Emmanuel under repair

Maintaining a church building is not without time, energy and fundraising. It is even more challenging when the building is listed. Emmanuel was credited with Grade 11 status in 1967.

The South rose window in the transept had been deteriorating for some time and a crucial point was reached last year when long anticipated works did need to begin.

The main building of Emmanuel was completed in 1869, although there have been several additions since, including the church tower, which houses the Parish Clock. The refurbishment of the rose window will be a welcome relief to all the congregation and the many visitors who come to worship and to admire this truly magnificent building.

However, the comfort of the Class 185 units whilst travelling has not been shared by some residents in the vicinity of the station who have raised concerns about the environmental effect of diesels not shutting down when alongside the station platforms for any length of time.

Trains were coming in and allowing the diesel engines to continue running. Some of the idling times are up to 50 minutes.

Philip Thomson, who is chair of the Redcar & Cleveland Council Climate and Environment Scrutiny Committee had raised the matter as an issue of environmental concern, both from an air polluting aspect but also from a sound aspect. He had also raised it with the saltburn Line Users group.

After representation to TransPennine, the operator, a reply has been received.

“We operate Class 185 diesel multiple units on this route.

The 185 unit is composed of three carriages in a fixed formation, but we will normally operate these as six carriage trains using two units on this route

Six carriage trains are required due to the number of passengers using these services en route to and from Manchester Airport.

Operationally, unlike a road vehicle, is it not possible to simply switch off trains upon arrival as the shutdown/start-up of trains requires a process which takes a prescribed length of time. As such we are unable to switch trains off for shorter turnarounds in the morning and evening at Saltburn, which range from 13½ minutes to 25 minutes

The cut off for within our operational processes for using the option which shuts off engines is for services with a standing time in excess of 30 minutes

This does not mean that we intend to leave units idling at Saltburn on all services however, as generally throughout the day turnarounds are between 43 and 62 minutes at Saltburn; on those diagrams drivers are instructed to shut down the units on arrival into Saltburn, and then before departure they are instructed to start them up again in accordance with pre-departure procedures.”

As a result of this contact with the company, most trains are no longer idling unnecessarily in the station.

However monitoring will continue to ensure this improvement is sustained and further discussions with the rail industry are taking place to seek further reduction in engine running times in the stations, not just in Saltburn but across the network.

Sad Story

Justwhen everything seems to be going along fine, the unexpected happens.

The ‘Open All Hours’ Bookcase, installed beside Sainsbury’s, was well received by the local community and books were being borrowed and donated and all seemed well in the literary world.

One morning, on turning a corner, life had taken a different turn.

A very large new system had appeared, virtually overnight, leaving access to the bookcase almost impossible apart from the slimmest of readers.

Although this new system had been discussed, its final positioning and actual dimensions had been lost in cyber space.

Undaunted, arrangements were put in place to move the treasured bookcase to a new location.