Category: Press Releases

The fund raising sales stand for the new Falcon Locomotive will have its first outing of 2023 on Saturday 28th January at the gathering of the Trent Valley Group of the Association of 7mm Narrow Gauge Modellers held in the Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall, 36 Uttoxeter Road, Mickleover, Derby, DE3 9GE.

The opening times are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with admission costing five pounds. Refreshments will be available at the venue and the event is billed as a chance to meet like-minded modellers. There is a varied array of goods for sale on the stand including model railway items in various scales and money raised takes us closer to having a new steam loco at work on the Corris Railway.

The work done on constructing the new Corris steam locomotive, No. 10, culminating in a first public steaming during 2022, together with the re-modelling at Corris station with the new platform, track layout and traverser is being put forward for an award.

Each year Steam Railway magazine and the Heritage Railways Association combine to produce an award. This is decided by a vote cast by the magazine’s readers and the information about all the nominees, is in the January 6th – February 3rd issue now on sale.

In total ten projects are nominated for consideration on railways large and small and the Corris is delighted to be listed alongside the other nine with the public recognition of progress being made with the revival of the line.

Voting is online only via https://www.steamrailway.co.uk/read/hra-awards

This will take you to the Steam Railway awards page and a click on “Vote Now” should in turn take you through to a list of the contestants and the chance to vote.

Although there will now be no public service trains on the Corris until Easter the volunteers have continued to tackle construction, maintenance and renovation. One of the annual tasks is the maintenance of our Tattoo 0-4-2ST No. 7 which began with a boiler washout. This time next year it should be joined for fettling up by Falcon No. 10 if fund raising and construction continues to go to plan.

There was also an impressive line-up of motive power outside the engine shed at Maespoeth Junction. The contrast between our latest diesel loco, No. 11, at the rear of the line and our first, No. 5, standing in front of it is very marked.

If you would like to burn off some Christmas calories with physical exercise in the open air we would welcome more volunteers to join our track maintenance and vegetation control gangs. If you are interested please contact Patrick Jolley at volunteering@corris.co.uk

With costs of its operations rising the Corris Railway has had to increase the prices for its Your Railway for The Day experience package.

The day includes opportunities to sample, as the participants wish, all aspects of the Railway’s work including working on the footplates of the Corris’ locomotive fleet (one battery electric, an internal combustion trio and an 0-4-2ST steam locomotive), joining the guard in his or her duties, controlling the yard at Maespoeth Junction from the signalbox and enjoying a ride in a gravity train down the Dulas Valley between Corris Station and Maespoeth Junction. Participants can also see behind the scenes in the workshops of both the original locomotive shed and the modern carriage shed at Maespoeth Junction and may have the opportunity to walk down the planned route of the southern extension of the running line, subject to any works in progress on site. The emphasis of the day, which will run from 10.00 to 17.00, can be adapted to match the interests of those attending. Drinks are supplied but not food – however sandwiches etc. can be purchased in the Corris village café which is 100 yards from the station. Participants will also become members of the Corris Railway Society for the year.

The availability of Your Railway for The Day depends on there being no other operations due to take place on the Corris and crucially the availability of volunteers to run the day.

Cost will now be £500 and the maximum number attending the day will be six. This can be reduced to £400 if participants do not wish to include the steam engine. A non-refundable deposit of £100 will be needed at the time of booking and the balance will be due ten days before the experience day.

Participants in the Day must be at least 18 years of age, reasonably fit and must not have consumed alcohol or drugs in the previous 12 hours prior to the start of the Day. For more information and to discuss making a booking contact bookings@corris.co.uk

Next weekend, December 10th and 11th our passengers have an early Festive Season treat in prospect when their train takes them to meet Santa in his special grotto at Maespoeth Junction. He will have a present for every child whilst his helpers will have some refreshments for everyone. Trains will leave Corris Station at 11.00, 12.30, 2.00 and 3.30 and advanced booking is very strongly advised.

Our Museum and sales area at Corris station will be open with gift possibilities for adults and children alike.

The Corris café and the Slaters Arms in Corris village are both less than ten minutes walk from the station.

The final two days of public train operations on the Corris Railway in 2022 take place on December 10th and 11th when Santa Special trains will give a festive finale to what has been a good year for the narrow gauge line. Trains will leave Corris station at 11.00, 12.30, 2.00 and 3.30 and pre-booking is essential via www.corris.co.uk

Looking back over the last 12 months Corris Railway Society Chairman Richard Foyn highlighted some of the areas of progress:

After two years of disruption, and at times enforced inactivity, due to Covid, our volunteers and partners have made considerable progress on a number of fronts in 2022. During the first quarter an important part of the improvements to Corris station was completed with a new platform and track layout, the latter including a traverser which allows locomotives to run round their trains. Its operation has been photographed and filmed by many visitors.

South of Maespoeth Junction work has continued on construction of the embankment which will eventually allow our passengers a longer journey along the Dulas Valley. This part of our work depends on funding and the availability of suitable materials, machinery and qualified operators so it is inevitably somewhat stop-start but progress has been steady and is satisfactorily visible.

Our new steam engine which is being constructed by Alan Keef Ltd steamed for the first time in September and if fund raising continues successfully we plan to have it into service in 2023. Our friends at the Talyllyn have recently completed work on the air pump for the braking system.

Work has continued on our next new-build carriage number 24 which when complete will see first class travel available on the Corris for the first time in nearly a century and our heritage waggon fleet continues to receive care and intention. The waggon shelter at Maespoeth Junction now has its slate roof.

We have caught up with the Covid delays to the Your Railway For The Day bookings whereby individuals or groups of up to six can pay to drive trains and work as guards and signalmen.

All of this has been achieved by a small number of volunteers and we would be delighted to welcome more to the ranks. Contact details can be found on the website at www.corris.co.uk where other information about the Railway and our projects can also be found.

For many model railway enthusiasts one of the highlights of the year is the Warley Exhibition at the NEC Birmingham. This year it will take place on November 26th (9:45 am to 6:00 pm) and 27th (9:45 am to 5:00 pm).

You can save £2.00 on an adult ticket and enter the exhibition at 9:15 am on either or both days if you book in advance. Please see the Warley website for full details.

Apart from the models and layouts on display there will be a huge number of traders and amongst those stands there will be one, A13, from the Corris Railway. As usual the stand will have loads of Corris Railway related items including our Christmas cards and our 2023 calendar and we will be very pleased to see visitors.

For those unable to visit the range of Corris Railway sales items can be seen at our online shop.

After its first public steaming at the Alan Keef Ltd Open Day on September 24th the new build Falcon 0-4-2ST has returned to the interior of the workshops and more work has been carried out.

The most immediately visible is the fitting of buffers to the front and rear of the loco. These were made by Corris Railway Society volunteers in the Maespoeth Junction workshops and delivered to Keef’s. Incidentally, volunteer work at Corris currently includes fitting sprung buffers to the CR’s ex-Trecwn vans.

Another important item fitted to the new engine is the manual control for the draincocks.

As for the other stock that No. 10 will eventually head, work on new build clerestory carriage number 24 has seen external beading being fitted and glazing of saloon windows carried out. The shelter for the heritage carriage shed now has a slate roof, fitted by volunteers.

It is hoped that the new engine will be able to enter Corris traffic in 2023 and fund raising continues. More information about the project can be seen at www.corris.co.uk.

The last days of public service trains on the Corris Railway will be December 10th and 11th when Santa Trains will run.

There will be two more dates of operation on the Corris Railway this year when our annual Santa Trains will run on December 10th and 11th. Trains will leave Corris station at 11.00, 12.30. 2.00 and 3.30 for a train ride along part of the Dulas Valley to Maespoeth Junction where Santa will be waiting with a present for every child. There will also be seasonal refreshments served to adults and children. With limited capacity on the trains advanced booking is essential.

The Railway’s Museum and Shop at Corris will be open on both days. Amongst the items on sale will be the Corris Christmas Cards with five designs available, each in packs of five with envelopes. Also available is the 2023 Calendar which for this edition features 12 pictures by artist Michael Huber. These can also be purchased now from our Online Shop.