Almost back to normal after Covid
Covid
The milder, but more contagious Omicron variant became dominant during the year.
Occasionally team members stayed away either because they were infected or had been in close contact with an infected person.
Otherwise the running season was normal.
As usual, winter jobs dragged on and the first running day was on May 21 and even then we were grouting Bay Tree platform and fitting a new hydraulic strut to the loading bay
Eleven days were scheduled for running. One day, June 25, was cancelled because too few team members were available; a first! On the whole the weather was kind: The July and August dates were hot and sunny, the weather remained fine in September and October was warm, however the optimistic last scheduled run on November 5 was cancelled because of rain and cold.
The pictures above show interesting visiting locos from the Barnards Farm Railway in Essex on the 11th of June. On the left is a tram which could be driven remotely by Bluetooth thus the loco could push a train with the driver on a carriage at the front. On the right is a Cromar White electric loco, the twin of our own number 1.
September 10th was very busy. Cliff brought the Retired Railway Officers Society for their annual outing and there were visitors from Wimborne and the Old Kiln Railway in Cheshire. The latter were intent on riding over every inch of our track! Cliff's guests are pictured above at Old Oak and the other picture shows one of the many busy trains we ran.
The picture on the right is of Chris Stokes driving the loco Brunel. Chris is the brother of Richard, a long term member who died in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
Brunel was Richard's engine which is now owned by the June and Alan A. It was good to see the engine out again.
A busy day. perhaps too busy; Eileen Grant retired after one lap to make more room!
Nevertheless it was very enjoyable to share our Railway and see it active.
Visitors worthy of mention on September 24th were Jason Turvey, on the left, who has introduced a few of us to the mysteries of London Underground signalling and Hugh Ballantine Dykes with his loco George, on the right. Hugh saved the railway when his mother died waiting to sell the house to a purchaser who intended to keep our railway going.
Signallers We did struggle to have enough signallers on some occasions during the year. We miss Richard Stokes, Bob Thackery and Adrian Allum.
Spinney signalling is quite complex as it attempts to model itself on the "real" railway, and it can be a bit daunting. However some visitors "had a go" and perhaps can be persuaded to join. Also, as Alan A and Andrew get a better understanding we can become quicker at fault finding and repair.
The Scot is now at the SLR for good
Royal Engineer was an original resident of the SLR when the railway was created by Joseph Ballantine Dykes.
It was later passed to Joseph's son who sold the loco away from the SLR.
When David G bought the Scot in 2005 it was always with the understanding that it would once again a permanent resident.
We are please to report that in 2022 Alan and June became the owners of Royal Engineer so making its place at the railway secure.
The picture shows Alan with one his guests driving the loco this year.
⋅ The track approaching Old Oak needs attention.
⋅ The two track circuits on the down main approaching Bay Tree require separating.
⋅ Point 14 at Bay Tree has no working indication in the box.
⋅ Check function of point 7 at the top of the branch.
Postscript
Alan A replaced the front (railway end) shed doors this summer.
On the 21st of May Tim brought the chassis of the 9F loco he is building and tested its ability to navigate all the SLR.
The test was successful.
Building steam locomotives is not quick!
How long before we see the completed loco?
If you are a team member you can see how often each loco ran by following the path Friends Area => Loco Running Data since 2011.
As usual, the full story of the year can be found in the Archived News of 2022 thanks to our hard working reporter Tim.
The Archived News is a copy of the 2022 News and presents events backwards.