The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: Wirskworth to Duffield

Have a word with the guys at Llangollen Railcars - that's the kind of thing they do in their lunch break.

Aww, piffle. Railways coped perfectly well without them for 160-odd years and it's not like you're belting around like main line services. Other preserved lines run night services without 'em. There's always the unit's lamp brackets and a portable headlamp if it's that important!

 

Nah, sorry but we'll stick with what we've got if you don't mind. I think we managed for longer than that without antibiotics but I think I'd pass on that particular bit of heritage!!

In the meantime, we have a rather large kettle to contend-with...

 

I know that the Ecclesbourne doesn't run at 100mph but high intensity headlights are part of the huge improvement in railway safety over the years. Although heritage railways are trying to recreate the past, I don't think anyone wants to recreate the appalling safety record for workers - at the turn of the 20th century nearly 500 railway workers were killed each year (1900 to 1913 average 485 deaths per year). Even in the early 1960's there were still over 100 railway worker deaths a year - in the 2011/2012 year it was down to a single death - see page 7 of this report - http://www.rssb.co.uk/SPR/Documents/ASPR_2011-12_Keyfactsandfigures.pdf

 

I have to say that when it's your train and it's your railway, even at 25mph things loom out of the darkness pretty fast at night! We use all the lights we can get if we're running in the dark.

 

The relevance of the DMU high intensity headlight in the heritage railway environment has been reduced. The brighter light was intended to improve lineside workers' chance of seeing the train rather than necessarily drivers' chance of seeing the workers. Being a volunteer and essentially a beefed up "happy amateur", I wouldn't like the idea of working on the track etc after dark, and would be surprised if we had heritage railways who did so regularly while trains were running. These important differences in railway practice makes any claim that we're returning to the 19th century safety records questionable. There will clearly be other factors such as signalling improvements to also consider if we're comparing the 19th & 21st centuries.

At 25mph or 100mph, in most cases even with the brighter light you wouldn't be able to stop in front of many obstructions. I would say, having done night runs with and without a hi intensity light, that at 25mph any obstruction would come flying into view too fast to stop in front of. As has already been mentioned, if a headlight improves a driver's own confidence, it isn't a biggie sliding a mainline standard portable light on the front for after dark operations. This can be easily used whilst also maintaining historical accuracy, keeping both camps happy. Its not like we run trains in the dark 100% of the time.

A DMU's front end character is changed hugely when a 1990's headlight is removed and a pre-1970's box added. Many DMU' were never fitted with the headlights in the first place and such units have operated on reputable heritage lines for 40 years without incident. A major cab end bodywork overhaul is the perfect opportunity to make the green livery externally correct.

 

OK, thanks for the advice.

MEANWHILE...

5643 completed a test run with our full rake of coaches today. The whole train left Wirksworth around 11:25 this morning and, with several stops to check stopping positions etc. returned to Wirksworth a couple of hours later.

Please excuse the quality of the video below; it was done with a small hand-held camera because I wanted to get some images of 5643 in action before the weekend.



To get this to happen, it involved:

1. Repainting one carriage, the SK;
2. Restoring two others, namely the BSK and CK (recently arrived from Kineton);
3. Providing a two-coach timber extension to the platform at Duffield;
4. Provision of a decent water supply at Wirksworth.

5643 will be in service all this weekend and on selected weekends and most weekends until 19th May. Remember, you can get to our railway by taking the EMT Matlock service to Duffield and you can even buy through tickets.

Full details can be found here: http://www.e-v-r.com/may13/

The railway will be extra steamy with both our Barclays in service on the Ravenstor line and around Wirksworth Station.

Kind regards,

Neil

 

Will 5643 be out working passenger trains again this weekend ?

Thanks, in advance

 

Yes, 5643 is working this Thursday, the weekend and the following week and weekend as well.

 

Good evening: a bit of an update for you.
Crikey – what a weekend!
5643 arrived a few hours late on Wednesday after being delivered by mistake to another railway just a few miles north of Wirksworth. Of course it’s not quite straightforward to do a diversion and the convoy had a long detour taking-in much of Derbyshire.
A gauging run on Thursday was successful, as was a dress-rehearsal on Friday with the rake of newly-restored Mk.1s in tow. The platform extension at Duffield meant that the train fitted perfectly.
The weekend was staggering: our turnover was the highest on record and many trains were full. At Wirksworth, Barclays ‘Brian Harrison’ and ‘Henry Ellison’ were running services: one giving brakevan rides in the station limits and the other operating the Ravenstor shuttle on the 1 in 30 from the station.
One nice anecdote: on the Saturday, the Derby – Matlock service arrived at Duffield while 5643 was simmering in the headshunt my the main line. “Good morning” we said to the guard, “do you have any passengers for us?” we enquired. “Any?” he replied, “they’re ALL for you!”
Below are a couple of snaps from the weekend which was boosted by the wonderful weather.


Meanwhile, as things have calmed-down, the LMS Carriage Association have returned to restoring they Brake Third Open and Gloucester Cross-Country unit W51073 is now in the paintshop.
5643 will be operating this Thursday, at the weekend and then the following Thursday and weekend, so there are still quite a few opportunities to get a 16-mile round trip in beautiful countryside with a real destination at each end.

 

I'm planning a visit this weekend with my nephew, looking forward to sampling 5643 from Wirksworth, is there likely to be steam on the incline as well?

Thanks

 

Pete, I think it's just steam on the main line this weekend but if that changes I'll let you know straight away.
Neil

 

I was there on Bank Holiday Monday and again yesterday, both very good days.
Pics are here - http://www.steampics.com/html/evrmay2013.html.

Tim.