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The News and Views from the Rother Valley Railway Issue 54 £1 Winter 2010 Issue 50
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The Phoenix
Issue 50 News and Views from the
Rother Valley Railway Issue 54 £1 Winter 2010
Journal of the Rother Valley Railway Supporters’ Association
Issue 54 Winter 2010
Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust
Rother Valley Railway Supporters’ Association Committee: Trevor Streeter (Chairman & Memb. Secretary) David Felton (Treasurer) Helen Brett Peter Brown Geoff Wyatt Steve Griffiths (Secretary & editor of the Phoenix) [email protected]
Rother Valley Railway Ltd Directors: David Felton (Chairman & Co. Secretary) Roy Seabourne John Snell Mike Hart OBE Managers: Helen Brett (Shop and buffet supervisor) Peter Brown (acting Loco mgr) Steve Griffiths (Safety mgr) Simon Relf (acting P/Way mgr) Paul King (Forestry and Conservation mgr)
The Rother Valley Railway Station, Station Road, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, TN32 5DG telephone: 01580 881833 RVR e-mail: [email protected] RVR website: www.rvr.org.uk RVR membership [email protected] Reg. Office: 3-4 Bower Terrace, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8RY (e-mail etc as above) Trevor Streeter (Environmental Compliance mgr; webmaster) Geoff Wyatt (Carriage & Wagon mgr) Mark Yonge (Press Officer)
Trustees: Gardner Crawley (Chairman), Peter Davis,
David Felton, Mike Hart OBE, Roy Seabourne, John Snell
Phoenix copyright: The Rother Valley Railway Supporters’ Association & contributors as named.
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Editorial More good news in this issue of Phoenix. Let’s hope we can keep this up all year! Not only is RVR the proud owner of a steam locomotive, Charwelton ‐ see page 9 ‐ but we now understand that work is in hand on new detailed drawings for tackling the bridges that lie between Robertsbridge and North Bridge Street, signalling again the Trust’s aim of making this stretch the next planned extension of our railway. We understand too that work is planned to shot‐blast and paint the old Staplehurst bridge sections remaining at Robertsbridge, so that they are ready to be used when needed. What is more, promising discussions have been held with the Railway Inspectorate about our requirements for road crossings. No further details are available just yet, but these new initiatives show the head f steam building up these days, and the tantalising prospect of a start to some osignificant new work before too long, authorities permitting. KESR continue with plans for what is now being called the Junction Road weekend. The dates now are 19 & 20 March 2011, and special KESR trains will n along the RVR eastern extension near to Junction Road, bringing passengers ru
there for the first time since the enthusiasts’ specials of the 1960s. See below. It looks as if KESR are taking quite an interest in us these days, with a positive tone evident in both the Terrier and statements from the management. For example the new KESR chairman Geoff Crouch said on being elected “...I also look forward to future developments which in cooperation with the RVR will one day see ervices extended to Robertsbridge, thus completing the work started so many years sago by our founding fathers”. e’re delighted to welcome four new regular volunteers to the RVR fold this W
autumn, namely Jack and Bob, David and Mark. We will try and hang on to them. This issue includes a short piece about proposed changes to the RVRSA onstitution to add two new classes of membership. Our AGM is now set for 28 cMay 2011, and we are hoping for a good turnout.
ay I wish all our readers a happy New Year. It promises to be an exciting one. M Steve Griffiths (editor) cover – Charwelton, now owned by the Rother Valley Railway (SG)
Any uncredited articles and text have been produced by the Editor
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People Paul King has been appointed as Forestry and Conservation manager by RVR Ltd. He has been looking after our embankments and other open spaces for several months now and if you want to join him any Saturday on keeping the rampant vegetation under control and improving the look of the place, just get in touch with us and we can put you in contact. The post of RVR building and estate manager is vacant still. If you fancy looking after our various buildings and services please get in touch. Despite the snow, we managed to hold our annual Christmas lunch, organised and catered by Helen Brett working flat out as ever. Not every regular could get there unfortunately, as road conditions and rail services were very poor. It proved possible to thaw out the water pipes and a good time was had by those who made it in! Prize draw news –by Geoff Wyatt May I invite you to set up a direct debit to enter our prize draw? This ensures you get a chance every month without having to do any more, after we set his up for you. Forms are available from me at Robertsbridge or by email to [email protected].
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Latest RVRSA prize draw winners: September 1st HE Emott (ball 20) 2nd T Streeter (ball10 October 1st Barbara Clinton (18) 2nd PW Coombs (5) Nov. 1st T Streeter (10) 2nd HE Emmott (20) Dec 1st JV Hunt (19) 2nd A Bone (14)
Planning a visit to RVR? Please check the latest position on shop opening days, and catering.
Tel 01580 881 833, email [email protected] or check at www.rvr.org.uk
If you would like to help run the shop or cook for
us, get in touch
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RVR latest.... Extensions The Trust is making considerable strides here, commissioning surveys and reports for the next phase of reconstruction. More news as it comes in. Buffet problems In the last Phoenix we described how work had started to install a visitor buffet in the privately owned ex BR Mk 1 saloon coach. Unfortunately the owner of this vehicle changed his mind after work had started, and it is no longer available. He says he will remove it from the site shortly, and has declined to sell it to us. Naturally this came as a blow to those who had worked so hard on getting the vehicle ready inside and out, made worse by having to undo hours of effort on plumbing and electrics, and two sets of stairs. But we are never downhearted for long.... We are considering options for visitor catering at the Robertsbridge site. Meanwhile, teas and coffees, cold drinks and confectionery are of course available for all visitors, in the RVR shop, every Sunday. VSOE upgrade With the departure of the cafe and kitchen from the VSOE building last summer, work has been moving ahead steadily on converting the northern end to a museum/information/visitor area. Walls have been reclad, a store cupboard built, and (donated) carpet laid to create a more welcoming area for visitors. Here they can (soon) view future developments, absorb some RVR history, and enjoy a ink and a sit down. Our various railway artefacts are waiting to be displayed, th project information, displays, and hopefully audio visuals in due course.
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New recruit Mark at work on the VSOE upgrade (photo: TEDS)
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Braking news – by Peter Brown Dougal’s train pipes have been completed, and preliminary tests have been carried out successfully on the newly constructed butterfly valve fitted inside in the brake lever mechanism in the cab. Strictly speaking this is a rotary valve rather than a butterfly type. Air leaks elsewhere in the system are proving a problem at the moment but when weather permits we will sort those out. The next big step is the fitting of the heavy main vacuum brake tank to the underside of the chassis, between the frames of the loco. This will entail some further smaller bore pipework to connect this to the rest of the new braking system. Then it should be possible to carry out some tests on the complete installation. ’d like to express my grateful thanks to all the volunteers who have helped us so ar on this project, at various times. If Carriage and wagon news Work on the GBLV exterior has not made much progress recently because we have focussed effort on the VSOE and the Mk 1buffet projects. However, the centre doors for the east side of the vehicle have now been tarted up and await the narrowing of the doorway in order to be fitted. We have also got the south end door to work properly at last. The GBLV was buffered up to Mk1 on the entre road at Robertsbridge in order for the new buffet to supply the mess van
ceasily. Latest news is that we will make use of the kitchen fitments, pipework and electrics from the buffet project to install a decent kitchen in the GBLV instead, initially for the use by the volunteers. This work has begun. However, the GBLV roof still needs more work, as it has become clear that several of the ventilators are letting in water in bad weather, due to corrosion and will need replacing. We ave had to resort to tarpaulins over half the roof of the vehicle for the time hbeing. On the platform, the early onset of winter ruled out plans to finish off the remaining platform edges, which must now wait until the Spring. On trackwork, we have acquired an electric concrete breaker, donated by a member, which should make the job of ballast‐packing easier than our traditional ethod of laborious shovelling. We are also rounding up scrap and surplus track m
components to try and raise money for the railway. There’s also a list of jobs to tidy up the eastern extension, ie east of Junction Road.
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WiFi at Robertsbridge by Trevor Streeter
The autumn issue of the Phoenix announced that we now have WiFi installed at the RVR. You will now start to see the above logo appear in the VSOE (former buffet and current shop). Until the end of June, the WiFi connection is free of charge to members and volunteers, but thereafter we will move to a pay service. ntil then anyone with a suitable device can surf at our expense. Please speak to U
Helen in the VSOE for the password, which will be changed at regular intervals. So why do we have this? In any business, communicating by e‐mail is now the minimum standard and the RVR is no exception. To do this we had to install broadband and we had a chance to obtain some WiFi radios (routers) at low cost. So now we are able to provide this service to improve the experience of those ho visit us. As Steve (the Phoenix editor) said, this will allow us further pportunities for communication expansion. wo
Christmas cards – by Helen Brett OK, it’s definitely too late to send out RVR Christmas cards this time round, but t’s only 11 months until next Christmas and so why not get ahead of the field and ibuy your cards now to use later on in 2011? All proceeds go to the Association. We have a lot left over because, disappointingly, too few were bought by our upporters. Only working volunteers have bought the cards so far, and unless swe can sell some more of the stock we shall make a loss on this venture. Prices are reduced to an even more reasonable 50p per card or £2.50 for six. This nly applies for orders received by Easter Monday. Please add enough for opostage ‐ enquire for the correct amount to add. Please send your postal order or cheque with your order, made out to the Rother Valley Railway Supporters’ Association.
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Railway Management Committee Recent RMC meetings have included discussions about developments on the Mk1/buffet. On learning that the owner had announced the coach was to be removed, the November meeting agreed to attempt to buy the vehicle, and also to investigate buying an alternative vehicle should the bid fail. The big advantage of these options is that it’s a straightforward and quick way to get WCs on site without the expense and other difficulties of putting up a new building. A coach offers more “covers” than we could squeeze into the VSOE building, as well as having some novelty appeal, while the VSOE now houses a small museum/visitor area. As noted above, our offer to buy the Mk1 was declined, and as yet we have not found a suitable coach on the market to purchase. RMC decided to place the itchen in the GBLV, where it can serve the volunteers and also any suitable kvehicle that might in future be coupled up in place of the Mk 1. The Committee noted that finances for the day to day running of the RVR are uite a problem, due to the lack of buffet income, and we have to be very careful bout any new commitments. qa Easysearch – by Trevor Streeter Since the last quarter I am please to report that Easysearch has brought us a further £61.53. So for the past 12 months this income has totalled £146.01. I receive a report every week that we perform about 200 internet searches in upport of RVR funds, so whoever you are, thank you for your effort. Every little earch helps! ss
ust go to these two websites and follow the instructions, to start earning money or your railway from your internet searches, and your web‐purchases too. Jf
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Charwelton – by Steve Griffiths The last issue announced that RVR Ltd was taking ownership of the steam loco Charwelton, our cover girl for this issue. She arrived at KESR as long ago as 1964, and for many years has worked as No 14. The previous owner Rick Edmondson decided to sell the locomotive, and RVR has been able to buy it through the great generosity of an anonymous benefactor. I am sure we would all like to extend ur most grateful thanks to whoever this benefactor may be, assuming that he or oshe gets to read this article! Charwelton will of course continue to be based at Rolvenden, operating under a hire agreement with RVR Ltd, so that it remains available to our sister railway. KESR will continue to maintain the loco, and indeed we understand that a umber of repairs have been recently undertaken now that the future of the nlocomotive at KESR is assured. Charwelton is an 0‐6‐0 saddle tank from the well‐known builder of smaller industrial and contractor locomotives, Manning Wardle of Leeds, and was completed in 1917. She worked the ironstone quarry lines of the Parkgate Iron and Steel Company of Charwelton, Northants for many years, transferring to another quarry owned by this firm at Sproxton, Lincs until 1963, after which she was transferred to the then newly formed KESR for preservation. It’s hoped that he will be in action on RVR metals during KESR’s planned Junction Road eekend in March (see diary dates below).
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Charwelton at Rolvenden. Photo by Alan Newble www.newble.co.uk
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FEATURES A 00Gauge Garden Railway – by Mark Goodrum (16) As a new volunteer on the RVR I have recently discovered the fascinating railway described in `The Phoenix`. My miniature (4mm to the foot scale) railway is no ay near as interesting, but it is certainly a curiosity as far as robins are w
concerned, although none of the trains have been mistaken for giant worms yet! Like the RVR it is a work in progress. Only a 10 metre (or scale half mile) section has been completed ‐ twice! Embarrassingly a re‐build was necessary, due to my initially poor construction methods. I have so far employed several methods of construction. The majority of track is pinned to thin squares of sundeala board at intervals. These squares have been fixed, with larger pins, to a thicker timbers (2'' by 3'' on average) embedded in compacted earth. The space between the track and the timber (the thickness of the sundeala) is filled with fine brick dust. The main technique in future will involve a concrete base. The track will simply be set on top of this base in a mix of crushed ballast (retrieved from the trackbed of the dismantled Crowhurst to Bexhill West branch) and cement. For a large expanse of trackwork at the junction end of my branch line, I have prefabricated ome plywood boards protected with roofing felt. These are attached to a ssoftwood frame on a low brick base. The felt has the aesthetics of ballast. This initial section is a single track branch that will be operated under the one engine in steam principle. The terminus boasts a single siding; a station for a one‐coach train with no run‐round loop; and a tunnel made from small folded lead and tin sheets. The line will follow the light railway concept. This is partly ecause, in sympathy to the flora of my grandmother's garden, I have resorted to busing a couple of small radius curves at one end of the patio. The diagram below shows a possible method of controlling a track section that is out of sight of a main controller. It could be used for shunting purposes or simply to bring a train to a halt at an intermediate station (using a potentiometer). A double pole double throw switch can be used to reverse the polarity of the isolated section. The length of rail between the dotted lines is only live when the power supply to this section is of the same polarity as the main controller. This safety precaution (omitted from the right of the diagram for clarity) is not ncluded on my railway. I have not experimented with the use of a potentiometer ieither. However, it should work theoretically. The challenge of getting a fragile toy to work in natural conditions (utilising odds and ends wherever possible) gives a great freedom to the imagination. One is
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rewarded with the static beauty of sweeping earthworks and flowering platforms whether a train is in sight or not. So far I have only a short stretch of track to how for two years of irregular Saturdays. However, I may just reach the bottom f the garden by the time the next Tenterden‐bound train leaves Robertsbridge. so
Mark’s LSWR Class M7 braves the recent snow - more photos in the members’ area (MG)
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Accident at Junction Road – by Steve Griffiths As promised in the last edition, here is a vivid press report (complete with minor rrors) from a local newspaper of an accident at Junction Road which took place n Wednesday 2nd January 1929:‐ eo “LIGHT RAILWAY ACCIDENT MOTORBUS JUMPS RAILS AND RUNS DOWN EMBANKMENT A smash occurred on Wednesday afternoon on the Kent and East Sussex Light railway when the Ford motorbuses which are sometimes run in the place of a steam train, jumped the rails between the Junction Holt and the Robertsbridge Station, after they had just passed over the main Hastings to Hawkhurst road. It was the 3.24 train from Bodiam and there were two passengers, the guard, and the driver. These buses are run two together, back to back, thus one pulls on the upward journey and one on the return. On reaching the place of the accident, the front motorbus seemed to jump off the rails, and ran down the bank, turning a complete somersault, the wheels preventing the second bus from following. The back of the front coach was torn out, thus uncoupling the join between the two. There was not a sound piece of glass left on the bus, and the body and the metal were wrecked to such an extent that a witness of the accident afterwards said that the only description he could give was that it resembled a concertina. The driver, who was lucky to escape with cuts and bruises, was unable to move until help was summoned, and then he crawled out, suffering badly from shock. The two passengers, a gentleman and his wife, were thrown about when the motor bus turned on the side of the first coach, but were otherwise unhurt, as was the guard, who was with them. The guard after assisting the driver to free himself from the wreckage, started to run to Bodiam Station, but a farm labourer who was working near and had given assistance, recalled and reminded him of the telephone which runs from Udiam House to Bodiam Station. The stationmaster called on the gangers, who were working near the station, and they went to the scene of the accident. The two passengers who were catching a train at Robertsbridge Junction were taken on the trolley, the lady at first refusing to go, but afterwards was persuaded to give way. The line was cleared later in the evening, the first train running through to Robertsbridge about 8 o’clock. On Thursday morning a breakdown train arrived
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with a crane, and lifted the last bus back onto the rails. It was found that except for the windows being smashed, very little damage was done to the coach. The other was lifted onto the rails, where engineers made the wheels fit to run. All of the stray ieces of metal were placed in an empty truck. The buses were taken to Rolvenden pto the repairing and building sheds.” This was Ford set No.1, and its sister unit can be seen in the previous Phoenix. The considerable damage to No.1 led to the purchase that autumn of the slightly ungainly looking Shefflex twin railcar, (No.3, later renumbered 2) featuring such luxuries as a klaxon horn and windscreen wipers. Col Stephens put his hand in is own pocket to help purchase the new vehicle, not long before he had to give hup running his railway empire through ill health. No 1 was broken up in 1932. One can only imagine how the hapless passengers felt after enduring first the ccident and then a cold wait to be rescued, and finally a pump trolley ride to aRobertsbridge in the dark (one would guess) in early January. If you would like to know more about the history of the railway, I can recommend a beautiful new book – the Kent and East Sussex Railway ‐ by Brian Hart, published by Wild Swan Publications. With 282 pages of detailed and very eadable history and beautiful photographs, on good paper, this may well be the est account of the line published to date. All it lacks is an index. rb Update on restoring the Maunsell Coach –by David Felton Since the last report in issue 46, there has been very slow but steady progress with the restoration of my coach, BTK No 3690. A repaint of the side facing the platform into authentic Maunsell olive green was started during 2009 but only as far as was accessible as most of the coach was pushed down against the buffer stop. Unfortunately by the time it was possible to pull the coach fully into the latform, other commitments and diversions arose and I seemed to lose the good
ppainting weather for the year. In 2010 I have however been able to erect the first of the basic orridor/compartment partitions and refurbish and hang the compartment liding door, as the photos show. cs
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compartment side above, corridor side below (photos: DF)
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Corridor side hese are the same sections photographed in issue 46. I think they look much Tbetter erected than they did lying horizontally on the floor! This work was akin to assembling a jigsaw without the benefit of having the box, so mistakes were inevitably made, involving dismantling and re‐erection, sometimes more than once! I do have a set of photographs taken by Dave Clarke of the Bluebell Railway, which chart progress with the similar work that they have been carrying out there to sister coach 3687. They are a lot further advanced with their restoration and these photographs have proven to be a most useful guide. However you can only glean so much information from a photograph, and much of the detail of the mouldings etc cannot be seen. Similarly measurements are imprecise as there is no scale to the photographs. I can foresee hat I shall be making further visits shortly to inspect the coaches at both tTenterden and Horsted Keynes. A second compartment sliding door of an almost identical pattern was discovered lurking in the GBLV and I purchased this from Andy Vincent, the owner. This door will need a complete refurbishment plus fittings, some of which I have traced, but should now have enough material to erect the second compartment, when Iready. Unfortunately I have been let down by the contractor who agreed to manufacture set of new droplights for me and I will have to see what other arrangements can abe made. Recently the coach was used in the major exercise carried out by the East Sussex ire & Rescue Service and emergency teams, having “accidentally” been involved n a low speed level crossing collision with two cars. Fi Some historical magazine articles – by Steve Griffiths Peter French has been browsing his old railway magazine collection and drew my attention to several interesting articles. The biggest of these appeared in the September 1953 edition of the Railway World, describing the hop‐pickers specials and a journey by the writer (R C Riley) on a through train from Northiam to London Bridge via Robertsbridge. Terriers took the train through the opfields, and a Schools class loco hauled the train up the main line back to ondon.
In November that year, a further article appeared, this time describing the concentration of hop‐pickers trains at Tonbridge on a Sunday evening in September. RAH Weight describes no less than 14 trains such special trains passing through in two hours, all heading for London Bridge, having started at variously Ashford, Maidstone West, or Hawkhurst. To accommodate all this traffic, many of the trains ran through Edenbridge and Oxted to Croydon, and then up to town through Forest Hill, rather than the more direct route through rpington to London Bridge. Regular express trains also had to be diverted to O
make way for the specials. A brief paragraph in the Railway Magazine of October 1963 records that the Kent and East Sussex Railway Preservation Society had only a few days left to purchase from the British Railways Board the permanent way materials on the line before BR invited tenders from scrap merchants for this valuable asset (I assume KESR managed it). The article notes that KESR envisaged reopening the line in two stages: Robertsbridge to Northiam, followed by Northiam to enterden. But it was not to be of course, with the western end of this plan being Teffectively blocked by the Ministry of Transport. However, as late as early 1972 it was still possible for trains to run from Robertsbridge to Tenterden, for the April 1972 Railway World recorded that final movements of KESR stock from Robertsbridge Junction to Northiam took place on the weekend of January 29/30, following which the line from Robertsbridge to Junction Road was shut completely. BTH Bo‐Bo diesel No 16 was used for the purpose, requiring two trips to move the stored stock before the final line closure as due to take place. w
Pl . ease remember to “Gift Aid” any donations to the RVR, if you pay UK tax
Dona rust RVR then gets another 25% from the Government on top.
tions should be made to the Rother Valley Railway Heritage TA gift‐aid form will be provided so that we can claim the aid.
Diary dates
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KESR’s Junction Road weekend, 19 & 20 March 2011. Plans are well in hand for the above event, which will feature KESR trains running over the RVR metals between Bodiam and Junction Road. It is hoped that Charwelton, as RVR’s first steam loco, will be rostered for the services.
Trains running west of Northiam will be topped and tailed because of the lack of a run‐round at the Junction Road end. Please note that there will be no views of or access to the railway at Udiam Farm r Quarry Farm which are private property; and no parking anywhere in the ovicinity of Junction Road, for road safety reasons. RVR and KESR members will be entitled to discount tickets on these days, while egular volunteers will be able to travel free on production of a suitable “grade” rcard, which we plan to introduce for RVR volunteers shortly. or further details, please keep an eye on the RVR or KESR websites which hould have more information as it becomes available. Fs Trackbed walk 24 April A walk along the trackbed from Robertsbridge to Headcorn is taking place on Saturday 24 April, starting at 9.30 am. This is being led by Gemma Barclay. It’s expected that walkers will travel by train between Bodiam and Tenterden, for obvious reasons! Contact Trevor Streeter if you are interested.
RVRSA Model Railway Exhibition (“SAMEX”) Next year’s event is set for the weekend of 21st & 22nd May 2011, at RVR Robertsbridge. We have several new layouts lined up. We would appreciate some helpers for this busy weekend. Setting up will begin on the day before, as usual. Please contact Geoff Wyatt if you’re interested in helping out on all or any of the days. Our AGM The RVRSA annual general meeting will take place at 3pm on May 29 at Robertsbridge Station (RVR). The usual election of officers is planned, together ith a discussion of changes to the constitution as described elsewhere in the agazine. Only members may attend this meeting.
wm
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Do you have any unwanted copies of the Phoenix?
We badly need the following editions missing from our paper collection:
Dec 2000, Dec 2002, Sept 2003, Dec 2003, Mar 04, June 04, June 05, Sept 05, Dec 05, Mar 06, June 06, Sept 06, Dec 06, Mar 09
Derek sharpens tools in the RVR workshop (TEDS)
Th ix Co m nicatio Im rovemen by Trevor Streeter As you know I aspire to improve the communication platform between Members/Volunteers and the managing body (in all forms) of the RVR. ommunication is an endless issue in any body, although in my perception it is an
e Phoen m u n p t,
Ceasy target by way of complaint. More than half of you are receiving your Phoenix by e‐mail. It seemed to me that the Phoenix is a logical place to introduce a real communication improvement. Magazines by their very nature are one‐way. We (the Railway) give our views and opinions which you read. If anyone has a point or response to make, they can write in to us, but I have to say that this seldom happens, being inconvenient and
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just another thing for any of us to do. What if magazines were two‐way? Well now the electronic version of the Phoenix is just that. In the last issue, several of the articles were set so that any member receiving their Phoenix by email could make a comment back to us by email too. They only needed to click on the heading. The beauty of this scheme is that comments can build up by way of a conversation. For us, we can gauge your mood, garner ideas nd create change far more quickly. The reason to do this via the Phoenix is that athe topical headings are created by the magazine itself. Each time a comment (called a blog post) is made into the system, each of the ailway Management Committee members receive notification that something
m yRhas happened. In this way we can react i mediatel . This is particularly important for the Editor as he can then gather all those comments up and make a summary in the letters section of the next issue of the hoenix. We know almost half of our readers prefer onto to deal with the paper
uPversion only, so this will ensure everyone gets included in any disc ssion. So much for the technology! The first trial received one post, so not exactly rushing us off our feet. I hope that those of you who can will give your views and opinions on articles so that we can improve that level of commitment to you. You ve after all elected the Supporters’ Association committee to represent your ha
interests. And don't forget, if you do receive your issue of the Phoenix by electronic means only you are saving the railway the printing and posting costs, which are not nsignificant when the numbers of you doing so increase. Just let me know [email protected] if you feel able to switch.
Letters: from John Woolmer Re : Practical Support I note that in recent issues of the Phoenix you regularly appeal for support with various projects. I live too far away to help you myself but have you thought of seeking the assistance from students at local further education and adult education colleges? Many students are usually glad of the work experience and you never know some may be interested enough to help you permanently. I had been thinking of writing this letter for a few weeks now, but what has finally
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spurred me into action is the news from other Railway Societies which are receiving invaluable help from outside sources. Cambrian Railways based at Oswestry have been receiving assistance from "Imagematch", a government agency giving 1825 year old employment opportunities. Another company is loaning a team of bricklayers to build a wall for part of the station. The Wensleydale Railway is enjoying help from the local Darlington college who are finding that the Railway has projects which provide training opportunities for their apprentices.
I hope that information has been useful. I congratulate you on your vision. I would love to be able to travel by train from Robertsbridge to Tenterden one day. Meanwhile I hope to be able to visit your shop and buffet at Robertsbridge next Summer. Yours sincerely John Woolmer Reply from RVRSA Chairman – Trevor Streeter May I thank you for your letter of November and the length of time it has taken e to write back to you. Your letter contains some very interesting ideas. Some of
m i rmwhich we are trying to work on so e we need to reinv go ate here. Our Geoff Wyatt (Carriage and Wagon) has been in contact with the local technology college in Hastings, but after many months the reply has been something of a holding one or I suppose, a polite way of saying no. We had offered them the project to work on our Supporters’ Association LNER van. I find the reply something of a lost opportunity in several dimensions. Firstly that for the college they would have had a real project to work on. This would have been a contribution by the college from the community angle, as we aspire to be a positive contributor back to the community. This would have given the students a real challenge in terms of non‐textbook problems faced and solved. I hate to use e modern business expression, but it is apt this time: it could have been a win‐th
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win situation. Your message is in reply to the editor’s (Steve Griffiths) plea in the Editorial of the Autumn 2010 Phoenix mentioning Do‐It, but we have also been in contact
with Vinvolve a part of the Creating Futures Ltd governmental programme of ncouraging junior volunteers into volunteering groups. Our new recruit and econtributor, being Mark, in this latest Phoenix came via there. Perhaps more can be done and we should ingratiate more with the local authorities, semi governmental bodies, other railways, but as always we lacking me, money and wider resource. I did note from you with interest other railways titactics and I think this is a further lesson in how these things develop. And so I thank you for your good ideas and look forward to receiving any other you have. Yours sincerely Trevor Streeter Proposed changes to the RVRSA constitution – by Steve Griffiths As promised at the last AGM, the committee of the association have considered the suggestion that RVRSA introduce the option of life memberships. This was accepted at the committee meeting in September, together with the proposal that the rate would be set at 20 times the normal subscription renewal fee. It was agreed to have a two‐tier approach, with members aged 65 and over being entitled to a 40% discount on the standard fee for a life membership. A proposal to “ringfence” life subscription income to membership purposes was not agreed. Instead the committee decided on a majority vote that the income from life membership fees would be treated no differently from the income from other ubscription fees and Association activities, ie it would be made available to the swhole railway. A suggestion for introducing day memberships was also considered, as a way to enable potential volunteers to try us out. It was considered that a month would be more practical as a trial period than one day. A month would also allow someone to be assessed by another member who might wish to sponsor them (students or unemployed persons in particular might be put off by the annual fee). It was also agreed that the only benefit available to a “month” member would be the ability to be an active volunteer. He or she would not be entitled to free Phoenix or a vote at the AGM, etc, unless and until full membership was aken out. The committee agreed to propose this new class of membership. at
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The Committee of the association therefore propose these two new classes of membership (life and month). This will require a small change to the constitution, which currently sets out the four existing classes of membership. The changes will be put before the membership of the Association at its AGM, and a vote may be taken in the usual way. Other details including the fees can be decided subsequently by officers of the Association, if appropriate. A paper etailing these proposals will be available to RVRSA members before the AGM, hich takes place at 3pm, on 28 May, at Robertsbridge.
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Enlist today
The Rother Valley was one of a fascinating empire of light railways built under the direction of Holman F. Stephens. Join us, and help preserve the history and artefacts of his many lines. You will also receive our quarterly newsletter ‘The Colonel’, packed with news, articles and scale drawings. For a membership form, write to: David Powell (CSS Mem.Sec.) Gateways, Bledlow Road, Saunderton, Princes Risborough, Bucks., HP27 9NG
telephone 01844 343377 (new) e-mail [email protected] website www.colonelstephenssociety.co.uk
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Sign up to our volunteer blog in the members’ area of the RVR website. You will be automatically updated on what we have been doing week by week. Contact Trevor if you have any difficulty
accessing the members’ area.
It’s snowing again (photo: PB)
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The much improved RVR shop is open every Sunday, from 9 – 4pm (5pm once the clocks go forward). Please e-mail stock enquiries to Helen Brett at [email protected]
SELL VIA RVR We are happy to have your unwanted railway items to sell for railway funds. Items can also be sold for you on commission (15%).
PRICING POLICY Pricing secondhand items is an art not a science, so all sensible offers are considered for most goods in the shop!
BACK NUMBERS OF RAILWAY MAGAZINES We have what is probably the best collection in the south east of England. Try us for that issue you’re missing. RAILWAY BOOKS From historic to modern, biography to photo collections, we have a wide range of second-hand books at bargain prices.
MODEL RAILWAY ITEMS We have a large collection of used models and trackwork, mainly 0, OO, and N gauges. We also have some road vehicles, and one large N gauge layout for sale (as featured in the last issue).
FULL–SIZE RAILWAY ITEMS 3rd rail insulators. Railchairs from pre-1923 companies and later. RVR CHRISTMAS CARDS – still in stock.
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