Updated 21st July 2008
July 2008
This weekend (19th / 20th) saw a good number of visitors on site to view the station garden which was part of 'Kirkby Stephen in Bloom'. We have now collected the remaining mechanical signalling equipment which we purchased from the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway - most of this originally came from Hitchin on the East Coast Mainline. Elsewhere, good progress continues to be made with both the track layout and clearance work for the new Visitor Car Park.
We are very pleased to be able to report that the Holehird Trust, one of the funders associated with the Cumbria Community Foundation, have kindly awarded us a grant of £750 towards a wheelchair / pushchair ramp at the eastern end of the station building. We are most grateful to them for their support.
Good progress continues to be made with preparations for the new visitor car park and it is likely that our Contractors will undertake the work on the car park and wheelchair ramp at the same time.
Inside the building, the ceiling in the second room of our new Retail Outlet has been completed and the initial stages of rendering the walls has begun. Off site, progress continues to be made with the replacement doors and windows and our Contractor hopes to have them all fitted by the end of the month. This will dramatically alter the appearance of the Darlington platform at the eastern end.
Last weekend (28th / 29th June) saw the latest draw in our recently formed '200 Club' at the monthly Volunteers Meeting. The winning numbers and prizes are:
1st Prize. £15. Number 20. Bill Watkin
2nd Prize. £10. Number 15. Mike Pattinson
3rd Prize. £5. Number 23. James Redfern
James has very kindly donated his winnings back to the Company - many thanks James.
Our next volunteers meeting is SUNDAY 3RD AUGUST 3PM in the mess room at KSE. All welcome. This meeting has been put back a week from its usual time as we are at Hartlepool Model Railway Show with our Sales Stand during the weekend of 26th / 27th July.
June 2008
Our AGM was well attended this weekend (14th) and shareholders enjoyed a lovely buffet afterwards courtesy of Donna and Carol. The rest of the day was taken up with trackwork and moving signalling equipment which soon burnt off the calories consumed over lunch. Even 'Rabbit' and 'Quaker' enjoyed the buffet! Our nesting birds are starting to fly and the weather is waming up nicely.
A Wren on one of the Mainline diesels
Last weekend (7th / 8th) saw the last major step in the overhaul of 20 169 with the re-fitting of the roof. Other major progress to report concerns the Retail Outlet where approx. half of the new ceiling in the second room was fitted on Saturday. This should be completed soon and some of the initial rendering work on the walls will begin. Our Contractor is currently busy manufacturing all the new doors (3) and windows (4) and aims to have these in place by the end of July. Work also continues on the track, car park and station garden, the latter in preparation for our entry in 'Kirkby Stephen in Bloom' which takes place over the weekend of 19th / 20th July. The next edition of the newsletter is almost complete and we hope that this will go to press at the end of the week.
20169 with the roof replaced and awaiting removal of the scaffolding
Our next volunteers meeting is SUNDAY 29TH JUNE 3PM in the mess room at KSE. All welcome. |
Phyllis Richardson's green fingers are working hard on the KSE garden
May 2008
This weekend (24th / 25th) saw the first draw of our recently formed '200 Club' at the monthly Volunteers Meeting. The winning numbers and prizes are:
1st Prize. £15. Number 5. Mike Thompson
2nd Prize. £10. Number 20. Bill Watkin
3rd Prize. £5. Number 8. Mike Thompson
We are pleased to be able to report that our Chairman has re-invested his £20 in the Company! Please consider taking a number (or numbers) in the draw (see the '200 Club' page) - after all, it is the best way of trying to ensure that this is the one and only occasion that the Chairman wins a prize! We currently have 26 numbers allocated and the next draw will be held on Sunday 29th June.
We are delighted to be able to inform you that the 'Friends of the Lake District' (FLD) have offered us a grant of £1000 towards Phase 1 of the repairs (stone work on the buttresses / centre pillar and Hydragrit blasting) to the footbridge which carries the public footpath (335008) over the railway approx. 200 metres west of the station. The footbridge is an historical artifact dating from the time of construction of the railway and is believed to be a design by Sir Thomas Bouch. In addition, subject to the results of a detailed survey to be undertaken upon completion of Phase 1, FLD have also offered a further grant in principle of £4000 for Phase 2 of the work which will involve repairs to the steelwork. We are most grateful to them for their support and work continues towards raising the necessary funds to allow Phase 1 of the repairs to commence.
This weekend (10th / 11th) saw a working visit on the Saturday morning from 12 Kirkby Stephen Scouts (and their leaders / parents) who did an excellent job both painting the bases for the new seats in one of our Gresley coaches (60505) and beginning the task of degreasing / cleaning the frames of our Yorkshire Engine Company Industrial Diesel Locomotive (305). Thank you all for your efforts - we hope you enjoyed yourselves and look forward to seeing you again next time.
Freshly painted seat bases for TT0 60505 and a degreased wheel courtesy of Kirkby Stephen Scouts
Our Chairman demonstrating the work in hand for the Scouts
Other major progress to report this weekend is the fitting of the new ceiling in the first of the two rooms which will become our permanent Retail Outlet - a difficult job in very hot conditions!
Views of the ceiling before and after initial restoration work
We are pleased to report that this week (ending 4th May) our Contractors have completed the roof repairs in the second room which will form half of our new Retail Outlet. Other work has also been ongoing in the building and much of the Booking Hall has been repainted in time for our summer visitors - it now looks very smart. On site, the 'Clarty gang' have finished the new drains and they are working very well. Efforts to prepare the area for the new visitor car park also continue and steady progress is being made on the trackwork and signalling equipment.
Next Slide Show: Saturday 10th May in Kirkby Stephen Methodist Hall at 7.30pm. The speaker is Dr. Peter Rodgers who will present 'The greatest railway journey in the world - A look at the route from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley'. Admission is £2 including refreshments at the interval and a free raffle.
Our next volunteers meeting is SUNDAY 25TH MAY 3PM in the mess room at KSE. All welcome.
April 2008
Contractors have recently completed roof repairs in the first of the two rooms which will become our new Retail Outlet. The roof timbers have also been 'de-nailed', so we are essentially ready to fit the ceiling. It is hoped that the contractors will complete their work in the other room this week. Elsewhere in the building, both the Ladies and Gents toilets have been completely repainted and the Ladies has been upgraded with the addition of further facilities.
Cath and Sue: busy at work in the toilets
On site, we are very pleased to report that Class 20 169 has been successfully restarted following its engine overhaul. The drainage gang continue their excellent work and further progress is being made with the trackwork and signalling equipment.
The weekend 12th/13th saw our Sales Stand at the 'Diesel Gala' at 'Locomotion', Shildon and a number of our volunteers assisted on the site over the two days and during the photo charter on the Saturday evening.
Sales stand at Locomotion (Picture: Alan Usher)
Next Slide Show: Our April Slide Show has been put back a couple of weeks from its usual slot and will be held on Saturday 10th May in Kirkby Stephen Methodist Hall at 7.30pm. The speaker is Dr. Peter Rodgers who will present 'The greatest railway journey in the world - A look at the route from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley'. Admission is £2 including refreshments at the interval and a free raffle.
Our next volunteers meeting is SUNDAY 27TH APRIL 3PM in the mess room at KSE. All welcome.
March 2008
We are very pleased to report that the 'Community Enterprise Fund' have awarded us a package consisting of 5 days advisory support and a monetary grant of £8800. This is part of the 'Strengthening Rural Communities across the North West' programme. It is funded by the North West Development Agency and managed by a consortium comprising the Plunkett Foundation and the North West Rural Community Councils. We are very grateful for their support.
The Easter Rally held this weekend (22nd/23rd) was very successful despite all the snow which blocked the A66 for a while preventing some of the exhibits (and our volunteers!) from travelling. Many thanks to all who helped and to the 1200 visitors who braved the weather to come up to the East Station.
We are delighted to report that we have recently been awarded £7810 by Cumbria County Council's 'Community Regeneration Fund'. This money will primarily be used to provide replacement doors and windows for our new Retail Outlet which is scheduled to be complete by December in time for the 'Santa' events.
In addition, 'Rothera & Brereton', a trading division of 'The Paper Company Ltd', have very generously donated £750 towards our new visitor car park.
We are most grateful to Cumbria County Council and Rothera & Brereton for their support.
The March edition of the quarterly Newsletter has just been published. This is available from KSE or, alternatively, it can be purchased by annual subscription.
This weekend (1st/2nd) saw our Sales Stand at Kendal Model Railway Show. It was good to see many old friends and a big 'thank-you' to the local Model Railway Club for inviting us again.
Our next major event is the Classic Commerical Vehicle Rally at Easter which is on March 22nd/23rd and we will need volunteers to help out, so please call in to the station to see what fun volunteering can be.
Next Slide Show: Saturday 29th March in Kirkby Stephen Methodist Hall at 7.30pm. The speaker is John Midcalf who will be showing the photos of John Boyes. These will cover the Stainmore route, the Penrith - Keswick branch, the West Coast Mainline over Shap and the Settle - Carlisle line. Admission is £2 including refreshments at the interval and a free raffle.
Our next volunteers meeting is SUNDAY 30TH MARCH 3PM in the mess room at KSE. All welcome.
February 2008
The slide show 'Open Evening' this weekend (16th/17th) was a great success with 7 different presentations. A big 'thank-you' to those involved and to all our supporters who attended on what was a very cold evening. We fully intend to repeat the event next year. On site, good progress continues to be made with the new drain and the extension to the running line has now been marked out ready for track-laying. In addition, further work has been undertaken on the doors/frames at the eastern end of the station building.
This weekend (1st/2nd) we had a mechanical digger working on site and the trenches for the new drains were excavated. Work has also begun on preparing the ground for the next session of track-laying. The S&T Department continue to progress the equipment required to operate the Switches and Mechanical Facing Point Locks on the passenger line.
Next Slide Show: Saturday 16th February in Kirkby Stephen Methodist Hall at 7.30pm. This is an Open Evening - please bring your own slides - Railways or otherwise - a presenter is available if you would prefer not to show them yourself. Admission is £2 including refreshments at the interval and a free raffle.
Our next volunteers meeting is SUNDAY 24TH FEBRUARY 3PM in the mess room at KSE. All welcome.
January 2008
Many volunteers sucumbed to illness over the Xmas period so we have been a bit thin on the ground at KSE recently.
Next Slide Show: Saturday 19th January by Mark Keefe in Kirkby Stephen Methodist Hall (opposite the Spar shop).
Our next volunteers meeting is SUNDAY 20TH JANUARY 3PM in the mess room at KSE.
Our next major event is the Classic Commerical vehicle Rally at Easter which is in March and we will need volunteers to help out, so please call in to the station to see what fun volunteering can be.
November & December 2007
Keen eyed folk will have noticed that our website has changed. David Houston is working with SRC to redesign our site and make it more user friendly. We hope that you like the new format and will bear with us whilst it is developed.
The slide show season got off to an excellent start in our new venue of Kirkby Stephen Methodist Hall. Mark Keefe gave a great talk using a wide range of archive material from John Birbeck and others showing the Stainmore and Eden Valley lines.
Our Christmas Fayre Event at KSE in conjunction with Cumbria Classic Coaches and Kirkby Stephen Town Forum was a great success. Thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work on the day. There were 28 SRC volunteers of all ages including Santa who got very wet travelling up from the town on his pony and trap. Tom Cowing came over from Hexham to play his accordian on the platform and performed a number of requests for our visitors. Even 'Rabbit' got into the festive spirit with her collar and she also posed for the local press. 'Jones the Steam' (Will Hamer) of Cumbria Classic Coaches enthralled young visitors with stories of 'Ivor the Engine'. Plans for next year are already underway for a bigger and better event.
Below are some views of the event at KSE - for more pictures see Alan Usher's site.
 | Santa in his grotto with elf Jack |
 | Sue & Ellie enjoying the music |
 | 'Rabbit' in festive mood |
Click here for an example of our published newsletter. A subscription is £6-00 per year.
