Mother's Day Sunday 2nd March 2008 What a lot has happened since our last operating day in February. Earthquakes, floods, 70 mph winds and a flight of Starlings from the Russia and the former East European countries where they have been having one of their coldest winters for some years. So it was a bonus that the wind, the rain and earthquakes were not going to ruin our Mother's Day operating day. Plenty of Mum's and their children and grandchildren turned out for a day in the park.

Above: left to right: Bob with the first train of the day. Middle David and Matthew with the first steam train of the day dead on 12 noon and finally Jack Slater with his 5 inch gauge "Dimplex" petrol locomotive takes some late visitors around the circuit.   

Above  Keith with the electric locomotive "John L Stokes" double heads the last steam journey of the afternoon in readiness for "Remus" to have its fire dropped. "Remus" is now out of service for its annual boiler test and full mechanical inspection.

Thursday 6th March 2008: At last after many hours of tireless fundraising in 2007 by the former Mayor of Thorne Margaret Holt Taylor we were given the green light to go and collect the new coach from Knightley Light Railway Engineers Nr  Stratford. We set off from Moorends (Nr Thorne, Doncaster) at 9 am in our members Paul's mini-bus and after a three hour journey to meet Roger Greatrex who then led the way to nearby Hilcote Valley Railway (the station above left) where the coach was waiting for us in a nearby tunnel (far right). Our member Ron who is an expert at reversing with trailers and caravans reverses the mini-bus and trailer to the loading area (middle).   

Above: The coach was coupled to their Union Pacific loco 6610 to demonstrate the air breaking system. After which the coach was pushed along to the loading bay area and onto the trailer.
Below: The coach loaded onto the trailer ready for sheeting over and the start of the journey to Thorne. After journeying for a couple hours via the A35, M1 and finally the M18, Paul's Private Hire mini-bus arrives at Thorne and the carriage is unloaded and onto the loading siding at the park.  .

Above: With the Mother's Day headboard still on the electric locomotive "John L Stokes" Keith takes the train out onto the shed siding to the main line. Margaret takes pride of place on the new coach she worked so hard to raise funding to purchase the coach. Passing the park's War Memorial in the background Keith Paul, Ron and Margaret journey around the track at about 4.15 pm. 

Above our final sequence of photographs show the centre section of the coach being removed to enable access for a wheel chair. The two strips on the floor of the coach are for the anchoring of the straps (not shown) for the wheel chair. Full staff training sessions will take place during the next month with a wheel chair.
It had been a very interesting day for the members who had given  their to collect the coach, a coach that set new riding standards and comfort and will be particularly liked by adult passengers as well as the children. The last stage was ensure that the coach would go through our special security doors into the shed. I am sure the coach will be a great attraction for the visitors. I wonder if their will be a sister coach to match? 

Easter Sunday: Just when we thought spring was around the corner, along comes several days of cold north easterly winds. Leading up to Easter there was a mixture of hail and snow showers that only briefly settled. Saturday night saw the temperature drop to near freezing, so when a polar low pressure moved down from Scotland in the early hours of Easter Sunday a more definite area of snow developed and gave about 4 - 5 inches (10 - 12 cm) of snow starting at 4.50 am. Result a thick covering of snow even at low levels. It was still snowing heavily at 6.30 am the time for those photographers of snow scenes to be out and about. The two photographs show the park at 8 am certainly a Christmas card scene. To the right we see Thomas helping to clear the snow from the outer circuit at 9.30 am. Normally we only have to clear the railway area of broken cider and beer bottles that the overnight teenage revellers in the park leave behind. this was certainly a first for most of our members.

Once the outer track had been cleared and the test train had completed its run, it was time for the first fare paying passengers to sample the comforts of the new coach. Below the warm afternoon sunshine started to rapidly melt the snow as we swapped over to "The Duke" to carry on with the afternoon train service. It was not long before a cold wind sprang up and blizzard conditions were back again. This latest fall of snow and cold wind soon effectively cleared the park of visitors so it was decided to temporally suspend the train service. Once the snow stopped the train service was briefly resumed, but a decision was taken to abandon all operations as the public had decided to return to the warmth of their homes and for that matter the staff too who by now were tired and cold. The locomotives were put away and the battery charges connected for the Easter Monday service.     

Easter Monday: (Below) The sun made a welcome return for the start of the second day, but with a chill wind Stephen Baines is well wrapped up as he takes out the first train of the Easter Monday train service at 10.30 am, an hour before the scheduled starting time using the electric locomotive "John L Stokes". "The Duke" took over the afternoon train service. 

Due to some delays in getting the steam locomotive "Remus" ready for its boiler test and the absences the visiting steam locomotives there was no steam operation over the Easter Weekend. Part of the test has identified that it will be necessary to replace the steam pressure gauge and replace several parts.
David our regular steam driver who since 1998 looks on as Ron Smelt removes the drain plug for cleaning and refurbishment. It is hoped to have "Remus" tested and in steam for the May Day weekend.
Perhaps next Easters will be a bit kinder. Reports coming in indicate that attendance levels to other attractions had greatly reduced numbers due to his years bad weather.   

(Above right) David takes passengers around as yet another snow shower sweeps across the park at 2 am. Fortunately the sun was soon back out and we were able to carry more passengers again.

Tuesday March 25th 2008 I am pleased to report that the Tuesday Evening working group successfully tested the boiler on the steam locomotive "Remus". It was confirmed that the steam pressure gauge will need changing. I have tried contacting  Yorkshire Model Engineering Supplies at Hull but can only get their answering machine so may try Blackgates Engineering next. The next task will be to put all the bits and pieces back on the boiler, David your next task! Then it will be the steam test, possibly on May Day Sunday. If all is successful then it will be out with the pots of paint to smarten up the smoke box and chimney plus touch up the rest of the locomotive.