The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of March saw the annual Corris Railway training event take place. Volunteers from all over the UK came for a programme of refresher exercises as well as practice sessions on the newly implemented ETS system. On Saturday morning, before movements began, the old staff system was retired and the Railway commenced all operations using the ETS system. Volunteers had already prior access to online training materials so the weekend was an opportunity to reinforce the theoretical learning with practical hands-on experience at both Maespoeth signal box and the Corris block post.
Volunteers also had the opportunity to drive and fire steam locomotive No. 10 as well as driving turns on No. 6 and No. 11. Guarding and signalling operations were also undertaken by volunteers and the fine weather and good turnout resulted in an enjoyable weekend for all.
Whilst operational volunteers were enjoying the fine weather, Ian and John were busy in the machine shop, laying a new floor of special rubber tiles. This makes the area more pleasant to stand in for long periods of time when working at a machine, as well as helping with thermal insulation and acoustic sound deadening.
After the weekend a couple of volunteers stayed on to get on with work on No. 7. John and Mike prepped and painted the boiler for No. 7 prior to it being retubed. They were greatly aided by the good weather, as was Peter who repainted all the platform edges ready for the new running season.
Hello from Norway….
I hope you can advise me please?can you tell me which Pre-preservation era books I should buy?I am particularly interested in Mainly Photographic studies of Corris Rlw.I thank you in advance.
Regards Steve Sylvester
Looks like fun was had by all! Why did the back of the fire box on No. 7 have to be left till post re-tubing before being stripped and painted? Just curious. Jenny from Aberdeenshire
Hi Jenny. And thank you for your query! The back of the firebox will be painted black, rather than silver. Black because it gets covered in coal dust etc. and it is traditionally black. Welding of the tubes is done inside the fire box but as there is a certain amount of work to be done on the boiler still from either end it is better to do all that work first and then paint at the end rather than spoiling the paint. (Look forward to seeing you at Maespoeth next time you are around).