Thompson Park Miniature Railway, Burnley, Lancashire, UK

Narrative by Bret Harrison, Track Maintenance.

Pictures by Bret and Richard Walker, Society Chairman

Welcome to our June 2024 newsletter. Most of the month we have been waiting for summer to arrive though we have had one or two good running days in the sunshine which were most welcome. As usual there has been a lot going on however and I detail the latest things we have been about.

 We decided to bite the bullet and construct a semaphore signal at the junction between the mainline and the entrance to the sheds after coming up through the woods, not only would this make it easier for returning trains after use instead of reversing back from the mainline but would also give us a short diversion line if we need to close a section of track in front of the sheds for work to be carried out. It is something we have been deliberating over for some time as we need to be mindful of security from unwelcome visitors to the park it has to be built with the important top hamper able to be taken off for overnight storage.

 To this end we asked one of our new young recruits, Jack if he would like to use this project as part of his GCSE qualifications. He and his tutor agreed, and Jack is in charge. We will help him as we can and to this end the groundwork has been already done with Jack involved. A square section metal post to hold the main post being postcreted into the ground in a block base. the project is ongoing.

 Grass and vegetation encroachment close to the track is a problem at this time of year and we have to deal with this the best we can, we have been renovating an old petrol powered strimmer with a metal rotary vertical blade which should cut the edges back from the track when we manage to get the thing working properly!!! Our track crew cannot look after the track and do the grass cutting as well so any help would be appreciated.

 We had a request from Heasandford School regarding bringing their reception classes into the park for a day out and could we provide them with a train for the children to ride as part of their day out. We were very happy to do this and as the school is only a short distance from the railway the children walked down to the park.

The teachers had organised them into different groups doing different activities and judging from the noise they were making all over the park they had a whale of a time. We too enjoyed having them with us and it was great for us to see them enjoying themselves. Particularly good for John D. who works on P Way with me as we both went to Heasandford school all those years ago.!!! We would be open to other schools doing the same.

Our railway gardens and tubs at the station are thriving thanks to my wife who created them and enjoys looking after them. As they were created from waste areas, we are very proud of them providing the colour that they do. John D. who built the wall in front of the big garden has provided and planted plants from his allotment in the gardens and is also active in maintaining the gardens and so a big thanks to him.

Regular train riders may have noticed that our 3-car articulated coach set now has a fourth red car at the rear. It is running as a single car right now but eventually will form part of another 3-car articulated set a member has been building

 I thought I would indulge myself and write some information about our track maintenance crew as I work on the crew, we number 4 at the most, being commonly referred to as permanent way the track is often taken for granted but without it there would be no railway. In fact, the track is anything but permanent, it is dynamic, it moves laterally and vertically, It is very subject to temperature changes. Sleepers need replacing, and the track levels need to be maintained and fish plates renewed and greased which we do as a matter of course. It needs constant never ending maintenance.

The pics below show the Rogues gallery of crew and works train. The crew as you can see are all very handsome fellas. The works train carries all the kit we need on a normal basis, If we have as bigger heavier job on we have Thunderbird 2, our dumper truck at our disposal. Our dumper truck is a Dennis powered by a very reliable Honda engine. T2 has had a hard life and has suffered from one or two little er! incidents in the past but keeps going. We would be in a bad place without it.

The last wagon in the train is our latest addition, it is a 4-wheel chassis to which we have fitted a petrol powered generator to provide mains power wherever we need it. The next to last wagon carries ballast for spot jobs where we have been working but the dumper truck is needed for bigger reballasting jobs. The bogie wagon carries the rest of our kit including new sleepers and battery-operated tools.

 The track is 6lb flat bottom rail exactly like the big railway stuff but smaller. It will last a long time. the sleepers are 3×2 round edge tanalised timber from long 3 metre lengths which we cut ourselves. We also make our own fishplates which are steel strips which hold the lengths of track together with 4 bolts. The ballast we get from a quarry in the Dales.

I hope that did not bore you too much, but I just thought I would give an insight into a little known aspect of any railway.

 All our members are volunteers, and no one is paid. Our modest fares are ploughed straight back into the railway to further grow and maintain it. We are always happy to meet new possible recruits so feel free to come down and see what we do without any obligation., Just ask anyone of us.

 Please do come down to the park and take a ride on our little railway, I am sure you will enjoy it. The Park itself has several other attractions such as the boating Lake where boats can be hired, a state-of-the-art kiddie’s playground and for those warm, sunny days? a kiddies paddling pool as well as nice walks around the lake and sunken Italian Gardens.