Dates For Your Diary

In addition to the usual timetable we are already planning some special events for 2020 so here are the dates to put in you diary. We would love to see you.

30th 31st May. Model Railway Exhibition.

11th 12th July Oswestry Food and Drink Festival.

11th to 20th September. Heritage Open Days. Note trains run at weekends but the museum will be open all week.

31st October. Ghost Train.

7th 8th December. Santa Special

14th 15th December. Santa Special

21st 22nd December. Santa Special

Other events will be added during the year so keep a lookout for updates.

Until next time.

Halloween

Don't forget the special event this weekend.

Weston Station Progress

The CHR Facebook page has been updated with some progress photos from Weston.

For those without access to Facebook I am reposting them here.

We start looking across from the loading dock towards what will be the platform.

The loading dock will be home to rolling stock to assist with station facilities.

Looking along the loading dock from the stop block.

Now we are looking along the wall at track level of the two sidings.

Ballasting of the sidings is underway.

The office in the goods shed is being made ready for use as part of the facilities and will house displays about the history of the site and railway.

Many thanks to CHR Facebook for the pictures.

Until next time.

Team Tuesday

Team Tuesday had a varied day, working on fencing, logistics and horticulture.  

The site boundaries needed extending and remaking so it was back to the Cambrian Shuffle as panels were moved around and anchored in their new positions.

Norman was on hand with his camera to take a couple of pictures.

We start by sizing up the job to determine where the new fence will go. Then it was moving and shifting time.

The horticultural bit? Well one of the items on the list was to remove a tree that had grown up over the last thirty or so years. It took a bit of planning but as the picture shows we had the 'tree fellas' on hand ready to go.

Thanks to the volunteers and to photographer Norman K.

Until next time.

Llynclys Clearance, Second Weekend

Over the weekend attention was focused on Llynclys to remove excess vegetation and move stock around for better access.

Norman K lead the clearance team along with Mrs K, Miss B and Colin giving valuable assistance to push back a year of growth. Many thanks for performing this task. 

As Norman was pretty busy with the tools Guy took some pictures.  We start with Norman in mid strim taking down the level of scrub hoping to find a long lost Ivatt 2MT.

We did not find the loco but we did uncover future restoration projects for the C&W team.  You can see the saplings that have grown up since the last time this area was cleared.

A theme throughout the day was the level of standing water. Recent rainfall still needs to soak away.

The team continued with cutting back the brambles.

The piles kept growing during the day and will be dried out and burnt later on.

Colin indicates how high up the brambles have grown along the hedgeline.

And then gets stuck in gathering up what has already been cut.

The mounds kept growing during the day.

The weather mostly held during the day allowing good progress to be made.

Although the conditions under foot made you glad to have remembered to wear wellies.

In the yard the loco Alun Evans was out on shunting duty to move stock around for ease of access and future restoration.

Rob and John were the crew.

Thanks to all who participated with the work at Llynclys. Norman thinks that another session will be needed to finish off so keep watching.

Until next time.

Black Meadow Crossing Update

Although not yet finished we would like to share with you the progress on the restoration of the crossing by the CHR volunteers.

Guy and his camera have been out again to record the latest progress.  However we start this photographic journey in December 2016 with the lifting of the weed-ridden track.  

Since then many hundreds of hours have been spent by our volunteers working first on clearing the trackbed, preparing the sub base/materials, replacing the track and then ballasting. Not forgetting the installation of all of the drainage system.

Here is the view from the same location on Saturday. Quite a change.

We will now have have a  tour of the crossing, the  latest photos start with a view of the newly installed access gate.

Here is the gate from the far side of the crossing.

The fencing to the right has also been added.  The site fencing is to prevent people from straying on to the construction site.

Looking along the line to Weston you can just see the current limit of operation on the running line.

The crossing is now in place allowing our neighbour to access their fields. We are very grateful to our neighbours for the support they gave during the rebuilding.

The crossing now has warning signs which now mean something.  It had been a while since trains had run along this section.

The limit of operations will gradually be extended down to the cattle creep, possibly by the time of the Santa services.  The limiting factor is the number of volunteer hours.  If you fancy lending a hand come along and see what we are doing and talk to the team.

Thanks to Guy for the pictures.

Until next time

Forgotten Thursday

Another job ticked off at Black Meadow Crossing was the installation of an access gate. This was done by the Thursday Gang but everyone was so busy that they forgot to take a picture before moving to the next job. Later Guy took a picture of the gate now in the correct position.

There are still jobs to finish off but the list is getting shorter. 

Until next time.

Thursday Gang

It was back to the extension for the Thursday Gang to carry out more lineside clearance. 

On the open side of the track we have been pushing back the years of unchecked growth to the fence line and thanks to the cooperation with our neighbour we have been able to store and then incinerate the cut material.

Norman took the following pictures showing the now open aspect along the line between Black Meadow Crossing and the cattle creep.

We start looking generally south west with the line of poplar trees indicating the start of the gentle curve in to the station site at Weston.

Looking back towards Oswestry under a heavy sky you can see the now fully open aspect along the line.

Andy G was on duty at the bonfire and was joined by some friends, including a very friendly bullock. As well as keeping warm by the fire the smoke also keeps away the flies so the animals tend to gather and then get closer and closer.

Another good day by the volunteers, thanks to all who participated and to Norman K for the pictures.

Until next time.

Short Back And Sides

So would be the standard instruction at the barber's shop years ago and so it was over the weekend as the crew attacked the lineside vegetation at Llynclys. The rain feeds the growth and eventually it threatens to take over. A good haircut was the end result.

As mentioned before the aim is to push back the growth sympathetically to the boundaries, which also helps with maintaining the fences.

So keen were the volunteers that there were no before pictures. Norman took the following pictures of progress during the day.  

The open views will be nicer for passengers and allow us to plan ahead for future work.

So let's run through a few pictures. We start with a conference to decide the next steps.

Never mind losing tools, from the vegetation we might have lost a few volunteers in the undergrowth, luckily the universal hailing message of 'Teassup' brought them running.

Looking better already.

The growth is now closer to the ground and renders visible stock for restoration.

Plenty of raw material to go at, both for vegetation clearance and restoration.

The weather was generally better than forecast with the odd dose of rain.

A view along the line to the South.

The boundaries are being worked on.

Gradually the boundaries are uncovered.

 Look at all that open space!

There are plenty of ideas of what we can do here. Just hands and funds needed!

A very big thank you to all who participated and to Norman K for the pictures.

Next weekend will see further work.  There is still time to join in!

Until next time.

Thursday Gang

Norman took the following pictures of yesterday's outside work alongside the cattle pens.  There was much vegetation to be removed and the area tidied up as part of the campaign to improve the lineside.

We start looking along the loop towards Oswestry station with the vegetation covering the walls.

Noel directs and offers friendly advice on which bits need to be removed. The volunteers offer friendly advice back to Noel.

The team soon get stuck in to removing the growth and making sure that the greenery stays in check.  It's an ongoing process which needs to be repeated annually in order to avoid an overgrown lineside.

After a severe haircut with a chainsaw the team tidy up the debris.

Thanks to all of the volunteers who turned up and to Norman K for the pictures.

Before we go a quick reminder about the Halloween trains running on the 26th October. Bookings are now be taken on the website.

If you can come along and take a ride. You might even have a surprise or two on your journey.

Until next time.

Coming Up

We are now in to the Autumn season and there are lots of things that have happened and planned to happen.

Last weekend was the first track walk from Gobowen to Llynclys with stops for train rides and food. A good group of two legged and four legged walkers set off with the guide and along the route the history and future plans were explained.  Perhaps next time we should issue gardening equipment so that errant bushes could be trimmed along the way.  The weather was very pleasant for the walk and the event may be repeated again to view progress.

Along the way there was fresh ballast seen that has been laid south of Black Meadow Crossing as part of the work to bring the extension to the cattle creep into operation.  Thanks to CHR for the following picture of the works train.

At Weston the ongoing station works were viewed. Down at Llynclys the plans are for the next two weekends to tackle the lineside vegetation. Norman and the crew would welcome support if you want to come and join up.

There is lots going on behind the scenes with paperwork, management and organising events.  Even if you can't offer physical help we can always find a way for you to assist the project.

The events team are busy with Halloween and the Santa Specials. Come along if you can or spread the word.  These are very important events to CHR as they help us through the closed season.  There may even be a few surprises along the way.

We will keep updating the blog on at least a weekly basis, do keep checking back and don't forget the website where you can sign up to the monthly newsletter.

Until next time.