A Very Busy May

Rather unexpectedly, May has been a very busy month for BRCW members...

4-VEP

The last two months have seen the BRCW Group pull together with the other departments based at Cheddleton to try and complete the Class 423 4-VEP. Kevin in particular has put a lot of effort into this job, and it paid off with two out of the four coaches running on the Saturday and Sunday of the Diesel Gala at the end of the month. The set was booked to run on the Friday of the event as well, but the opportunity was needed to complete the work required for the unit to successfully run in Push-Pull mode with visiting ED 73138. Four images of the work are on the right and more images, including ones of it in service at the gala, are in the 2008 Gallery.

Diesel Gala 30th May-1st June

The group has been involved in the gala this year in a similar way to the Steam Gala earlier in the year. Advertising and planning work was done on the lead up making sure everything was in place for the three visiting engines. In the end, a total of five locos were in service: D8001, 33102, 37075, D9016 & 73138. "Roger H Bennett", the Janus shunter, was also named on the Saturday and working trains and the VEP and M50455/M50517 completed the list of traction on offer. Every visitor we spoke to agreed it was an excellent gala and a credit to all involved on the railway. M50455/M50517 was working services all day on the Friday, complete with drags with class 20 D8001, 73138 and Class 55 D9016! The unit also worked two round trips on Sunday evening to keep services going till past 8pm. A full set of images for the Diesel Gala (including the "mad drag" with D9016 are in the 2008 Gallery)

M59137

It's been an uncharacteristically quiet month for the TCL, but we did overhear two enthusiasts discussing the "104 centre car" as one of the trains rolled past Cheddleton at the Diesel Gala. Now it is all over and after everyone has recovered, work can resume on our main project. The group is hoping for good progress over the summer now that Staffordshire has warmed up, making interior work easier than in winter. Look out for limited details of our DMU Gala, hosted in September, over the next few months.