There were limited reports to the Board this month owing to many key staff being struck down with COVID.
Headlines
- Amended 2023 Timetable to reduce running costs
- Network Rail Trials
- Hosted HRA visit
- Evening with John Cameron
- Successful Halloween Event
- Successful L&Y Events
Timetable 2023
Its no secret, through most of this year that the running costs for our rail services are at record levels with many unbudgeted double digit increases in coal, diesel, electricity, wages, goods and services hitting our operations in 2022. These increased costs are inevitably hitting our 2023 operations and beyond that.
To get on top of these financial challenges we have looked at ways to maintain as many services as possible but reduce our costs where we can.
Visitor wise, it is well documented that fewer passengers ride our trains on a Sunday, in particular early trains, which are regularly running empty or just a handful of passengers, and where passenger numbers generally pick up closer to midday. As a result, these early trains are always running at a loss. We have also considered the impact on volunteer fatigue, as for many it’s a very long day.
To address this, we are introducing a new slimmed down Sunday Time Table which shortens the operating day by around 60 minutes. To achieve this reduced operating day, the first trains to run to Rossendale and Heywood will leave 10.10. This reduced period addresses many of the concerns raised by our working volunteers.
To reduce the need to run a third locomotive in steam, the Timetable also caters for our Diner service being attached to a service train and departing Bury at 12:30 on Sunday’s rather than 13:00, and Diner goes to Heywood first and then onto Rawtenstall.
Network Rail Trials
We have seen, over many years, that leaves on the line are often seen as a joke on the railway but they can cause serious problems and Network Rail are always looking at new ways to tackle this age-old problem.
It’s also not a uniquely British problem, with railways all over the world having issues when trees shed their leaves. For that reason, it’s exciting for the ELR to be part of putting some of the newest technology out there to the test with the hope that one day it could help Network Rail keep passengers and freight moving safely at this operationally challenging time of year.”
Currently a Network Rail operate fleet of leaf-blasting trains with high-pressured water jets use around 200 million litres of water to clear Britain’s 20,000-mile railway network each autumn. Moving this heavy volume of water on those trains uses a lot of fuel.
With access to the ELR infrastructure, Network Rail are now testing pioneering technology using ‘laser’ and ‘plasma’ beams is being trialled as a more sustainable way to clear autumn leaves off railway lines.
Throughout October Network Rail has been carrying out comprehensive testing using its rail multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) in partnership with East Lancashire Railway.
Controlled experiments have been carried out to see how effective the two different methods are at cleaning the Teflon-like residue left on steel rails during the autumn*.
The two different technologies are:
- Lasers – Laser Precision Solutions ‘LaserTrain’ uses three high powered beams to treat the rails. The system is nearly invisible and emits only a slight glow when in action.
- Plasma – ‘PlasmaTrack’ uses direct current (DC) plasma technology which uses heat and active electrons to split things apart. The high energy electrical plasma beam tears apart the leaf layer as well as heating and burning them off.
The Network Rail tests are not only looking at how effective the new methods could be to clear the lines but also the environmental and cost benefits to the taxpayer- reducing the use of water and also fuel.
Mike Kelly, East Lancashire Railway chairman, said: “When people think of heritage railways, they probably think they just look at preserving the past but here at the East Lancashire Railway we want to be a moderniser too.
“We’re very proud to be able to play our part and provide our tracks and infrastructure to allow Network Rail to do their research and development, and excited to be at the forefront of technology which could make millions of future journeys better for passengers across the country.
Evening with John Cameron
The ELR ran its first heritage evening in the Bury Transport Museum with the Union of South Africa 60009 towering over the guests who listened intently to John Cameron’s many many anecdotes over his long and distinguished career and a long history with the British Railway Industry. In the early to mid-90s he was the chairman of ScotRail and a member of the British Railways Board and even operated his own railway. He has experience as both a driver and a fireman and owns a couple of locomotives himself, including 60009 “Union of South Africa”. The fund raising evening for our Buckley Wells Development evening was a great success.
John was followed by Steve Davis who regaled us with his story of how he managed to bring together all six extant A4 Pacific’s in celebration of the 75th anniversary of A4 Pacific steam locomotive ‘Mallard’ setting the world speed record for steam in 1938 at126mph (which still stands today). Steve arranged to have all the 4 Pacific’s (nicknamed ‘Streaks’) gather at the York museum. Four were in UK; ‘Mallard’ herself, ‘Union of South Africa’, ‘Bittern’, and ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ (named after the locomotive’s designer). The other two had to be imported; ‘Dwight D. Eisenhower’ from the USA, and ‘Dominion of Canada’ from that country.
ELR Chairman, Mike Kelly, says: “We have enjoyed, over several years, seeing and riding behind this icon of the rails. Now, we we’re delighted to extend this opportunity to our visitors to have an insight into the steam legend, speaking to the man who’s been looking after it for over 50 years.”
“This was a truly a unique experience and John and Steve didn’t disappoint. There was a great atmosphere in the museum with mood lighting and No. 9 looking fantastic in welcoming guests into the museum.”
John Cameron adds: “I really enjoyed meeting some local rail enthusiasts and sharing my experience with the Union of South Africa, and also telling them about my experience in the magical world of British steam. There is so much more to it than seeing the locomotives, which is why we wanted to put such events – to allow guests to become fully immersed in the magic of the legends of steam.
Halloween Event
Despite the cost of living crisis we managed to sell out the majority of the Halloween Trains. Our thanks go to everyone who made the event so special for our thousands of visitors.
Lancashire & Yorkshire Weekend
Many many thanks to the guys who took these great photos
Mike Kelly, Chairman of East Lancs Railway said “The steam gala was a unique event on many levels.
For railway aficionados the prospect of attending a celebration of the 100th anniversary of LNWR & LYR brought visitors to the ELR in droves. Our visitors really appreciated the fact that such heritage locomotives that were taking part in full steam and operational coming together for the first time in decades is testament of the build quality from these companies.
Add to that where there were several new/novel settings that were much appreciated by visitors, freight trains, shunting demonstrations of shunting taking place in the Bury Transport Museum yard and at Ramsbottom where for the first time a designated area north of the station was marked out which allowed photographers and visitors to obtain that ‘special shot’. In addition a photoshoot was held at Baron Street shed.
In terms of operations, the three days were operationally near perfect, with only one train that didn’t run – this was due to a points failure. Attendance was excellent over all 3 days. Timekeeping was also excellent over the entire gala, ending with a cavalcade of 512, 51456, 52044 & 52044.
The finale was on the Sunday evening when all 4 of the L&Y locomotives headed the full last train of the day from Bury to Ramsbottom and back. Three of our younger members of staff Callum Porter, Liam Barnes and Johnny Valentine (left to right on attached photo), and deserve enormous praise of our younger members of staff who brought the locomotives together, planned and delivered a unique and historic”
One of the organisers Johnny said “On behalf of the organising team I would like to say a huge thank you to all who attended our incredible gala this weekend.
It has been great fun and hugely popular which has seen off the end of this incredible year of LYR & LNWR celebrations and hopefully further such events can take place on the ELR”
END
Chairman's Blog 