A "Normal" Summer
There were 14 days in the diary; we lost one in June to the weather and one in October when insufficient members were available to run the railway. The last October meet had an awful weather forecast but those of the team who attended were rewarded with a dry afternoon and a successful run. There were no major winter jobs to finish. Covid lingered to infect Tim and Heather who conscientiously missed one meeting. We are glad to report not a serious illness on this occasion.
Electrical problems with the signalling dogged us until midsummer. The section beyond the gate was particularly troublesome. Corrosion of the terminals where wires are joined in the distribution boxes was the issue. The boxes are small and when the lid is removed a crowded jumble of wires appears which were once labelled. Some of the labels remain and can be read! When left alone the circuits survive but when a box is disturbed to make a repair other corroded joints can fail. Andrew was particularly skilful in identifying faults and making repairs aided by Alan A and DG. There was a cable break on the wires supplying Bay Tree 10 signal and a temporary wire laid on the surface provided power all summer. After June only minor fixable problems appeared and we ran successfully. However, the rarely used crossover point 13 at Bay Tree remains failed.
The table below shows the number of days each of our "home" engines ran in 2023.
The number of times each engine is steamed in the year varies over the years. Friends can explore the running of our engines since 2011 by going to
https://www.spinneylightrailway.co.uk/members/locorunning/locorunning.html
(where they will need the friends password).
Below are photographs of each of the engines that ran.
It is unusual to see Karen at the top of the list but L94 is always a frequent steamer.
The Scot, as now one of the Ainslie stable, got more runs this year helped by the zero for King Jack which awaits a new smokebox. On the last running day Alan A brought out Brunel, the other recent addition to his collection, for its only run of the year. It is Alan behind the steam!
The two 14xx tank engines have sorted their teething troubles indeed Dave M was near the top of the list above.
As ever Mick's two locos were regular performers. Both are stars with visitors. Kate can pull good loads and the accessible controls make it the best steam loco on which visitors can have a try at driving. The "electric" Class 20 is an even easier practice drive. Mick is generous in giving visitors these opportunities.
Hugh BD made one visit and George got an outing. A broken olive in the pipe connecting George and his tender caused an early stop but its an easy fix. Cliff sold Clan Line this year so it has left the railway. On a brighter note, look at the wonderful June flowers.
Although Nick and Dave M are regulars, their engines are not. On September 9th the locos made their one appearance of the year. Nick's distinctive Southern austerity on the left and Dave' Standard 5 on the right.
Eileen Grant made only one appearance; partly due to DG's focus on signal fixing and partly to his idleness!. Last but not least Scott Line. Just the thing for visitors to drive! Its great that Tim and Heather are so generous in giving these opportunities.
As usual David D was in charge at Old Oak almost every time. (Yet DG could find only one picture in the News!). David's other accomplishment was to publish exhaustive Signalbox Check Lists for all the boxes. These pre-running checks are essential to identify problems before we start running.
Robin was almost resident in Spinney where he attracted regular visitors. Perhaps we should direct visitors to our less challenging boxes as Spinney is by far the most difficult box to manage.
Phil is pictured in Bay Tree where he became a regular later in the season. He has become invaluable as we are short of regular signallers.
Other members of the team had a go at signalling (as they should) during the year. Jamie & Henry, Mick, Peter, Andrew and even DG occasionally took control.
Formal visits were from "Pimlico", a 5" club in Northamptonshire and the Wimborne club. Of course there were several occasional visitors and there was a great turnout for the Friends and Family day in August. The picture shows the well attended Friends and Family BBQ. A visitor of note was Malcolm Dalziel-Job, one of Joseph's grandsons. On July 1st, he "popped in" on his way home to Stornoway!
The summary for 2022 included a picture of the 9F Tim is building.
To continue the tradition a photograph of the Ivatt tank engine being built by Dave M and Alan S is included this year.
We look forward to seeing both locos at the SLR.
Going left to right we have Dave M, Robin, Nick (seated on the blue box), Jamie, June, Henry, Heather, Peter, Dave MB, Alan A, Alan S, Matt Teller, visitor, then David D (seated)
Not quite complete; Tim took the photo and DG was preparing his engine.
As usual, the full story of the year can be found in the Archived News of 2023 thanks to our hard working reporter Tim.
The Archived News is a copy of the 2023 News and presents events backwards.