Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

Has the cause been determined?

 

Our November services were very well patronised, particularly on the catering side. We are now in a two week gap, preparing for the start of the Christmas trains at the start of December, this work includes the installation of vintage style lighting columns, for which the bases have been wired and concreted ready for the delivery of the columns themselves. The bookings already exceed those of last year.

 

The Duffield end of the railway has been disrupted within the last few days by a land slip North of Duffield, not a huge one, but it is in the early stages of investigation. Our Duffield station is closed to passengers until further notice. At the moment the plan is that trains will run down to Shottle, where a second locomotive will come on to "top and tail", and the trains will then run down as far as possible towards Duffield, dropping the second locomotive off at Shottle on the return; this was the pattern last Sunday, and will be repeated at Easter and at the Twin Peaks event over 15/16 April. Visitors intending to come to Twin Peaks by train should consider travelling to Matlock and then using the special vintage bus link from Rowsley to Wirksworth. We are working out the final details, and the event will go ahead. Please think twice about driving to Shottle to photograph the locomotive movements as there is little or no parking, and none on what used to be the station drive.

This is most frustrating after the heroic efforts of our p.w. engineers to complete the track maintenance in time. The catering side are ready for action, especially the mass production of bacon sandwiches and behind platform 2 the Apollo Bar will be selling draught Dron Valley.

 

There will be an open day for potential volunteers on Saturday 3rd June; all are welcome and there will be information stalls manned by the various departments and supporting organisations on the platform at Wirksworth, guided tours around the site, free rides on the Ravenstor incline and a free coffee. There is no obligation to volunteer and all are welcome, but anyone signing up to show a firm interest will be eligible for a free trip to Shottle.

Elsewhere, the bar will be open and there will be a barbecue selling hot food.

 

Steam services with 80080 restart this weekend. The slip appears to be under control and we have a provisional date for re-opening through to Duffield on 10th June.

 

For the benefit of anyone in the Sheffield area is thinking of visiting us, or Peak Rail, there is a new bus service, the X17 from Sheffield to Wirksworth via Matlock

 

A new bus service is a rare thing these days! Let's hope that people use it.

 

Hello! Does anyone know the current status of Hudswell Clarke S102 Cathryn which I believe should be fairly close to completion of its overhaul? Thanks!

 

Possibly going elsewhere for completion of overhaul and use .

 

I contacted the railway - apparently it's moved to Peak Rail for completion and most likely will initially stay there. I'll definitely be heading that way when it comes back then!

 

Did you make the June 10th Re-opening of the full line?
And thanks sleepermonster for your regular updates.

 

Yes we did reopen, after a nailbiting finish ! A formidable retaining wall of concrete lego is has held back the slip and stabilised the toe of the bank. Our P.W. volunteers made a heroic effort to change a further 150 sleepers and the line was declared fit for traffic on Thursday 8th June.

Further work will be required as the clearance between the trains and the new wall is very tight, so in due course the track will need to be slewed towards the other side of the double track formation.

Our thanks go to Slinter Mining of Cromford who supplied the one ton blocks at short notice, and to Whitehouse Construction who did the groundwork and put them in place, but above all to the P.W. gang who worked their socks off in hot weather to meet the deadline.

I hear there will be a formal re-opening next Saturday 17th June.

 

Well Done to all concerned!
I know many people say "It will be ready when it's ready" which is sometimes a bit of a cop out...having a firm deadline does focus the effort and usually results in a nailbiting finish - but at least it is a finish!

 

it may only be a coincidence and the time of year but passenger loadings have definitely increased since we began running into Duffield again. One recent arrival is a vacuum fitted Toad brake van which has arrived from the Mid Norfolk Rly for use on the Ravenstor incline, demonstration goods, and occasional brake van rides on the main line. It is currently ubndergoing light repairs.

 

Our next special event is the Bus Rally, next weekend, 2nd July. This will feature a more intensive timetable on the railway, with 2 train operation.

The following weekend 8/9 July EVRA are holding a new event: a model railway exhibition for the larger scales, Gauge 0 and upwards, based on the Parish Hall and the Memorial Centre in the town. Adults, £6-50.

 

A pity its gone elsewhere before doing any running at the EVR.

 

I wonder how much use this particular design of shunting engine would be for passenger haulage on a railway that's nine miles long?

 

That's half the length of the NYMR and 'Jennifer' managed alright. OK, Jenifer wasn't a PLA type but similar in size.

 

Jennifer was also used on the 22-mile Wensleydale line until she failed.

 

That's a part of the NYMR's history that I missed when I moved away from the area, but I have always been under the impression that the runs Jennifer made were when the line was only open between Grosmont and Goathland, never knew it made it much further, and I thought it only did a few test runs at that, although I do recall Kevin Gould reporting that it steamed very well. It's fascinating to learn that it did more after all this time, please tell us more about the runs it made and what the loads were!