Ribble Pilot - Issue 46

Do NOT PRINT See “Cover” attachment

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the other direction, which was behind the train in this view. At this point in time the tanks were still propelled directly into the works and across the road we know as Chain Caul Way. Today the tanks stop short of the road and are emptied on the curve itself. (Steven Brindley)

"Progress" shunts 4 axle bitumen tanks on the newly constructed "Dawson’s curve" into Lancashire Tar Distilleries. The old access line came in from

Do NOT PRINT See “Cover” attachment

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Ribble Pilot 46 (Winter 2016)

Our brand new 2017 brochures are ready for distribution. 100,000 have been printed! We are once again using Northern Print Distribution to ensure they get to our target areas as well as Summer Schools packs to target our youngsters and families. My thanks, after hours of work, for all the help in producing our brochure to John at Laser design in Kirkham and Dave and Ann at Ashton Print in Preston.

If you can distribute our leaflets to various venues and outlets please contact myself, Chris Mills or our shop staff. Leaflets are ready bundled in 100’s.

Back by popular request for 2017 is our Classic Cars & Vehicles Event, on Fathers Day June 18 2017 - If you have a vehicle or a Car Club that would like to attend please contact us via ribblesteamrailway@gmail.com The Father's Day Classic Car event started in 2008 and has been held annually ever since (except for 2016 due to circumstances beyond our control).

I am at present the person to contact and have a couple of early entrants plus a possible club that have replied to my early communications.

There is a dedicated page on our website where you can download an entry form and other info. www.ribblesteam.org.uk/2017/classic-cars I am also hoping we might have a couple of displays within the museum of models, photographs etc to compliment the event.

Ribble Pilot Issue 45 is online if you missed it. http://bit.ly/2bkW9Nc Back Issues of Ribble Pilot Magazine still available 28 (2) / 29 (1) / 30 (1) 31 (1) / 32 (2) / 33 (1) 34 (2) / 35 (2) 39 (11 copies) 40 (10 copies) 42 (2) / 44 (5) / 45 (5) (Correct at time of compiling this issue)

Finally for 2016, a Big Thankyou to all our Supporters, Members, Photographers, Contributors, Friends old and new, we look forward to keeping it all going next year. It’s renewal time on Jan 1st and you can renew anytime, use the form on Page 41.

Seasons’ Greetings to all and ‘All The Best for 2017’.

Like all our publications, there is a version online of which you can view or download (in PDF Format) - Links can be found on our Website www.ribblesteam.org.uk Also available from the museum are the Santa Trains leaflets. These are also being distributed using NPD and directly delivered to Nurseries and Pre-School groups in the area.

Our third product is an information leaflet which will be continually updated throughout the year, containing the Locomotive Stock listings and the forthcoming Events and Open Days.

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From the Secretary Autumn 2016 The main running season has now concluded and we are left with Halloween & the Santa events to round off the year. As always as regards the Santa event we need a large number of helpers to assist on the train and in the museum as well.

I have said before that every little bit helps so even if you can only help on one day or perhaps parts of days this would still be a big help.

We are always looking at recruiting new volunteers like all heritage railways but three areas are specifically ones we are looking at for next year. For personal reasons both of our regular buffet car volunteers are reducing their involvement next year so we are looking for new recruits to help staff it in 2017. The buffet car normally operates on Sundays during the main running season and at special events / bank holidays. Unlike the café we do sell alcohol on the train so candidates need to be suitable for that role although no licence is required. If you are interested in helping with that role contact Chris Mills via the website. For obvious reasons training is required to carry out the role.

We are also still looking at recruiting more people to operate the miniature railway in the museum particularly on Sundays. Training is required to operate the railway and also completion of a medical questionnaire. Please contact Wilf Helliwell through the website.

One problem we encountered in 2016 was covering some steam driver turns and although this didn’t cause us to cancel any trains on several occasions we had to substitute a diesel locomotive. Training steam drivers is not a quick process as new recruits have to be trained first as a locomotive cleaner before becoming a fireman and then being assessed / trained as a driver. Nevertheless steam engines are what draws everyone both volunteers and visitors so please contact Russell Walker if you would like to be inducted as a cleaner with a view to becoming footplate crew.

In the last magazine I mentioned that we had decided to recruit a retail manager to take over the running of the shop and café and other aspects of our front of house operations.

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We advertised the post over the summer and after interviewing some of the applicants from a shortlist we appointed Karl Latham who will be joining us an employee from the 24th October. Karl has a background with heritage railways having been a volunteer of some years at the Llangollen Railway.

Karl will be managing the volunteers in the front of house area in future so if you can help out in any part of that area let him know.

Elsewhere in the magazine you will find a draft of the minutes of the Annual General Meeting. This year there were no members of the Board standing down and no nominations were received so the four directors retiring were re-elected unopposed. The meeting itself took place on an evening of awful weather with lightning flashes outside adding a bit of drama in the background.

As planned there was after the formal meeting a presentation about plans for the next few years and hopefully those who attended found that useful in terms of understanding how and why some decisions have been made to go forward.

Just to show how things can still drag on even when you think they are complete having reported in the last magazine how we had just signed the sublease for part of the lorry park used by Total Bitumen we were then asked to complete further documents to satisfy the council about the end date (they actually own the land and then lease it to Total). That too has now been resolved and by the time you receive this the contractor we will be using to do the on site work should be well advanced with the works to alter our boundary with Total which will allow the laying of the last section of track into the “new” building.

The running season itself ended with the Autumn Steam Gala and diesel weekend. The former saw the Gala debut of the Grant Ritchie locomotive belonging to our chairman Dave Watkins. The diesel event had been hoped to have a guest locomotive from another line but unfortunately that fell through so we ran the trains with the home fleet in various combinations. Visitors were however treated to a display by the rail crane in the yard. We are still hopeful that the planned guest will be able to visit us at one of the two diesel events scheduled for 2017. Thanks to those who took part and David Billington & Mike Garnett who produced the timetables. Overall the season ended with a drop in the number of passengers carried compared to 2015.

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Obviously we will try and reverse that next year.

The Santa trains will be carrying a similar number to last year as we expect the event to be fully booked for the 7 days of operations. By contrast the freight traffic we carry remains buoyant with it likely we will exceed the contracted tonnage figure by some margin for the second year in a row.

Finally as ever a big thank you to everyone who helped with this years running season in all the very different jobs that need doing to keep our facilities open.

Health & Safety: Fire safety. Can I make another reminder to volunteers and staff not to leave items obstructing fire exits and escape routes.

Operating. It’s important that we make sure our trains are dispatched safely. In reality on a railway such as ours boarding and alighting of trains is one of the most significant risks that our customers are exposed to during their visit.

Can I emphasise that the train remains under the control of the guard and that volunteers must ensure once a train has been given the “right away” that visitors are not allowed to board.

Our Issue 46 cover photo is from the camera of Gary Severn. Gary, who lives locally, runs 'The Preston Area Railway Group' on Facebook, a group open to anyone with an interest in Preston's railways any era any subject. This photo was considered to be so good it is featured on our Ticket site and on our 2017 brochures. It will no doubt find more mileage advertising next years Friendly Engines events.

We look forward to more from Gary and from YOU ALL as we are always wanting photos for publicity, promotions, publications, posters and website / social media use.

Please note that we don’t want anything Photo-shopped, the Buffet Monkey sends Season’s Greetings (as does the one on the right!!!)

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Our Autunm Gala in September featured the first public steaming of Grant Richie 272, Bagnall 2680 'Courageous', Hawthorn Leslie 3931 'Linda' and an appearance of English Electric '663' in her new NS railway livery.

Above: 272 returns to the museum with a Steam Gala service Below: The vintage train special (first two trips of the day)

(Photos: Dave Manley)

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Above: Bagnall 2680 'Courageous' awaiting her turn with FRT’s Vintage coach (Photo: Chris Mills) Below: Hawthorn Leslie 3931 'Linda' being readied for the Gala (Photo: Dave Soper)

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MINUTES OF THE 42nd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF RIBBLE STEAM RAILWAY LTD

AT ASHTON ON RIBBLE BOWLING CLUB IN PRESTON 13th September 2016.

Present : Mr D. Watkins (Chairman) and 34 members.

The meeting commenced at 8.10 pm.

1. There were apologies for absence from Martin Clarke, Matthew Darbyshire, Liam Diamond, Teresa Hearty, Chris Mills, Andrew & Sarah Murphy, David Soper, Adrian Tomkinson and Russell Walker.

2. The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on the 25th August 2015 were proposed to be accepted by Mr W. Helliwell and seconded by Mr F. Masson. The minutes were adopted by the meeting.

3. Directors report. Copies of this were provided to members in the accounts supplied with the AGM notices. The report was proposed to be accepted by Mr K. Mahaffey and seconded by Mr A. Middleton.

The report was adopted by the meeting.

4. The annual accounts. These had been circulated with the AGM notice for the meeting. There were no questions from the floor. The accounts were proposed by Mr F. Masson and seconded by Mr S. Gibbs.

The accounts were adopted by the meeting.

5. Re-appointment of Satterthwaite Brooks & Pomfret as auditors. This was proposed by Mr T. Owen and seconded by Mr M. MacArthur and adopted by the meeting.

6. Election of directors. Four directors messrs Bailey, Mills Vernon and Watkins were retiring by rotation and seeking re-election. There had been no other nominations received for any other person for the positions to be elected. Thus Mr Watkins declared all four retiring directors re-elected to serve a further term.

7. AOB. No issues were raised by any of the members present.

8. There being no further business the meeting was formally closed at 8.15 pm to be followed by a buffet and members question & answer session. ************ 9. Following the buffet Mr Watkins convened the members engagement meeting at 8.40pm. A bundle of documents had been provided to everyone at the meeting which included the proposed four year capital plan and a redacted version of the agenda used at Company Board meetings. Mr Watkins took the meeting through the four year plan explaining that the length of it was to reflect the duration of the haulage contract with Total Bitumen which expires in 2020. Mr Watkins said that the various items listed were not all necessarily going to be completed but included all the main capital projects the Board would like to see finished in the timeframe. Most were expected to be completed but some shown at the bottom were now put on hold.

10. (i) One such item was purchase of the Council owned loco shed at the end of the line. Mr Watkins said previously this had been valued at £250K which was not cost effective to buy and the building internally was smaller than it looked from the outside thereby restricting it’s usefulness. There might also be an associated cost of paying to relocate the Preston Council employees from the shed to another location. (ii) Extending the railway to Savick Brook was now unlikely to take place in the foreseeable future due to the cost and extent of the engineering works. (iii) The adjacent site D2 which we had considered acquiring was understood now to have been let to another party. In any event it was not worth obtaining due to the terms required by the Council and the fact it had contamination issues. The Council would require the full asking price for it in one amount rather than in instalments. (iv) Finally the proposed platform at the Exchange sidings had been put back as the HMRC had ruled it would not make RSR Ltd eligible to reclaim VAT on train fares/admissions which had significantly reduced the benefits building of it had been thought to bring when balanced with the impact it would have on our operations.

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11. All of the other items listed were possible and intended to go forward although the order in the schedule did not show them in any priority order. The museum continued to acquire exhibits including recently a works plate from one of the original Preston Docks locomotives. It was intended to improve the entrance to the museum. The diesel loco D2870 was to be overhauled to provide a standby shunting locomotive. The wagon turntable was likely to be completed in 2017 with most of the issues around it’s construction now resolved. The plan was to finish the tarmac areas around the museum at both ends to provide better surfaces for pedestrians and vehicles. The museum lighting has now been completed and is a vast improvement during the winter. The signalbox has now been started as a project and the base for it is currently being built. There is a plan to erect a canopy on the platform to provide some protection to passengers. Mr Watkins said the overhaul of the company owned steam loco NWGB was going ahead but being held back by resources in terms of labour. Mr Helliwell queried the delay in completing this project and Mr Watkins said the main problem had been sorting out repairing the copper firebox. This had required expert advice and it was now to be repaired by welding. Removing it from the loco boiler was a big ongoing job but nearing completion. Mr Vernon commented the work so far had only cost a small amount and Mr MacArthur said the use of a copper box would ensure a longer life. Mr Watkins said we would also overhaul the other company owned steam loco AG2 once NWGB is complete.

12. There is a plan to fit heating in the museum but this will be dependent upon sorting out the doorways in such a way as to minimise heat loss. In addition the plan is to create a schools learning centre facility so that school parties can visit on our educational programme without needing to use the café for their work. The schools visits was now a good product which had been made possible by using outside bodies to assist in running it. It was a good sign of it’s quality that we had received schools visiting from as far away as Manchester.

13. There is a plan to improve the lighting in the car park. There will also be a coaling stage built to help in coaling the smaller locomotives. Point heaters will be fitted to the catch points in the main line to keep them free of ice etc in the winter months. As time goes on some of the workshop equipment would be replaced due to it’s age.

14. In order to strengthen our financial position the intention is to set up ring fenced “business” reserve” and “loco repair” funds. At the moment these type of finances are covered in general funds but charities are generally expect to allocate specific funding to setting up these type of reserves.

15. We intend to complete acquiring the buffet car which currently belongs to the Furness Railway Trust. This would give us a reserve coach for Christmas in the event of one being failed for any reason.

It would also give us in the longer term 2 sets of 3 coaches which could be alternated in traffic one in maroon and the other in carmine and cream. The intention was reupholster the seats in the two TSO coaches but the correct material was proving difficult to source. Ideally we would try and acquire some in co-operation with another heritage railway.

16. Mr Watkins then put to the floor any suggestions or comments. Mr Hearty queried if the intention was to allow access to view vehicles in the museum yard area was there a risk to visitors being near the tracks. Mr Watkins said that was not a problem as the actual operational railway lines would be fenced off from the public. Mr Whalley asked about the use of the wagon turntable. Mr Watkins said that once completed it would be able to turn our small tank locomotives at events like steam galas. Mr Billington commented there was not much to see currently stabled in the museum yard but Mr Watkins & Mr MacArthur said there was now an ongoing programme to restore some of the goods wagons to make them suitable to display there.

17. There was a query about the possibility of operating brake van specials at certain events.

Mr Watkins said that there was a plan when the vehicles were restored to possibly use them at events like galas at the beginning and end of each day. There are safety issues to manage. Mr Bailey said these trains would not replace using coaches on regular service trains. Mr Tatham said we could look at widening the station platform at the western end to use for brake vans. Mr Watkins said we could look at that. One possibility had been putting the TPO coach there but that was intended to go inside.

Mr Stewart asked about what the plans were involving the crane tank “Glenfield” which was in the museum yard. Mr Watkins said that it had been intended to be a museum exhibit but would not fit through the entrance doors due to it’s height. The locomotive is privately owned and it was undecided what to do with it. In any event there is no plan to restore it.

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18. One item not shown on the schedule was there is a proposal to build a purpose designed joinery shop to replace the current area which is within the workshop.

19. Ms Pinch raised the problem in covering the staffing of the café and the fact it had been closed on Saturday although including herself there were volunteers who could have staffed it.

Mr Bailey said that it was hoped the appointment of a new paid manager for the retail side of the company would allow us to manage this better in terms of rostering and we would know there was a staff member to help operate it if no volunteer was available.

20. Mr Billington queried the signalbox and the purpose it would be put to once it was completed. Mr Watkins said it was not decided if visitors would have access to it once fitted out or make it operational in the near term.

Mr Billington said we needed to push things forward by paying outside parties to complete a job if we could not do it ourselves due to our pressures of work. He and Mr Rudge gave the example of the point connecting the RSR yard to the main line.

21. Mr Masson proposed a vote of thanks to the steam loco drivers at the gala event for their efforts which was approved.

22. Ms Pinch queried if we were still planning to build a children’s playground. Mr Watkins said the problem was finding a suitable location for it although having one would increase visitor dwell time with the benefits that would bring.

23. Mr Watkins asked people to look at the sample agenda from Company Board meetings within the meeting bundle showing the topics that are normally discussed. Health & safety was always listed as item number 1. In both company agendas there are a number of fixed items listed each time. For the RRL meeting there are normally just the 5 RRL directors present when it is held after the conclusion of the RSR Ltd meeting. There was a question as what is “wombling” and Mr Bailey said that covered the tidiness of the railway. Mr Helliwell raised painting the gates and railings at the front of the site. Mr Watkins and Mr Vernon said we had acquired the necessary paint and other materials to do this but to date there had not been the opportunity to complete that job.

The meeting was closed at 9.25pm.

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Our busiest time of the year is arriving at full steam, and it is the time when we need more volunteers. Please try and help out, a couple of hours on the busiest days would be most helpful.

There are many jobs to do before, during and after each Santa Special day.

Jobs both on and off the train, on the platform and behind the scenes are all required to be filled to ensure our visitors ensure a day to remember.

If you can help in anyway please contact us as soon as possible. ribblesteamrailway@gmail.com

If you fancy volunteering on the Railway, in the museum or working in the workshop then please call and talk to us at anytime. www.ribblesteam.org.uk/enquiry-desk/volunteers

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Model Tramways Weekend July 30 / 31 2016

A Models Weekend featuring the ‘Biggest Model Tramway’ layout in the UK, ran on both days of the July weekend in the Museum.

The trams are built to a scale of 5/8“ to a foot with a gauge of 27/16 inch. This is unique to the group and has historical origins. The tramway is hand built by members, past and present, and is their personal property.

The track is standard coarse 0 gauge rail and chairs, mounted on a hardboard base, many pieces of which are over 50 years old. In the reverse of full size practice, the track is live at 24v DC, and is divided into sections, so the cars can be controlled, with earth return by the overhead.

The Manchester Model Tramway Group (MMTG) has been displaying it’s collection of large scale model trams to the General Public for over 60 years on an average of one exhibition per year.

At present there are trams available based on prototypes from, amongst others, London, Blackburn, Blackpool, Liverpool, Sheffield, Sunderland etc.

The group traces its roots back to when their founder, the late George Oakley, first exhibited the model trams he had built for his son, Rodney, at the Manchester Model Railway Society’s Exhibition in 1949.

TRAMS will be back: JULY 29th & 30th 2017

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Friendly Engines Specials August Bank Holiday

We always run a top and tail service with a 'Friendly' steam engine and a 'Dirty' diesel shunter to a special 45 minute service timetable. There are great photographic opportunities for the kids to have their photographs taken with the Ribble Steam Railway's own Friendly Engines on the platform or around the large museum building.

The Ribble Steam Railway present our very own Friendly Engines on the line for two major events every year. The first is over the May Bank Holiday Weekend and the second is over the August Bank Holiday Weekend with a grand Gala Party, including our Cuddly Animal collection on the train, Free face painting and balloon modelling for all the visiting children.

All the Friendly Engine faces are exclusive to the Ribble Steam Railway having been made for us by the Blackpool Illuminations Department.

Back in 2017 April 29/30/May 1 & August 26/27/28

Many of our museum locomotives have their happy character faces added to add to the fun.

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October Diesel Gala

What!!! It's not that time of year again is it? It seemed like only two minutes ago since the last gala. Well it was time to dust of the Diesel locos and tuck the steamers in the shed for what was going to be a clag filled weekend. Early on attempts we're made to obtain a visiting loco for the gala. Eventually Hunslet Diesel Mechanical No. 7051 'John Alcock' was confirmed and arrangement made. Unfortunately shortly before the gala 7051 became unavailable so was unable to visit us at Ribble. At that stage it was too late to find an alternative so we had to come up with something different. Building on the popularity of the TRAMM at the March diesel gala, it was decided to put on a Demonstration of our Rail Crane in the running yard.

We lifted a spare wheelset from a Ribble Rail Sentinel from a Lowmac wagon and re railed them.

The second demonstration of each day saw the wheelsets collected from the rails and replaced on the Lowmac wagon. With each demonstration, more and more visitors seemed to make their way across the car park to watch.

Sunday saw the usual early freight working and then normal service resumed with the passenger services. The question now is 'What can we do for the next gala?'

Many thanks to all the staff who helped make the weekend a success.

Mike Garnett

The Friday before the gala saw lots of shunting, swapping around and extracting of locos and rolling stock in preparation for an easier Saturday morning. Saturday morning was surprisingly easier than previous galas. A variety of different trains ran over the weekend with two crane demonstrations held each day. We we're in safe hand with Matt Burke pulling all the levers and Dave Billington and Myself (as a trainee under supervision) slinging.

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Saturday 11:00 D2148 and D9539 Out. D9539 Return.

11:45 D2595 out. D2148 and D2595 Return - Top and Tail 12:30 D2148, D2595 and NS 663 - Top and Tail 13:15 Stanlow No. 4 - Out and Return 14:15 D9539 and Progress - Top and Tail 15:00 D9539 and NS 663 - Top and Tail 16:00 Railbus. Out and Return Sunday 10:00 Progress and Ns 663- Freight Demo 11:00 D9539 and D2595 - Top and Tail 11:45 D9539 Out - Progress and D9539 return.

12:30 D2595 and NS 663 - Top and Tail 13:15 D9539 Out and Return.

14:15 D2148 and D2595 - Top and Tail 15:00 D9539 and D2595 - Top and Tail 16:00 Railbus. Out and Return.

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Spotlight On - English Electric VF2160/D350/1956 '663' The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) Class 600 diesel locomotives were built for shunting duties.

Sixty-five of the locomotives were built, numbered 601-665. They were built by English Electric between 1950-1957 at either Dick, Kerr & Co. Works (601-610) in Preston, or Vulcan Foundry Works (rest) in Newton-le-Willows. They are very similar to the British Rail Class 11. Twenty-three locomotives were later fitted with radio remote-control, and renumbered in the range 671-693. In 2013 there are still two locomotives daily active in The Netherlands. One is active for Railpro in Crailoo and the other is active for LOCON Benelux in Apeldoorn.

The Class were nicknamed Hippel or Bakkie (little bin), 29ft 9in overall length, weighing in at 47t.

Max Speed is 19 mph, Tractive effort 32,147.68 lbs.

This class was withdrawn by NS in the early 2000’s. Many have been preserved, including several which have been repatriated to England. Some are still in use by the private company Rotterdam Rail Feeding in the Netherlands & MiddlePeak Railways in the UK. Privately owned 663 was moved from the Dartmoor Railway to the NRM annex at Shildon on 17 October 2006 to take up pilot duties. As of 2012 it has been at the Ribble Steam Railway, where it first worked after repatriation in 2005.

663 was a minor addition to our Steam Gala in September and a main ingredient of our Diesel Gala in October, showing off the newly repainted livery in NS colours. The loco has also been called into extra duties on the Ribble Rail roster moving the bitumen tankers on commercial traffic.

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Photo: David Soper

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Sparks from 'Sparky'

It has been a while since I last wrote an update on ‘Sparky’ for the Pilot. A lot of work has taken place. The update starts with the work to remove the front roof section, chimney, front grill and the side panels and doors. This took longer than anticipated due to the discovery of some gaskets on the exhaust system that need attention. This is tricky enough but where this gasket was located made it an almost impossible task.

(The removal of these gaskets was completed following strict guidelines and by qualified persons) Once this task was complete it was time to move ‘Sparky’ outside and with the aid of a Fork Lift Truck, the chimney was removed. The chimney is in keeping with Hudswell's use of steam locomotive parts on their early diesels. It is a casting from one of their steam locos. Now that the chimney has been removed, we removed the front roof section and got straight on with removing the front fuel tank. This is another unique feature of ‘Sparky’ and ‘Mighty Atom’ having two fuel tanks. Having researched the early Hudswell diesels I have not been able to find another early loco fitted with more than one fuel tank.

The front grill was the next item to remove. The angle plate that attached this to the side panels seemed odd. This is made up of 2 inch angle but instead of this being in long lengths it was made up of lots of smaller angle section. I'm not sure whether this was an original Hudswell method or a BNFL modification. The front grill is a surprisingly hefty piece of metal saying that it was built whilst the war was on. The final task of that day was to remove the side panels and the ladder for accessing the fuel filler caps.

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The mammoth task that came next was to removal all the pipework, linkages and fittings ready to lift the power unit out for overall. I know it's not exactly like removing the power unit out of a class 37 or a Deltic, but Hudswell's wisdom of trying to fit everything inside the front bonnet meant they fitted all the linkages from the cab to the gearbox over the top of the power unit mounts (silly I know). The removal of these linkages took several weeks but once free the Starter Motor came off easily. Draining the Power unit and the gearbox of its old oil came next, an extremely messy job. I say oil in a loose context due to years of being stood outside idle, the sump of the engine accumulated a collection of oil, Diesel and water that transformed into a grey soup (not very tasty).

We got around a hundred litres of soup out of the power unit and approximately fifty litres of mayonnaise out of the gearbox.

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The morning of the power unit removal came.

Unfortunately I got stuck in traffic on the way and by the time I got to Ribble, Matt and Steve had got Sparky in the workshop, removed the last of the pipework and lifted the power unit out and placed it on the stands. Now came the 'Interesting' part of the restoration, overhauling the Power unit! The Cylinder heads we're the first items to come off the power unit, not an easy task but with brute force and a large hide mallet they came off. We discovered two of the valves had become stuck open. The journey from the workshop to the storage container soon got the valves free. Several volunteers then attempted to remove the pistons but after several hours had only managed to raise one piston up but not out. Whilst investigating the reason the piston couldn't be removed we discovered that several of the Cylinder liners had been damaged.

A lot of head scratching and discussion came with a general consensus of the power unit was beyond repair and a replacement be sort. Not ones to be defeated that easily, Matt and myself decided to have another go at removing the pistons. We worked out that if we couldn't remove them from the top then we would push the pistons down into the sump, remove the gudeon pins and the con rods and bring the piston back up through the bores and out the top whilst removing the con rods through the crank case door. Eventually all six pistons we're removed with con rod number one being the most badly twisted and bent. An attempted at removing one of the cylinder liners was unsuccessful so we will have to rethink how to complete that, Possibly use Dry Ice to cool the liners and shrink them (just an idea).

By the time you are reading this, work should have restarted on the locomotive frames with the removal of the years of muck and old grease and removing the old paint and surface rust. Thanks again to everybody who has help get Sparky to this stage.

Mike Garnett

An attempt was then made to free a different piston but again, no success.

Further investigations revealed that one of the Con Rods was slightly bent, only by a small amount but that meant the big end would not pass through the cylinder bores.

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Follow the ongoing restoration work by the team on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofd629sparky/

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Grant Richie 272 on its second day of operation on the RSR with the Furness Railways Trust North London Coach, passes the exchange sidings with the second train of the day on Sunday 11 September 2016. (Mike Taylor)

Spotlight On - Grant Ritchie 272/1894 Grant Ritchie of Kilmarnock built 42 industrial steam locomotives between 1879 & 1920, primarily to order from operators in Scotland. No.272 was built in 1894 and was the 14th loco built by Grant Ritchie.

It is the manufacturer’s sole surviving 0-4-0ST. There is a 1914 built 0-4-2ST preserved at the Prestongrange Mining Museum in Scotland. No.272 was delivered new to Kinglassie Colliery Leslie in Fife and carried the running number 21. Little appears to be known for a long period of time. It then went to Cowdenbeath Central Workshops in 1949, to Mary Colliery Fife in 1951, back to Cowdenbeath in 1955, to Fordell Colliery in 1957, Rothes Colliery in 1966 and finally to Thomas Muirs famous scrapyard in Easterbalbeggie on 25th November 1969, where it was to be joined over the years by a further ten Industrial steam locos, ironically including No.6 Andrew Barclay No 2261, which was restored to working order at Preston.

No.272 left Scotland for the first time when it moved into store near Shrewsbury. The loco then arrived at Riversway on 22nd July 2004 for long term restoration.

The Company was formed in 1876, following a disastrous fire at Andrew Barclay’s Caledonia workshop in Kilmarnock. Thomas Grant, the Barclay Works manager, bought up a small engineering business in Kilmarnock and together with William Ritchie, another Barclay employee, set up in business together and started building Steam locos just down the road from the Andrew Barclay works, they also built Colliery winding gear etc. It is said that Messrs Grant & Ritchie were seen leaving Barclay’s works late one night with large bundles of locomotive drawings, this could be true as Grant Ritchie produced locos very similar to the products of Andrew Barclay.

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Grant Richie 272 and crew taking a rest between Gala turns.

Photo: Luke Ryan / Caption thanks to Paul Rudge "He who pulls the shortest straw tells them we broke it"

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Furness Railway Trust News Work on all four of the four projects in the shed at Preston has continued to make steady progress over the summer, after allowing for the fact that most members have had some time off to spend time on holiday.

The RMB is now in the closing stages of its overhaul with just the east corridor end to tackle at the time of writing. More work than envisaged was necessary around the last door frame, with yet another new door pillar being welded into place. Fortunately, John Dixon seems to be getting into the swing of such repairs. The rest of the bodywork on both sides has received the necessary filler to remove any trace of metalwork repairs and a coat of primer. With most of the repairs now having been achieved, and only a little more filler dust expected, a decision was taken to paint the roof. Once all the dust had been removed from the roof using an industrial vacuum cleaner, a coat of dark grey undercoat was painted on, quickly followed by a gloss coat of grey paint, the latter being applied on one of the hottest days! Undercoat is now being applied around the windows and door frames as these are the fiddly and time consuming areas that can sensibly be treated in advance and so reduce the time necessary to apply the final coats of paint on the sides. It is to be hoped that all this effort to get things right will result in a coach that will need little attention to its bodywork for the foreseeable future, particularly since the RSR fleet is housed under cover when not in service.

Needless to say, much work is also taking place to re-assemble the interior of the RMB now that most of the welding has been done, which has kept Trevor and Tom Bradshaw busy. In addition, a new shutter door for the bar counter has arrived ready for installation. Mike Rigg, David Rimmer and Paul Newton have also continued their laborious work in cleaning down and painting the underframe and bogies.

Tom Bradshaw at work on the window frames for one of the servery windows in the RMB.

Paul Newton cleans vacuums the roof of the RMB.

Above: Trevor Bradshaw fixes some wooden battens to support the melamine panelling in the bar area of the RMB. Left: Tim Owen applies a coat of gloss paint to the RMB.

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The "Wootton Hall" project has again been progressing quietly but steadily since the last report, with the engine's rear drag box, containing much new steelwork, now temporarily reassembled with bolts holding the various components in place; the structure will eventually be riveted together when all the remaining parts in the cab area have been fabricated. Likewise, the front drag box for the tender has also been re-assembled with bolts pending another riveting session. Keith Brewer has recently been working on the cab steps and manufacturing the curved running plates that are located alongside the cab.

George Fletcher tackled the job of removing the bolts that hold the smokebox on to the saddle; by the time that the bolts had been forcibly removed, they were deemed to be beyond future use and Bill Norcross has machined up the replacements. George has also now successfully removed all the superheater flues, although the scale on the outside of them rendered the task of drawing them through the front tubeplate a real challenge.

"Caliban" has received regular attention from Wednesday Gang of Alan Middleton, Adrian Tomkinson and John Houghton, and the Friday Gang of Fred Jones and Roger Benbow. Much of the work has entailed stripping down the frames and motion so that they can be cleaned up and painted with red oxide primer. Needless to say, this has resulted in a regular cloud of dust emanating from the area although there are signs now that the majority of the cleaning work has been achieved. Alan Middleton has been drilling out rivets on an area of the running plate where it has wasted so that it can be removed and replaced with new steel. Elsewhere, away from the dust, Bob Thomson has been working on the regulator valve.

The "Fluff" Gang" of Ben Massam, Anthony Jolly and Alan Ogden have been performing a similar job to that being done on "Caliban", with the bodywork having been dismantled to allow access to the engine. Some of the cab steelwork will need to be replaced and work on the engine will require the assistance of a crane so that it can be lifted out for further examination and repair. This will no doubt have to wait until the track is reconnected after the new point has been installed outside the shed.

Keith Brewer cuts steel to form the backing plates for the cab steps on Wootton Hall.

The Trust's former Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643 has been in regular use at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway over the summer months. A break from duties at the beginning of October has allowed the new superheater elements to be fitted and some pipework to be renewed.

Hunslet 'Austerity' 0-6-0 locomotive "Cumbria" has continued to be the mainstay of services on The Battlefield Line in Leicestershire, with George Fletcher paying the occasional visit to keep an eye on the engine.

Furness Railway 0-4-0 locomotive No. 20 passed its annual dry and in-steam inspections in August at Locomotion, Shildon, and recommenced its duties there at August Bank Holiday. Despite having had a summer break this year, the loco will still have had a busy operating season and we are grateful to Alan Middleton and to Alison Pinch for going over to Shildon both to assist with the operation of No. 20 and also to staff the Trust's sales stand.

As mentioned above, the installation of a new point outside the FRT's area of the shed at Preston is now imminent following the agreement to the transfer of the lease for some land from Total. The Trust is grateful for the cooperation of Total in the matter and also for the efforts of the RSR Board and solicitor Richard Greenwood. Completion of the works, which includes realignment of the boundary fence, levelling of the trackbed and necessary track works, will maximise the area in the shed available to house rolling stock.

I conclude this report by once again thanking all those who have assisted the Furness Railway Trust in its endeavours over the past four months.

Tim Owen

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End Of An Era On-board The Buffet After many years as Buffet Steward on-board the trains, volunteer and RSR Director Chris Mills has retired from service. At the same time volunteer Eunice Mahaffey is also retiring at the end of 2016.

Chris, who was one of the original stewards in the early days at Steamport Southport, had been astounded that the Buffet Car now running at the Ribble Steam Railway was not being used, after all it is a great income source for any volunteer heritage railway. After convincing others that it could be brought back into public service, Chris sorted out a range of stock to sell on-board.

There was no gas bottles underneath the coach in the early re-incarnation and large bulky flasks had to be continuously filled with hot water. It was very basic and the range wasn't much more than Vending Machine type Teas and Coffees, Cans or Cartons of pop drinks and crisps. Things started well but needed improvement.

As the Buffet Car had awkward fitting shelves it was obvious it had been fitted as a mini-bar with optics and small size bottles, not helping with its new use. One thing was noticeable was its growing popularity among new customers and returning regulars. It is a great focal point to chat to visitors and find out where they have travelled from, giving a much more friendly face to retail operations. The only thing now, getting a bit much for one person, was manning every event day on ones own as other members had not shown any particular interest in duties.

The cafe had then had a change of staff and Eunice was invited to join Chris on-board, having had catering & retailing experience. One of the best moves that was ever made as the team

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gelled instantly and ideas for new lines, stock and the management of regulations was easily sorted.

Chris, having been a fully trained cellar man and retired Publican came up with a small and interesting range of bottle beers to try out with the customers, instantly becoming a hit in 2016 to the point of various well chosen lines instantly selling out. The range of cakes, biscuits and wines was added by Eunice as well as choices of hot drinks, made much easier now on service with a fully fitted hot water boiler. Duties were shared between the two until Chris suffered slight ill-health and Eunice took on far much more than most volunteers would have endured.

We are hoping to find fine new shiny younger volunteer staff for you to meet and get to know from 2017 forwards, with Chris taking a back seat but staying as overall Manager, continuing to chose good sensibly priced stock and passing on years of experience to others. The Bottled Real Ale range will continue to be developed and included in forthcoming Rail Ale guides as well as ensuring a good and reasonably priced range of items for families and youngsters alike.

If you are interesting in this area of the Railway's Operation - contact Chris - ribblesteamrailway@gmail.com

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Barclay No.6 Departs...

Posted Large Parcel from Kirklees Light Railway on 5th October

A view on August 12th of No.6 departing (Dave Manley) Andrew Barclay 2261/1949 ‘No. 6’ one of the few remaining “Fife Flyers” arrived at Preston on 14th June 2000. After restoration passed her steam test during the Summer of 2013 and returned to traffic and was a main star at the Autumn Gala, however the loco was found to be unsuitable on our lines passenger train services.

One of the KLR's volunteers jokingly said, "The trouble you have to go to getting mail from Yorkshire into Lancashire."

She departed for a new home at the Cambrian Railway, Oswestry on August 12th 2016.

(Photos: Alistair Grieve)

The TPO is 80377, built York, 1972/73, lot 30839, 25 in the lot, Two others are preserved. Originally allocated to London Euston in 1991.

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Steam Loco Stock List Andrew Barclay 1147/1908 'John Howe' Andrew Barclay 1598/1918 'Efficient' Andrew Barclay 1833/1924 'Niddrie' Andrew Barclay 1865/1926 'Alexander' Andrew Barclay 1950/1928 'Heysham No.2' Andrew Barclay 1969/1929 'JN Derbyshire' Andrew Barclay 2343/1953 'British Gypsum No4' Andrew Barclay 880/1902 0-4-0CT 'Glenfield No1' Avonside 1568/1909 'Lucy' Avonside 1810/1918 'M.D.H.B. No. 26' Avonside 1883/1922 Bagnall 2680/1942 'Courageous' Borrows 48/1906 'The King' Borrows 53/1909 'Windle' BR Ivatt 46441/1950 *Furness Railway No.20 (FRT) Grant Ritchie 272/1894 *GWR 0-6-2T 5643 (FRT) GWR 4-6-0 4979 Wootton Hall (FRT) Hawthorn Leslie 3931/1938 No.21 'Linda' Hunslet 1954/1939 'Kinsley' Hunslet 2890 0-6-0 'Douglas' Hunslet 3155/1944 'Walkden' Hunslet 3696/1950 'Respite' Hunslet 3793/1953 'Shropshire' Hunslet 3855/1955 'Glasshoughton No.4' *Hunslet WD194/1953 ‘Cumbria’ (FRT) *L&Y Aspinall 1300/12322-1896 L&Y Pug 1097/1910 ‘No.19' (L&Y Trust) LNWR Ramsbottom 1439/1865 (NRM) Peckett 737/1899 'Daphne' (Not Viewable) Peckett 1636/1924 'Fonmon' Peckett 1925/1937 'Caliban' (FRT) Peckett 1935/1937 'Hornet' Peckett 1999/1941 'North Western Gas Board' Peckett 2003/1941 'John Blenkinsop' (MRT) RSH 7485/1948 'Agecroft No.2' Sentinel 8024/1929 'Gasbag' Sentinel 9373/1947 'St Monans' USA 0-6-0T No.30072 / 1943

Barclay 2343 seen here at Steamtown, Carnforth

Peckett 1999 at Haworth sidings, an early arrival on the KWVR. Photograph: Ron Dyer Archive RCTS

* Denotes currently offsite / on loan ________________________________________

STEAM GALAS 2017 April 1st & 2nd September 9th & 10th

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Agecroft No.2 taken at the last on site open day (Andy Sharpe) Ribble Pilot is always on the lookout for archive views of our locomotive collection.

You are welcome to send via ribblesteamrailway@gmail.com

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Diesel Loco Stock List

Diesel, Electric & Battery locomotives.

BR Class 03 03189/1960 BR Class 03 D2148/1960 BR Class 05 D2595/1959 BR Class 14 D9539/1965 Diesel Railbus - 79960/1958 English Electric EE2098/1955 '671' English Electric EE788/1930 English Electric VF2160/D350/1956 '663' Fowler 0-4-0DM 21999/1937 "Fluff" (FRT) Fowler 4160001/1952 'Persil' Greenwood Batley 2000/1945 'Greenbat' Howard 965/1930 'Hotto' Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0 DM D629 'Sparky' Hudswell Clarke 1031/1956 'Margaret' Hudswell Clarke D628/1943 'Mighty Atom' North British 27653/1957 BICC Sentinel 10226/1965 'Energy' ex MSC DH23 Sentinel 10282/1968 'Enterprise' Sentinel 10283/1968 'Progress' Thomas Hill 160V/1966 'Stanlow No. 4' Yorkshire 2677/1960 D2870 Permaquip Ballast Packer No.74030/BP036 Permaquip TRAMM 98404/1990/91 Taylor-Hubbard Diesel-Electric 7.5ton crane No.81201 ________________________________________

D2148 Class 03 on duty 24/07/16 (Photo: CSM)

Class 11 663 on 20/07/16 (Photo: Mike Rigg)

The TPO arrived on site 6th October from Kirklees. The TPO is 80377, built York, 1972/73, lot 30839, originally allocated to London Euston in 1991. (Photo: Terri Hearty)

Garthydwr LLR, E79960 (12.22 Corwen - Llangollen) 11/06/16.(Alan Hart)

*** DIESEL GALAS 2017

80377 was on the last up GW TPO on 09.01.2004 hauled by 67025 'Western Star' There are only two survivors from the seven TPO's on that train, 80337 is the other.

March 25th & 26th

Watch 'Night of last Travelling Post Office at York' on YouTube http://bit.ly/2e6kyEV

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September 30th & October 1st

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The Travelling Post Office RSR has purchased a Travelling Post Office coach, No.80377, built York, 1972/73. It will become a great addition to our museum and enable us to add to our educational curriculum for visiting schools, telling the Mail by Rail story and reflecting on Preston's own role as a main hub for the Post Office in the Northwest.

The public face of the Royal Mail is a well known one. The Postman’s morning round, the street corner pillar box and the red mail van with its distinctive Royal cipher are traditional features of everyday life throughout the country. We are all customers of Royal Mail and the collection and delivery services provided by the organisation are familiar to us.

The inner workings of Royal Mail are, by contrast, mostly unseen by its customers. A large and complex distribution network exists behind the scenes to handle the mail. This network encompasses the length and breadth of the nation and involves all modes of transport – road, rail, air and sea.

One aspect of this network that has often caught the public imagination, most vividly through the poetry of W H Auden and the music of Benjamin Britten which combined to accompany the classic 1936 documentary film “Night Mail” is that of the Travelling Post Office (TPO). TPO’s are trains containing letter sorting carriages which enable mail to be processed on the move. The TPO’s ran for over l60 years, continuing to provide a first class service until their cessation on January 10th 2004.

The records tell us that it was George Karstadt, one of the resident provincial Post Office Surveyors, who first put forward the idea of

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using the railway to sort letters whilst in transit, although Rowland Hill claimed that he had thought of using mail coaches for on-board sorting back in the l820! We know for certain that it was one of Karstadt’s sons, Frederick, who was appointed to sort letters on the world’s first TPO which ran experimentally between Birmingham and Warrington in January l838.

For the Post Office of 1838 the TPO offered two great advantages. Firstly, there was the obvious saving of time which could be obtained by processing mail on the move and Secondly, there were great economies to be had in the number of mail bags in circulation (instead of sending a direct mail bag to each of a large number of post towns, postmasters could now send mail for a wide area in one bag to the TPO for amalgamation and re-distribution on board). In this respect, the introduction of the TPO was almost a necessity if the Post Office was to gain maximum advantage of the speed offered by rail.

The experiment on the Grand Junction Railway was followed later in 1838 by a regular TPO on the newly opened London and Birmingham Railway and by the end of the year, through TPO services had been established between London and Preston.

The TPO service grew rapidly after its inaugural year. The proliferation of new mail routes; the explosion of the quality of mail handled by the Post Office following the introduction of the Penny Postage in 1840; the general underlying growth of economic activity; – all these factors lead to expansion and development. New, purpose built, TPO vehicles were provided by the railway companies as part of mail carrying contracts agreed with the Post Office. Additional sorting clerks were recruited. By 1852, about 40 clerks were employed on TPO’s and the network already stretched to Perth in Scotland, to Newcastle Upon

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Tyne and to Exeter. (It was not until 1854, however, that the GPO Department which ran the TPOs ceased to be known as the Mail Coach Office).

The 1850’s and 1860’s saw further expansion.

By l867 the TPO’s were sufficiently important to have their own Department at the GPO headed by a “Surveyor of Travelling Post Offices”, who had over 200 staff under his control.

TPOs ran both as Night Mails and as Day Mails.

London was still the nodal point for much postal traffic and whilst the Night Mails connected mail from London evening collections with morning deliveries in the provinces and vice-versa, the Day Mails afforded service to mail flowing between the more distant parts of the country (which was often re-sorted in London and reached its destination in time for the afternoon deliveries then common in most towns and cities.

The zenith of the TPO service was to be seen during the years leading up to the first world war. Over 130 TPO’s made up a complex web of interconnecting routes. Ranging from the large and prestigious London based services such as the North Western TPO and the Great Western TPO to small local links such as the Grimsby and Lincoln Sorting Tender and the Brighton and Hastings Sorting Carriage, the TPO map of this period reached every corner of the land.

In 1968 the Post Office introduced the two-tier letter service and since then the TPO’s have sorted only First Class mail.

During the 1970’s some marginal TPO’s were withdrawn on economic grounds but the overall size and shape of the network remained largely unchanged until the mid-1980’s. By contrast, during their last 15 years there were a series of revisions and alterations on a scale unseen since the formative years of the TPO’s. These changes aligned the functions of the TPO’s to the many developments in the Royal Mail distribution network and tended to resort in fewer but larger TPO formations. There were eventually 10 TPO’s operated by approximately 370 Royal Mail Staff.

TPO’s main function until January 10th 2004 was to provide a First Class service to those parts of the UK that could not currently achieve next day delivery by other means.

Under Postcode-defined circulation each of the remaining TPO’s designated range of Postcode areas for which they sorted mail. Postcode areas were grouped to form Divisions within each TPO. The mail sent to each TPO Division was sorted en route and is despatched from the train at the

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appropriate places. TPO’s provided intermediate processing – all mail received was already given a preliminary sorting into Postcode areas before it was received on the train (the only exception being a small amount of mail posted directly into the TPO carriages by customers at stations).

Many Postcodes areas within the UK were provided with service by at least one TPO Division, some areas were served by several TPO’s. About 1.75 million letters were sorted nightly on the TPO network, although further large amounts of mail were carried as stowage by the trains to which TPO’s are attached.

In Quality of Service terms the TPO’s were invaluable and it was previously thought that it would be very difficult for Royal Mail to achieve over 92.5% next day delivery for First Class mail without the on-board sorting of letters provided by the TPO network.

In the sorting carriages one side of the vehicle was equipped with long banks of pigeon-holes, known as sorting frames. Smaller pigeon-holes were provided for the sorting of letters, whilst packages and large letters are sorted on the larger frames or Desks. Each row of pigeon-holes was labelled by means of long flexible strips called “fillets”. On the opposite side of the coach, multiple hooks were provided for the hanging of open mail bags into which bundles of sorted letters and individual packets were dropped. When mail bags were full, they were sealed and labelled and taken to separate stowage vans where they were neatly stacked to await despatch at Rail Hubs and

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stations en route.

The Manager of the TPO had to carryout his duties without the benefit of an Office. Each coach had a lavatory and limited facilities – Hot Water Boiler and a Small Oven / Food Warmer.

Some Stools were provided for the sorters, but most preferred to work standing up. All projecting fixtures and fittings were padded, so as to avoid injury to staff from the motion of the train.

Of the 380 or so Royal Mail staff who were employed on TPO duties, most had to lodge away from home for at least two periods a week.

Working in teams ranging in size between four to forty, the normal pattern of duties was Monday – passenger train to distant point, returning on the TPO Monday night; TPO to distant point on Tuesday and Thursday nights; TPO from distant point on Wednesday and Friday nights; lodge at distant point during Wednesday and Friday. Most lodging was done at places over 200 miles from home (e.g. London staff at Carlisle or Newcastle – staff in Bristol – staff in Newcastle).

The only TPO staff who did an “out and back” working on a nightly basis were the PenzanceBristol-Penzance TPO staff.

The working conditions and lifestyle made a career on the TPO’s a special calling, one to which only relatively few found that they could adapt to. Once settled, the average TPO crew member tends to stay – often for very long periods . (Retirements from TPO’s in some cases brought to an end careers of more than 40 years of riding the rails).

All TPO crews were recruited from existing staff at Royal Mail sorting centres. TPO duties were open to both sexes, although the number of women working on board was relatively small.

TPO staff rightly considered themselves as the ‘Cream de la Creme’ of Royal Mail sorting staff and took great pride in their ability, in most cases, to sort faster and more accurately than their colleagues in stationary sorting offices.

The nightly challenge of completing the sorting of all traffic on board by the due despatch point engendered a particular pride of craft and a strong sense of loyalty and comradeship amongst TPO staff.

Preston Digital Archive

Travelling Post Office. Carriage 30309.

Preston - Whitehaven Route, 1958

TPOs Were Ceased on 09/01/2004

(Compiled by Alan Yeo) Images courtesy of BT Heritage. © BT Heritage. www.digitalarchives.bt.com/

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Plinthed

Skelmersdale boasted not one but two plinthed industrial locomotives. At the Digmoor Play Area could be found former Mersey Docks & Harbour Board No.26 (AE 1810/1918).

Photographed there in March 1976.

Locomotives

Both locos were still in Skelmersdale in August 1980, by which time DAPHNE was wearing a strange shade of pink - it could be faded red oxide.

In 2002 she arrived at the Ribble Steam Railway, having spent some years at the Fleetwood Locomotive Centre, and Tarzan's Restaurant in St. Annes-on-Sea.

On the same day, DAPHNE (P 737/1899) at New Church Farm Play Area. She had arrived from Pilkington Bros. Ravenhead in 1966. c. Malcolm Ravensdale / Industrial Locomotive Enthusiasts

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The Preston & Wyre Railway was officially opened on the 15th July 1840 having taken just four years to construct. The vision of the High Sheriff of Lancashire, Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, it was built to connect the new port of Fleetwood on the Fylde coast to the industrial town of Preston. Constructed by George and Robert Stephenson (and in part Joseph Locke) it formed an important section of the first through route to Scotland from London. A fine hotel, the “North Euston� was built to cater for customers transferring from rail to sea for the voyage to Glasgow and is still standing today. This was however short lived and just six years later a direct route over Shap was opened leaving the shareholders of the Preston & Wyre extremely disappointed.

The railway, now part of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, still flourished and extensions were built to Blackpool and Lytham, to cater for the large numbers of tourists flocking to the seaside. Fleetwood also grew and became one of the largest and most successful fishing ports in the British Isles.

The line is still busy today and regular services serve Blackpool North and South (via Lytham) Sadly, the section from Poulton Le Fylde to Fleetwood closed to passengers in 1970 and finally to freight in 1999.

The P.W.R.S is a small volunteer force dedicated to restoring the railway line from Poulton-le-Fylde to Fleetwood. Our aims and objectives are similar to those of many other heritage railways in their early days: To get a working train on the line we've worked so hard to clear and restore.

Initially, our shorter term goal is to get our recently purchased class 108 "Derby" DMU restored in B.R green livery, and operate as a heritage railway between Thornton for Cleveleys and Burn Naze stations, which is a perfectly realistic goal to aim for. The longer term goal is to see a service which connects Fleetwood with Poulton le Fylde in some way. Negotiations are still underway to secure a lease of the line that will allow an operational railway, but the society has the backing of many people and organisations. Longer term plans have been proposed and are available to see on our website. www.pwrs.org The P.W.R.S has been working on line clearance and restoration of the two remaining stations for many years now, and the line between Thornton and Burn Naze is clear. In fact, the line is clear much further North than that, and rail traffic could run from Thornton to the northern end of the line at Cala Gran (just south of Fleetwood). Thornton Station is almost operational, and Burn Naze station is close on its heels. Part of the proposal for a heritage railway is a new station close to Cala Gran at the start of the A585.

We're almost at our fund raising goal to restore our DMU and our Fowler diesel shunter is similarly close to operational status.

1955 John Fowler 0-4-0 shunter number 4210108 2017 should be a great year for the P.W.R.S: With a growing membership and the purchase of a viable passenger train, we can look forward to the time a train once more runs along this historically important stretch of railway.

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Gift Ideas As in previous years, a set of calendars have been produced to raise funds for two local churches - All Saints', New Longton and St. Michael, Much Hoole.

The subjects for 2017 are: Lancashire Scenes, Town and Village Scenes, Steam Trains, Trains around Preston, Vintage Road Vehicles, Traction Engines and Road Rollers, "Wheels" Isle of Man These are all priced at £5 for A4 and £6.50 for A3 In addition there is a two year calendar for 2017 and 2018, Last Days of the Nodding Donkey, to commemorate the last two years that the Class 142s are expected to be in traffic. These are priced at £9 for A4 and £12 for A3.

Delivery or collection can normally be arranged within 2 weeks without additional charge but if this is not possible postage will be extra.

Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing.

E-mail j.balaam@talktalk.net

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2017 @RSR JAN CLOSED FEB CLOSED MAR 25/26 DIESEL GALA APR 1/2 STEAM GALA APR 14/15/16/17 EASTER APR 29/30 MAY 1 FRIENDLY ENGINES MAY 6/7 STEAM MAY 13/14 STEAM MAY 20/21 STEAM MAY 27/28/29 TEDDY BEARS JUN 3/4 STEAM JUN 10/11 STEAM JUN 17/18 STEAM (18 'WHEELS' FATHER'S DAY) JUN 24/25 STEAM JUL 1/2 STEAM JUL 8/9 STEAM JUL 15/16 STEAM JUL 22/23 STEAM JUL 29/30 TRAM EVENT AUG 5/6 STEAM AUG 12/13 STEAM AUG 19/20 STEAM AUG 26/27/28 FRIENDLY ENGINES SEP 2/3 STEAM SEP 9/10 STEAM GALA SEP 16/17 STEAM SEP 23/24 STEAM SEP 30/OCT 1 DIESEL GALA OCT 28/29 SPOOKY TRAINS NOV CLOSED DEC 2/3/9/10/16/17/23 SANTA - 31 -

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Preston Digital Archives

No. 2A signalbox, Preston Railway Station c.1949 Photograph taken from platform 1 showing the southern approaches to the through lines on the west side of the station before the overall canopy was cut back. No. 2A cabin was of the overhead type in that it sat on top of a girder framework as opposed to a standard brick base.

The cabin straddled the dock branch line. A regular complaint from signalmen was from smoke entering the box from steam locomotives that had been brought to a halt below the cabin. The box was built in early 1900's as an LNWR Type 4. Closed May 16th 1971.

Class 5 No. 45025 passes No. 2a signalbox on the through lines at the west side of the station.

46253 'City of St. Albans' passes by No.1 signalbox with a Glasgow - London train. August 1949

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Concrete shipbuilding yards, Preston Dock Aerial image c. 1925 showing the abandoned slipways on the north bank of the Ribble adjacent to the Bullnose. The site is presently occupied by the Ribble Steam Railway.

Hughes and Stirling Concrete Ship Yards, Preston Dock c.1920 The standard gauge siding seen at left represents the furthest westward extension of the dock railway system.

The four slipways of Hughes and Stirling's depot were separated by the building seen at right. Two slips sat to the east and two to the west of the structure, Note the narrow gauge railway used to supply construction on the the slips with pre-mixed concrete.

Due to a shortage of steel during the first world war, several experiments were made in the construction of ferro-concrete ships. Land was leased from Preston Corporation by the company Hughes and Stirling in 1914 for this purpose.

Four slipways were constructed adjacent to the bull nose on the north bank of the river. Orders were placed by the shipping controller (London) for ten 700 ton engine-less barges. These barges were much in demand for bringing iron ore to Britain from Spain.

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R.I.P. Chris Miller

A pillar of Preston has recently passed away aged 76. Tributes have been paid to Chris Miller who founded Preston Marina.

Born and bred in Penwortham the sailing fanatic brought the Marina to the city in 1990 and has been involved in events in Preston for decades.

Even when diagnosed with cancer Chris didn’t stop that letting him being involved.

The Marina’s future is to stay within the Miller family, with two of Chris’ children – Sue and Steven – involved in taking on the helm and his love of sailing is also being passed down to the youngest generation.

Chris’ boat Duo was sailed back into the Marina from the western Isles of Scotland by his son Steven and has now been decked out by fellow boaters at the Marina with flags and bunting to celebrate Chris’ life. During the 2012 Guild Chris was made an honorary Burgess in tribute to the impact he’s made on the city.

Tributes have been paid by the boating community in the city and also by other organisations he was involved with including the Space Centre and the Sea Cadets.

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S.S. Manxman, an ex Isle of Man passenger ferry was brought tp Preston by local businessman Tony Gornall. At the time, the river was shallow and the channel hard to navigate but with the assistance of local business and sailing enthusiast Chris MIller, she was brought safely to the town where she spent several years as a floating disco and restuarant complex. In 1983 the Manxman also formed the focus of the “Aquaganza”, a festival of marina and related activity designed to showcase the derelict port’s potential for leisure activity.

Chris Miller, a promoter of the event went on to develop his ideas for yachting at the site, going on to create Preston Marina in 1988.

Even whilst the Port of Preston was still operational some leisure boats were making use of the River Ribble. 'Athene Nikki' was a ferro-cement yacht built on the river bank and launched using the specialist skills of Chris Miller Ltd. A keen yachtsman, Chris Miller devised and constructed an ingenious temporary slipway made from railway track which was used to launch the vessel on completion. .......................Blog Preston

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Bold Colliery -

- Last Colliery In Steam 'Joseph' charges up the gradient from the weighbridge hut to the loaded wagon sidings

The Bold area was the site of Bold Colliery, with Bold A and B Power Stations on adjacent land.

These power stations had a total electricity generating capacity of 300 megawatts (MW). At the time of completion, between 1958 and 1960, they were the largest such generating facility in the north west. The colliery and power stations are now closed, with the latter site redeveloped for housing and the creation of public open spaces.

lines. The coal from Bold Colliery was deep mined and therefore costly to recover. In later years, due to commercial reasons, the main coal supply became mostly by road from either Yorkshire or Scotland.

'Clockface' (RSH 7180/1944) in 1968

'Whiston' (HE 3694/1950) in 1965

Bold A and B Power Stations were coal fired, with a direct coal conveyor belt link from a washery at the colliery. This fed either directly to coal bunkers in both stations or to a stocking area.

The extensive rail sidings were utilised for coal delivery, either from Bold Colliery or from other collieries via the main Liverpool to Manchester

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The Bold area had favourable geology, and three deep boreholes, sunk to the south of the colliery, confirmed that it extended a considerable distance.

This gave Bold an estimated 61,000,000 tons of workable reserves. On this basis, the Central Electricity Authority decided to build a new power station next to the colliery. The NCB, therefore, began a major reorganisation in November 1949 and completed it in April 1955. The intention was to achieve a four-fold increase in output by 1961.

After the Miner’s Strike, the NCB closed Bold Colliery in 1985.

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Ribble Pilot

'Robert' (HC 1752/1943) in 1979

'Robert' was built by Hudswell Clarke in 1943 as works No.1752. It was built to the design of the Hunslet Engine Company Ltd of Leeds who had adapted their 50550 design for the War Department. It had the WD No.75091. Many of the returning locomotives went to the National Coal Board including No.75091. It first went to Holly Bank Colliery, near Wolverhampton in 1950.

The colliery closed in December, 1952. It then went to Littleton Colliery in Staffordshire in 1959.

Littleton closed on 10th December, 1993 only a year after was deemed a core pit and would not close. No.75091 then moved around several collieries before being moved to Bold Colliery near St Helens on 27th February, 1978 where it was named 'Robert'. While at Bold Colliery it was prepared for and took part in the Rocket 150 celebrations at Rainhill.

Photos c. www.suttonbeauty.org.uk

'Alison' (HE 3163/1944 rebuilt HE 3885/1964) in September 1979

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The Leeds-Liverpool canal celebrates 200th anniversary Built in 1816, this single man-made waterway has made its mark in canal history. Canal engineers were of course practical, they fitted canals into the natural environment so they become part of the scenery much more than railways or roads do.

They were all built on the cheap, but built by craftsmen. And these canals have lasted 200 years – what will be built today that endures as long? It was the opening of the Leeds Liverpool Canal which encouraged the development of the textile industries in Lancashire and West Yorkshire.

Contemporary reports record that flotillas “decorated with flags and streamers,” accompanied by “hearty cheering of immense assemblage of spectators” greeted that original ceremonial boat journey in October 1816, a trip that took just five days to travel from Leeds to Liverpool. Two hundred years on and the bicentennial trip took four more days than its Georgian forerunners required, perhaps emphasising the waterway’s transition from a vital economic resource to a leisure facility, albeit with great economic value still.

Today there are fewer industries along its banks but the canal still gives many benefits to communities along its route. Today there are opportunities for leisure where once hard labour prevailed, and the towpath is open to all.

Construction began in 1770, The Liverpool-Parbold and Leeds-Gargrave sections were built by 1777 The joining stretch was completed on October 22 1816, The canal is 127 miles long in total, containing 91 locks, It handles boats 14ft 3in wide and 62ft long, The maximum rise 487ft above sea level It is the longest canal in Britain built as a single waterway, The last commercial cargo of coal was carried in 1972

To find out more, go to canalrivertrust.org.uk

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The Ribble Pilot Art Gallery

Reflection of a Bygone Age - created by Bernie Blackburn

Here’s a shot taken on Preston Dock in 2014, but the reflection’s from the same spot in 1920!

Bernie Blackburn is an artist, designer and photographer based in Preston, Lancashire. He was brought up in care and left school with no formal qualifications. In 1990 he completed an Access course at the University of Central Lancashire and between 1999 and 2002 he studied 3D Design as a mature student.

Since becoming a full-time photographer and artist, he's successfully submitted his work to exhibitions including the Royal College of Art in London which accepted the lamp he designed from a Red Bull drinks can as part of a competition.

His first solo show, staged in Ashton under Lyne, featured huge examples of engineering-based sculpture, including a 20ft articulated chain which, far from being the several tons of metal it appears to be, is actually made of MDF and plastic drainpipes.

Bernie Blackburn; a Preston based artist and photographer.

His work has been included in numerous exhibitions including The Royal College of Art in London and as far afield as Australia.

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Britain’s forgotten ambulance trains

Their tales of selfless sacrifice have remained untold for decades as Britain turned its efforts to recovery after the First World War. Now, after years of painstaking research, experts have uncovered the forgotten stories of those who battled to save lives aboard Britain’s ambulance trains.

Until recently, historians have overlooked the crucial role that ambulance trains played in the First World War, but careful research by curators and archivists has gradually uncovered this neglected piece of history. The mass casualties of modern mechanised conflict called for evacuation of the injured on a scale never seen before, and this simply could not have happened without these trains.

Ambulance train, infectious ward, Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, July 1915

From the injured soldiers transported to hospital to the medical staff who offered the best care they could in cramped, difficult and stressful conditions, millions of men were brought to Britain from the Front via these tightly-packed trains, which included fully-equipped wards,

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pharmacies and kitchens. The trains were manned by resident medical officers, orderlies and nurses and could be up to a third of a mile long.

The NRM's exhibition bringing these little-known stories to life opened on July 7, 2016 marking the centenary of the busiest day of ambulance train traffic, which occurred during the Battle of the Somme. Ambulance train, 1914 The centrepiece, a permanent addition to the National Railway Museum’s diverse public programme, is a historic carriage once owned by the Ministry of Defence.

Built in 1907 for the London & South Western Railway, the carriage is of the type that would have been converted for use in an ambulance train. Positioned at the centre of a new exhibition space in the museum’s Great Hall, the carriage has been carefully transformed both inside and out to enable visitors to step on board and move through spaces including a ward, a pharmacy and a nurses’ mess room. Digital projection, sound and historic images, alongside recreated interior fittings, will recreate the intense atmosphere of these confined trains. Ambulance train, 1916. For the first time, the exhibition brings together photographs, technical drawings, letters and diaries to bring to life the huge range of human experiences carried on board these trains.

Ambulance Trains not only explores stories of the wounded soldiers who travelled with their harrowing memories of warfare, and the medical staff who worked tirelessly in claustrophobic conditions to provide comfort and care. It also looks at the railway workers who built the carefully designed trains at incredible speed to keep up with demand, and the wider public who saw the grim reality of the overseas war when these trains pulled into British stations. Ambulance Trains is the culmination of years of work and photographs describing life aboard the trains and all accounts of life on board have a real emotional impact. NRM

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Would you eat a shipwrecked rabbit?

People got meat where they could as German U-boats sank British cargo boats and rationing was introduced during the First World War – but would you eat shipwrecked rabbits?

That was what was on offer in shops at Millom, Dalton and Barrow in 1918 after the steamship Westmorland ran ashore near Seascale following a submarine attack. Frozen Australian rabbits were picked off the shore, deemed fit for human consumption and sent by train to official food controllers at towns from Maryport through to Preston.

The meat had been intended to feed troops serving in the wartime trenches in France. The Westmorland was a refrigerated steam turbine cargo ship built by D & W Henderson in 1917 on the Clyde at Glasgow. It came under torpedo attack north of the Isle of Man on February 6 in 1918 by the German UB-57 during a journey from Wellington, New Zealand to Liverpool for the London shipper the Federal Steam Navigation Company.

The U-boat was under the command of Johannes Lohs. He was born in 1889 and died on August 14 in 1918 when his boat hit a mine off the Belgian coast. UB-57 was launched on June 20 in 1917 and sank 47 ships with a total tonnage of 129,173. It also damaged 10 other ships, including the Westmorland. It seems torpedoes caused considerable damage to Westmorland but not enough to sink it. The ship drifted to the Cumberland coast with the cargo floating out of holes in the hull. Not just rabbits drafted ashore.

It was said there was cases of butter, cigarettes and tobacco and hundreds of parcels of socks and sweaters.

The Whitehaven News on Thursday, February 7 in 1918 noted: Yesterday the signal for the assembly of the Whitehaven lifeboat crew was heard in the afternoon. It appears that about 3.15pm a telephone message had been received from the coast watch as Seascale stating that a four-masted steamer was ashore off Seascale and that the sea was breaking over her. Mr J. G. Oldfield, secretary of the lifeboat, an the harbourmaster, Capt Irving, had the lifeboat

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crew summoned and tug boat got in readiness to take it down to Seascale. The crew assembled and the boat was launched smartly in 10 minutes; but in the meantime a further message was received from the Llandudno coast watch that they had news that there was no crew aboard the steamer.

Consequently, the lifeboat was recalled.

The Whitehaven News pm Thursday, February 14, recorded: A quantity of wreckage has been washed ashore between Drigg and St Bees, the bulk seemingly on the seashore. Mr W. M. Dalzell, one of the coastguard men, intimated to the receiver of wrecks at Whitehaven the large quantity of Australian rabbits what were on the shore, and were fit for use for food if used at once. Mr Dalzell, in receiving consent to deal with them, at once communicated on the telephone with a number of food controllers. Several farmers and carters at once got to work. The rabbits were all gathered up and carted to the railway station, where the stationmaster and his staff despatched them by rail to the following towns – Whitehaven, Maryport, Millom, Barrow, Dalton, Lancaster and Preston. On Friday, the beach was covered in rabbits. On Monday very few could be seen on the shore. Thanks to the efforts of Mr Dalzell and his co-workers, a large number were sent to the places mentioned. Great credit is due to the workers for preventing a waste of good food, especially at these critical times when meat is so scarce.

Westmorland had its damage repaired and came under attack from another U-boat in the Second World War. In 1942 the 9,512 ton ship was sailing from Wellington, New Zealand with 400 bags of mail and 9,000 tons of butter, cheese, meat, wool and general cargo. On June 1 the unescorted ship was spotted by Dietrich Burchert in command of U566, 240 miles off Bermuda. Westmorland, commanded by Ernst Arthur Burton, was torpedoed and came under fire from the U-boat’s deck gun and the burning vessel sank at 1.08pm.

Two crew members and a gunner were killed but the ship’s captain, 59 crew and five gunners were saved. Westmorland had been armed with a four-inch gun, a 12-pounder gun, several machine guns, an Oerlikon cannon and a pair of depth charges. It had successfully completed almost 50 convoys in the Second World War. www.nwemail.co.uk

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Barcelona’s Best Kept Secret

For many years I visited Barcelona on business trips and more recently on various holidays. I thought I had just about seen all there was to do in this wonderful city. So before we embarked on our latest cruise, which took in Barcelona, I idly googled ‘Railway Museums in Barcelona’ and I could not believe the response!

Under the heading ‘Kids in Barcelona’ the listed number 1 attraction was the Catalonia Railway Museum at Vilanova I la Geltru. I immediately went on to their web site and was astounded at what I saw. I could not believe that I had not found this museum for 25 years.

Vilanova I la Geltru is about 25 miles south west of Barcelona and is served by the local R2 Rodalies trains. Every other train ends at Vilanova, whilst the alternate trains go on to Sant Vincenq de Calders.

The fare was EU 8.20 each return.

As you leave the station the museum – to give it its Spanish name Museu del Ferrocarril de Catalunya is right in front of you. The building is the original workshops and roundhouse constructed in the late 19th century and was fully functional maintaining steam locomotives until it closed in 1967. About 900 railwaymen worked at the site. It re-opened as a museum on 5th August 1990.

The reception area is the original ticket office from the station at La Granada, a village 15 miles north of Vilanova. Entry is Eu 6, Eu 3 for pensioners. The most interesting exhibit in this area is the track switching gear from Barcelona’s Estacion de Francia terminus. Installed in 1924 it was in use until the modernisation programmes started in the lead up to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

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From the reception area you walk out into the roundhouse display area. It is a really awe inspiring line up, matched only in my experience by the Vasuttorteneti Park museum in Budapest.

The fan of locomotives goes from the second oldest original loco in Spain built in 1854, to the last loco in steam, and on to the prototype ‘Talgo’ diesel and electric locos. Thirty eight roads used to lead off the central turntable and many are still in place today. The covered roundhouse building protects 9 bays.

As we entered this area a bus load of schoolchildren were leaving and we were the only two visitors in the museum for the next one and a half hours.

The older locos (16 of the 24 on display were built before 1914) and carriages are housed under cover including a replica built in 1948 to commemorate the centenary of the first ever steam loco on the Iberian Peninsula which operated between Barcelona and Mataro. It is regularly in stream hauling 3 replica period carriages across the site. Also housed in the roundhouse are two industrial locomotives very similar to our own, plus an American Harlan luxury coach and the older open cab steam locos.

Outside is the fan of ten steam locomotives. These locos operated throughout Spain, not just Catalunya.

It looks like many have had a repaint but in the Barcelona weather they do not deteriorate like steam locos stored outside in the UK. One streamlined loco 241F-2108 has a passing resemblance to the new build Gresley ‘Cock O’ the North’ currently under construction. On the right are two ‘Mikado’ 2-8-2s built by the North British Locomotive Company in 1953. The loco on the extreme right, 141F-2348, was the last operational steam loco in Spain. Its fire was symbolically extinguished by Prince Juan Carlos in 1975, seven years after the end of steam in the UK. The electric loco next to the Mikado’s is a ‘Crocodillo’ electric loco, 272-006, with an outline very similar to the French locos carrying the same nickname. Also of interest is the ‘Egg’ 1940 twelve seater service vehicle, so called because of its distinctive shape.

Reading the reviews of this splendid museum most of the visitors are school children and families coming from the nearby resort of Sitges. Talking to the staff on reception many of the enthusiasts come from Germany, Netherlands and Russia.

Now that I have put in a good word for us Brits (they have one of our leaflets) hopefully more will visit this splendid monument to steam.

Thanks to Ken & Ollie Philcox

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Photographer John Balaam Visits The Isle Of Man

Douglas Horse Tram car 36 and ‘Robert’

Manx Electric Railway car 22 at Laxey working an additional service to Douglas

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Snaefell Mountain Railway car 6 at Laxey

Manx Electric Railway cars 7 and 48 arriving at Laxey with 1340 Ramsey - Douglas

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When they first opened motorway service stations were stylish places where young people would drive at high speeds to play pinball and drink Cona coffee. But as operators began to cut costs service stations became a notorious land of un-swept floors, sticky tabletops and congealed food slowly dying under hot-lamps.

Now they have become almost like airports, clean, efficient and expensive, a corporate owned mono-culture now increasingly rules the roadside.

Nostalgia Corner

Shall we nip down the road to the Transport Cafe?

Before the rise of vast service stations and faceless coffee chains, hungry drivers relied on traditional truck stops to refuel them on long journeys.

Once a familiar sight along the UK's road network, such independent cafes have been all but wiped out by sprawling services, there are very few surviving stops where motorists can enjoy a hot drink and a bacon sandwich - and still have change from ÂŁ3.50.

A Social and cultural historian recorded that before the M1 opened in 1959 there were no service stations and roadside variety reigned. Well-to-do motorists used to visit road houses, lavish hostelries that boasted swimming pools, ballrooms and even polo fields. Lorry drivers swore by the greasy spoon transport cafes on the A1 and the A30.

Then came service stations which became bland corporate spaces like roadside shopping malls. Even the A roads, which used to be the last redoubt of the transport cafe, are now being colonised by chain owners. But there are still parts of the British roadside that resist the pull of sameness and blandness.

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Situated between junctions 32 and 33 of the M6 Motorway, Forton Services is most famous for its hexagonal concrete Pennine Tower. The tower, which was originally an American-style restaurant rumoured to be a favourite of The Beatles, closed to the public in 1989 and was granted grade II listed status in 2012. Forton services opened in January 1965.

300,000 lorry drivers in the UK, the chances are that a significant amount are participating in long haulage. But, it’s not just crossing borders on land but culinary crossroads that cause a foodie dilemma in Trucker Tucker.

The most important priority for any trucker is good grub. When you are faced with a lack of home comforts on a regular basis, something as simple as a warm and tasty treat can put a smile on your face and lift your spirits.

Ribble Pilot

Membership Application / Renewal Form *Annual Membership runs 1st January to 31st December

Full Name: .............................................................................................................................

Address: .......................................................................................................................................

Town/City: .......................................................................................................................................

Postcode: .......................................................................................................................................

Email: ................................................................................

Tel: ....................................................................................

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Date of Birth / Age at next birthday ...............................

Membership Type: Adult (Annual) - £15 / Adult (3 Years) - £40 Family (2 + 2) - £30 Adult (Life) - £150 / Adult (Senior) - £90 Cheques are payable to "Ribble Steam Railway"

(Cash/Card transactions can be made via the Museum Shop)

Send your completed form together with your cheque and a stamped self addressed envelope to: RSR Membership Secretary, 34 Tag Croft, Ingol, Preston, PR2 7AQ

Gift Aid - The Ribble Steam Railway can use Gift Aid as a tax relief on monies donated. If you are a UK tax payer and are willing for us to use your membership subscription as a gift aid donation, please x here .............

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2017 Membership

RIBBLE STEAM RAILWAY LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

2017 RSR Membership is valid until December 2017 - Membership rates have remained the same for the fifth year running.

Registered Address - 3 Lincoln Drive, Liverpool, L10 3LJ Company Number-1112880 / Charity Number-507266 Vat Number-703965428 Chairman - David Watkins

Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope in all communications.

Membership rates for 2017 (Applicable to December 31st 2017) Adults £15 (3 year offer £40) Family £30 (Children under 16 must be accompanied by parent / guardian at all times)

Company Secretary - Michael Bailey Directors:Michael Bailey, Matthew Burke, Matthew Darbyshire, Wilfred Helliwell, Ken Mahaffey, Dave Manley, Frank Masson, Christopher Mills, Edward Tatham, Alan Vernon, Russell Walker, David Watkins Company Officers including those of Ribble Rail Ltd:-

Adult Life £150 Senior Life £90

Chairman & Finance Director - David Watkins

2017 Quick & Easy Membership

Company Secretary - Michael Bailey

Send your completed form * together with your cheque and a stamped self addressed envelope to:

Membership Secretary / Magazine editor - Chris Mills Operating - Russell Walker, David Billington Diesel locomotives - Matthew Burke

RSR Membership Secretary, 34 Tag Croft, Ingol, Preston, PR2 7AQ

Steam locomotives - Russell Walker Carriage & Wagon - Alan Vernon

Cheques should be made payable to ‘Ribble Steam Railway’

Train guards - Matthew Darbyshire

Your new 2017 card will be sent by return within 7 days (or as soon as humanly possible !)

Permanent Way - Edward Tatham

All volunteers need to be fully paid up RSR Members.

Staff health & safety representative - Jason Finerty

Health & Safety - Michael Bailey

Marketing, Publicity & Advertising - Chris Mills, Ken Philcox

If you're simply wanting to visit the site and enjoy a train ride, your membership also entitles you to half price admission on most operating days, on production of your membership card. On some special events this facility may be restricted.

Life members enjoy free admission at all times, except Santa Special Weekends (this latter restriction applies to all classes of membership).

Members also receive 3 issues of 'The Ribble Pilot Magazine' per year.

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Front Of House Departments - Karl Latham Buffet Car - Chris Mills Website / Social Media - Matt Burke, Chris Mills Museum - Terri Hearty General Enquiries Email: ribblesteamrailway@gmail.com Phone: (01772) 728800 (Answer phone out of hours)

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See “Cover� attachment

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"Energy" leading a loaded oil train on the new line not long after it was opened, "Progress" is pushing on the rear. The view shows well the scene of dereliction before the old warehouses were demolished and the road was built, along with the new houses and trees. (Steven Brindley)

Do NOT PRINT

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RSR Publications © RSR 2016 Ribble Pilot is printed by Ashton Print, 5-7 Plungington Rd, Preston PR1 7EN

Do NOT PRINT See “Cover” attachment