History Made! / Dinmore Manor Fire & Drive / 2nd Volunteer Recruitment Fair

Dinmore wearing her Shareholders Special headboard

On Friday 31st March, it was a Fire & Drive day, but with a difference! It was arranged as a thank you from Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd to all the volunteers who had put work into keeping 7820 running, starting work on 3850 and to those starting the journey on 2874.

16 of us were booked in to experience firing and driving Dinmore - and for a few (myself included) it was made extra special as it would be the first time we had ever done anything like this.

Although a little rain had fallen early morning, it certainly didn't put off a handful of volunteers going in extra early to help with preparation and cleaning. Ray, who was the chief fireman for the day, captured these shots of a couple of the early birds getting stuck in.

Mark oiling up the necessaries

Dinmore Manor receiving a bit of a clean beforehand

When the loco was ready and 'parked up', it was time for breakfast in the Flag & Whistle cafe. They - (who are "they", anyway?) - say an army marches on its stomach - but what about a small army of locomotive enthusiasts? Well we were treated to a full English and lots of tea/coffee. One fried egg, a sausage, two rashers of bacon, hash brown, fried bread, half a tomato, and some beans or different combinations thereof. Delicious.

Has anybody seen Keith today?

Everyone enjoying their breakfasts.

After the leisurely breakfast it was time to pick up our packed lunches and get ourselves changed into footplate attire if we hadn't already. On walking out of the doors we were greeted by the sight of Dinmore quietly simmering away, right opposite the cafe - a perfect bit of positioning!

I hope there's enough money in the meter.

The first on the footplate was myself and Sam P - From Toddington to Winchcombe, Sam would be driving, whilst I would be firing. Then we would swap over duties from Winchcombe to Gotherington, at which point the next pair would take over and so on. We were shown the ropes by Mark Y (driver) and Ray (fireman). Ray managed to snap this pic just as we were leaving Toddington.

Sam on the regulator, me on the shovel.
I'm so excited that my patches are glowing!

I had happened to buy a nice new pair of gloves for the occasion - my old ones were oily and grubby. It just so happened that they were pink, but by the time the day had finished they were certainly a lot less pink than before!

I had never done any firing before today and although I am usually right-handed, it was noted that I was using the shovel in a left-handed manner. It's what seemed to come most natural, but that may change when I develop more of a technique. I was amazed at Ray's ability to put coal in 'ole without the shovel ever going inside the firebox - he flings it in and it goes exactly where he intended it to - very impressive!

At Gotherington, Sam and I swapped with Keith and Angela who would take us on to Cheltenham Race Course.

Whilst there we had a short coffee and tea break as David H had very kindly agreed to open up the shop on the platform. The hot drinks were very welcome as it had threatened to rain again once or twice during the morning, and on the trip back to Toddington we would be running tender-first - rather more cold and breezy than running in the traditional direction. 

A small group of us were invited into the Signal Box at Cheltenham by Neil C who gladly showed us how it all works, even letting us have a go at changing the signals ourselves.

Having a go on the levers

All set to leave (I think!)

Back at Toddington after more driver and fireman swaps, we were treated to much of the same, again seeing how all the signals work and having an opportunity to try it out ourselves.

A rather more complex arrangement in the Toddington signal box

It's got bells, but I'm not sure about whistles

The group of us left the signal box (hopefully) knowing a bit more than we did before. While crossing the tracks (carefully and cautiously at the designated crossing point of course) we saw that Dinmore had been able to make her way from one end of the rake to the other, thanks to our signalling.

The black Manor has been able to run round due to our signalling attempts!

It was then time to join the rest of the group for the 2nd of a total of 3 trips. On this trip at Winchcombe we would be treated to a full tour of the very impressive Carriage and Wagon works.

A railway is as reliant on its carriages as it is the powerhouses that pull them along - they allow the public to come and experience the bygone era of steam travel and immerse themselves in the sounds and smells. One without the other on a heritage railway is of little use, and would really just be a static exhibition - far from the mark of a 'living museum' which so many heritage railways are today.

The newest part of the building was completed fairly recently, being built as the result of a legacy. It's a very clean, modern, and bright complex, which, alongside the other departments, help to cement the railway's smart image and reputation.

The new facilities enable them to turn out fully restored/refurbished carriages such as W3132 shown below:

Freshly painted W3132

The department make good use of their new space - when the room in the above photo is not being used as a paint shop, it is being put to good use by enabling the team to work on other areas of the carriage, such as the interior:

The interior of W3132 is in progress

This is a First Class carriage with extra plush upholstery and up-to-date LED lighting. Although the C&W department have their own in-house upholstery department, the large First Class seats were upholstered elsewhere due to their size. Despite this most of the jobs associated with carriage restoration are all carried out in Winchcombe with very little being outsourced - incredible when you consider that the railway is, as you probably know, run almost entirely by volunteers. 

When Broadway opens next year I believe there is a requirement for more carriages - meaning lots of work, with the steady stream of carriages awaiting attention gradually making their way through the workshop. 

Here's one they made earlier, vs one that's still in the pipeline

They even deal with Goods Vans like the one below.

It didn't look like this a year ago! Built in 1945, plywood was
originally used in this van due to the wartime wood shortage.

Owned by Cotswold Steam Preservation group that look after 2807,
Siphon-G (to the right of the photo) sits amongst some other
carriages. Originally intended for carrying fruit and vegetables,
in the war it was used as a hospital coach.

The upstairs portion of the new building comprises the upholstery and woodwork departments.

Restored door in the foreground, while an old door awaits attention
on the table next to it

After the tour and a lunch break, it was back to Toddington to get ready for the final round trip of the day.

Amber drives out of Toddington on the last trip, under Mark's guidance
Photo courtesy of Ray

Group Photo at CRC.

All in all, it was a very memorable day - thanks to those who took time out to show us their departments, thanks to Mark and Ray for showing us all the ropes (or should that be regulator and shovel?) and thanks in particular to DML Ltd for inviting us all onto the footplate of their beautiful flagship loco.

If you've been thinking of getting involved too, you may have been at this weekend's 2nd Volunteer Recruitment Fair which took place on 1st and 2nd April. At the first fair 2 years ago, the railway as a whole attracted almost 100 new volunteers - myself included! As the railway expands there will be a need for more and more volunteers to help keep the railway going - events like this will hopefully attract the numbers needed.

The car park was jam-packed with visitors (and volunteers!)

The Steam Dept threw open its doors and hosted representatives from all areas of the GWSR. There were also two locomotives on display - 2807 and 7903 Foremarke Hall. Those interested in volunteering were invited up onto their footplates and shown round by a friendly Steam Dept member.

Paul speaks to a prospective volunteer while
up on Foremarke's footplate

It got quite busy at times

With the DP Shed being one of the main bases for the fair, naturally the steam loco department was very well represented with many volunteers on-hand throughout the day.

Angela chats to a gentleman about 7903.

a shutter is opened to show off Foremarke's fine paintwork

Dinmore Manor Ltd's stand looked great in front of the GWSR's vast collection of colourful headboards:

A fine collection of headboards

Early indications show that 190 prospective volunteers visited during the weekend, whilst 44 have already signed up to join. If you're reading this - welcome to the GWSR!

Due to people milling around the shed, work was of course confined to those areas off-limits to the public (for obvious reasons). While they weren't in the shed, Keith, Mark, Will and Kate were busying themselves by making as much noise as possible on 3850's boiler - needle gunning and generally hammering to get rid of as much rust as they could.

Mark (l) and Will with their recently removed rear smokebox ring

Kate and Will hammer away

I found Keith Smith inside the boiler, needle gunning the crown stays:

Keith hard at work

Although working in relatively dark, confined, and noisy conditions, being inside a boiler gives you a unique perspective and outlook on the world - and also allows you to get creative when the feeling strikes you. Of course there's a need for a camera and it helps to have a decent view. Luckily, all those boxes were ticked on Saturday and he managed to shoot this masterpiece:

Perfection - Toddington Signal Box superbly framed

Out in the yard, there wasn't an awful lot going on, but 35006 was out and looking particularly lovely in the warm spring sunshine.

35006 catching some rays

On closer inspection, she was having some work done on what will be the electrical system for the smart brass lamps that she is normally seen sporting. I can't wait to see them lit.

Electric lighting in progress

Now, the part you've all been waiting for - History Made!

A historic moment occurred late on Friday of the 31st day of March, 2017. 

Dinmore Manor had the honour of propelling an engineering train from Toddington out to Peasebrook, thereby becoming the first steam locomotive to traverse that section of our line in around 50 years.

Dinmore sits at Peasebrook with an engineering train
Photo courtesy of Ray

Then, 4 days later, (4th April) 7903 Foremarke Hall decided to get in on the act too and join Dinmore for some attention. Photo courtesy of Neil Carr.

4 days later... a wild Hall appears!

The other locomotives will join them both in due course, of course - and when we get to Broadway, it will all start again - which will be the first loco to steam into Broadway, I wonder? 

I can't answer this question but what I can tell you is that now it is a certainty that trains will be running to Broadway in 2018! This evening at about 8:30pm it was announced on social media that the BROADWAY LAST MILE APPEAL has passed the target of £1,250,000!

What an achievement - thanks to all supporters and investors who have dug deep to fund this ambitious scheme. However there is still just under a month to go until the share issue closes, and with the earthworks on the approach embankment costing a bit more than budgeted, any extra share purchases and donations will help to offset the extra costs involved.

Once again thank you to all involved - see you in Broadway!

This week's timetable:

Wednesday 5th April: Blue (7903 FOREMARKE HALL) 

Sunday 8th April: Green (loco tbd) 

Saturday 9th April: Green (loco tbd)

Tuesday 11th April: Blue (loco tbd)