Thomas at the Re-opening of The Orton Mere Signal Box

The signal box at Orton Mere was re-opened on the 9th March 2024 after nit’s rebuild following the arson attack on it.

Thomas was in attendance and carried passengers from Wansford Station and back again for the event.

The following images are © Jon Benton and my thanks to him for sending them to me.

Exchanging the staff as Thomas arrives at Orton Mere.
Thomas at platform 2.
The Plaque on the Signal Box re-opened by Miranda Rock DL the railway’s president.
The crew with The President.
The refurbished inside of the signal box.

The box looks excellent and it’s thanks to both the fundraisers, of all ages. And the team that did the practical work. They can all feel proud of their efforts.

Orton Mere Signal Box.

Here is a picture of Orton Mere Box taken at night. Awaiting a guest locomotive that was spending the night with us.

© 2024 Phil Venn

The box is rarely open at night so pleased to get this picture sent by Phil Venn and my thanks to him for sending it.

656 In Denmark.

656 of course ran in Denmark before it arrived at the Nene Valley Railway.

I have been kindly sent two images, one from 1955 and a second from 1971. Please respect the copyright of these images.

First we have 1955. Taken in Nyborg.

Secondly we have 1971. This image was taken at Esbjerg.

I hope you enjoy looking at these images and I hope to be able to post more in due course.

Well that went well.

Last weekend saw Danish locomotive 656 hauling passengers for the first time in 38 years.

© Nathan Merryweather.

Here it is arriving at Peterborough Nene Valley on Saturday.

It looked right hauling the three Belgian coaches and the single Danish coach. There are many members who were not even born when this locomotive was last in service.

Sunday saw it in service again, and here it is approaching Overton on its way to Peterborough.

© Tom Elston.

I have seen lots of comments from both members and visitors with very positive comments.

Without doubt this will be a popular locomotive, and it’s nice to see it back on the line.

Nice to see.

It was nice to see the HST out last weekend.

On Saturday with passenger services and on Sunday with driver experience runs.

Semi modern and current locomotive types seem to attract visitors. These two examples the HST the class 66 locomotives have always proved popular.

It will be interesting to see how popular 656 is next weekend in its first time pulling passengers after many years out of service.

I await next weekend with interest.

656 Back in service.

656 has today passed its loaded test runs with four coaches and will enter service on 10th and 11th February running with the air stock.

Image believed to be © Paul Roe. If this is incorrect please let me know so correct credit can be shown.

73050 CITY OF PETERBOROUGH OVERHAUL APPEAL

73050 CITY OF PETERBOROUGH OVERHAUL APPEAL

Now in her 55th year in preservation, the locomotive has been overhauled three times. The current work started in 2017 and has progressed to the stage where re-assembly of the frames, wheels and motion is gathering momentum in the NVR workshops at Wansford. The boiler, with the 70-year old steel fabric needing a most comprehensive overhaul,

Help is Needed

Thanks to generous donations from individuals and from the Peterborough City Council the overhaul has been able to proceed quite well, although the Covid-19 pandemic has had direct and indirect effects. But we need more money, the estimated cost to complete the overhaul is over £500,000 and funds are currently about half that amount. We’re running a series of programmes to suit all pockets.. We hope that one of them will appeal to your kindness.

To find out how to help and donate https://nvr.org.uk/article…/152/73050-city-of-peterborough

Quiet time of the year.

Many regard January and February as quiet times of the year. But you just have to look below the surface to see this is not whooly true.

Yes the trains are not running public services so the number of visitors has gone down. But there is a lot going on behind the scenes with maintenance in various parts. Have a look at the work going on with the 73050 rebuild for example. That’s progressing well. Events for the coming year are being planned as well.

Just pop down to Wansford, you will perhaps not only be surprised, but perhaps see something you would like to get involved with.

Perhaps after all the railway is not as quiet as you think…

Here we go again…

Well here we are on the first day of a new year.

Lot’s of interesting activities ahead, please keep an eye on the NVR web site for more details as they become available.

As always photographs from across the railway are always welcome. Many potential visitors read this blog. So pictures hopefully will encourage visitors to come along.

We shall see….

So happy new year to all and enjoy our railway in 2024.

Christmas is upon us.

Well Christmas is almost upon us, and the last Santa service has been run.

I would like to take the opportunity to wish all readers of the blog a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year

Please remember that all contributions are welcome.

Robert “Old Arkwright.”