The Swanage Railway Trust
- Swanage Pump - General Manager's Newsletter - December 2005
 | ShutdownAs happens every year we will be suspending services from the beginning of January until the ‘Day out with Thomas’ event in February. During this time a number of important tasks will be carried out that are more easily done when the line does not need to be returned to traffic at weekends. There are several important jobs being planned and additional help with all of these would be gratefully received by the Managers responsible. On certain days specific tasks are being organised for which help is asked – full details will be published in Traffic Notices during December. Please come and lend a hand – if you would like more information please call the person named below:
Traffic NoticesAfter an exceedingly embarrassing confusion during November could I remind all staff that the Traffic Notices are an important document containing a summary of operations and other activities. Whilst the situation can change following publication the Traffic Notices are a vital starting point for the daily operation of the railway and, when used properly, mean that we present a unified image and service to the public. Copies should be present on all Official Notice Boards – if they are not displayed please inform Martin Trott or the Responsible Officer as soon as possible. Health and Safety UpdateSafety Management SystemDuring December further instructions will be issued as part of the SMS. Details will be published in the relevant Traffic Notices. Please read and familiarise yourself with any relevant additions to this document as it contains important information about how the railway, and its health and safety, are managed. It also outlines personal responsibilities. Purbeck GazetteA Request from Mike Walshaw: I am now starting my 3rd year as collator of our column in The Gazette, a free magazine that circulates 18,500 free copies monthly from Swanage to Dorchester, having taken over the job from Nona Noble in Dec 03. Most months I include a short commissioned article by a member of the SR, about a department’s work. This is an appeal for a fresh supply of articles. After general information about the Railway each article only need be about 500 words – not actually very
Thank you in anticipation. Mike Walshaw GM Out and About - and on HolidayI shall be Out and About on the Railway on the following dates: Saturday 3rd December Thursday 22nd December. Please feel free to catch me on either of these days (or at any other convenient time) if there is something you would like to discuss or query. I can’t guarantee and instant answer but I will do I shall also be having a short annual holiday from 10th to 18th December (incl.). During this time the Responsible Officer remains the first point of contact for all Health and Safety/Operational
Working PartiesThere are a number of groups that meet to do specific tasks on a variety of days. They are all only too pleased to welcome new people to help – even if only on the odd occasion. A contact name and number is given so that you can check details beforehand if you wish. It would also be great if new volunteers could be brought in who have previously not volunteered because of the regular commitment required for many other jobs on the railway. Infrastructure Support Group (ISG)Meets 3rd Saturday of the month, locations vary. Contact Frank Roberts 07703 566941. S&T WorkMeet most Wednesdays, usually starting at Corfe Castle. Contact: Dave Cobb Carriage and WagonMeet weekends in the Swanage Goods Shed. Contact Jeremy Weller. Around the RailwayRetailShop opening times for December are Monday to Friday 10.30am to 3.30pm (10.00am to 4.30pm on operating days) Weekend times are 10.00am to 4.30pm. The shop will be closed on the 25th December but will be open on the 26th December from 10.30am to 3.30pm. Receipts for the month of November are expected to be over budget, with expenditure below budget. The ‘Thomas’ week again produced excellent sales figures, with the Harmans’s Cross shop recording sales well above average. The opening of the Harman’s Cross village hall shop was only made possible because some staff agreed to work several extra shifts during the week. Station CateringOn-Train Catering The Wessex Belle has had a good season. We are pleased with the results. OTC Buffets have also had a good turnover due to the sales of 120 Beer. We shall continue to sell the product for 1 more year. Christmas booking for the Luncheons now stand at £10,000. Thanks to the hard work of the Booking Office staff. Swanage Birds Nest Income exceeded the budgeted figures for October. November still proved to be busy with a continuation of visiting coach parties and day trippers. Norden Nest Sales figures exceeded the budgeted figures for October and are well above year to date budgeted figures. The Norden Nest will continue to open on running days throughout December and January. Operations‘THOMAS’ suffered a derailment at Norden on Wednesday 26th the locomotive derailing at the catch points in the loop. The service was maintained by using a diesel locomotive on the Swanage end of each train and steam on the Wareham end. After the days service had finished the 08 and breakdown van left Swanage at 80078 failed a steam test on 18th with a leaking tube, this failure occurred at 17:00 leaving no time to bring 34028 into steam in time for the evening dining train, 34028 was used over the weekend. On Monday 21st the examining fitter failed 34028 with cracking around a frame stretcher and spring hanger. Our thanks must go to Southern Locomotives for their prompt action in arranging a welder to do the repairs on 24th and 25th this should make the loco available for the Santa trains. We have been in contact with Mike Johns, the owner of 6412, and this locomotive is available to us on confirmation from 12th July to 26th September 2006. We have also made an enquiry with regard to 41312 but we have been told that the locomotive will return to the Mid-Hants Railway in March for essential maintenance and therefore is not available for hire. Enquiries for other locomotives are continuing. I have recently spoken to our coal suppliers with regard to next year’s supply; I have decided to continue with our current contract for British coal as this guarantees our supplies. The revised training programme for cleaners is almost ready, although the track safety element, which both Steve and I thought had been taken care of, still requires an instructor. Distribution of the new Rule Book to all operations staff is ongoing. The P/Way train was moved to Herston early in the month for the removal of the point at the Wareham end, this was then moved to our boundary at Motala for installation. The following week the S & T Department vehicles were moved to Motala for connection work to be carried out. We have also shunted the siding at Corfe Castle, putting the L.S.W.R. van next to the shed, where it looks quite good. Signal and TelegraphMaintenance work is slowly been carried out by available volunteers but is being delayed by the work at Motala. Equipment More S&T equipment has been obtained from the Medway re-signaling project in November including treadles, signal post phones, signal fittings etc. The S&T container which was purchased in early Spring has finally been placed on Herston Bank which will enable us to get more equipment under cover and refurbished. The intention is to remove surplus equipment from the storage areas either side of Northbrook Road Bridge to Herston Bank were it will be sorted and stored under cover. The Earth leakage detectors have been installed in the Swanage Relay Room so most of the equipment can be monitored. Faults are already showing on the 110vac and 50vdc lines which will be rectified shortly. The red stop lamp on the Buffer Stops at Swanage has been replaced with a LED version which is on all the TelecomInternal Telephone System & Cable Network As mentioned in last month’s report, Herston Exchange is in desperate need of repair. We have replaced the rotten section of floor just inside the door, and fitted a weather strip and threshold to the door to help keep the rain out. However, we have discovered that more of the floor is rotten, along with the main joist and all the external cladding on the south end wall, - all of this will have to be replaced. We are using second hand timber where possible to keep the cost down, but new tanalised timber will be needed for the joists and cladding. On Saturday afternoon 19th Nov during Open Day, it became apparent that a significant fault had occurred. In Swanage Sig Box, Corfe and HX direct lines along with Quarr Crossing were permanently calling the Concentrator, and the SW to HX Key Token machines failed. Also affected were some of the inter Permanent Wayw/e 21st Oct.
w/e 28th Oct.
w/e 4th Nov.
w/e 11th Nov.
w/e 18th Nov.
StationsSwanage
Harman’s Cross
Norden
VacanciesContact the named person (via Station House) for more information:
Notes from the Board Meeting on November 26thOpening remarksIn the absence of Bill Trite Steve Doughty took the chair. Health and SafetyA further site inspection of the Sleeping Car had taken place. Smoke alarms are in place and a method of breaking the windows will be installed as an additional precaution. General Instructions for the SMS should be ready for issue soon – full details will be in the relevant Traffic notices. During the Open Day a member of the public reported that someone was washing their hands using white spirit and that this should not be allowed due to COSHH – all staff are asked to be aware of COSHH issues within their area. Share IssueThe Board allotted shares to SRT in respect of the funds raised by the 2005 Winter Appeal. FinanceOnce again revenue is better than budgeted. Some of this is due to early receipt of monies expected in December but October was a good month as well. Hopefully we will be able to return a profit this year although control of costs is still essential if we are to achieve this. SRT is looking at ways of gaining Gift Aid. Transfer of operational assets into SRCL should take place by 31st December. General Manager’s ReportAndrew and myself had held a meeting with Pat Welham to discuss plans for 2006. It is planned to reduce the Dorsetman programme Andrew would arrange a further meeting (also involving Peter Sills) to try and set a strategy for the development of this area of the business prior to the statement of requirements for any projects required to implement this. Further meetings have been held with the newly appointed NR project team and we have now familiarised them with the project. The Annual General Meeting of Purbeck Tourism took place at Furzebrook Village Hall. A presentation on ‘Direct from Dorset’ was At the AGM of the Corfe Chamber of Trade the idea of joint advertising was met with general approval. We will be working with NT to take this forward. Discussions had progressed with PDC regarding parking charges at Norden. They will be supplying and installing ticket machines. Progress ReportsThe PRP Sub-group had met and refined proposals for bidders for the new South Western franchise. This – together with the SRT’s Any other businessA meeting had recently taken place between the Railway and Southern Locomotives. As a result of this it was suggested that more regular meetings take place to help improve communication between the two bodies. A vote of thanks was recorded to Mike Standhaft for his work in various roles prior to his retirement from is current post of Future Meetings
SRT Open ForumAn Open Forum is held before the monthly meeting of SRT Directors (CoM) in the Rectory Classroom – the next meeting is on 14th January 2006. It will take place at the new time of 2pm. Nick Brown |
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