We have settled into the pattern of regular public running on 2nd/4th Sundays and/or Bank Holiday Mondays but apart from a couple of good days, public support is proving slow to develop. Those that do turn up seem to enjoy themselves and take away copies of the running dates ready to come again but so far with limited success. Clearly we have to do more to keep our existence in the public eye and maybe we need to consider running when a football match is being played and there is more than one attraction on site. Conversely we have been pleased to welcome a number of visitors from other Clubs including Plymouth and Coventry, who have come along to sample our track having seen how we have progressed from our website.

Having recovered the point lever (or point stand) after the Exhibition, this has been mounted on site and a number of trains have used the north loop to extend their trips before returning to the station. Using the loop identified a number of track problems around this ‘new’ curve which have been dealt with, thanks to John Henson’s patient work. He has also suggested some revisions to the station track layout to improve flexibility but these will have to await the non-running season.

We are grateful to the Hartnell brothers for the piped water supply to the station area complete with its own stop valve and meter which makes the operation of steam locomotives (and the provision of tea and coffee!) much simpler on running days. In time this will be connected to the our main building and other key locations around the station. We also have a large water tank by the foot crossing between the Station and building thanks to John Selby’s efforts in construction, transport, and erection and which awaits piping up. Its present location has however caused some comment.

The larger ground area under Club control has increased the maintenance workload, especially grass cutting and weed control. We now have use of a ride-on mower thanks to Don Martin, for which we have cleared a route inside our perimeter fence for access purposes to the whole of the TME area. John Ross, Tony Gosling, and Alan Miller have all had a go at driving it so far! Thanks are also due to Gerry Willis who goes round periodically with his strimmer; Mark Hartnell who turns up at times to cut the grass alongside the track; and various members who have been attacking the weeds – which do not seem to be inhibited by weed barrier! As a result the site is not as tidy as we would like and more help is always welcome.

Mike