7903 Foremarke Hall & 2807 stand on shed at Toddington - 23rd August 2024
As some of you know by now, I recently started a new job on the 'big railway' working in ticket offices at various mainline stations in the Worcestershire area. If I had to come up with an acronym for my job, seen as the railway is rather partial to such things, it would have to be HTVM, otherwise known as a 'Human Ticket Vending Machine'. To say that there is a lot to learn would be a bit of an understatement, and it's slightly more involved than simply 'pressing a few buttons' as one or two impatient passengers seem to think. Sadly, I've yet to receive any enquires for Cheltenham Racecourse or Toddington, although the elephant in the proverbial room is of course the missing track work. Mind you, as we're all very much aware, this is a rather sensitive subject and well beyond the scope of this particular blog. We can but dream!
I have to say, though, that my new employment certainly isn't boring... and speaking of boring, we must talk about 7903. Now I must stress that Foremarke Hall is far from boring, quite the opposite, but the reason for the aforementioned word will shortly become very clear when you read on further (before there are any comments of concern).
7903 Foremarke Hall & 2807 stand on shed at Toddington - 23rd August 2024
Time to hand over to John for an update.
You may have noticed the absence at Toddington of Foremarke Hall recently. She has also been reported on social media as sitting at Bridgnorth on the SVR. The reason for this is the SVR Engineering team are boring out the two cylinders as they have become badly worn and she kept breaking piston rings. As I write this on the 11th, the left hand side has already been completed and the boring bar was being set up first thing today, so the right hand side will soon be underway.
Our thanks go to Will Marsh and his team for their prompt assistance on this project.
Sat
at Toddington with piston’s removed - Photo courtesy of John Cruxon
Ready for the short journey to the Severn Valley Railway,
Bridgnorth - Photo courtesy of John Cruxon