Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

MillersDalestation

building becomesacafe

LeightonBuzzardcrossing safety

improved by Network Rail staff

NETWORKRail volunteers have

helpedinstal lmodern safety

features at alevel crossing on the

LeightonBuzzardRailway.

Ateam of six staff usually based

in Network Rail’s Milton Keynes

office, spen tthe dayfitting an anti-

trespass guardatalevelcrossing.

Thesix volunteers were Andrew

Robinson, capacityanalysis project

manager; EmmaWalker ,senior

network analyst; and network

analystsLuke Little ,MikeGregory,

Paul Farmer andFred Noble.

Andrew said:“Itwas greattobe

able to get out of the officeand

spend some timeworkingtogether

in adifferentenvironment, while

also giving some useful helpto

alocal heritage organisation.It

seemed particularly appropriate

thatwewereable to improve

their levelcrossing safety, given

Network Rail’s ongoingfocus

on this areaforthe national

network.We’re verygrat eful to the

volunteers at the LBRforgivin gus

this opportunity.”

TheLBR’s Mike Bowleysaid:“Our

regularvolunteers were pleased

to host and supervise our Network

Rail visitors whowere able to

tackleaphysical and meaningful

task andcompleteittoahigh

standard. During the day, factors

such as levels,gauge ,check rails,

clearances,rail fastenings and track

supportweredemonstratedtot he

visitors,all of which arerelevant

on thenational network.The LBR

waspleasedto hostthe volunteers

from Network Rail.”

asuccess and also thankthe owners
of the engines whosevisit hadto be
cancelled,for their understanding.”
As highlightedinHeadline News,
pages 8-9,anational£250,000
appealto ra ise fundstowards
relaying partoft he trackover the
coming wintermonths and so
raisingthe line’saxle loading again
so heavier visiting locomotives can
be run, hasraised morethan afifth
of the target so far.
However, moreresourcesare
needed,and WSR plc chairman

JonathanJones-Pratt has writtento

all shareholders asking themto buy

moreshares or,ideally if theyare UK

taxpayers,make aGiftAid donation

to the association or trust instead –

as charities they can claimGiftAid

and forevery £100 donated, the

Governmentgives taxrelief of £25

so making it an effectivedonation

of £125.

➜To obtainacopyofthe share

appli cation form, visitwww.west-

somerset-railway.co.uk/shareholders

or telephone01643704996.

Class25D7535 runningthroughDonifordHaltwithaMinehead-boundserviceon

June21.DONBISHOP

Clas s25s D7612andD7535 workpastCombeFlore ywithaMinehead-boundtrain

onJune22.DONBISHOP

Flaggingupthe£2.3-millionboile rappeal,ass upportersjoin chairm an

CameronMarshallandchiefexecuti ve PaulSempleto Wave forWaverley.

WAVERLEYEXCURSIONS

NetworkRailvolunteersbringtheLeightonBuzzardcrossingupto scratc h.NR

Theticketofficeat MillersDalestationontheMonsalTrailinDerbyshirewhich

hasbecomeapopularcafe.BRIANSHARPE

ByBrianSharpe

FIFTY-ONEyears afterclosure, thePeak

DistrictNationa lParkAuthorit yhas

fully restoredMillers Dale station.The

building is nowinuse as an information

cent re andcafeservingtheestimated

100,000walkersand cyclists who use

the MonsalTrail eachyear.

Millers Dale stationwassituated

on theMidlandRailway main line

between Derbyand Manchester,

closeto the junctionforthe branch

into Buxton. Theline closed in June

1968 and the track through the

stationwaslifted.

Thefour platformsremained,asd id

the ticket officebuilding and goods

shed.Inr ecen tyears the station

building has servedasabasefor

the parkrangers and providedtoilet

facilitiesforthe public.The routehas

been transformed into an extremely

popularwalking andcycle path.

Writetous:Heritage Railway,MortonsMediaLtd,POBox43,Horncastle, LincsLN 96 LZ. eritagerailway.co.uk 45