Category: Along the line

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Another weekend.

Well here we are with another running weekend, and at the moment wall to wall sunshine.

Hopefully a good weekend for the railway, all tourist attractions are affected by lower numbers. This is due to a number of things.

All we can do is to continue to present the railway at its best and give our visitors an enjoyable experience and a memorable day.

We have an interesting time ahead, but one where we can thrive and grow.

if you’re working at or visiting the railway this weekend have a great experience.

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July visitors

No doubt many of you will have seen that we have both Tornado and a Deltic visiting the railway in July.

This is excellent news, both will be running together and drive experience days will be available.

But take your time to look at other events available throughout the year.

There seems to be something for everybody.

An excellent 2026 ahead. Please visit the railway and enjoy the events.

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The Polish tank engine returns.

This weekend sees the return of the Polish tank engine.

Whilst not a loco to win any beauty contests it is a favourite with both visitors and crews alike.

It’s due to run on both Saturday and Sunday.

Looking forward to tracking it on the rail cams when I get the chance.

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Here we go again.

Today is the first day of the 2026 running season.

As well as the main service we have Thomas running as well.

Hopefully a good year ahead.

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Happy New Year.

Well here we are with a shiny new year stretched out in front of us, ready for volunteers, services and visitors.

It’s anybody guess as to what 2026 will be like and the challenges we will face and the rewards we will have.

So onwards and upwards withe the first public services being the winter warmers.

If you’re a volunteer have fun and enjoy your time at the railway..

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It starts today.

Well today sees the start of the Santa services. An extremely important and busy time for the railway.

I always liked the Santa services, passengers seemed in a better mood and plenty of volunteers to run things as well.

I always tried to open Orton Mere on Santa days if the weather was nice. Although the Santa trains did not stop we would often be quite busy with passing trade. The normal mix of cyclists, runners and dog walkers plus those down especially to see the Santa trains did pass through.

Hopefully we will have good weather this year, and lots of passengers. As usual details of times etc. can be found on the railways web site.

So if your travelling on any of the services have a great time and enjoy the day.

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Rail200

This weekend is our rail200 weekend, a great weekend ahead with visiting steam locomotives and many services.

If you are visiting us this weekend I hope you have a great time. You can pay on the day if you wish. Have a look on our web site for all the information you will need.

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Well that was August.

Well that’s August out of the way. A busy month with lots of activity around the railway.

It’s months like this when we can forget the activity that goes on behind the scenes. In the sheds and along the line doing work that enables the railway to run safely.

Mention must also be made of those working in the office both paid and volunteer. Now we are into September with events still to come, then on towards the Santa services.

The railway never sleeps, it may appear to have the occasional doze but it never sleeps.

So well done for a busy August and here’s to a busy autumn and full Santa trains.

Every person is important be they paid staff, volunteer etc. It’s often been said that the railways best asset is its volunteers. That is very true irrespective of the job they do.

These days I am housebound and unable to get to the railway. I desperately miss chatting to both the volunteers and visitors, and I enjoy those who pop onto the Wansford YouTube web cam I am on there every running day answering questions and giving service information out. Please feel free to pop on.

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Travelling Post Office

This weekend sees the return of the travelling post office.

In the past this has always been very popular with visitors. On both Saturday and Sunday it’s doing two runs to the equipment at Sutton Cross to give demonstrations of mail exchanges.

Let’s hope it will be a regular occurrence. At one stage it did a non-stop run from Orton Mere to Yarwell and did a mail exchange at Sutton Cross. That would be nice to see again.

Hopefully the weather will be favourable on both days.

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A bit of a gap.

The keen ones amongst you will have noticed there has been a bit off a gap since the last post, this has been due to a number of circumstances,

Despite this the railway has continued to chug along quite happily!

I think it’s fair to say that the railway has been busy with a number of visiting locomotives and events,

Despite on longer working at a station I still hear on a regular basis from a number of past visitors, and their comments have been very favourable, especially about staff.

It’s often been said that the railways best assets are it’s volunteers, and I think that paid staff must also be added into the mix here, they work very hard behind the scenes.

I hope that when we look back at the end of the year, that the whole year will have been a success, time will tell.

Tomorrow sees the Thomas big adventure. I look forward to observing on the Wansford webcam.

Hopefully there will be more regular posts from now on, we shall see….