What will we do now that the track has been finished was the comment from the Wednesday club members ! Well despite the concerns this has been a busy year so far with many smaller projects and activities.
We have a number of new additional members who have joined our club this year and also a couple of members who had been away for a while and who have now re-joined.
In the past the track gave an uneven ride but since the new track has been completed both the 5” and 7.25” ground level tracks ride really well so we hope to see our members locos and also visiting locos running, and enjoying, the track much to the satisfaction of the Wednesday members who put so much hard work in to complete this major task.

Permanent Way:
In March after completion of the main track a new Headshunt has been laid adjacent to Forge Halt.
The fencing from the signalbox has been strengthened and rotten wood replaced and some more substantial steel tube fencing has been erected on the approach to the first bridge and in a similar style to the bridge parapets with wooden pailing attached. This provides a barrier to prevent anyone falling down the river bank and also enhances the visual appearance and was completed in early July. Thanks to the team who made, installed and painted this, it looks really neat and tidy.
Work has progressed recently to provide an Exit Halt away from the station so that loading and unloading trains on Open Days can be safer and more efficient with trains being loaded with passengers at the station and unloading at the top of the incline so that empty trains can then proceed to the station for loading the next passengers. As can be seen in the photo this looks neat and tidy and functional ready for the Open Day. (photo #1)

Groundworks:
Following the OK at the AGM the area around the turntable has been widened giving safer pedestrian access to the workshop and turntable. It is much safer now and as part of these works the step up from this area to the picnic tables has had a Handrail installed.
The area outside the clubhouse has been cleared of the stationary engine which had been disassembled there many years ago. The engine has been moved to another area of to be reassembled.
The Forge asked if we would be prepared to tidy this area and so the gardening team set to and have created a grassed area surrounded by flower borders which gives us further space to enjoy the summer weather. There is also a path across the 15 inch track to access the garden.
The short length of 15 inch track has been excavated and tidied up and two trucks have been refurbished and planted. They look really nice as can be seen in the photo. (Photos #2, 3, 4)
The other flower beds have been maintained and weeded and are well established now.
A big thanks you to the small team who have done this work, it is a credit to them and can be enjoyed by all who visit the site.

Locomotive Movements:

There has been plenty of activity with existing, refurbished and new locos during the summer. Several steam locos have successfully had their hydraulic and steam tests and have run around the track as well as battery powered locos. (Photo #5)

Jeff has been working for a long time debugging the Holmside loco he bought & finally it is running now and probably better than it ever ran before. Well done Jeff for your perseverance. A new electric shunter has arrived at the club and is owned by a new member.

Traction Engines:

This section of the club provides an alternative to trains with different scale examples of steam traction engines and lorries. We look forward to seeing a selection of models in different scales at our Open Day.

Signal and Telegraph Department:

The prototype PIR signal at the entry to the tunnel continues to work well except for the occasional bird flying in or out of the tunnel which caused some confusion when the signal turned to red when there was only one train running! Therefore, an alternative system was devised by Chris together with Robert & Don and they have installed and debugged the system on the upper loop providing a very useful and safe automatic signalling system to avoid collisions.

A similar system has now been installed and tested at the end of the straight leading to the tunnel which is automatic but also has an over-ride function which can be operated by drivers at Forge Halt. Both of these signalling systems provide a line of sight view of the signals from the signalbox for additional safety and when time permits a repeater will be connected in the signalbox giving a signal status in both cases. (Photos #6, 7, 8)

The signalbox has been temporarily rewired on the Panel to provide feedback of the station signal gantry as it is not always possible to have line of sight on busy Open Days.

The mains electricity fusebox in the signalbox has been replaced with and MCB unit providing safer trip out in case of any problems in the Carriage shed, Station Canopy or signalbox.