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mdewell's Recent Activity

  1. mdewell liked lil Bear's post in the thread Churnet Valley Railway General Discussion.

    Loco crew are all fine if shook up. They know they’ve got support as/when needed. ORR/RAIB informed, it’s a case of letting the processes flow accordingly. Foxfield have not only opened their offer of travel to our customers, but assisted in...

    Apr 19, 2026 at 8:21 AM

  2. mdewell liked Jonnie's post in the thread Spa Valley Railway - Latest News.

    The last time I drove a train over Broom Lane Bridge at 25mph was in 2017 when the speed restriction came into force. It was certainly a real privilege to be the first to drive 31430 over our brand new bridge at 25mph this evening! Chris...

    Apr 18, 2026 at 8:52 AM

  3. mdewell liked Jamessquared's post in the thread Oswestry Update.

    'Twas ever thus. Look how older, more established, heritage railways essentially burnt through cheap Mark 1s. A lot are likely to be scrapped in the next ten years. Hopefully the ones that survive will be the ones that are historically most...

    Apr 17, 2026 at 8:15 AM

  4. mdewell replied to the thread Oswestry Update.

    My point was that people do pay to travel on them. We often make more money on Wednesdays than we do Saturdays - with much less effort (Although not nearly as much fun for those of us who just want to play trains ;):D ) Most failures seem to be...

    Apr 16, 2026 at 7:22 PM

  5. mdewell replied to the thread Oswestry Update.

    Basically, it costs a lot less to operate a DMU (aka Pacer) than it does steam, so for mid-week opening a Pacer makes a little money, whereas a loco hauled (diesel or steam) would lose money. It also only requires 2 train crew. PS. I won't argue...

    Apr 16, 2026 at 7:02 PM

  6. mdewell replied to the thread Oswestry Update.

    Above my pay grade, but I know there have been some new relays purchased for the 143619 (which successfully operated it's first service yesterday - a school charter). Having 4 sets but only really needing 1 operating does mean there are potential...

    Apr 16, 2026 at 5:13 PM

  7. mdewell replied to the thread Oswestry Update.

    I'm certainly no expert on Pacers, but I think the 142004 is amongst the first batch built (1985) and with the 3 x 2 bench seating and different control layout, it does look quite different internally than the others that we have (even though...

    Apr 16, 2026 at 4:54 PM
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