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Roger Winnen
Guy Vincent
Local services were still disrupted with a couple of cancellations noted and the information screen at Melksham station displaying a special notice to intending travellers.
Castle Cary
Guy Vincent
Best regards, Guy Vincent
Readers will find the planning proposal [click below] it makes very interesting reading complete with pictures, history and maps.
CASTLE CARY STATION, ANSFORD, SOMERSEThttps://www.southsomerset.gov.uk › media › cd-l-03-herit...
27 Apr 2020 — 4.2 Assessment of heritage significance of Castle Cary Station . ... for pedestrians using the footpath between Ansford Hill and Station.
Richard Curtis
I’m happy to report that despite not opening until May 2021 over 45,000 passengers enjoyed a ride on the railway which was nearly 4 times the numbers it was carrying before I bought the line. The new petrol locomotive ‘Linda’ built by Mardyke (who also built the HST in 1980) proved a great hit with everyone. Whilst waiting for my own steam locomotive to be finished Moors valley lent me the twin sister to my engine ‘Horton’ which was the first steam power in 5 years. The Romulus ‘Angkor Wat’ was sold due to its lack of power for day in commercial use (we parked Horton next to it which got a few laughs). The new overall station was the best thing I did. On days with showers it meant waiting passengers could stay dry, there were wet days that had better numbers than dry days. Everyone has said they love the station, we even managed to get the power turned back on. Many locals now find it amusing that the town’s miniature railway has a better station than the branch line. It has a staffed ticket office, a queue area with separate entrance and exit and 2 working platforms if required.
Then after a fantastic but busy year I took delivery of my steam locomotive ‘Ashleigh’ named after my future wife, I even used it to propose to her. The engine is painted in Caledonian railway blue, not to look like Thomas the tank but because the real Ashleigh has stottish family. Hopefully I’ll be able to run the first public trains with her over Easter. I say hope as the latest project is to build a depot around the back of the railway by the zoo. This has meant I’ve had to take the track up to the engine shed so Ashleigh is currently marooned in there. Planning permission was finally granted last week so the materials are on order and work should start in March. The depot will have a 3 road shed and 3 separate rooms within the building for various storage. The main reason for this is to house all the rolling stock as I have to much to currently store it all on site. 4 ex-Dobwalls coaches are currently having an overhaul (offsite), on the job list for those at the moment are new axles and bearing housings with metric bearings. Once complete for the summer the railway will then be able to run 6 coach trains at a time (with 2 as spares just in case) which should help with the busy afternoons in August. There’s always lots to be done on the to do list but I’m really hoping that this year I’ll be able to finally install the signals I bought and get some heritage signage to add to the overall experience.
Kind regards,
Richard Curtis
Newquay Branch - Treloggan
Richard Curtis