We can now accept payments via Paypal, our Rolling Stock Transport Appeal is the first such appeal of ours to have a specific donation button, also available here:

You don’t need to have a PayPal account, after clicking the button you can donate using most Credit & Debit cards.

In time we hope to be able to start accepting payments for Whitrope Emporium  and Merchandise items – please bear with us on this, we’ll make further announcements in due course.

Firstly, may I wish everybody a happy 2012! Its going to be a momentous year at Whitrope, all going well, with plans being formulated to operate the first public passenger trains on the Waverley Route since closure.  What’s more, the day we’ve got pencilled in for the start of services, 1st July, just happens to be the 150th anniversary of the opening of the original Border Union Railway between Hawick and Carlisle. What better excuse for a double celebration!

Following earlier appeals for suitable rolling stock, the fantastic news is that we’re well on the way to agreeing a deal which would see a Mark 1 vehicle with guard’s brake compartment coming to Whitrope on loan. At the same time, we’ve been offered the loan of a Mark 2D vehicle, which has both a buffet area and first class seating: this would allow us to take our existing buffet vehicle out of service for well earned internal refurbishment. All the Association has to do at this time is raise the finance to physically move these vehicles to site.  

We would therefore invite donations or sponsorship to cover the transportation of rolling stock. Our appeal target is £3,500, and a range of incentives similar to our earlier ballast appeal will apply. For those who donated to that appeal, please keep 30th June/ 1st July free in your diaries!!!!  If you want any further information, please drop us a mail on info@wrha.org.uk

Mark 2D 1st class buffet no. 1215 which has been offered to us on loan

Donations etc. welcome at the usual address: Reeth House, 17 Hillview Road, South Witham, Grantham, NG33 5QW.

 

 

Or you can donate to the appeal by PayPal using the button below.

 

Just to round off 2011, here’s a quick selection of photos to show just how far we’ve come these last few years.

WRHA and BURC wish all our members, volunteers, supporters and friends a fantastic 2012!!!

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While Network Rail undertakes its health check of the northern reinstatement scheme (take our advice guys and forget about W10/12 gauge for just now), work appears to be ongoing removing the 40+ years of vegetation currently smothering the old line. “Our Man in Midlothian” and captain of the local airwaves Geoff Ruderham has been out and about with his box brownie again, and here’s a selection of his latest snaps:

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Great to see the old line continue to awake from its slumbers. All we need now is a four wheel drive (carrying “The Waverley” headboard of course) and we can start route- learning!!!

Two signal lamps kindly donated to us the other day. One is from the Down distant at the Holm, while the other is from one of the crossover dollies

This time last year, Whitrope was already in the grip of winter and had been blanketed in snow for about a week. The white stuff doesn’t appear to be in a hurry thus far in 2011, so the opportunity is being taken to crack on with work on site while the weather holds.

No sooner had I typed this blog, than Tony G sent this picture through. The white stuff is back!

Saturday 3rd saw Tony C, Tony G and Dave S complete the rail dragging we didn’t manage to finish on the November track weekend. Pairs of rails are now laid out from the compound opposite the station all the way up to the outer tunnel fence, as well as alongside the concrete sleepers south of the Golden Bridge. This means that we can crack-on with more tracklaying in the spring, initially focussing our attention on the stock siding which will run north out of the compound towards the level crossing, and will give us our first short length of “double track”. Off site, Alastair sourced and cut to length another batch of timbers for use in the next foot crossing at the north end of the station.

The news isn’t so good on the loco front unfortunately. After the power unit was successfully run- up in October/ November, Duncan became aware that traces of water were finding their way into the engine oil. A fair amount of investigation followed, with the culprit eventually found to be a cracked cylinder liner. It looks as if the power unit will need to be lifted out once again, which will delay the loco’s planned return to traffic next summer. This power unit was of course donated from a sister loco, now scrapped, which we know had been involved in a “side-swipe” collision many years ago while still in industrial use, and there’s every chance that’s what caused the damage.

Planning for 2012 continues in the background, and a couple of promising leads for passenger service coaches are being followed- up. Arrival of the platform coper slabs is pencilled- in for February/ March, and training material for the various safety critical roles is being prepared.

Rails laid out south of the Golden Bridge

With 2011 almost over it’s time to look towards next year, already promising to be fantastic as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first passenger services over the original Waverley Route on 1st July 2012.

The 2012 opening dates for the WHC & BUR are now online, available at our sister site for the Border Union Railway Company, link here:

http://www.borderunionrailway.co.uk/WHC_BUR_2012v3.pdf

Would all our volunteers (and any prospective new volunteers) also please note that we have uploaded a blank roster on the password protected section of the new BURC site. As well as the usual hosts for the heritage centre, we’re on the search for drivers, guards, station staff and track inspectors to cover our proposed passenger train operations next summer. If you wish to be considered for training in any of these roles and can commit to specific dates on the roster, please drop us a mail on info@wrha.org.uk and we’ll be in touch in due course

A rather understated anniversary, today is the official 10th anniversary of the WRHA.

It was on a snowy 10th November 2001 at Signal Box Cottage, Whitrope that the four founding members, Len & Hilary Ashton and brothers Matt & Andy Stoddon sat round for the first meeting and adopted the constitution.

10 years on, with a heritage centre, a running line, two locos at Whitrope and a fantastic squad of volunteers to keep it all moving along all we really need to do is look forward to the next 10 years.

 

Track

Saturday 12th saw the completion of the foot crossing at the south end of the platform ramp, with all the timbers levelled and screwed down.  Another five or so dumper loads of spoil were then scraped off the Golden Bridge using the mini- digger and trundled up to the north end of the platform where they were used to finish off the new sleeper steps. Once the spoil has compacted over the winter, we’ll finish the surface off with road planings. Last but not least, the Rotabroach machine was fired- up and a number of missing fishbolt holes were formed.

The big job on the Sunday was dragging rails, using Tonys tractor to move all the sixty foot lengths from the large and somewhat haphazard heap down by the static caravan up to the summit cutting. There they were laid out in pairs ready for the day when we build our run- round loop. Iain Davies undertook a gauge survey of our short running line for our compliance paperwork, and the Up side bank between the caravan and the Golden Bridge was cleared of all old rail anchors, spikes and rotten lumps of sleeper. 

Andy L drills the last screw hole in the foot crossing while David and George look on

The repaired and repainted nose section is lifted back onto the Fowler, 12/11/11

Pairs of rails laid out in the summit cutting. Double track here we come!!

The completed crossing

 

Fowler Loco

Duncan reports that thanks to constant sunshine and a good turnout of volunteers over the weekend of the 5th/ 6th, further progress has been made on the restoration of the Fowler 0-6-0 diesel shunter. Saturday saw Duncan joined by Davie, Peter, Tom and the Deans clan, and with such an unexpectedly large workforce, the decision was taken to try and fit the weld- repaired exhaust (both the original exhaust and the spare one had the same fractured securing lug). This was ultimately achieved with a bit of huffing and puffing and some persuasion from the pulley block. The engine was then run up and the exhaust worked fine (this one also had an old nest in it complete with mummified mouse), with the fumes exiting from the correct location through the hole in the top of the bonnet: all very tidy!

The engine can now be controlled by the throttle lever in the cab, a job described as a “swine” due to the presence of a return spring which put the engine to idle when held: the spring has now been disconnected so the throttle will sit where set.

Weld repairs and painting are now complete for the time being on the demountable nose section, and the plan is to refit it on the Track Weekend. Both locos will also be “winterised” at the same time.

Special thanks must go to Duncan’s work colleague who undertook the weld repairs to the exhaust, and who apparently might now be persuaded to sort the cab steps out!

Archive

Another task underway now that the long nights are with us is the cataloguing of the archive, courtesy of Roy Perkins and Iain MacIntosh. Back in 1969, Roy was involved with the attempt to save the line as a private concern (also known as the BURC), and undertook a survey of the various structures along the entire route. The scheme sadly failed in the end, as is well documented, but Roy’s photos from that survey form a fascinating record from the “ghost” period between closure and dismantling. Fast forward to recent years and Iain has been undertaking his own pictorial survey of structures, especially those which will soon be rebuilt or refurbished under the northern rebuild scheme.

Once finished, the photo catalogue will be a fantastic reference for those wishing to study the history and engineering of the route from its first incarnation. In the meantime, we might post one or two in the mystery photo section for your entertainment.

For the historians amongst us, we’ve just added two brand new pages to the WRHA website. These feature contemporary reports, letters, newspaper clippings etc from the days before the southern section of the line was built, what would eventually become known as the Border Union Railway.

http://wrha.org.uk/the-waverley-route/history/early-correspondence-rivalry/

http://wrha.org.uk/the-waverley-route/history/the-border-railway-bills/
No photos, just pure historical Waverley Route indulgence.

Links to these pages are also available on the right hand frame of the main site.

You’ll probably notice that there’s now a tab at the top of the page entitled WRHA Members Section: this password protected section currently contains PDF copies of all the editions to date of “The Waverley”, the Association’s journal. Other documents and publications will be added in due course.

In addition, the Border Union Railway Company (BURC), the operating company set up by WRHA to eventually run the heritage railway at Whitrope, now has its own web site: http://www.borderunionrailway.co.uk/. At present, there is a password protected section containing the latest copies of those parts of our Safety Management System (SMS) relevant to WORKING VOLUNTEERS. This includes things like our Rule Book, Health & Safety Policy Statement of Intent, Drugs & Alcohol Policy etc. Over the winter, training material, manuals and other documentation pertinent to specific, safety critical roles on the railway (eg. train driver, guard, track patroller etc.) will be uploaded and available to view by those volunteers who state an interest in being trained to carry out these duties in the future.

Should you wish access to either of these password protected areas, please drop an email to: info@wrha.org.uk with your name and membership number and we’ll be glad to provide you with the details.