The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: Wirskworth to Duffield

It's about time we provided you with a regular thread on the progress on our beautiful line here in the Derbyshire Dales.

First of all, two recent products from our works (i.e. the rather draughty shed at the north of Wirksworth Yard):

W55006 has emerged from a 14-month overhaul, while SK E26157 has just been repainted in preparation for our steam services in May.





In other news, East Midlands Trains are adding Wirksworth services to their Summer timetable for the Nottingham and Derby to Matlock service and expect to see our new posters emerging in stations around the East Midlands:



Plenty to see and do here in Wirksworth and you can always find service and event information at our website The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway while we are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wyvernrail

Neil Ferguson-Lee

 

It is good to see this co-operation between the preserved railway and East Midland Trains - it helps to further the ethos of a genuine public transport facility; especially important these last few days when buses couldn't get through to Wirksworth and the railway has kept going. I hope to use it in May (perhaps even in snow, going by the weather forecasts!), and the dmu/bubblecar service will bring back some happy memories of branch line exploration, even if I don't manage to be there for the visit of the Collett 0-6-2T from South Wales.

John

 

Thank you John,

Don't forget the L&Y 1300 will be coming in July and August as well, so if you miss the Collet, there's another great opportunity in the high summer!

Neil

 

They look great, especially the bubble car, ex-works!

 

A visit to the EVR is high up on my 'to do' list for a visit to the Peak District over the May Bank Holiday weekend - along with Peak Rail, Butterley and Crich. Oh yes, the wife will probably want to drag me off to Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton too, not to mention finding the time to sample the local beers...

Regarding the link with East Midland Trains - has anyone considered a round trip arrangement with Peak Rail and the local bus operator as well?

Cheers,

 

Do think about staying close to he railway in Wirksworth: our website has a very good accomodation guide and there are plenty good places to eat nearby.

I think there is a great deal of scope for cross-ticketing in our area and I'm hoping that we can start to look at that in the not-too-distant future.

 

I should now be heading your way on Thursday 16 May, and I see some services steam that day - presumably 5643. Are the services to Ravenstor worked by separate trains form those to Duffield - times look as though you can run it all with one train?

John

 

It will be a delight to meet you on the 16th! We intend to use 5643 to the max, so you are almost certain to get a ride behind her. We operate Ravenstor as a separate service because there is no through passenger connection between the two lines. It tends to be a single-car DMU (Iris or W55006) or quite possibly one of our Barclay 0-4-0s.

Neil

 

Looking forward to this - can you book through from Derby (where I shall be staying)? This is a line where even the diesels are well worth seeing, but steam is the icing on the cake; or should I say Bakewell Tart?

Best wishes

John

 

You most certainly can book through from Derby, indeed if you are travelling from further afield, provided the booking clerk has the time and inclination, if you tell them that Wirksworth is an EMT fare from Derby, they should be able to sort you our.

The Ecclesbourne Valley offers some great views, due mostly to a very active vegetation control team, while we are working like mad to have a rake of freshly-restored Mk.1s ready for May!

As for the tarts...

Neil

 

A few highlights from this week:

Monday:
The M1M (the Mk1 restoration team) continued to battle with the CK despite not being able to undertake their planned paint of the roof due to Derbyshire's micro climate of snow flurries but concentrated attention on the interior panelling. Allsop enterprises (our ace painter) continued to draw the repaint of the SK to conclusion and Dan finished lining out Henry Ellison (Barclay 0-4-0). There was major surgery to the Class 119 which involved cutting the roof in the brakevan area and rewelding to remedy some damage done when it was residing in a scrap yard. The 119 team also worked to complete the drivers desk with its myriad of electrical connections. The seating so far installed is of an extremely high quality which may prevent passengers ever leaving the vehicle.

Tuesday
The EVRA shop opened in recognition of this service day and Fred & Iris gave the Mess Hall a good clean. The DST prepared No3 (our first Barclay 0-4-0) for its driver experience role on Friday and completed some snagging on Henry Ellison. The Shottle Team continued their good work on the platform reconstruction and the Vegetation Clearance Team made further progress with the access to the platform and thinning out the vegetation opposite the establishment. The PWT divided into two parts with one team beginning to replace sleepers on No1 road north of Cemetery Lane bridge as part of the task to ensure the run round facilities for our visitor in May are up to scratch. Part 2 of the PWT completed all the "legs" for the Duffield platform extension.

The M1M dealt with doors, scraping off surplus interior paint and (lots) of interior panelling renovation together the refitting of vacuum cylinder two as the CK gallops towards completion - a long way to go yet though. The LMSCA concentrated on their Mark 1 BSK with running boards being fitted and much interior varnishing.There is a tremendous amount of energy being put into the project to prepare three good quality coaches to work with the Royal Saloon to form the train to be hauled by our first visiting engine of the year.

More alarming news is that the Class 33 has a major fault that will see it out of commission for some months

Wednesday
The unsung heroes of Shottle feature today as they have achieved some 60ft of course work this week together with 20 to 30 ft of demolition and tidying up to consolidate progress so far. The quality of the work is illustrated in the photo over 150 years after the original construction. The end product will be another structure with a further 150 years of life! The PWT conducted a planned whole line track patrol, completed further work at Cemetery Lane together with the timber work for the Duffield platform extension.

Allsop Enterprises finished off the lining out of the SK allowing for the planned movement of the BSK into the "paint shop". The LCC cleansed the 2 Car set and "Bubble Car" that saw activity over the five day Easter period. The Head of Gardening contended with yet more dog poo to tidy up the station garden at Wirksworth. If the suspected dog passes by when the Head of Gardening is present it will get a very good talking to.

The Booking Hall had encouraging enquiries for the May steam event together with processing on-line ticket sales.

Thursday
The VCT worked on the pedestrian entrance to Shottle and assisted with winning our long running battle over the access. Our neighbour and her solicitor have thrown in the towel after a protracted debate and we are now free to have a logical route to the platform when the station reopens. I do like when a plan comes together!

Allsop Enterprises completed the SK and she is seen in all her glory whilst briefly leaving the Maintenance Facility before returning for application of numbers and crests. I am sure you will agree this vehicle looks very much "ex works".

The PWT concentrated their energies on completing the work north of Cemetery Lane bridge to ensure the run round for our visiting locomotives will be safe. The ground conditions were quite unpleasant as the snow gradually melts making a straightforward job difficult.

The dmu team were in maintenance mode and prepared Iris and the Bubble Car for this weekends services - an unique opportunity to see branch line life from the 60s. The M1M had an active day on the CK with the east side being prepared for painting, luggage rack re-stringing, interior panelling renovated and some welding underneath the corridor floor. I had sadly missed the Filing Fairy's contribution yesterday which, as ever, is so necessary in this day and age.

For those of you interested in steam operations No3 will be active tomorrow on steam experiences, shunting the Yard at Wirksworth Saturday afternoon and gently trundling down to Duffield on Monday with the Works Train conveying materials for the Duffield platform extension.

We have a lot to do to ensure the Collett visitor will be a success.

Friday
A day of gentle pottering around with No3 steamed up for our Buy a Gift guests and undertaking various parts of the now popular Friday Shunt, in this case to Shottle to trip the two Lowmacs back to base.

Down the yard, the Class 31 received attention to its brake cylinders, and is ready for action as Thunderbird 14 (the one with the pan rings and the footwarmers). Nearby, the LMSCA thundered along themselves in the BSK, where new Marmolium was cut for the vestibule floors using a knife which Derek had bought in the Boer War. Meanwhile Andy carried on with the task of turning the compartments into the very model of restoration chic.

Kind regards,

Neil

 

A couple of photographs from today (thank you Richard Buckby)

Barclay 'Henry Ellison' shunts soon-to-be-commissioned 'Brian Harrison' in Wirksworth Yard.



Recently-overhauled W55006 on passenger service at Duffield where EVR services connect with the Nottingham and Derby to Matlock service.

 

A fine pair of barclays

 

Ooh misses! Since the blue locomotive has been lined-out, it looks marvellous.

 

Things are getting busy at Wirksworth this week, especially as the weather is getting a bit warmer.

Mk.1 BSK S34625 has entered our "paint shop" for a repaint to complete its restoration. Before anybody asks, it'll be painted maroon and not malachite green!



Barclay 0-4-0 'Brian Harrison' is steamed and moved to our steam shed. While it was at it, recently repainted SK E26157 was repositioned.



Shottle Station's platform restoration proceeds apace with reopening scheduled for June.
The picture has been taken from the loop that was installed last year. Once Shottle has been reopened, the next task there is to get the loop operational to pass trains.



All the activity with coaches is in conjunction with our steam extravaganza in May. The poster below says it all:



Full details at May 2013 at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

 

Another update from Wirksworth. We are now less than a week from the arrival of 5643 and so just a few days from the first appearance of a GWR engine on our line. There has been a bit of speculation as to whether 5643 will be the first Great Western engine to haul a passenger train in Derbyshire but I shall leave that to the experts!

We are close to completion of several projects to support the engine's entry into service, most notably carriages and platforms.

At Duffield, we are completing an extension in timber to the platform. This will allow us to handle four coach trains with an engine because the run-round is situated in the platform and thus prevents loco-hauled trains using the full length. This has taken our team just four weeks and the results can be seen below:



Meanwhile, since outshopping SK M26157, companion BSK M34625 (originally S34625) has been painted and will be in service next weekend.



The race is now on to complete CK 15849 in time for next Friday when the operating trial will run. Having entered the paint shop late last week, we are expecting the carriage to emerge by Wednesday. Then, coupled to 'Royal' Inspection Saloon 999504, we shall have an extremely pleasant and authentic train to accompany 5643.

More details can be found at our website: http://www.e-v-r.com/may13/

Kind regards,

Neil

 

Oh and here is SK M34625 just after outshopping but before application of numbers and crests:

 

The bubble car looks stunning, although it is a pity that the 'monstrous carbuncle' from its BR days long after green livery was abolished has been allowed to remain. I know it's a tiny point in the big scheme of things but, for me, high intensity headlights on green stock look awful

 

Yes, I can understand your position: ideally we'd go back to the two-character headcode boxes but that's probably a step too far at the moment. There is one big advantage of the light and that is when you're running a night service!

Neil

 

All three Mk.1s have been completed - just in time for the arrival of 5643. Whaddya think?