Not a weather chart for the faint hearted. Pat braves the railway platform as rain and the gale force winds blast across the park as leaves begin to cover the tracks.

The leaves start to cover the tracks like a fall of snow. Great weather for the ducks as parts of the park start to flood with the heavy rain. 

The only items to leave the shed were the trolley, lawnmower and barrow so as to gain access to the building. The rolling stock remained inside safely tucked away from the rain and the blizzard of leaves. Leaves swirl around the trees on the far side of the park. 

Normally on a Sunday afternoon the children's play area is being made good use of, not this Sunday. Small branches were being blown onto the railway tracks even when the rain cleared and the sun came out for an hour or two just as the weather forecast on BBC 1 TV had given. Any attempt to operate the trains would was thwarted by the still present gale force winds. Lets hope the weather is not so violent for the Remembrance Sunday on the 8th November.   

Click on the button below to go to the Windows Live photo-album to see more photographs of the event.

After the ceremony the trains operated for a couple of hours to raise funds for Help for Heroes. Including the sales of teas, coffees etc we raised a total of £60.       

Tuesday 24th November 2009 
Today I journeyed to Bramall Construction at their Wath-on-Dearne offices to collect some items for the Santa's Goodies bags. A special thanks to Laurie at Bramall Construction for her help. We have approached the new Sainbury's Store that is opening in December in Thorne for some items, but as the Deputy Manager is I believe on holiday we have had no reply as yet. Thorne Moorends Community Radio is providing the music and announcements on the 6th December. As the radio station goes live on air on the 14th December we are looking into the possibility that TMCR FM (the new name of the radio station) will attend our Santa event on the 13th too to help promote the opening of the station. More details on this soon. Five of our railway members are also involved with TMCR FM.
Left: The decorated tree next to the railway shed.

Top left our member James having  help set up the loudspeakers etc. Lower Left the public start arriving for the firework display. Middle the Mayor of Thorne and Moorends  Tony Brookes welcomes the public to the event. Above Right one of the many fireworks that reached well into the sky for the display accompanied by music played by the members of Thorne Moorends Community Radio team. Click Here for more photographs

Above left Tom Manson and myself making announcements and playing music whilst we for the Mayor to arrive. Photograph by Malcolm Lindley. Middle the Mayor of Thorne and Moorends Tony Brookes  arrives as more visitors gather for the 4 pm switch on.  Above Right The Mayor welcomes the greets the people waiting for the lights to be switched on. 

Above left The countdown 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Middle The lights come on down Finkle Street.  Above Right Malcolm Lindley from TMCR makes an announcement for the illuminated Teddy Bear. 

Above left Leaflets and posters for the shops.  Middle Myself with the leaflets being handed out to the parents and children. .  Above Right Almost time to close down the PA system switch off the lights on the Teddy Bear and head back to the radio station studio with the equipment as the shoppers and visitors head home for tea. Photographs by Pat Ashton. 

Full time broadcasts are scheduled to start at 9.53 am  on 14th December 2009 on 95.3 FM . There will be a mixture of music  the Top 40, light, classical, local community news and information. Test broadcasts will be commencing shortly.
The radio station will carry some of the news items and events about the railway in the Community Group items as part of a "What's On" . The radio station was on air in 2006 for  four weeks. In 2009 a 5 year licence has been granted by OfCom and funding has been raised enabling the radio station to come back on air. Click onto the logo to visit the radio stations website for the latest news and developments.

Some of railway members including myself (to the right) are actively involved in helping the re-launch of the TMCRfm (Thorne Moorends Community Radio. Left, James and Alex try their hand at operating the presenters console in the new studio at the Winning Post,  Moorends. In the middle photograph James is seen on deck at the 2009 Stainilands Boat Gala when the members of TMCR provided the event with a PA system. The dress theme was for pirate radio remembering the days when offshore radio stations such as Radio 270 and Caroline entertained the listeners in the 1960's in this area. Many commercial and BBC local radio stations have come along since then. With the latest technology it is now possible for the a new generation of community radio stations to take to the airwaves operated by volunteers from the local communities. Click here for more photographs in higher resolution
Latest News: Test transmissions started on 95.3 FM Continuous music and station ID announcements until December 14th 2009 when the stations goes live from the studio with a full range of programmes at 9.53 am.   
There may be times when the transmissions will cease for a short time whilst technical adjustments are made during the test transmissions.