Spa Valley Railway - Latest News

Crop/zoom in of the photo that we've had as reference to the black name plate idea. I've no idea who the original photographer is and the copyright remains with that individual and not ours to take/use or otherwise.

 

(You posted that just as I was typing this!)

The Summer Steam Up kicked off yesterday, and was blessed by glorious weather.

 

Two engines in steam at the Terrier Weekend - 24th and 25th July - https://spavalley.vticket.co.uk/pro...nd-25th-july/0ff67db286bb897a9ae1f1b5b689ff41

 

I believe 34059 and 34067 are two other examples of preserved Light Pacifics that also carried black painted nameplates with 34059 carrying them in service briefly before being withdrawn in 2011.

 

Be judged by your deeds not your words maybe? If those in the south east are just quietly getting on with the job then maybe we should leave them to it?
I must admit though it’s somewhere I fancy paying a little visit too

 

I tend not to post too much on here about what we're up to as it doesn't seem to attract much of a response and I'm never sure whether people are interested or not! We just carry on quite happily with our 40,000 visitors a year, a Bulleid, Douglas, a selection of heritage diesels, a range of MK1s and a dining operation that is on par with some bigger organisations over our 5.25 mile line. A lot goes on that many people probably don't realise!

If there is enough interest about what we're up to then I'll happily copy my weekly Facebook/volunteers blogpost about how we're doing onto here too. If you want to see lots of photos from the weekend our Facebook page (25,000 followers) and the Instagram page @spavalleyofficial have seen a lot of submissions over the past few hours. You can also find our Unofficial Spa Valley Railway Facebook page which is where my weekly 'how we're doing' piece goes along with lots of photos and videos of the railway.

I spent Saturday firing Knowle and Sunday driving and firing Sir Keith Park, here are some of my pics from a fantastic weekend which saw 811 visitors and a healthy profit get turned over.

'Knowle' is hauling trains again this Saturday & Sunday alongside 'Douglas'. For anyone that wants to see 'Sir Keith Park' in action the locomotive is next operating on 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 28th, 29th & 30th August. Our next event that'll feature steam is the Model Railway Weekend on 11th & 12th September. The Diesel Gala on 6th, 7th & 8th August will feature visiting Class 33/0 33002 operating with D8188, 31430, 33063, 73140, 1317, 1497 and the shunters.

 

Gorgeous pictures. Really, really excellent.

 

I think I rather envy your lifestyle, Jonnie- quietly living a dream, without any razzmatazz.

 

Saw some of your photos of you on Instagram involving a small hound! Seriously Mate please keep posting some of us want to pay a visit at some point

 

It is still an aim of ours to get a run round loop in at Eridge, part of the access for all project undertaken recently will see work on our side which will make the prospects of a run round much more viable. I can't go into great details yet as it isn't finalised but watch this space. I'd rather be able to run the Bulleid for 60 miles a day if we can!

This past weekend has given us a taste of what would be possible with 'Sutton' too so being able to run around with the Terrier at Eridge would make a nice little shuttle train on our busier Summer weekends.

 

Thanks for your updates Jonnie. It is great to see the line progressing and increasing in popularity.

 

I was there for the whole weekend and it was alot of fun.

Just a question whats the progress with the 'slip' and the siding space?

 

Jonnie I live miles away from your line but I know more about the railway, what's happening and what your plans are than I do with 'my' Derbyshire railway that I've been a member of for 30 years...Your regular updates and degree of openness about how things are going is something many heritage lines would do well to learn from!

 

The slip site has been subjected to a lot of work that isn’t evident in recent years, a people change has helped progress it further and thanks to a legacy left we were able to undertake a detailed geotechnical study of the embankments condition and its make up. We then installed a form of monitoring to measure the levels of water within the embankment itself. If you travelled on our train these are the little black circular things you can see poking out the ground as you pass through the slip site, we dip these regularly and our Civil Engineer has a continuous idea of what is going on.

The next task is to rebuild the drainage which will significantly improve things and our Civil Engineer is currently coming up with a plan of repairs. But... (there's always one of those isn't there) we also have three bridges that have/need significant investment. First of all, in December 2019, High Rocks Cattle Creep had around £10,000 spent on it to repair defects with the pointing and extend the life of this structure, this was a cheap repair job when it comes to bridges...

More recently the A26 bridge next to the slip site has been subjected to over £20,000 worth of repairs following a lot of bridge strikes and pre-existing age related defects, this will extend the life of the structure but it is inevitable it will need replacing one day.

Further down the line at Broom Lane Bridge (located about 1/4 mile away from High Rocks by Adams Well campsite) we've had a 10mph TSR since 2017 and the cheapest means of repair is to replace the whole structure, this is now in hand with a quote being obtained to get the job done one Winter and get rid of this long standing issue and give us a structure that will out live the current railway management.

As for sidings, last Summer we completely relaid the yard at Tunbridge Wells West, taking advantage of being able to let volunteers return but not being able to run trains. We also laid a further back siding at Tunbridge Wells West to securely store our carriages, these sidings, known as the East/West sidings are now all fully laid, the far back siding just requires ballasting. The whole area is continuously monitored by CCTV (as is the whole railway) and is capable of holding all of our carriages, including more recent arrivals.

Recently the 101 trailer car has been put up for sale by its private owners as it doesn't really fit with our image following the end of Thomas events in 2018, we now have 8 MK1s and 1 MK2 on site with our aim to replace the 101 with another MK1 in the future.

 

I'm glad they're appreciated. I'll endeavour to post more frequently when I get five minutes!

 

I thought I'd pass over this update which I've just posted on Facebook. The Summer Steam Up was a very successful event generating over £4,000 after all the costs associated with such an event have been taken into consideration. This sort of income is very helpful as we're fast approaching our annual insurance bill so it'll go someway to ensuring this can be paid for in full, I have an excellent broker that always gets us a very good insurance deal but the invoice every year always makes my heart skip a beat!

 

Thanks again for your updates. Your bridge/age problems are happening on many lines - inevitably and it does mean spending more money.....or else. At least you are aware and have plans.

 

Lovely stuff.
With the bridge that has suffered strikes, are you able to put defensive measures up?