Thompson Park Miniature Railway, Burnley, Lancashire UK

November 2024 Newsletter

Narrative by Bret Harrison, Track Maintenance Dept. Pictures from various members.

Once again welcome to our November 2024 newsletter. As always, a very busy month for us with lots of things going on.

   Our new ballast wagon which 3 members have built from scratch is now complete and has entered service last Wednesday for the first time. it is quite big, and we have always held a nagging doubt about the ability of our usual loco Excalibur to haul it. To this end we split the body of the wagon to one third and 2 thirds, The larger part for ballast and the smaller part for the larger tools which we need. We hedged our bets here by making the partition removable. This meant that we could drop 2 4 wheel wagons from the train, one carried the tools, the other ballast. In the event with a loaded new wagon with, we estimated, 3 quarters of a tonne of stone Excalibur did very well on a dodgy rail which was just recovering from morning ice… So, Happy days!  the wagon will be a big boost for us meaning that we do not have to return to re-fill mid job. 

In the month we assembled our new semaphore bracket signal we had made. The top hamper is removable for storage when the railway is closed. It should be a big help when trains are returning to the sheds for disposal after running. At present they run past the sheds and then reverse into the shed to the turntable, they will now just run straight in. At least they will when the next job is completed.

The next job I alluded to in the previous paragraph is described here. The first pic shows the area where we had a catch point fitted. It was biased spring loaded to derail any runaway and was there to protect the main line. It was possible to run into the loop from the main line, the wheels of the train pushing the switch over, A derailment meant the offender was sitting on the earth, so we decided to change this over to a runoff with a buffer stop end. This involves rebuilding the turnout with 2 switch rails and a crossing nose. The turnout will still be spring biased to the runoff for protection but with an ability to be switched for a train to depart the loop if required. The work continues, the pics showing the location and the turnout undergoing rebuild. After it is relocated, we will lay the track runoff.

STOP PRESS :

The point is now in position, partially connected and forty feet of new trackbed has been prepared and ballasted.

Several of our members are also members of Pendle Forest Model Railway Club and it was their annual show in Colne on Nov 16/17 and we as usual had a display depicting what we do on the Thompson Park miniature railway. We also had a member’s portable track running down a corridor with a battery electric loco and coach giving free rides for the visiting public. A members privately owned steam locomotive Red Dragon which is based on our railway and regularly runs was the centrepiece of our display and we took the opportunity to hand out leaflets explaining what we do on the railway to the public. Many people said they were already regular riders on the railway which was pleasing… Who knows? hopefully we may get a volunteer or two to join the railway from this.

Track wise we have completed our restoration of the inner and outer main lines at the front of the sheds running round to the colour light signals at the station throat. Sleepers replaced where necessary, all the sleepers have been refitted with securing screws, all the fishplate joints replaced, and all the sleepers oiled. The crew do not want to see a track screw again for a while, each panel takes 100. A lie down in a darkened room was necessary after the work. Oh!  and copious amounts of tea (and coffee John !!!)

Nov 27th saw Heritage Painting collect the 3 parts of Union Pacific no.6659’s body for the repaint to be carried out. It should be done by Christmas, but they are kindly storing it till the Spring for us. She will not be a UP when she comes out of the paint shop??????

November saw one of our younger members win an award from the National 7.25 Gauge Society. Mickauley Myers has been with the railway a long time and thoroughly deserves the award of Junior member of the year. Well done, Mickauley!   

Our Santa event takes place on Sat Dec 7th and Sunday Dec 8th from noon till 2pm. Bring the children to meet Santa and receive a gift at this lovely event and the Railway would like to wish all a very Happy Christmas and New Year and we hope to see as many as possible next year when we open again for the season at Easter.

Chairmans foot note – our website had received 17,647 views with 6,141 visitors up to mid-November 2024 whereas last year 2023 we had 11,579 views with 4,554 visitors, I must thank Martyn for all his help in making this so successful. Thanks also to Emily who has been proactive with other media platforms throughout the year.