2009 Open Day

Paul Wood reports:
Once Again, I was the first to arrive (apart from those who had stayed over) and straight away we were unpacking the various visiting locomotives. Firstly I had to unpack and reassemble the latest addition to the fleet, ‘Uproar Castle’, which was undergoing trials. This 4 motor version of the Ride on Railways ‘Jasper’ chassis is part owned by myself and Will High and still has some work to finish it off (a body), but I can report it runs very well.

On the Saturday a brand new Maxitrak ‘Alice’ owned by Mike Poole had been on test around the railway running in, it remained on the line for the Open Day. Simon and his friend Stephen who arrived the night before and began to unpack the locos which they had brought, a Abbots Model Engineering railcar, the petrol-hydraulic loco and of course, ‘Tinker’ the 0-4-2ST Sweet Pea. Then at around 10am, the loco we were all so excited to see arrived, a beautiful model of the ex-Penrhyn Railway loco ‘Charles’. It soon made use of the recently modified unloading ramp and we had Charles sitting on shed in Bethesda for the first time in many years, even if it was on a different gauge!

I then took ‘Uproar Castle’ on its first test run to collect the ECS from Moles Hill Tunnel (once we had found the keys that is!). As soon as the stock was back at Stokerton it was organized into 3 sets. Two Passenger sets, one for Tinker, one for Charles and the goods set ‘Alice’ to look after up on the recently re-activated Quarry Siding where it would be undergoing further trials for the day. The major success of the 2009 open day was a frequent passenger train service, with one leaving Stokerton every 5 or 10 minutes when possible. This meant that there was only a short wait for the train waiting to pass it at Moles Hill, trains were able to pass at Moles Hill without requiring a signalman thanks to the hard and well spent efforts of volunteers Mike & Jilly(staying on the Caravan Site) who spent much of their holiday springing the points at Moles Hill so that they were trailable, not only did they do this but they also freed up the Quarry Siding point, helped Dave Mills reinstate parts of Stokerton signal box as well as completing various tasks around the railway. Yours truly acted as Control for part of the day and John Austin the other, this role is especially important now that majority of the points are connected up to the Signal Box (many thanks to Dave Mills for most of this), it’s a long walk for the driver if he needs to do it!

The Highlight of the day for me was a ride behind ‘Charles’, listening to it charge to the top of Moles Hill bank even just on 2 carrs was fantastic.
Not only did the 2009 Open Day have the most locomotives but it was also the most train intensive. It most certainly was the best so far. Most people who came along commented on how enjoyable it was and all I can do is agree with them. I am already looking forward to the next Running day!

William High would like to thank:
Ieuan & Wendy Jones – For allowing us to open their railway
All the people who brought locos
All the Operating Staff
Mike & Jilly – Who spent lots of their holiday preparing for the event
Everyone who attended – For making running the trains worthwhile

Photographs can be found HERE & HERE.
A video will appear shortly, we are currently gathering footage