News from the line

22/12/2003 Harlaxton at Bridge of Dun as the snow begins to fall. After the last Santa Special departed the (weatherproof) pway squad were out in the pitch dark amidst blizzard conditions lifting the shed road point out for repair. There will be a work week at Brechin station from Boxing Day on, refurbishing this point and carrying out trackwork maintenance. Anyone wanting to work off their excess turkey and Christmas pudding should appear at the station around 10am any day. Merry Christmas!
 

16/12/2003 George Bett has emailed these two atmospheric pictures (below) showing Harlaxton working more Santa Specials.

...and last Friday we had our annual Christmas meal in the Caledonian Hotel, Brechin, where member Mike Cooper gave an excellent after-dinner slideshow showing railways of Angus 25 years ago.

Left to Right Steve Pegg, Graeme Muir, Derek Thompson, Lee George, Mike Thomson, Ian Forbes, Andrew Kennedy, Bob Smith, Andrew Webster, Jed Scott, Tommy Henderson, Mike Cooper, Ken Joy, Bailey Winton-Joy, Blair Winton, Mike Watson, Andrew Pegg, Pat Pegg, Dougal Watson, Christopher Pegg, Janet Watson, Simon Hickman and Brian Thomson. 

09/12/2003 Station cat Sulzer has been given her own page on the Internet, courtesy of member Jim Ramsay's Tayrail photo pages.

08/12/2003 A crisp winter's day for the start of the Santa Specials yesterday. I have created a separate gallery for all the photos taken, to view which you should click here or on the picture, left.

The picture here shows a typically atmospheric departure from Dun.

02/12/2003 Miserable weather at Brechin today, as Harlaxton is lit up for her steam test. Station cat Sulzer (below) makes the most of a warming fire in the ticket office.

    
17/11/2003 Harlaxton had her first run, light engine to Bridge of Dun and back on Saturday evening. It was pitch dark, very frosty and atmospheric, plus your webmaster was allowed to drive for the occasion!

The Santa Specials are booking well, with at least one train now full. Get those booking forms in!!

Lastly, the railway has been nominated for an 'Angus Ambassador Award' by the Council. We are one of three finalists in the tourism category of the "Angus Oscars" and up against the Arbroath Seafest and the Angus Glens walking festival. The ceremony is this Friday in the Carnoustie Golf Hotel, presided over by Dougie Donelly, no less! We are all searching for our dinner suits, which are probably hidden beneath some dirty bib-and-brace overalls somewhere.......

17/11/2003 Steve Pegg lights up Harlaxton for the first time since boiler overhaul.

12/11/2003 Work in progress on the coaches today at Dun (below). On the left C&W regular Derek Hamilton wields a vacuum cleaner, cleaning the coaches ready for 'Santa'. In the middle photo the new disabled saloon can be seen. The addition of this facility in Mark 1 no. 35200 will allow Mark2 BFK 'Gladys', the present disabled persons coach, to be taken out of service for a much-needed overhaul. On the right, a novel use for the hundreds of CR-branded car road tax discs (an ordering mistake by the retail department in the 1980s!) displaying seat numbers on the coach windows!

Harlaxton is nearly finished. Steve was beading tubes on Sunday - 103 done, 75 to go! The last few items are fitting one safety valve, making and fitting remaining vacuum exhaust pipework and fitting smokebox closure plates. All being well it should be fit for a steam test by next Sunday. Meanwhile the road 1 track re-lay has been completed so it's all looking good for the Santa Specials. Have you booked your tickets yet?

Don't forget to pay our stand a visit next weekend at the Aberdeen Model Railway Show in the Aberdeen exhibition centre.

   

07/11/2003 The Brechin loco shed is not the best place for photography, particularly with a budget camera and bad photographer! However, the rectified picture below shows a near-complete 'Harlaxton' in the shed today. There are a few minor jobs outstanding, the most time-consuming of which will be beading over the new tubes in the firebox and smokebox. A few more pipe runs to fit up, a bit of painting, firebars to fit, lag the dome and we're nearly done...

04/11/2003 The station concourse last week, seen in a rectified photo. Try and spot the joins! The track in platform 1 is now ballasted, and packing is taking place. Harlaxton has a few minor jobs to attend to before her steam test.
 

31/10/2003 Paint your wagon.....our Noranside recruits finished painting the water tank wagon today, and smart it looks too.



        
         Meanwhile, this shoal of dogfish can currently be observed in the
              yard at Brechin, poised for ballasting work on Sunday.........



27/10/2003 Harlaxton's overhaul is nearly finished, and final fitting and painting has been taking place.
   
View in shed, with 'Harlaxton' closest the camera,           Harlaxton's cab interior rapidly approaching       Our latest recruits from HMP Noranside have been busy
       then Peckett 2084, then type 2 25083.                                            completion                                      repainting wagons and rebuilding the toilet doors,
                                                                                                                                                                                      as evidenced by this picture! 
Left: Harlaxton's new livery will be black, probably unlined for Xmas
but turned out in "Caley black" or BR black for next year's season. 

21/10/2003 No pictures today as your webmaster was busy this weekend at the Dundee Model Railway club annual show, promoting the Santa Specials. There are plenty of colour leaflets and posters available, so if anyone can distribute them in their local area (shops, public buildings etc) then please let me know!

In the steam shed, Harlaxton is edging closer and closer to completion with just the installation of the blastpipe and cab fittings being the main tasks left. An under-par pway squad near-enough completed the track relay in platform 1 on Sunday, while the Nairn goods shed project has started with the contractors beginning to dismantle the shed, at Nairn. Our latest recruits from HMP Noranside are busy giving the tank wagon which supplies steam loco water at the head of platform 2 a birthday, including a full repaint.
 

 

13/10/2003 Newly-refurbished track in place in platform 1, Brechin.

The Caledonian Railway Diesel Group have recently updated their website, giving interesting news on the status of our railway's diesel fleet.

11/10/2003 George Watson's JCB was in this morning, scraping the ash ballast from platform 1 at Brechin and putting it into the 'mermaid' wagon. The pway squad of Ken, Dougal and Jed were then taking it down the line with the class 11, and tipping the waste ballast down a bankside. The track is scheduled to be put back in next week.
 
Platform 1 trackbed scraped back to sub base.                        Pway team discuss the next move


07/10/2003 BRPS member Mike Cooper was very active with his camera around the North-East Scottish railways in the late 70s and early 80s. He has emailed these pictures showing before and after at Hillside, in 1981 and 2003. Click the image below to see the pictures.
 

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