After last night’s thunderstorm, the trackbed and station were very wet on Monday morning- but two intrepid volunteers braved the mud in the afternoon, and – after three hours’ work, have pretty well completed the turning area. This is a
As we are not allowed (yet!) to rebuild the railway, we have been getting in a bit of practice. Or so it would seem. In fact, the large amount of activity this week is more mundane – the SRT needs
On Wednesday March 23rd, soon after hearing the news that the Inspector had turned down our Appeal at Wenhaston, Trust volunteers showed their support by turning out in large numbers: fourteen volunteers (and on a weekday!) is one of our
On Friday March 11th, the Trust’s Appeal (to be allowed to start rebuilding the railway at Wenhaston) was dismissed. This did not come as a great surprise, given the breadth and power of the anti-railway lobby. We feel that it
While the Trust awaits the decision on our Appeal at Wenhaston, we have not ignored the rest of the Blyth Valley. Application has been made with Waveney District Council for a workshop, visitor centre, skills centre, demonstration track, and a
On Monday, our Chairman went on another odyssey in Barford’s Merc. Sprinter – this time to Swanscombe in Kent – to collect eleven 15-foot lengths of 35lb rail, and fittings. Getting the large vehicle into the drive, past cars parked
On Wednesday February 10th, the Rolling Stock Group manhandled, with some difficulty, the main sub-frame of the underframe of Open Wagon 41 into place over the rails. Using the convenient sleepers (SR 6” x 3” x 72” are useful for
During the darkest and coldest days of winter, Trust volunteers continue to brave elements and minority grumblings alike. The Rolling Stock Group has been painting the underframe sections for Open Wagon 41, and refitting the axlebox bearings, ready for its
Wednesday January 27th was, luckily, nowhere near as wet as forecast (they don’t call this the Sunshine Coast for nothing!), so we were able, with a large and enthusiastic team, to split into three. Before that, we collected two large
The Southwold Railway Trust can look backward to 2015 as a good, but hard, year of consolidation. Our volunteers spent almost six months on two efforts – firstly, works to enable the boundaries and access on the Wenhaston land, including