Diesel Gala Update

Sadly Class 25 25321 is now unable to make the gala, but has been replaced with another visitor, Class 31 31190.

2011 Diesel Gala

It's that time of year again for one of NVR's biggest and best events!

Copied from the NVR website...

The visiting locos are:

37503, 20107 & 45060 Courtesy of Barrow Hill.
33201 Courtesy of BRCW Group Butterley.
25321 Courtesy of Midland Railway, Butterley & Derby Industrial Museum.
563xx Courtesy of BARS.
08622 courtesy of RMS LocoTech and Hansons Cement Ketton Works.
The home fleet of 14029 & 31108.
These are all subject to availability.

A small ceremony will be held on the Saturday at Wansford to commemorate 45060's 50th birthday.

14029 will be running shuttles from Wansford to Yarwell.


A rare opportunity to see on static display Class 14 ex D9518 NCB No7 which has been stored since preservation from Ashington Colliery in 1987 and is not normally accessible to public view.

Running engines for Friday - 31108, 25321, 33201, 37503 & 45060

Running Engines for Saturday & Sunday - 08622, 20107, 31108, 25321, 33201, 37503, 45060, 57xxx & 14029

Real Ale on sale

Working Timetable and Roster can be found here.

Carriage & Wagon Update

SNCB 21013 (the bar car) has been back in the workshop for the last couple of months, for the rebuilding of the vestibule ends. The east end is complete...


...while the west end is now not too far from completion. The rebuilding of the sides of this vehicle were tracked on this blog during 2010, archived on the right hand side of this page.


Allan's Mk1 TSO No.4466 continues to progress towards completion, the lower half of the north side is beginning to see BR Maroon topcoat. As reported in a previous posting, the south side has been finished.


The south side of No.4466.


"Esso" tank No.1914 now has black undercoat on the middle section - just the topcoat to go...


A closer view.


The impressive output of platform barrows continues. It is good to see that the newly-restored barrows already outside have now been distributed and displayed around the platforms at Wansford, rather than being chained together in a corner as they were previously!


Finally, the C&W shed has gained its long-desired barrow crossing linking it to the other sheds and service area. It will now be a lot easier to put the bins out amongst other things!

"Esso" Tank Progress

The lower half of the centre section of "Esso" tank No.1914 was wire brushed, degreased, and primed to match the top half.


This section now only requires black undercoat and black topcoat, and then the tanker is likely to be left alone over the winter months as the weather deteriorates. I will begin again in spring, the winter months will see timber replacement/repairs to other wagons which will make a nice change.


71000 "Duke of Gloucester" was out and about today, on 'Driver Experience' turns.

Black and blue

Work has begun on painting the tender of Swedish 'B' Class 4-6-0 No.101 black, as part of its cosmetic restoration to authentic Swedish State Railways livery.


Although this particular locomotive never carried this livery, other examples of the class did. Looking good!


How No.101 should look when finished, complete with red lining and 'SJ' crest on the tender. (modified Martin Vos photo)


Just for completeness, here is the same image showing the loco in plain 'SJ' black (authentic for this particular engine). Personally I prefer this livery (where would we be without a good old livery debate - especially from those not involved in doing the work?) but even so I am very pleased the loco is no longer in a completely fictional state, and it looks so much better than it did. Congratulations to members of the IRPS seeing this project through.

Yet another Mk1 update

BR Mk1 TSO No.4466 is definitely on the home straight, the remaining jobs being of a 'mechanical' nature, such as setting up the springs on the bogies and installing new batteries. The passenger doors on the running line side have now been painted to match the rest of the bodyside, which requires lining out and the application of BR emblem roundels and number transfers.


The bodyside of Mk1 TSO No.4627, extracted from the tunnel for drying out, has been cleaned up to make it a little more presentable in the medium-term.

"Tornado" visit confirmed!

With the strong winds sweeping the country as I write, the above sounds far from good news! However, this "Tornado" is very welcome - No.60163, the first main line locomotive to be built in Britain since 1960, and the star of an episode of 'Top Gear' which featured an unprecedented race to Edinburgh (repeats available on TV channel "Dave", until the end of time).


"Tornado" races along the railway the class was designed and built for - the East Coast Main Line - in 2009.

The official announcement is below. Congratulations to Paul for this achievement!


EASTER WITH TORNADO 2012

Join the NVR and Celebrate Easter 2012 in Style with A1 No 60163 TORNADO!

TRAVEL BEHIND A1 No 60163 TORNADO AT THE NVR

Friday 6th April 2012, Take to the Regulator on a Driving Course with Tornado (Booking Essential)

Saturday 7th to Monday 9th April 2012 Travel behind Tornado along the Nene Valley Railway

• Special Fares
• Travel behind Tornado on Mk1 Coaches
• Real Ale Bars at Wansford and on the Train
• Tornado Souvenirs
• Line side Passes available

THE FENMAN

Dine in style aboard “The Fenman” hauled by A1 No 60163 TORNADO

Saturday 7th April departing Wansford at 19:00

Enjoy a evening meal served at your seat aboard “The Fenman” hauled by A1 No 60163 Tornado

• Welcome Drinks
• Three Course Meal served at your seat
• On Train Bar
• A Unique opportunity to Dine in style whist travelling behind Tornado
• £29.95 per head inclusive of Rail fare (Booking Essential)

Further details of the visit will be posted on the web site this week.

"East Meets West" Gala

Just a few photos from the Sunday of the "East Meets West" weekend event, featuring visiting 71000 "Duke of Gloucester" and 4936 "Kinlet Hall" in action along with resident '5MT' 73050, '4F' 44422, and 'Austerity' 0-6-0ST No.22.

Unfortunately the Saturday of the event didn't quite go to plan, long delays being encountered and compounded as the timetable was very intense with no room for error. I am pleased to say that the timetable worked better on the Sunday, and even the weather was unexpectedly sunny and pleasant for the best part of the day - the forecast rain staying away.


One of the stars of the show - 71000 "Duke of Gloucester" at Wansford, near the end of the day. Not clear from this photo is how beautifully turned-out all the locos were.


The other star visitor - GWR 4-6-0 No.4936, "Kinlet Hall" crosses the goods train at Wansford station.


Crane demonstrations in the yard added an interesting side attraction, lifting the LMS 'Medfit' from one track to another. Shed tours were also in operation and seemed popular. Thanks to all who put donations in the pot!


By special arrangement the goods train was longer than normal - we managed to add a couple of the Civil Engineer's box vans and their 'Lowmac'. We also added authentic wagon labels to the spring clip on the solebar of some of the wagons - although we're not sure anyone noticed! As seen here, Tim's brake van got it's first proper outing this weekend and it performed faultlessly. It was also great to authentically run the goods train with the 'main line' locomotives such as '4F' 44422 and '5MT' 73050, a sight I wish to see again in future.

Building Update

The cafe extension appears to be complete! Chairs and tables are now inside and set out for use.


Brickwork continues to rise around the toilet and shower block attached to the overhaul workshop.

On an unrelated note, don't forget the steam gala tomorrow and Sunday; two impressive visiting locos and an intensive timetable should make for a good day out! Guided shed tours will be available at set times, as will footplate access to "Kinlet Hall" and "Duke of Gloucester" when they are awaiting their next duty (£1 minimum donation).

Another Mk1 Update

The old bogies have been removed from BR Mk1 SK No.25639...


...and the newly overhauled bogies have been installed under the coach. It needs a bit of a clean up but should hopefully be in service for the steam gala on 10th/11th September, forming a six-coach Mk1 rake to be hauled by BR '5MT' 73050, LMS '4F' 44422, visiting BR '8P' "Duke of Gloucester" and GWR 4936 "Kinlet Hall'. This link takes you to the official page for the event - please note that the working timetable has also now been released and is available to view.


Despite Allan and his small team pulling out all the stops, TSO No.4466 won't be quite ready for the event this weekend unfortunately. However this does mean that the coach can be properly finished before entering traffic, including lining-out. It can be seen here that the lower bodyside has now been painted.

"Duke of Gloucester" times

If all went to the revised plan, GWR No.4936 "Kinlet Hall" should have arrived at NVR a couple of days ago, on Friday 2nd September.

71000 "Duke of Gloucester" is due to arrive late on Monday 5th September, from Bristol via west London and the East Coast Main Line. Link to times here.

Wagon Progress

This week I was fortunate to have a lot of assistance from a new NVR volunteer who was very keen to get stuck in. This meant progress on the "Esso" tank No.1914 was rather more rapid than usual. Between us we managed to strip off all the remaining paint on the selected section between joints, and wire-brush and prime the top half. The lower half will follow as soon as possible.


The rebuild of the timber panelling of Southern brake van No.S55550 continues, the second verandah end has now been completed, as has the end of the cabin.


Tim is working on the interior of his BR standard 20T brake, with painting of the cream/white complete. At the time of writing, brown on the lower half of the walls may now also be complete. The steam gala of 10th/11th September remains the target completion date of this van.


The two surviving 'new' containers have been moved on to the old coal hopper chassis, which will be their home in the medium-term until they are restored. Once properly roped up and sheeted over, which should happen very soon, the whole lot will be moved away from their current location and put somewhere rather more out of the public eye. It is hoped that much of the spare material left over from the restoration of the BR brake van above can be used to restore at least one of these in an economical way.


Talking of wrecks, the future is now looking a little brighter for these two vans, which have been stuck at the end of the Civil Engineers' siding near the signal box for many years now. The LMS CCT seen here is pretty rough and was in danger of going for scrap, but I am delighted to report that it has recently been purchased by a committed working member of the railway who intends to see it restored. Interestingly, it retains the modifications made for the James Bond "Octopussy" filming, including grab handles underneath for the stunt man to cling on to while the circus train in the movie, of which this wagon was part, sped along the track. Whilst the end doors will probably be replaced with the original LMS pattern (still in store from when they were swapped for the filming in 1982!) it is hoped to retain these more discreet modifications as a point of interest.


The adjacent BR 'Palvan' has also been purchased by the same person and its considerably superior condition should see it up for restoration fairly soon - two more pressing vans are likely to be in front of it in the restoration queue, but then its turn should come.