Left: Back home! The Caley tank basks
in the Angus sunshine at Bridge of Dun. Pic: David Lawson
Right: Railway
photographer Keith Pirt sent us this beautiful picture of Harlaxton crossing
Balwyllo Bridge in September. |
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Images of 2002...
Above: Three locos in
steam at Brechin! Malcolm Nixon
Right: "To the batmobile, Robin" Ramsay and George prepare for action
at Bridge of Dun in Ramsay's Morris 8. Dave Lawson
Below: Sporting cunning incognito shorts, company chairman Andrew
Webster runs away from 419.Malcolm Nixon
Below right: 419 sits in the centre road at Brechin, awaiting the
token exchange with 'Harlaxton'. Malcolm Nixon |
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17/12/2002
A very welcome Christmas present
for the Caledonian Railway - our landlords, Angus Council, have agreed subject
to conditions to add a large vacant building to our lease for a nominal rent.
The former cannery offices and canteen, adjacent to Brechin station, comprise a
stone-walled slate-roofed structure on two storeys, approximately 75 foot long
by 30 foot wide. Although rail access is impossible at present it will provide a
very handy store for all the materials we have collected over the years, such as
coach seats, etc. We should receive the keys shortly. Although the building is
in a good state of repair it needs a thorough interior clean, and we would
welcome volunteers to carry this out.
Last Sunday saw more successful
Santa Specials - packed six coach trains were the order of the day, with
'Harlaxton' manfully coping with the increased load thanks to Steve Pegg's
firing skills.
10/12/2002
A very successful start to the
Santa Special season on Sunday, with visitors seeing the Caledonian Railway at
its best. Hordes of smart, uniformed staff, well-presented coaches (Mark 1 4676
re-entered service with its new interior), decent catering facilities and model
railway, etc, open. Brechin station booking hall looked a festive treat thanks
to Jim Watt and Mike Jackson. Last Friday we cut down a Christmas tree from the
lineside and brought it to the station on 'Harlaxton's' bufferbeam!
It is pleasing to see so many
passengers on the Santa trains, a real reflection on the hard work put in by our
volunteers.
26/11/2002
The pway gang completed the
Magdalen relay, although some packing remains to be done. At Bridge of Dun, work
was in hand on completing the new station facilities on the island platform, and
the coaches were being prepared for Christmas. The new mark 1 coaches on
long-term loan from the Ayrshire Railway
Preservation Society have arrived today. The ARPG have done a superb job in
the high-quality restoration of these vehicles which will go straight into
service.
We now have some
drawings of the footbridge we are
offering for sale online.
10/11/2002
Further work by the pway
department saw the last seven panels of track relaid at Magdalen Chapel,
although a problem with the crane and fading light meant the last panel was
unable to be connected - we'll have to wait to next week till the golden screw
ceremony! At Bridge of Dun, the c&w squad continued with the interior of 4676,
and also adjusted the brakes on the Mark 2 BFK. Jim Wilkie was busy this week
reinstating the fence between the island platform and foot crossing, using
concrete posts. At Brechin, David Lawson and Dave Duncan were working in the
model railway room upgrading the lights for Christmas operations.
29/10/2002
The pway gang began to put back
the panels at Magdalen Chapel, laying an impressive seven panels in a day.
During the week, Robert Stewart paid us a visit fresh from work in both China
and the Northampton and Lamport Railway,
spending a couple of days working on the Class 25 diesel. In the shed, the
latest helipad....sorry, machine tool base, was installed. This means the
majority of one side of the shed now has a concrete floor. The car park
benefitted from having chippings taken up from the resurfacing of South Esk
Street spread into the potholes, although it would be better if it could have
been tarmac'd!
We were very pleased to receive
confirmation of a 'valuing volunteers' grant to the tune of £450, which will
enable us to install much-needed shower facilities at Brechin.
Congratulations to our former
operations director on his degree.
21/10/2002
The weekend saw a good deal of
the society's working members take Saturday off for a trip to the Dundee Model
Railway Show, where we had a stand which generated a good deal of publicity and
a modest profit for the company. Sunday saw a good turnout on the pway despite
some of the regulars being away, and another three track panels for the Magalen
relay were completed - just two more to do now!
On Monday the company held its
AGM at Brechin station, where we were all heartened to hear reports of progress
made on the railway during 2001.
14/10/2002
Little physical work has taken
place this week due to torrential rain. However, Jim Summers and Nigel Vincent
spent all week reupholstering Mark 1 4676, and work is continuing on the class
25 in the shed. Steve Pegg has also been upgrading the shed lighting.
7/10/2002
A below-strength pway gang
rebuilt another three 32' track panels today, despite the absence of certain
regulars due to 'real' work commitments. However, it was good to see Andy McPhee
back at work on the pway. Down at Bridge of Dun station, a full-strength C&W
department finished painting the roof of mark 1 4809, and began touching up the
mark 1 BSK roof, as well as that of Mark 2 BFK 'Gladys'. Meanwhile Jim Summers
and Nigel Vincent carried on reupholstering 4676 using the
sponsor-a-seat funds, the end result of which
will look very smart. Jim is spending the week at Bridge of Dun on upholstering,
so we shall see rapid results here!
Dave Duncan was putting the
finishing touches to the new station building at Bridge of Dun, while Jim Wilkie
has now nearly finished painting his boxvan into bauxite colours. At Brechin,
Blair, Ross and Jim Watt pushed on with the class 25 cabs in the shed, and new
member Frank continued scraping the muck off Harlaxton's frames. A good
productive day, and all conducted in glorious autumn sunshine!
1/10/2002
This Sunday, the pway gang got
well and truly stuck into panel refurbishment at Bridge of Dun, refurbishing a
record 5 32ft panels in one day. That may not sound a lot, but between 5 people
there's 70 old sleepers to be taken out, 70 new ones in, 140 rail chairs to be
removed, cleaned and re-ferelled, and 560 screws to take in and out. Not bad for
a day's work!
Blair and Ross, meanwhile, began
repainting the class 25's underframe (amongst other jobs) and Simon painted the
interior of the volunteer accommodation coach and varnished the floor. Dougal
began the latest boxvan restoration project and eager to match the horrendous
bright yellow Brechin-based van, the Bridge of Dun example looks to be going
SILVER!
24/9/2002
The operating season out of the
way, the pway launched their latest project, the relaying of 14 panels of track
from Magdalen bridge towards Arrat, to be completed before Christmas. All 14
panels were lifted on Sunday, and laid down at Bridge of Dun for refurbishing.
The carriage gang began repainting Mark 1 SO 4809's roof, and continued
varnishing 4676's interior. The fruits of
Sponsor-a-seat began to show, with the new moquette appearing in this
coach.....
On Saturday Steve Pegg completed
building a bench in the shed (three years after starting it) and Simon began
scraping Harlaxton's paintwork down prior to a repaint. Ken and Blair continued
with the cabs of 25083 whose rebuild continues apace.
9/9/2002
The diesel weekend rounded off
the season....operationally this event was a big success, with the service
debuts of class 11 12093 and class 26 26035. On Sunday the final summer
departure of the season saw 27024 blast out of Brechin for the last time in a
while......
Dougal and Mike completed the
painting of their boxvan into a bright yellow livery, arguably the most
offensive colour scheme in preservation. With yellow to spare, they also painted
the company's 'crab' wagon in a similarly nauseous livery.
Jim Watt came up from Perth to
spend some more quality time wiring the shed and new bench up, while at Bridge
of Dun the C&W department continued the lengthy interior overhaul of Mark 1
4676.
2/9/2002
The last steam day of the summer,
with Harlaxton handling all trains while the diesel department readied their
locos for next weekend's gala. During the week Ken Joy completed the fitting of
a vacuum through-pipe to class 11 12093, enabling it to operate passenger trains
at the weekend. Steve Pegg continued exploring the mysteries of three-phase
electricity, wiring up the machine tools in the shed - including the superb new
lathe - and finally completing the work bench, a couple of years after starting
to build it!
There was some positive news from
grant sources this week regarding the canopy restoration project - more on this
soon! - and the interesting 'project x' reared its head over the weekend.
The Caley tank finally left us on
Friday on a GCS Johnson loader, while Dougal's 'new' dogfish wagons arrived the
same day. We were all pleased to see the SRPS' Brian Thomson back up for the
weekend, effecting much needed repairs to 4249, the buffet coach. Thanks Brian!
Volunteers needed for jobs
this week! Painting "Chez Joy", finishing repairs to the doors to Park Road,
Cutting all the grass (bring your own mower!) and weeding the front garden. Any
offers of help to Simon, 01356 622992 or email calrail@engineer.com
19/08/2002
A back-to-normal steam Sunday,
and it was pleasing to see two 'new' volunteers in action, Jim Watt from Perth
starting maintenance on the 08 diesel shunter's electrics, and an old face,
Graham Fullerton, back volunteering again after a few years break. The coach
department have had a work week this week and completed the repaint of Mark 1
4676 and started the North side paint of their BG workshop - or "Fort Knox" as
it is better known.
Ena Wilkie spent Sunday on the
railway's sales stand at Glamis Castle Golden Jubilee celebrations. A good deal
of station furniture went to Glamis with her, and added to a very 'railway'
looking stall. Prince Edward visited Glamis, and may have been persuaded by Ena
to join the pway gang!
Meanwhile, Graeme Muir has nearly
finished the class 11 repaint, and Ken Joy and Blair Winton are cracking on with
25083. Ken is currently installing a vacuum throughpipe on the 11 to allow it to
operate on passenger services at the diesel gala.
A new station cat was acquired on
Tueday. Newly-christened 'Sulzer' is ten weeks old and quickly settled into her
new home - "Chez Joy", the volunteer accommodation coach.
13/08/02
A quiet post-gala recovery week
at Brechin. However, the old shop completed its transformation into a waiting
room at Brechin station. We need some pictures and posters to brighten up the
bare walls - any offers? Bob Smith and Mike Jackson spent time installing a new
lighting system in the new shop, and Steve Pegg began to wire up the new machine
shop in the running shed, thanks to the donation of cable by an SRPS member.
Saturday evening saw a group of
volunteers invited to a pre-opening party at the 'Caledonian Hotel', a new Inn
adjacent to Brechin station. It was decided by all those present that the new
pub was an excellent establishment and would become the new local, provided
there was a back room for boiler-suited individuals! On Sunday we bid farewell
to the Caley tank - back to normal with 'Harlaxton' next week!
05/08/02
A superb gala weekend has just
finished at Brechin station, with three engines in steam (including the first
pairing of two matching Caley blue locos since pre-grouping days) traction
engines and many other attractions. Trains were full to the seams, with
shunt-release in operation at Brechin to allow swift turn rounds and engine
swaps. All engines (and crews!) performed impeccably, particularly the Saturday
evening train which had a combination of 5 full coaches, Barclay 0-6-0
'Harlaxton' on the head and wet rails. Needless to say, the loco did its' usual
sterling job.
Mike Jackson put in a lot of
effort making the accommodation coach ready for the weekend which was much
appreciated by all concerned, plus the new shop finally opened on platform 1 and
instantly sales went through the roof!
22/07/02
The Caley tank arrives! After 50
years, a Caley tank is back on the Brechin branch and hauling trains. Yesterday
(Sunday) was a glorious day as can be seen in the photo above, and 419 looked a
treat on its pristine rake of maroon coaches, which the diesel department had
kindly cleaned in the morning.
With no engine to drive today,
Steve Pegg took it on himself to finish the pit at Brechin, laying concrete
slabs in the base and alongside. SRPS driver Brian Thomson reckoned if the
Heritage Railway Association had a 'best preserved pit' award, Brechin would win
hands down! Brian was honoured to be the first person to stay in 'Chez Joy', the
new volunteer accomodation coach on Sunday.
Prior to the weekend operation, a
major shunt took place at both stations to tidy the views for visitors.
Consequently 419's first train down the branch was a freight, consisting of
seven unrestored boxvans and an LMS brake van, which looked a fine sight despite
the state of the wagons! At Dun, the Caley tank shunted the coaches and formed
the weekend trainset, to the delight of a grandstand of onlookers on the road
overbridge!
With the SRPS crews up for the
weekend, a good meal out in a local restaurant was had by volunteers on Sunday
evening, following a few drinks in the station gardens at Brechin.
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