Crawley Model Engineers

	June 2008 Newsletter Goff’s Park Light Railway Six members turned up on the first Sunday in the month and soon had Warship and the BR Simplex running. The passengers arrived thick and fast and 86 were carried before 2 o'clock! The two locos were joined by ‘Little Genie’ and the three then went on to carry 301 passengers by 5 o'clock. Warships batteries died about 4:30 and the Black Simplex required a grate clearing session part way through the afternoon. On Bank Holiday Monday, not generally a good day for passengers, the GT3 was put on first, shortly followed by the large Mallett compound. Business was brisk and Dave brought out the Rail-motor. All three trains had two carriages and these managed to move 308 passengers before it all went quiet about 4:45. The GT3 batteries were showing signs of fatigue so the two steamers continued until there were no more passengers in sight. An excellent weekend, which improved our finances after a somewhat disastrous start. The warm sunny weather continued and it was an LMS (or ‘ell of a mess’ day as one GWR enthusiast calls it) on the Wednesday with the two Black Fives and Jimmies 3.5 inch tank loco. Most of the six members present got to drive one or other in between drinking tea, while John set about the long grass around the track with a rather recalcitrant strimmer. Warmer weather was forecast for the Sunday and by 12:30 it was pretty hot. We put up the gazebo to give the ticket seller some shade, and got out the GT3. Jimmy was Duty Super and did a splendid job at the ticket desk and controlling the passenger loading, while I, as Duty Driver, took the first of many passengers. It was soon obvious that we would need more trains and the Hon. Chairperson steamed up the LION, initially for a steam test and thereafter doing the ‘lions’ share of the passenger hauling. Ray ‘one and a quarter legs’ did well to keep going but was eventually replaced by other drivers. GT3 ran out of juice about 3:30 and was replaced by D4018, Mark1’s 08 and then the petrol Hunslett, which in turn was replaced by the Warship after an hour. As 5 o'clock approached there seemed no letup in the number of passengers, but at 5 past 5 a family group of two adults and four children had a three lap non-stop ride behind Lion. Ray had resumed his driving of Lion and was seen to shovelling coal on the move at a great rate of knots! We closed then and the ticket numbers totaled 416, a splendid effort and the best for many years. Me and the Dog did not appear at the track on the Wednesday after, but six other members did. The Club LMS Simplex was rolled out and steamed with John Ellis doing some driver training. Unfortunately the provisions officer had fallen behind with the deliveries and the tea and biscuits were on ration. Milk and sugar were ready for the crew on the following Sunday, but to the Dog’s disgust, no biscuits! There was a cold Northerly wind blowing but the locomotives were there in abundance and anticipating another heavy load of passengers the Duty Super put three trains on. First out was Warship, quickly followed by the LMS Simplex and the Sturrock 400T, which at first did not run as well as it has done. John thinks that the axle pump was to blame, but he did manage a number of passenger hauling laps. The 08 of Mark1, D4018 was waiting for a run and was soon out on the mainline. Meanwhile, Hon Chairperson, Ray had steamed up the Speedy for its steam test. It had languished under the bench since last year and passed the test easily. Ray took over the train from Warship and these three continued for much of the afternoon. The Sturrock came on again for a short spell after some adjustments had been made and continued to run light until near the end of the session. Passengers were coming through at a steady rate but by 4:30 most had gone home for tea and only Speedy continued to run. Ray wishing to run the fire down was still carrying the last of the 276 passengers while the crew put away the station. The next Wednesday was a ‘Green Engine’ day, that is, only green engines were running and only two of them. Bob’s Collet 14XX and my Southern Simplex 756 were being checked out following some remedial work on their respective lubricator pump and injectors. Bob was quite happy now with his lubricator, which had not worked since the loco ‘fell off the trolley’ but still had some trouble with the injector. The Simplex ran satisfactorily, both injectors working OK so we continued to circulate until about 12 o'clock, with the usual amounts of tea being fed to us by the six other members present. The Bank Holiday weekend is normally Carnival time in Crawley, but this year the ‘Lions’ had not been able to organise it. The weather forecast was heavy rain and stormy winds. Well it was during the previous night but by lunchtime all was fine and sunny. There were not many people in the park, Formula 1 motor racing on the box and the poor weather forecast probably kept people at home. We set up the station and waited and at last somebody approached us and we were in business with Warship doing the running. We were very pleased to see Alan (Chalky) White at the track, he was down as Duty Driver and, despite still recovering from seven weeks of hospital treatment, he made it. He took over the driving of Warship and stayed with it for most of the afternoon. As the passenger queue grew a bit, John put the Sturrock 400T (minus the power tender) and running on the high-pressure cylinders alone managed to pull two carriages with four adults and two children. John says using the low-pressure tender slows him down! Six members managed to make the tea and keep the railway running in the sunshine, such that it seemed to me that it was as close to a rural branch line as one could get in five inch gauge. It will be obvious that the locos belonging to Derek have been missing from the track. This is due to Derek having a stroke earlier in the year and, following a spell in Crawley Hospital, was moved to a Nursing Home in Reigate. We have recently learned that Derek has had a fall and is now in hospital. Further bulletins will be issued when we have any news. What a change, Bank Holiday Monday was terrible, windy and near continuous rain. Nobody appeared in the Park except the four CME members and the day was a washout! Similar weather prevailed on the next Wednesday. We had been asked by the Council to keep the railway running on Wednesday afternoon as there was to be an inspection of the Park with a view to getting a ‘Green Flag’ award. As it had rained all morning, nothing was done (apart from drinking tea) until 1:30 when the station was set as it would be on Sunday afternoons. The inspecting party duly arrived about 2:15 and we had two steam locos running, Bob’s Collet 14XX and John’s Crampton. The visitors stayed for about 30 minutes while we explained our antics and were obviously impressed. The Council officials seemed quite pleased as they had little activity to show around the Park, no children in the play area and no golfers on the Pitch and Putt course. By 3 o'clock we had a last cup of tea and cleared everything away. An evening with the Beavers On the evening of Friday 23rd May, we had 19 of the 4th Worth Beaver Scouts, aged about 6 to 8 years and their adult supervisors down for a ride on the railway. Running three electric locomotives, Warship, GT3 and the Simplicity they all managed about 15 laps each and most had a drive of the Simplicity. The Scout leaders were very happy with the evening’s outing and gave us a useful donation. We have another similar booking later in the year with the 1st Northgate Group.
Page last updated 26 June 2008 Copyright © 2006-2008, CME

June 2008 Newsletter

Goff’s Park Light Railway

Six members turned up on the first Sunday in the month and soon had Warship and the BR Simplex running.

The passengers arrived thick and fast and 86 were carried before 2 o'clock! The two locos were joined by ‘Little Genie’ and the three then went on to carry 301 passengers by 5 o'clock. Warships batteries died about 4:30 and the Black Simplex required a grate clearing session part way through the afternoon.

On Bank Holiday Monday, not generally a good day for passengers, the GT3 was put on first, shortly followed by the large Mallett compound. Business was brisk and Dave brought out the Rail-motor. All three trains had two carriages and these managed to move 308 passengers before it all went quiet about 4:45. The GT3 batteries were showing signs of fatigue so the two steamers continued until there were no more passengers in sight. An excellent weekend, which improved our finances after a somewhat disastrous start.

The warm sunny weather continued and it was an LMS (or ‘ell of a mess’ day as one GWR enthusiast calls it) on the Wednesday with the two Black Fives and Jimmies 3.5 inch tank loco. Most of the six members present got to drive one or other in between drinking tea, while John set about the long grass around the track with a rather recalcitrant strimmer.

Warmer weather was forecast for the Sunday and by 12:30 it was pretty hot. We put up the gazebo to give the ticket seller some shade, and got out the GT3. Jimmy was Duty Super and did a splendid job at the ticket desk and controlling the passenger loading, while I, as Duty Driver, took the first of many passengers. It was soon obvious that we would need more trains and the Hon. Chairperson steamed up the LION, initially for a steam test and thereafter doing the ‘lions’ share of the passenger hauling. Ray ‘one and a quarter legs’ did well to keep going but was eventually replaced by other drivers. GT3 ran out of juice about 3:30 and was replaced by D4018, Mark1’s 08 and then the petrol Hunslett, which in turn was replaced by the Warship after an hour. As 5 o'clock approached there seemed no letup in the number of passengers, but at 5 past 5 a family group of two adults and four children had a three lap non-stop ride behind Lion. Ray had resumed his driving of Lion and was seen to shovelling coal on the move at a great rate of knots! We closed then and the ticket numbers totaled 416, a splendid effort and the best for many years.

Me and the Dog did not appear at the track on the Wednesday after, but six other members did. The Club LMS Simplex was rolled out and steamed with John Ellis doing some driver training. Unfortunately the provisions officer had fallen behind with the deliveries and the tea and biscuits were on ration.

Milk and sugar were ready for the crew on the following Sunday, but to the Dog’s disgust, no biscuits! There was a cold Northerly wind blowing but the locomotives were there in abundance and anticipating another heavy load of passengers the Duty Super put three trains on. First out was Warship, quickly followed by the LMS Simplex and the Sturrock 400T, which at first did not run as well as it has done. John thinks that the axle pump was to blame, but he did manage a number of passenger hauling laps.

The 08 of Mark1, D4018 was waiting for a run and was soon out on the mainline. Meanwhile, Hon Chairperson, Ray had steamed up the Speedy for its steam test. It had languished under the bench since last year and passed the test easily. Ray took over the train from Warship and these three continued for much of the afternoon. The Sturrock came on again for a short spell after some adjustments had been made and continued to run light until near the end of the session.

Passengers were coming through at a steady rate but by 4:30 most had gone home for tea and only Speedy continued to run. Ray wishing to run the fire down was still carrying the last of the 276 passengers while the crew put away the station.

The next Wednesday was a ‘Green Engine’ day, that is, only green engines were running and only two of them. Bob’s Collet 14XX and my Southern Simplex 756 were being checked out following some remedial work on their respective lubricator pump and injectors. Bob was quite happy now with his lubricator, which had not worked since the loco ‘fell off the trolley’ but still had some trouble with the injector. The Simplex ran satisfactorily, both injectors working OK so we continued to circulate until about 12 o'clock, with the usual amounts of tea being fed to us by the six other members present.

The Bank Holiday weekend is normally Carnival time in Crawley, but this year the ‘Lions’ had not been able to organise it. The weather forecast was heavy rain and stormy winds. Well it was during the previous night but by lunchtime all was fine and sunny. There were not many people in the park, Formula 1 motor racing on the box and the poor weather forecast probably kept people at home. We set up the station and waited and at last somebody approached us and we were in business with Warship doing the running.

We were very pleased to see Alan (Chalky) White at the track, he was down as Duty Driver and, despite still recovering from seven weeks of hospital treatment, he made it. He took over the driving of Warship and stayed with it for most of the afternoon. As the passenger queue grew a bit, John put the Sturrock 400T (minus the power tender) and running on the high-pressure cylinders alone managed to pull two carriages with four adults and two children. John says using the low-pressure tender slows him down! Six members managed to make the tea and keep the railway running in the sunshine, such that it seemed to me that it was as close to a rural branch line as one could get in five inch gauge.

It will be obvious that the locos belonging to Derek have been missing from the track. This is due to Derek having a stroke earlier in the year and, following a spell in Crawley Hospital, was moved to a Nursing Home in Reigate. We have recently learned that Derek has had a fall and is now in hospital. Further bulletins will be issued when we have any news.

What a change, Bank Holiday Monday was terrible, windy and near continuous rain. Nobody appeared in the Park except the four CME members and the day was a washout!

Similar weather prevailed on the next Wednesday. We had been asked by the Council to keep the railway running on Wednesday afternoon as there was to be an inspection of the Park with a view to getting a ‘Green Flag’ award. As it had rained all morning, nothing was done (apart from drinking tea) until 1:30 when the station was set as it would be on Sunday afternoons. The inspecting party duly arrived about 2:15 and we had two steam locos running, Bob’s Collet 14XX and John’s Crampton. The visitors stayed for about 30 minutes while we explained our antics and were obviously impressed. The Council officials seemed quite pleased as they had little activity to show around the Park, no children in the play area and no golfers on the Pitch and Putt course. By 3 o'clock we had a last cup of tea and cleared everything away.

An evening with the Beavers

On the evening of Friday 23rd May, we had 19 of the 4th Worth Beaver Scouts, aged about 6 to 8 years and their adult supervisors down for a ride on the railway. Running three electric locomotives, Warship, GT3 and the Simplicity they all managed about 15 laps each and most had a drive of the Simplicity. The Scout leaders were very happy with the evening’s outing and gave us a useful donation. We have another similar booking later in the year with the 1st Northgate Group.