We, Maureen and I, have just returned from three days of shooting at the West Somerset Railway’s Autumn Gala.  As usual there was an astonishing display of mainline and branch line locomotives – on this occasion all ex G.W.R. – set in beautiful countryside probably two weeks more advanced into autumn than back here in Devon.  To hear the unmistakeable bark of a Castle, Hall, Manor or a pair of 4575 prairies double heading, echoing around the hills for a mile or so before coming in to sight is indeed enough to invoke a host of memories to those of us old enough to remember steam pre 1968.

And so my thoughts turned to SDR metals.  Whilst it would be entirely unreasonable to see a King or Castle on our line the thoughts of a Hall or Manor are extremely attractive when thinking of future galas, especially in 2010 the year of GWR 175.  Of course this brings forth the question of what is the purpose of a Heritage Railway such as ours?  Justifiably the answer would have to be to preserve a stretch of branch line in the manner for which it was originally designed traffic wise.  But my view is that a gala serves a very different purpose, because if it doesn’t then why have a gala in the first place?  Surely the purpose of a major gala (spring and autumn) is not only to attract more passengers than a normal weekend but also to attract visitors who may otherwise not have come ‘out of season’ when such events are normally held.  And is not the key to that to have quite different ‘big draw’ locomotives that would not normally be seen on the railway?  The idea of Southern or L.M.S. loco’s is neither suitable nor palatable but a Hall or Manor would not be out of place – we have 3803 resident after all.  (Our images of King, Castle, Hall & Manor are now on our sister website steamintheblood.com)

Unlike the WSR, where visitors can quite happily spread out along 20 miles of track and may for example eat away from the railway, our visitors tend to congregate around Buckfastleigh where our main attractions are centred; is that equally not good for business?   These are just a few thoughts of my own and I must stress not necessarily those shared by the railway.  But if anyone wants to start a useful debate then we have opened up a ‘letters to the editor’ page (for want of a better description) on the main menu.  So you are more than welcome to vent your thoughts on this subject or any other SDR matter by emailing us at info@sdronline.org.uk.

Harking back to the WSR Gala my mind returned to my 30 something years as a wedding photographer when most of my bookings came from recommendation, part of which was that the photographer was always friendly, smiley and very helpful.  In exactly the same vein when Maureen and I spoke to visitors and other photographers at the WSR – both happy amateurs and hard bitten professionals - from all over the country and made it known we were from the South Devon Railway there was always the same reaction.  "What a lovely little railway, what friendly, smiley people and very helpful they are there too.  They made us really welcome."  We heard it not just once but several times.  Well it made us feel proud to be associated with the SDR and we’re relative newbie’s, so we pass it on to all of you who seem to have the natural ability to promote the railway so effectively, giving it such a good name not only locally but nationally.  And to add weight to our words we publish an email received at the White House recently.

 To whom it may concern

I visited the railway last Thursday 24th September and I would like if possible for you to pass on my thanks to all who made my first visit to your railway so interesting and informative. All your staff working that day where both polite and professional in their approach (even the poor lady in the Cafeteria doing her best following continual power failures). In particular would you thank the TTI for not interrupting my on train videoing and the Booking Clerk and Station Master at Totnes for entertaining me early that morning. I would like to have spent more time back there in the afternoon but First Great Western waits for no man so I needed to be back on the train before I could thank them all.

You just can’t beat good old fashioned days out which entertain children and adults alike with sheer value for money.  And the passenger figures for August show just that.  With a glorious seven mile stretch of railway following the course of the River Dart and the much commented upon friendliness that is given so freely to our passengers, the South Devon Railway is once again proving to be one of the leading attractions in South Devon.

Here at sdronline we’re going to highjack the tail end of this news report to bring you some of our own figures.  The website is not yet fully three months old but the numbers of visits to it, between 1st September and until midnight Thursday 24th September, were a staggering 1,452.  The most viewed page was the News Page with 1003 views as opposed to the Home Page which had only 455 views. Therefore we’re able to tell that many of you have added us to your ‘favourites’.  It proves to us that our efforts to keep you fully up to date with the news are being rewarded by your support and a huge thank you to you all for that.  But as we always say, if you have any news from your own groups please let us know so that we can put it up for everyone to see.  Just email us at info@sdronline.org.uk and we’ll do the rest.

And finally we wanted to blow Sarah’s own trumpet!  One of her images of Tornado on the Torbay Express, 2^nd August at Kingswear has been chosen by the A1 Trust to be used in their sales and P.R departments.  As Sarah says “it’s another first in my life which seems to have been full of firsts in photography so it’s exciting on that score.  But,” she continued in a whisper, “It’s not the one I would have chosen to capture the best scene or flavour of that particular day at Kingswear.”  An achievement none the less. 

Kitson Hutching’s ‘Wills for Charities’ scheme offers our friends and supporters the opportunity to help fund the vital work of the South Devon Railway either by introducing a legacy into your Will for its benefit, or simply by making a Will for the benefit of family and friends.

To illustrate this, upon completion of your Will, our legal Partner, Kitson Hutchings, will donate 25 per cent of their fee directly to the South Devon Railway, irrespective of whether you decide to leave a legacy or not. This means, just by requesting that they donate 25 per cent of their fee to the Railway, you are helping make a difference, today!

Saturday 19^th September: 1630 – A Steam train pulling an Auto Coach will leave Buckfastleigh Station carrying friends and workmates of Collin SULLY, down the line to scatter Colin’s Ashes at Woodville.  A small service will be conducted by Rev. David Youngs, a colleague and guard with S.D.R.  The steam train will be crewed by Dick Wood and Brian Cocks.

On return to Buckfastleigh a memorial bench presented by Colin’s colleagues of the Buckfastleigh Station Group will be dedicated by Rev. David and this will be followed by a buffet/BBQ to celebrate Colin’s years with us at Buckfastleigh.

COLIN, E.J. SULLY 1941 – 2009

Colin worked on the last trains to run on the Old Ashburton Branch line and also worked for the last 5 years as a volunteer with the EMS and Station Group – a mate held in high regard by all.

As Colin would say “I’m not being funny but you know what I mean”.

Restorers of the Grade II Listed Gothic Revival chapel in the heart of Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure a quality finish.

In their efforts to find as close a match as possible to the original grey mortar on the Victorian chapel stonework, contractors Carrek Historic Buildings Restoration Company, ruled out modern day solutions and they found their answer in history. They have recycled the ash from steam locomotive fire and smokeboxes on the South Devon Railway in Buckfastleigh.

Richard Burrows, Carrek site manager on the Ford Park chapel restoration project, said: “We went down to the South Devon Railway and collected about 40 bags of ash from the engine disposal sidings which we then sieved before doing some trials for the mortar. It was common in Victorian times for buildings close to steam railways to have ash mortar and this provided the perfect solution for us today.”