Masquerading as the first member of its class no. 73000, 73050 City of Peterborough pulls up to its train during the Autumn Steam Gala of 2015.
Jason’s Picture of the month. October 2022
Winding down, or are we?
Many people think that with the end of the summer holidays the railway will be winding down for the autumn and winter. Now this is I suppose a logical thought after all nothing happens in the autumn and winter at the railway.
This if course is not true, the railway never sleeps, it may have the odd doze but it never truly shuts down.
Let us look between now and Christmas. We are running services at weekends between now and the end of October. With several events planned and ready to go. Hopefully the first week of November should see the installing of the new crossing gates at Wansford and of course we have not only the preparation for the Santa services but the services themselves. Throughout this period S&T and the civil’s will be doing work out and about.
The office will function normally as will other departments. So as you can see the railway is far from winding down, and after Christmas the railway will start and do it all over again.
So please if you are able come along and support the railway, this is a lovely time of year to travel the line.
Another warm day.
Well we were back to the hot weather again today with the temperature peaking at 32c. thankfully we are currently running diesel services, so no hot footplate or fire risk to contend with.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we are running the hot weather timetable. this gives the crews and of course the train staff a thirty minute break between arriving and departing again. this will I am sure be welcomed by those who are able to take advantage.
Monday we have rain forecast, though wether it appears or not is a subject open to debate, we shall see.
Now to have a quiet evening and relax ready for tomorrow, although I am based at home it’s still very hot and as the afternoon wears on it gets hotter and more humid.
All being well tomorrow will be a nice relaxing day with no major problems and all the services on time.
Second Set Sundays.
On the following Sundays we will be running as well as the main service the Swedish Railcar.
The dates are:- 31st July, 14th August & 21st August.
Both the main service and the railcar will be doing three runs each , but the railcar will not be servingYarwell Junction. If you have a Rover ticket it will cover both trains.
Below is the timetable for the three Sundays.
The First Day of Summer.
Well today is the first day of summer and we have started off with wall to wall sunshine and a nice temperature of just over 27.5c at peak.
So what’s ahead for the railway over the summer? Well I guess the honest answer is that nobody knows. We have some super events announced and in the pipeline. I am sure that, weather permitting we will have a great summer.
If you’re reading this as a working member of the railway then enjoy the summer and above all have fun. If you’re not a member then please if you can come along and visit.
It has often been said that the railways greatest asset are it’s working members. So please come along and say hello to them, look round the stations and ride the trains. Or in other words have a great day out.
Please take a look at our website at nvr.org.uk and see what tempts you.
Cream Tea time.
Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the railway running the popular cream tea service.
This is one of the regular events on the railway that’s always popular. So we have three runs with a main diesel service and two runs with a steam cream tea service.
The services will be passing at Orton Mere, so nice to see both lines in use there.
If you’re interested in the cream tea service then take a look at the main site for more details.
Spring is in the air.
Here in the UK the first day of spring is Sunday 20th March, and if all runs as normal it will be a wet dismal day. In other words a typical British start to spring.
Spring also means the railway looks towards the years events.
So what do we have lined up for April?
As well as normal services we have:-
Driver Experience (Sold out) with a steam locomotive
Freight Driver Experience, your chance to drive a class 14 loco and freight wagons.
The Jolly Fisherman (Evening fish & chips while travelling along the line.)
More events planned through the year, so pop along to the railways wed site at nvr.org.uk and see what’s planned. You can book on-line and that goes for pre-booking tickets for standard service days.
If you have any questions that are not answered on the web site then either ring or drop the office an e-mail.
Let’s have a bit of steam then.
Saturday 22nd January sees a steam service with all being well 92 Squadron running. Three services leaving Wansford at 10.00 12.00 and 14.00. With no services to Yarwell.
Steam services are always popular so a good day expected.
Tickets will be available to pre-book or on the day.
So nice to see the first steam service of the new year.
The Wansford Booking Office.
One place that people rarely think about except when validating or buying tickets is the booking office. Not realising that it houses a crack squad trained to extract money with the least amount of pain.
Here are a few pictures of the booking office.
So there you have it, the hub of the station on running days.
All images are © Kim Shaw.
Well that was a nice weekend.
Some weekends can, shall we say be a little difficult. Due to things like breakdowns or the weather. But last weekend was not one of those
Saturday saw the main service diesel hauled by the Peak locomotive, which seems to be popular with both normal visitors and enthusiasts. Please note I am not saying that enthusiasts are not normal!!!
There were two cream tea runs as well using the Polish steam locomotive and the continental coaches. Nice to see people on there enjoying themselves. The day was topped off with a Gin evening on the train, again very popular and something we have not done before.
Sunday was tame by comparison with the Polish tank engine pulling the Mk1 coaches. It ran to time all day, which is always a bonus.
Weekends like this are important to the railway, it’s been a far from normal period that we are hopefully coming out of. But we need events that appeal to visitors and are also profitable.
Bahamas arrives on the 7th August and there are some great events planned with that and I look forward to observing them.
It promises to be a good summer and then we have the Santa trains, always popular with both the public and the volunteers alike.
Sitting typing this in the evening where it’s still a bit on the warm side perhaps the Santa trains in cooler weather can’t come quick enough.
