NVR Wagon Group Updates

Tim

Oh dear, hope Paul gets well soon. I am off to Dorset this week (permanently ) missed you this week. Keep in touch you have my email address. (Newsletter)

Neville

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Hi all,

Thank you for your good wishes, I really appreciate your comments and kind thoughts.

This will probably be my last post on here for a while, as out of absolutely nowhere, my health situation has suddenly become very bad indeed and I do not yet know what happens from here (or at least when).

Once again thank you for your interest and also to Tim for letting you know the situation rather than me just disappearing off the face of the planet! However please bear in mind that as a close personal friend, my situation is also having a major impact on him.

Best regards to all,

Paul Foxwell
NVR Wagon Group.

 

Hello Paul,
Get well soon and a speedy recovery.

Nick

 

In Paul's absence, I note that the following was posted to the NVR Wagon Group FB page yesterday:

"Today was such a massive day in the history of the wagon group. After years of waiting, months of planning and weeks of waiting we finally have a Conflat wagon!

When Tim and Paul saw B507397 come up for sale they knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire a Conflat; and so in true Tim and Paul style they joined forces to make it happen!

Below are a selection of photos from the day which show the wagon collected from Quorn at the Great Central Railway and delivered safely to Wansford at the Nene Valley.

With Tim already owning some containers and having acquired some original securing chains the set is now complete.

Restoration will hopefully commence later this year once our current two vans being restored are in traffic, so watch this space!"

Link here to see the photos: https://www.facebook.com/nvrwagongroup/posts/473185409538105

 

Was sad to see this leave the GCR to be honest, I would have bought it myself if I didn't have enough on my plate already. Good luck with it.

 

Paul Foxwell NVR Wagon Group

Sad to say that Paul had a farewell trip at NVR this weekend. A trip specially organised by many of his friends at NVR. He will be sorely missed and I for one found him so enthusiastic and positive that I realised I had had lot to learn from him. A number of posts have been made on Facebook hopefully this link will work:
https://www.facebook.com/timothy.hobman or this link: https://www.facebook.com/nvrwagongroup/

There are others of course because this event has affected everyone at NVR.

Sad to say I moved out of the area recently and could not be there yesterday but I could not stop thinking about it.

Neville

 

I learned of Paul's situation at the time from CLC, but also second guessed it from the posts on here, so sad for someone so young.

I just hope the NVR Wagonista's can fulfill his dream & in style - but having read the 2nd FB link - £5K for seven wagons?......................... I hope they're in good nick?.............

 

I've only known Paul a relatively short time, and the discussions we had had were unfortunately rendered irrelevant by the incredibly sad recent events. Paul wanted to spend the little time he had left doing the things he loved most, and it was an immense privilege to play a small part in making one of those things happen - and you can see him enjoying his day at AER in some of the photos and videos on the FB links in the earlier post.

When talking about the NVR wagons, Paul had suggested that they were all very 'tired', but it mostly involved a lot of carpentry type work in getting them back to a sensible state.

 

Very fitting that Paul should make his farewell NVR journey on a goods train. Difficult to comprehend how cruel life can be and words seem so inadequate at times like these.
I know he was looking forward to seeing 34081 on a rake of vans again and I feel so sad that although his dream will likely become a reality, he won't be around to see it.

 

I'm sure some of you may already be aware, but Tim has posted the following to the NVR Wagon Group FB:

"It is with the deepest of all sadness that I report the passing of our dearest friend Paul Foxwell.

Following a brief fight with cancer, which he fought with such modesty and dignity, he finally lost that fight at 8.45pm last night. I was privileged to have been with him, and holding his hand at the last, as he slipped peacefully away, surrounded by his family and friends.

There are no words that I can write to expressed the overwhelming sense of loss that I feel at this time; but I can tell you that he was loved by all that knew him, respected by those who worked with him, and admired by the many hundreds who saw his achievements.

When we started the wagon group together, I never imagined that from such a small acorn a might oak would grow; and I must admit that most of the credit for the groups success should go to Paul. His concept of 'Express Freight' has been the cornerstone of the wagon group in recent years and I hope will continue to be so for many years to come.

In the seven years that I have know him, Paul has been closer to me than a brother, and there was rarely a week that went by that we weren't discussing railways or hatching new plans for the wagon group. Many a time we would be texting each other late into the night with wagon related ideas.

I will miss him more than I can comprehend and things will never be the same again. I want to thank you, Paul, for every moment we shared and all that we achieved together; and I will try not to be sad for all those plans we made that will not come to pass. I hope that I made your last days good ones and that wherever you are, you are happy. It has been, and it always shall be an honour to call you my friend.

Tim Hobman
Nene Valley Wagon Group"

 

That is so sad, I believe he was only young, much to young. He has my greatest respect when I was C&W staff at Wansford in the early 2000s I attempted to kick start interest in the wagons, I failed dismally. To achieve what you have all have is amazing, please keep up the good work.

 

Its a shame Paul couldn't tick coming to the MHR to inspect our rake off his bucket list.

 

Just thought Tim & his colleagues would like to know that Paul & his wish to see the MHR wagon fleet cropped up at a recent committee meeting (& no I'm not on it - it came up as part of our weekly report), as for some unknown reason (sic) we've given you guys inspiration - the upshot from the meeting is that Tim - yes you and your small band of Wagonitas pick up the baton & run with it, and achieve Paul's dream & have a wagon rake to try & rival ours............. not the exact wording from the report, but my interpretation & words of encouragement!

 

A sad, sad loss. The NVR family has lost a star. RIP.

 

I'll give Tim a prod to login and read the thread - I'm not sure he checks in here much (he originally joined to pass on the initial information about Paul becoming ill) - the updates here were mostly down to Paul...

Nice touch at NVR today with a wreath on the loco which was later placed in the railway's memorial garden at Yarwell Junction.

 

It was my privilege to attend Paul's funeral last Friday, where there were incredibly powerful and emotional tributes paid to a humble and modest, yet incredibly determined man.

The guys at NVR are determined that Paul won't be forgotten, and, inspired by Paul, I believe the wagon group are now up to six members and intending to see through Paul's vision of the express freight.

If you want to help them - please consider a donation to the Paul Foxwell Express Freight Fund https://www.gofundme.com/nvrwagons

Paul was one of the good guys, and his loss has been felt greatly among his friends and colleagues.

 

Unfortunately I could not be there but have contributed to the fund. I had the pleasure of seeing the work of Paul, Tim, Phil etc. whilst at NVR. Real dedication.


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I'm glad Paul was well respected & given the send off he deserved.

I hope his dream is realised in the fullness of time & hopefully hauled with 34081 at the head - fingers crossed more folks join the group & speed things up! For some reason on the MHR, folks seem to want to play with wagons, I know I do!, but it can be a double edged sword - sometimes there's more bodies than there is work & vice versa..........

As mentioned earlier re the honorable mention - http://preservation.watercressline.co.uk/blog/entry/wagon-group-report-28-june-2016 you need to scroll down to the bottom.

 

It's been a long time since there were any updates from the Wagon Group (it's been a complicated 18 months with several members taking a break from the railway for various reasons, mostly non-railway), but things are happening again, so, having had a chat with Tim while at the railway last week, here is an attempt to summarise the current situation and some of the stuff that has happened along the way.

First the bad news, updates on NP are likely to come via me for the foreseeable future as Tim (who does most of the social media/web admin/etc) just does not have the bandwidth to update NP as well - his priority is the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/nvrwagongroup/) and the NVR in-house magazine. One of us will hopefully try and get the group website updated too (https://nvrwagons.wordpress.com).

The good news is that as a result of my foot-ex last week, I am now a member of NVR until the end of next year, so we are going to try and make use of that to get me involved to some degree in the work of the Wagon Group, so hopefully these updates won't just be rehashes of content from elsewhere.

At the moment, the goods rake consists of the following wagons (not including civils):

B761651 - BR Van (Restored & passed fit for traffic May 2017)
B786075 - BR Van (Restored & passed fit for traffic Sep 2017)
B771300 - BR Van
B785122 - BR Van
B721890 - BR Open
S5869 - SR Open
B797426 - MOD Open
B797430 - MOD Open
B425561 - BR Hopper
B427960 - BR Hopper
B430226 - BR Hopper
B431725 - BR Hopper

B953944 - BR Std Brake Van
S55550 - Southern Brake Van

The following wagons are currently undergoing work:

B759852 - BR Van (This wagon had been restored and in traffic, but has been failed due to an issue with the tyres. Fortunately there are spare wheel sets at Overton which will be brought down and fitted to get it back in traffic. Whilst out of traffic the team have taken the opportunity to give it a complete repaint.)

B768248 - BR Van (This wagon is nearing completion - the doors are done and three of the four side panels have had lower planking replaced, varnished internally and painted externally. The wheel sets have been checked and are OK, and this should be good to go once the fourth side panel planking has been done.)

Over the last year or so we have also managed the following:

Paul & Tim purchased Conflat B507397 (which will eventually carry the containers Tim already owns) which Paul was able to see on the railway on his final visit. Wagon and containers all need significant restoration.

A plaque was erected in the the garden of remembrance at Yarwell in memory of Paul.

Tim worked out how to make patterns, silicone moulds and then resin casts of wagon plates to replace those missing from the wagons. Moulds have been made for all of the Wolverton built wagons and Tim has moved on to the Pressed Steel Co Ltd.

The group attempted to provide an evening Freight Experience (shunting and freight haulage with 92 Squadron), but unfortunately the event did not take place due to a lack of participants. We will probably revisit this in the future having reviewed the offer/price/etc. Feedback or suggestions for improving the event would be most welcome.

And finally, we have passed the half way point on the Paul Foxwell Express Freight Fund (https://www.gofundme.com/nvrwagons) which is enabling the group to press ahead with work on wagons as fast as we can manage. All donations gratefully received. If the target is met, it should be sufficient to get all of the BR Goods Vans restored and back in to traffic.