Category: Along the line

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Final decision made on the future of historic railway buildings at Sutton

Peterborough’s two railway charities, Railword Wildlife Haven and the Nene Valley Railway are proud to learn that their joint proposal for a future home for the old station buildings from Wansford Road has been accepted by National Highways. The buildings were slated for demolition to clear a path for much-needed road improvements dualling the A47 between the A1 at Wansford and Sutton – this is the final dual-carriageway link between the A1 and northern Peterborough. Work will start in 2023 to carefully dismantle the buildings and pack numbered stones onto pallets for transport to the Railworld site next to the Peterborough Nene Valley station on the south bank of the Nene, where they will be rebuilt, with sympathetic restoration of some original features that have been lost over the years. The charities are very grateful to National Highways, who are donating over £200K towards the cost of the move. Once complete, the buildings will serve both Railworld and the Nene Valley Railway as a gateway to their services and attractions.

Railworld Wildlife Haven is a charity in Peterborough which has a nature haven, a model railway and other exhibits. It is located on a landscaped former coal storage yard which once served Peterborough Power Station. https://www.railworld.org.uk/

Nene Valley Railway is a charity that runs a preserved railway westward up the Nene Valley from Peterborough to East Northamptonshire. Both Steam and Diesel, British and European trains run regularly through the year. https://nvr.org.uk/

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Charles Swift OBE.

It is with great sadness that I have to share the passing of the Nene Valley Railway’s Vice President Charles Swift OBE.

Charles sat on Peterborough City Council for more than 60 years and served as the youngest ever Mayor of Peterborough. He was also a railwayman starting his career working on steam at New England.

Charles was influential in supporting the foundation of the NVR and remained a great friend of the railway, more latterly in his role of Vice President.

Our condolences go to Charles’ family and many friends.

Mike Kerfoot – Chairman

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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.

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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.

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The Wansford Level Crossing Gates. Update.

By Tony Dwight

Following my last post about the gates I thought that maybe some of you may be wondering why the gates need replacing so here are a few pictures that highlight the extremely poor state that the existing gates are in.  

This is the centre section of gate A with the temporary bracing holding the cross members together.
This is the top centre of gate D with the timber strengthening fitted and the steel rods holding the joint together. This gate has continually been drooping and has been height adjusted numerous times
The rotten bottom joint of gate B

On a more positive note, progress on the gates is coming on well  the fourth frame B has been made and gate D has progressed to having the cross bracing fitted and the five long steel rods installed. With the routering of the chamfers to the timber edges and the metal strengthening plates being fitted will release the gate for decoration.

Gate D with the cross bracing and the steel rods installed.

I will report further progress on this most interesting project in due course.

NOTE:-
Maintenance like this is just a small part of the constant ongoing work to maintain and operate a heritage railway. Donations towards the rising costs are always most welcome irrespective of the amount.

The next project the team are taking on is making replacement stairs and handrails for the signal box

If you would like to donate then please contact the Wansford office on 01780-784444 between 10am and 3pm seven days a week.

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Summer Holiday Fun.

As you can see from the previous post we have Wednesday activities again during the school summer holidays.

The rover ticket will give you the chance to explore and enjoy the scenery and changing landscape along the line, which passes over the River Nene twice and follows it for the latter part of the journey to Peterborough.

Please bring your children and have a great mid-week day out, details from the office on the number shown.

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It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum

To put it mildly the last two days have been a bit hot!

Monday got up to38c and Tuesday got to 40.8c here at blog HQ!

Far too hot for me a mere retired delicate flower.

Because of fire risk and crew safety last weekend saw the railway run a diesel service with the Peak on Saturday and the Swedish railcar on Sunday. Most people chose to stay at home and try and keep cool as much as possible.

This weekend will again be diesel only with the Class 14 out on Saturday and The Peak out on Sunday.

Looking at the television there are many discussions on global warming etc and the effect on future weather. Personally I think it’s beyond dispute that things are getting warmer. How this will affect peoples leisure and work activities is open to debate. This will also have an effect on tourist attractions amongst them heritage railways. What that effect will be is of course unknown at the moment. Without doubt interesting years ahead.

I am sure that those running the national train network will be having many thoughts on the subject as well.

Trying to plan for the mainly unknown will not be easy.