South Devon Railway - News Roundup February 2012

SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY News Roundup February 2012

The GM gave an update on which locos he hoped might be visiting the SDR this year, more details will be announced when contracts are finalised.
Three of our fleet, 3803, 1369 and 5526 will be hired out to other railways at various times during the year with 5526 off to Chinnor next month and the Mid-Norfolk for the summer.
In the workshop, the juggling of contract work and our in house overhauls continues but 5786 is still expected back in traffic this summer, 6412, is moving ahead and will be with us late 2012 or early 2013.
We hope to be able to consider the overhaul of 1420 once 5786 and 6412 are completed, an announcement that elicited a cheer from parts of the audience!
The contract repair of 5542 is continuing and will be run in on the SDR and we hope to hire another auto coach which could give us the chance to run a three coach auto train with a Class 45xx for the first time in preservation.
In addition to the new fencing around the workshop additional CCTV has been installed to complement the installations in the Shop & Refreshment Rooms
Those attending the meeting were able to see the refurbishment works completed in the Refreshment Rooms and view the sample pictures prepared by Sarah Anne Harvey for display around the walls.
There are no further developments on the field at Buckfastleigh, we still await the landlord’s response on its use for a number of event days. This means we may have to think carefully about our car parking around the site at Buckfastleigh and use all available space.
We have advertised for a full time C&W Manager to boost the team and hopefully increase our ability to complete more overhauls.
A question was asked about the bus and further to the details given in the last newsletter we now have had a potential attractive offer for regular hire which is being followed up.
The winter PW works have vastly improved the branch and give a very smooth ride as anyone sampling the Half Term week services will have discovered.
The February half term passenger figures were slightly down on last year with 1,675 passengers recorded in 2012 compared to 1,967 in 2011, but the Refreshment Rooms and Shop’s figures were both up on last year. Running in February does cause us problems in terms of the very limited time that the railway is closed for essential maintenance, but the figures show it is certainly worth doing!