Southwold Railway

I love the way there is a combine harvester in the background of one pic...

I'll pony up for a sleeper or two (employment situation permitting)

Mike

 

Thanks very much. Will be greatly appreciated. Platform clearance proceeds apace, despite storms.... Now working out how to insert a point too - the rail profile is slightly different, so we have to make some joggle fishplates - oh joy!

 

Can anyone on this forum help? The forum's subscribers must include railway expertise of all kinds - hopefully! We found some small parts of the Blythburgh Station ticket machine in the excavations - to make it a more interesting exhibit, we have bought a complete one (in this case a Waterlow) to show what it would have looked like. Ideally we'd like to use it for visitors to site - providing souvenir tickets. However, we are reluctant to take it to pieces without the necessary knowledge (you can just imagine the innards going 'ping' and springs and stuff disappearing....). It seems complete, but the ribbon is dead - and presumably there's only one date piece (you can tell we are not experts!). So we need someone who knows about these to have a look and - ideally - make it work - at least in some way. Then, of course, we'd need trad card tickets printed - so an idea of where to go for those would also be helpful.

And - not content with all this pleading - we need some expertise input on our RFS 4WDH loco RFS106 of 1989 - the air brakes are specified as "German Light Railway Type Control System" but we can't find any info online about this - it's been robbed, modified, by-passed, and mucked about with, over its life (with few if any records kept), so the diagrams don't seem to correspond with reality. WABCO - who now own the company - have no records at all, apparently. Any knowledgeable input would be very welcome.

Meanwhile the team is going great guns with clearing the Blythburgh station platform and finding what remains of the original station holly hedge and WW II Nissen hut base - once vegetation work is not possible (bird nesting season) we will start platform and track restoration. The first of our heritage train wagon fleet (a classic SR open with high-curved-ends) is begun, with one underframe completely dismantled for re-gauging: examination of the RNAD wagons bought from Keef's shows them to be of very high quality, mostly with disc wheels, roller-bearing axleboxes, and robust brake gear. More track is laid at our workshop - two-foot-gauge on pressed-steel sleepers, cut in two, and sections welded in for three foot.

 

Some UK railways have the facilities for printing the traditional Edmonson tickets. I know the Bluebell Railway do but have no idea if they offer the service to others. A quick Google search found http://jhmd.cz/services/printing-the-edmonson-pasteboard-tickets. There are about 30 CZK to the £1 so prices start at about 10p each but then there's P&P presumably.

 

This may be of use: https://www.dartmoor-railway-association.org/ma-ticketpress

 

Hopefully this is visible, however a post on Facebook from North Bay Engineering showing Blyth in the light of day ready for transport to testing/Southwold. Looks stunning, well done to all involved!

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1154498328638774&id=222968755125074

 

Fantastic news for the Southwold team

 

From the Facebook link.
Very impressive:

 

Looks lovely!

 

Looks a stunning recreation.

Have Southwold got any trackwork in place for her to run on yet?

Regards

Chris

 

It looks absolutely gorgeous, but on seeing this, I'll admit that a heretical dialogue passed through my mind;
"You'll need "Gladstone""
"What-who's Gladstone? You mean the man who made the bags?"
"'Course you don't know who Gladstone is, do yer?"
"Gladstone's our engine!"

 

I don't think the RVR have announced that one yet!

 

I'd support it if they did!

 

Oughtn't to cost more than, say, the G5. As standard gauge locos go, it was a tiddler.

 

Me too, but only in filmstar mode with sawtooth chimney

 

https://www.southwoldrailway.co.uk/blyth-spirits/

 

Ooh! I've not seen a loco loaded onto a hook loader before.

 

Given the rather poor bus connections between Halesworth and Southwold (i.e. specially when tied into connecting with rail services) such a service might actually be beneficial to both communities. It is relatively difficult to visit Southwold in this way as the council doesn't appear to be interested in integrated public transport.