We are spending today preserving yesterday, so you can enjoy it tomorrow.
The Railway is pleased to announce after a great deal of work that Jubilee No 45596 Bahamas will be visiting the NVR from the 4th to the 10th of June.
The locomotive during this time will work a Jubilee Special service on Sunday 5th June as part of the NVR Jubilee event, the locomotive will undertake main line running while at the NVR
Some time ago I put some excellent pictures of the Wansford Box on the blog. Since then I have had requests for more pictures of the internal area.
So here they all are © Matthew Alden Farrow and my thanks to him for the images.
We hope to bring more pictures around Wansford and the other stations very shortly.
Saturday 26th March was a day of not only our Mothering Sunday cream tea service, but also a day of engines large and small
Let’s start with the large, here is the Polish tank engine about to leave Wansford with the cream tea service to Peterborough Nene Valley.
Now we have a mixture of large and small as the Peak 45041 stands at platform two prior to departure and a parade of small steam engines pass over the level crossing
Now a selection of pictures of the small steam engines which proved very popular.
Super weather for a super day.
My thanks to Matt for the excellent images.
Now anybody who has visited Wansford station will have seen the station cottages next door.
But people who have only seen Wansford either via pictures in a magazine or on the net, or via the Wansford webcams may not know what they are.
We are often asked on the cam what they are when they are mentioned during chat. They are outside the view of the webcam.
So here is a picture of the station cottages on a nice sunny spring Saturday.
They are typical railway cottages of the era and the area. Many people comment as to how they would like to live in one and have the trains on their doorstep.
My thanks to Matt for the picture.
Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the railway running the popular cream tea service.
This is one of the regular events on the railway that’s always popular. So we have three runs with a main diesel service and two runs with a steam cream tea service.
The services will be passing at Orton Mere, so nice to see both lines in use there.
If you’re interested in the cream tea service then take a look at the main site for more details.
The Miniature Railway will be holding a Open Day from 10:00 till 3:00pm as we re open for 2022.
The Miniature railway project is fully supported by donations.
Fundraiser for 2022, is to raise funds and complete our Carriage Shed, this will feature three roads to store six carriages, this will be joined to the main running line via a new passing loop to be constructed to allow a two train service something we have found is needed on busy running days. The carriage shed will have brick built sides and concrete floor with a pitched roof, we need to raise in the region of about £1000 to complete this project. To help with fund raising we are pleased to announce our “Pick a number ” competition, entries are £2 each you can pick a bespoke number or numbers subject to availability or a random number will be supplied, the winning number will be drawn at random at the end of 2022, First prize is an original painting by Wrenford Thatcher of 34081 with a freight train at Wansford (The painting can be seen in the Miniature Railway Shop, second Prize is a footplate ride on a Steam or Diesel Locomotive. To enter you can donate £2 via the web page https://nvr.org.uk/product.php/133 or pop along to the Miniature Railway shop and pick your number.
At long last the Swedish Railcar trailer car is at Wansford for final work before it enters service..
Here is a pic of it before it’s run to Wansford.
On the web cam on running days we are often asked when a certain loco will next be running, sometimes we can answer and sometimes not.
Anyway, here in order are the top five asked about locomotives.
Yes I was surprised at first that Thomas was not more asked after, but I presume it’s because it appeals more to children than adults.
So, what would your top five list be? I would love to know, please leave a comment with your list.
Here in the UK the first day of spring is Sunday 20th March, and if all runs as normal it will be a wet dismal day. In other words a typical British start to spring.
Spring also means the railway looks towards the years events.
So what do we have lined up for April?
As well as normal services we have:-
Driver Experience (Sold out) with a steam locomotive
Freight Driver Experience, your chance to drive a class 14 loco and freight wagons.
The Jolly Fisherman (Evening fish & chips while travelling along the line.)
More events planned through the year, so pop along to the railways wed site at nvr.org.uk and see what’s planned. You can book on-line and that goes for pre-booking tickets for standard service days.
If you have any questions that are not answered on the web site then either ring or drop the office an e-mail.
Our General Manager Sarah Piggott has been elected to the Board of The Heritage Railway Association.
