Kick start our Locomotive Shed appeal with a once in a lifetime, Railwayman for a day prize draw. We need to raise over £4000 to wooden clad our metal container to protect and secure it and create a traditional looking Locomotive shed.
The winner will spend a day on the NVR
Take breakfast with our Steam Locomotive Crew and see the locomotive up and close in the yard.
Guided tour of the Locomotive sheds
Tour of the Wansford Signalbox
Take to the footplate for 15 miles of steam action on our duty steam locomotive
Tour of the miniature railway
Finish the day off with a full round trip in the carriages
Souvenir Certificate to remember your day.
To enter our prize draw make a contribution of £10 or more via the prize draw button below, you can enter as many times as you like. and or add further donations, Draw will take place on 31st March 2021. The winner will be contacted and a date arranged subject to Covid conditions, the winner must be 18 years of age or over.
To enter the Prize Draw click on the Prize Draw button below or make a donation via https://nvr.org.uk/product.php/205/
Well here we go again……
Today is New Years day and the start of the new year.
Many will be wondering what it will hold for the railway.
The answer is of course, nobody knows. I mean who on this day in 2020 would have been able to forecast how the year would turn out?
It was a year like no other for the railway, and the staff and working members/volunteers came through it.
Our sympathies must go to those who had to be made redundant, it was necessary to enable the railway to survive a very difficult period, they will be missed.
History will no doubt show that we owe a debt of gratitude to those on the railway both paid and volunteer who time after time went far beyond what was required or even expected to ensure that the trains we were able to run were as safe as they could be for the visitors and that the site was as safe as possible.
So please remember when things become more normal and you visit railway that your visit is only possible because of those people. The people who remained pleasant and smiling wether face to face or answering the telephone.
If you are a member of the public who travelled on either the Santas or other trains we were able to run. Thank you for your support of the railway, it is without exception appreciated and we look forward to welcoming you back in better times.
A trip on the footplate of Flying Scotsman 2018
Floods along the river Nene.
Flooding by Wansford station along the river this morning, though nothing to affect either the station or the track.
Here is a picture from the Railcam web cam this morning. The shot is from the signal box looking east.
For details of Railcam and their network of cameras on both the network and some heritage lines go to Railcam.uk
Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year.
From the Nene Valley Railway Blog.
A few locomotives from better times.
This year has not been a year for loco spotting!!
So here are a few pics from recent years when the sun really did shine down on the railway.
I will post a few more over the festive period.
Sometimes you need more than just a locomotive.
One thing I see on a regular basis are countless pictures of locomotives.
But sometimes you need more than just the locomotive to make a picture.
Here for example is a picture from Jason Isaac taken at Wansford. I know tastes can vary but this is I must admit a favourite of mine.
Advertisements and tickets
Many tickets these days seem to have adverts on the back for a variety of things from half price burgers to free cinema tickets.
Well back in the day railway tickets also had advertisements , however these were in the form of slip in adverts into pockets in the ticket.
Here are a couple of examples, I do wonder how successful they were.
Would they have encouraged you to purchase anything?
Would you buy a ticket from Nassington and be tempted to buy China tea?
A little bit of the white stuff.
This morning we awoke to snow, well to be 100% accurate we awoke to white stuff falling and not sticking because it was just too warm.
But it’s a good mood setter for the Santa trains that start this weekend.
So to get you further in the mood here are a few pictures of the railway in the snow that I have taken over the years.
Nothing like a steam engine in steam in the snow.
Now a few general shots, starting with a shot at the east end of Ferry Meadows Station (Overton)
Here we have Orton Mere in the snow. Facing west towards Wansford.
Here is a shot at Ferry Meadows before it’s excellent refurbishment.
Winter is an excellent time for photography around the railway and Nene Park, well worth a visit even if the trains are not running.
Come and pay a visit in the winter, you will get some excellent shots.
The pleasures of Autumn.
It was cold this morning with the temperature sitting at +1c when I surfaced.
Looking out at the frost on the house roofs and the cars reminded me of Autumn mornings on the railway.
Now I think it’s fair to say that when you ask the average person what they imagine it’s like on a heritage railway station. They will wax lyrical about sunshine, happy visitors and endless enjoyable days.
In reality that can often be wrong, in the Autumn it can be cold, bleak, dismal and foggy and that’s mid-afternoon.
In the Autumn and Winter months we used to have a saying when people asked for a soft drink. “Would you like a cold one off the side or a warm one out of the chiller?”
This is what a typical morning can be like.
Down the track towards Wansford is never better.
We would open up as normal and the odd walker or cyclist would wander in looking for warmth, they were disappointed, the staff stood outside to get warm!
The favourite comment was “I could kill for a hot drink.” This was normally from people who had no money with them. But they stood with an expectant look on their faces in case a freebie was in the offing.
They tried to look especially desperate if any of the staff were standing there with a steaming mug of hot liquid in their hands.
They would wonder off dragging their dog behind them. The staff would retire to the kitchen to await the next poor soul.
You would find somedays that you could not see the signal box from the station because of the fog or mist. The first sign of life from the box would be the signal man coming through the door clutching an empty mug.
First train would arrive, normally late, but that’s another story. The crew either warm in their diesel cab or huddled round the firebox. The guard would be well wrapped up with often just a little round red face poking out from under a cap.
Once the train had gone back to Wansford we would get the iPads out and settle down for the arrival of the second train.
Oh the excitement of an Autumn day at a station!