 3 cars?

[onthecushions]

There is indeed talk of reforming with a different trailer.  Personally, I would like to see the opportunity taken to use one of these - though huge work needed: http://bulleid4dddoubledeck.co.uk/gallery.html

Failing that, choice at http://www.electricrailwaymuseum.co.uk/what.html perhaps making it up to 3 cars?

The ERM at Coventry has both a 2-HAP and a 2-EPB. The HAP unit with the 207 power car would then be very similar to a 3-H, Hampshire unit. I believe the power cars had buckeyes at both ends so only the jumpers would need extending.

OTC

[Billhere]

Thanks for that reference to the electric railway museum, very interesting site.

I never knew it existed and was unaware of the extensive collection they have there. I wonder how many could actually make it out onto the mainline.

I sold a load of 5 inch gauge track to them last Summer and just thought it was something fledgling and fairly small. Certainly wrong there then!

[Billhere]

Whoops that should have been combined 5" and 7 1/4", I recognise some of it in the photo's