A day out with 'Thomas'

Easter weekend sees the Thomas festival at South Devon Railway, Buckfastleigh - which is also the 'home' to the South Devon Garden Railway Group.  The SDGRG have an extensive layout there and we have been members now for two years.

The SDGRG always tries to support the 'festival weekends' which then gives the visiting public more to enjoy so we opted to run on Good Friday and suitably adorned three of our 'prime movers' as the picture clearly shows....

... funny how they all look like 'Thomas'!!

It was busy day with lots of visitors and only a couple of minor derailments - on the garden railway I hasten to add, due to grease on the lines - wot no leaves!!

It was also very warm for April and by the time we left mid afternoon there was a lot of sun burnt faces around.

A jolly good day all round said Thomas!

Stay Safe .....

Fine weather bodes well for the BLL..

The current fine but somewhat cool weather has been a bonus out on the BLL as track maintenance has been able to progress well after the February storms caused  some 'disturbance to proceedings".

So the track team has been out clearing fallen leaves and berries thus ensuring a smooth run for 'Dennis the Diesel' and its crew....

With the good weather expected to continue hopefully we should have some good running events.

 

Stormy weather closes the BLL!!!

 Well here in South Devon 'Storm Eunice' has torn across the countryside and done her worst - the BLL has suspended all services until further notice due to the extent of the damage at various locations on the line - albeit hopefully all only temporary.

The MD currently sits in her shed working out the priority details on where we go first for repairs once the weather abates - in the meantime here is an overview of what has befallen us..... 🤪

Above, these passengers seem oblivious to the damage - and didn't receive the e mail - in the foreground a major collapse of a key signalling installation has occurred and 'Wallace' & 'Grommet' appear to be laying down on the job!!

Further down the line and the high Spring tides combined with the extremely strong winds have ensured maximum damage 'down on the beach' .....

In the top picture you can see the beach hut in the foreground has been lifted and hurled over 1 mile away (relative to scale!!!) and landed beneath Canada corner which is still reeling from the derailment two years ago!

The lower picture gives a close up of the beach area and sadly the upmarket 'Sandbanks' condominium has collapsed across the line and in doing so taken out communications from the phone box (phone box - what are they?) sadly also trapping the Colonel underneath!!

Mind you the 'Sheepham Flasher' can still be seen being a cheeky little chappie - nothing seems to hold him back!!

In the main siding (next picture) we have a major incident .....

... with a derailment which has also brought down another main signal feature and blocked three lines. 

O woah is us!!! You can also see at the top of the picture further damage with Sheila's lineside cabin blown over and again blocking the main line, fortunately Sheila was not in occupancy at the time (she did receive the e mail!!).

Sheila's lineside cabin

And even more.....

At the RN Lay Apart store the 'heads' have been blown over and we are still attempting to find out if it was occupied at the time!!

So as we wait with baited breathe for the pub to open, sorry I mean the weather to abate we can do no more. Further updates will be promulgated. 🥳

PS Stay Safe 

Stormy weather closes line!

Last weekend I spent some time over at the South Devon Garden Railway at Buckfastleigh (SDGRG) where a number of us completed this years major track replacement programme and the layout is now available for regular running.

Meanwhile back here on the BLL  as Storm's 'Dudley & Eunice' (apparently) head in off the Atlantic the decision has been made to close the line due to the anticipated foul weather and retire to the engine shed and concentrate on maintenance.

Beach & Brigade

 It's been a lovely cool sunny day here on the BLL so an opportunity for a bit of a beach clean and tidy around the house.

Excessive rain over the past couple of weeks has caused havoc so with today's sunny weather an opportunity was taken to reposition the pebble breakwater, beach clean and tidy around the phone box.

The 'Sheepham Flasher' was spotted and the naughty chappy can be observed misbehaving in the pictures below!!

Meanwhile the Sheepham Fire Brigade have completed recruiting and are now up to full strength and they have also taken delivery of the new Personnel Carrying Vehicle  (PCV) which can be seen undergoing trials. Again if you look closely you will some locally made items of 'small gear' including hose, hose fittings and standpipe. These have all been made in Britain - in fact made here in Modbury by our onsite very clever equipment facility manager (dear of her!!!). And of course their is the veritable Cornish Pastie fresh from Malcolm Barnecutts in Bodmin!

A full steam up has been programmed for the complete Sheepham Fire Brigade train which now consists of eight support vehicles - a fire train to be proud of! 

Watch this space for more details........ 

 

 Well it has been 'another' of 'those' years with the Covid demon still causing the world massive issues which I am sure many of my readers will have more personal experiences than what we have had here at the BLL - myself and the multi tasking CEO wish you all well.

So with that in mind not a great deal to report from trackside, however the "Sheepham Fire Brigade" - which has exclusive use of the BLL has had an additional couple of emergency response vehicles added to its fleet and recruitment has been successful with additional firefighting staff now employed.

An Incident Command Unit (ICU - no, not the NHS variety of  ICU!!) and the most important Canteen Wagon are not both on the run and will soon be joined by a Support Operational Deployment Intervention Truck - or colloquially known as 'SODIT"!!! 

So....

SODIT is till in the engine shed receiving its final paint job and the recruits are just finishing training school and will join the SODIT in the New Year - so watch this space if you feel so inclined!!

Oh, Let's not forget the new 'Long Park Junction' signal box is also in place outside and has survived both A and B Gales!!

Finally it only needs me to say PLEASE PLEASE Stay Safe - 

Be Sensible - 

BUT Do Have a Great Christmas and Happy New Year. 

🎅🏼

Who needs rain?

 I said on my previous post that I needed a rainy day to start construction of the new water tower and signal box - well no need to rain - water tower completed and in location!! All done without a rainy day.

Fresh out of the box ..

Primed ...

Job done!!!!

This was my first attempt using Humbrol Weathering Powders to give more effect and so not a bad result even if I say so myself! Is there no stopping this man!!

Take Care...

April already!!!

April 4th saw the reopening of the South Devon Garden Railway Group layout at Buckfastleigh and my Transport Manager and I booked to run a couple of trains. We expected the site to be busy (busy within the rule of 6 that is) - but we were the only ones there until one other member turned up. It did mean however that we had the site to ourselves!

Whilst at BFL I managed to give the 'rejuvenated' Pheonix a run for her money having just had it back from Roy Wood Models who had done an overhaul for me as Pheonix was running somewhat erratically.

The refit was well worth while as proven by six very smooth laps around the circuit without the need to refuel, top up with water - and hardly tweek the regulator. A job well done.

Pheonix 'rejuvinated'!

Back home and with the weather being dry if somewhat cool we have managed a few runs around the BLL including a 'non steam' afternoon, well it saves me getting all sooty and greasy (!!!!) when 'Florrie' decided for no apparent reason to take a dive at Canada Corner!! Soft landing fortunately and soon back on the run!

In the workshop a new signal box and also a water tower have arrived and in need of construction - just need a rainy day for that and so far this month we have not had a drop!

[Have you noticed how many exclamation marks there are in this posting]!!!

With England opening up more on Monday we are hoping to start making more use of our camper van but all that is dependent on how well behaved people are, but fingers crossed and lets hope we can all start leading a more normal life, whatever the new normal will be.

PS I have also just taken delivery of some more figures which will be 'brutalised and disfigured' in an effort to turn them into immaculate firefighters - 'like wot I was'!!!

Take Care.....

Stay Safe - Obey the Rules - Wash Your Hands - Keep Your Distance - Wear A Mask - and most of all don't get Covid Complacent’!!!

Artistic licence!!!

 ‘Artistic licence’!!

One of my difficulties whilst building the BLL has been the lack of success in tracking down (excuse the pun!) some suitable scale figures to ‘staff’ the Sheepham Fire Station and the Brigade Incident Response Train (known locally as ‘BIRT”!). 

Now ‘BIRT’ seems to be increasing in vehicles currently having a Water Carrier, Small Gear truck, Canteen Van and the recently added Incident Command Vehicle - but not one Firefighter to be seen!

So where needs must we have to improvise and this is where my Technical Director comes into her own and is able to turn her hands to most things in miniature!!!!!

So the first thing was to track down a figure which we could ‘convert’ into something more akin to what we needed and in doing that I have to apologise to Rob Bennet and his ‘Busy Bodies’ range of figures - from whence we obtained ‘Harold Steptoe’!

So we took, well actually paid for, ‘Harold - seen here ….

and turned him from scrap steel into …… ‘man of steel’ with Sheepham Fire Brigade!!

As you can see it was not too painful but we did have to remove the top of his head so a fire helmet (circa; 1970’s) could be fitted which she painstakingly constructed out of modelling clay. The helmet includes the leather chin strap and even the badge of the West Midlands Fire Service, in which I served for 12 years. 

Some touching up of the paint work and two coats of clear matt varnish to protect ‘Fire Officer Harold’ from the elements outside the Sheepham Fire Station, which incidentally has the Cornwall Fire Brigade (in which I served for 21 years!) badge displayed over the appliance room doors!

Seen in the next picture is Harold alongside a fellow Fire Officer who was somewhat easier to convert from ‘Colonel Pritchard’ (also ‘Busy Bodies’) into a Senior Fire Officer. The tailoring of the uniforms are very similar.

No similarities to persons past or present etc etc!!!

So we have made a start with our fire crew - I wonder what or who  will appear next? 

In the meantime - ‘Stay Safe - Obey the Rules - Wash Your Hands - Keep Your Distance - Wear A Mask - and most of all don't get Covid Complacent’!!!

Lineside addition

A relatively pedestrian start to 2021 but I have managed to complete another small project in relation to building up the scenery around the BLL.

‘Stevie’s’ is my interpretation of a kiosk (kit form obtained from Pendle Valley Workshop) and dedicated to a very good RN shipmate and friend of mine. 

‘Steve Logan was a Chef in the Royal Navy - and an extremely good one. So much so that he was ‘loaned to Henry Ford II (grandson of the Henry Ford) and was Ford’s personal chef working at his holiday homes near London and also in Scotland, for almost two years before he (Steve not Henry!!) returned back into the fleet! Steve used to tell many a tale about those times!

Sadly Steve died of a heart attack in 2007 but I am sure he would raise a glass and a smile to my commemorative kiosk. 

Cheers Stevie!

In this mammoth ‘construction’ I have also recognised Barnecutts Bakery because to me they make the best Cornish pasties in Cornwall and having spent 22 years working in Cornwall Fire Brigade I have tried many. Love em’ all - but Barnecutts are my favourite and the sooner we can escape over the bridge that will be an early port of call!

So ‘Stevie’s’ is complete, I just have to decide now on the most suitable location out on the railway. That may require some ‘adjustment’ of other fittings and a few debates with my senior management!!!!

You can view a selection of our sensational 😂 video clips by visiting our YouTube channel (Click HERE). 

In the meantime - ‘Stay Safe - Obey the Rules - Wash Your Hands - Keep Your Distance - Wear A Mask - and most of all don't get Covid Complacent’!!!