Category: Diesel

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The weekend after Easter.

I was sitting today thinking back to the weekends after Easter when I ran Orton Mere station. I remember that if we were busy over Easter the we were quiet the weekend after.

But as often seemed to happen if Easter had been a washout due to rain over the Easter weekend then the weekend after was always busy.

Somewhere on an archive drive I have the sales figures for the booking off and shop at Orton Mere. I will dig them out when I get time and have a look to 100% confirm this.

One thing I do remember are some Easter weekends with appalling weather, A couple we did not get a single visitor on the Saturday & Sunday. Not even a bedraggled dog pulling its owner!

So we will see what tomorrow and Sunday bring, I will watch the webcams with interest!

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Easter Services.

Four days of services.

Good Friday. The Pacer with services between Yarwell & Peterborough Nene Valley.

Saturday. Thomas shuttle between Wansford & Yarwell
The Peak 45041 between Wansford & Peterborough Nene Valley.

Easter Sunday. Thomas shuttle between Wansford & Yarwell
The Class 14 between Wansford & Peterborough Nene Valley.

Easter Monday. The Peak 45041 between Yarwell & Peterborough Nene Valley.

The Peak and the class 14 are both popular locomotives and Thomas on Saturday & Sunday will be an enjoyable trip for children of all ages.

Have a look on the NVR.ORG.UK web site for times etc.

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37714 has arrived

The diesel locomotive 37714 has arrived at Wansford and will be running for the next few days with photo charters and driver experience. It will be pulling services this weekend at our British Rail 1980s event. Image showing its arrival at Wansford around lunch time is © Paul Roe

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A visitor to the diesel gala in October.

The Nene Valley Railway is pleased to announce that we have arranged for Class 37 No 37714 to come on hire for the Diesel Gala. The Locomotive will also be available for our popular Driving Experience Course, and a “Jolly Fisherman” Fish and Chips train on the evening of 6th October. Its been a few years since we ran a 37 on the NVR so will be a great addition to the gala. The locomotive visit comes with thanks to the Heavy Tractor group.

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The travelling post office

Last Sunday saw the first public running in a long time of the TPO.

It’s always been a popular attraction with visitors, and I remember when it used to start from Orton Mere and do a non-stop run to Yarwell doing two drops and pickups on the run.

© Chris Walker

Above is an excellent image from Chris Walker showing it arriving back at Wansford.

Hopefully the TPO will become a regular feature on the railway once again.

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It’s a diesel weekend.

This weekend we are running a diesel service. Yesterday we had the class 14 and today we are running the Peak.

Ever since I joined the railway there have been two camps, one for and one against running diesels in the summer.

Personally I have always been of the opinion that we should, on a regular basis run all that we have available. We are not just a steam railway we are a heritage railway, a fact that many often forget about.

From when I ran Orton Mere I can count on one hand the number of times that a visitor decide not to travel because we were running diesel.

I would hazard a guess that most of our visitors have never travelled behind a steam train when they were in service on the network. but many have travelled behind diesels when they have needed to travel by rail.

So enjoy whatever we are running it is all part of our history!

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The HST in service.

The 11.30 Wansford departure crossing the Nene by Lynch Farm looking resplendent.

My thanks to Peter Wickens for the above picture.

The services last Sunday were all run by the HST and with four services each way were very popular. Nice to see a service like this popular with the visitors.

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HST in public service.

Sunday 9th July sees the first public services on the NVR of the HST.

This is sure to be popular. The timetable is below.

Orange Timetable. 
Wansford 10:0011:3013:0014:30
Yarwell arr 10:0511:3513:0514:35
Yarwell dep 10:1011:4013:1014:40
Wansford 10:1511:4513:1514:45
Overton (for Ferry Meadows) 10:2811:5813:2814:58
Orton Mere 10:3312:0313:3315:03
Peterborough arr 10:3812:0813:3815:08
Peterborough dep 10:5012:2013:5015:20
Orton Mere 10:5512:2513:5515:25
Overton (for Ferry Meadows) 11:0012:3014:0015:30
Wansford arr 11:1312:4314:1315:43

Hopefully the weather will be on our side.

If you do visit and travel then your pictures will be most welcome for the Blog.

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Nice time of year for the weather!

Here I am sitting writing this entry with the temperature nudging 29c and fairly high humidity. I have a gloss finish on my face and I am doing nothing more active than typing.

Nice to have seen decent weather last weekend for the trains, makes a change from driving rain and howling winds.

Over the coming months we have some excellent events planned so all being well the weather will be on our side.

Of course this culminates at the end of the year with the Santa trains. Seems funny thinking about the Santas in this weather, but they are the most important services of the year. The profit from the Christmas services helps immensely during the quiet period at the start of 2024.

Mention must be made of both the Pacer and the Swedish railcar. They are running on some of the quieter days, and provide a variance to the normal diesel and steam services.

So let’s look forward to a busy summer, and welcome visitors with our normal enthusiasm, and make sure they go away after having a super visit.

Pictures of services and events always welcome for the blog, as are articles from events and happenings across the railway.

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Deltic to visit NVR.

Nene Valley Railway in partnership with our long standing supporters The Deltic Preservation Society are pleased to announce the visit of Deltic 55009 ALYCIDON for a stay in October 2023.

Tickets and more information coming soon via our web page

6th October. Freight Train Driver Experience,

11th October. Driver Experience Day.

14th October. Gala with 55009 hauling the Evening Dining train.

15th October. Gala.

16th October. Driver Experience Day.

Please watch both the Nene Valley Railway and Deltic Preservation Society media pages for any updates. This is the second and last Heritage line visit for 55009 this year.