January Welcome to all our members, the visitors who rode with us at Sandtoft and more recently at Thorne A Happy New Year. 2008 again promises to be a very interesting year for our members who are actively involved with many projects. The skills we learnt at Sandtoft and of more recent times Thorne are being used to help many different other voluntary groups, helping to progress many new and exciting developments.
Perhaps one day we might or another society may set up another railway near to or next to the Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum . I emphasize near to or next to not on the museums land or under their jurisdiction having been treated the way we were.  What we do not have are the members due to illness or passing away. Sadly we lost Rita Matthews, Rose Hawksworth, Brian Mennie by the latter. Our members such as Brian Wharton and Harold Dyson would no longer be able to do any heavy ground work but still give valuable support.  Brian still travels down by train from Newcastle about six times a year to visit us at Thorne. We still have most of our original rolling sock and the rail in storage at Sandtoft Our current membership stands at 18. Presently we are more than happy to be involved with and enrolled as members to the Doncaster & District Model Engineering Society Ltd who operate the Thorne Memorial Park Miniature Railway.
We were proud of the achievements we were making at the Trolleybus Museum. Signaling systems, ticket offices, and a new railway shed were to be proud and are to be honest these facilities can never be put into a public park where vandals would soon destroy everything, as they did in Clifton Park Rotherham.

Above left: Stephen Hobbs, Bob Ashton, the late Rose Hawksworth and Pat Ashton travel around the circuit on New Years Day at Sandoft in 2000 what was to be the last year of our operation there. This event was always for members only. 
Above Right: Our member David Stubbins is about to depart with "The First Steam Train of 2008" in Thorne Memorial Park. One of the main differences here is that the event is shared by the public where as at Sandtoft they would now have to pay £5 for adults or £3 for child (I think under fives are free) to have a train ride) At Thorne all they had to pay was 40p for one ride, or buying a Multi-Ride ticket five rides for £1.60. As can be seen above the steam locomotive "Remus" has its work cut out to haul this full load of passengers around the circuit. Click Here for a full list of the operating days at Thorne for 2008

March 2008 report:
The steam locomotive Remus which once graced the tracks at Sandtoft has now been taken out of service after operating  at Thorne for the Mother's Day Special on the 2nd March. Reason its time for its annual boiler test. If all goes well it will be back in service in time for the Easter Weekend.
The locomotive has been regularly cleaned and steamed by David Stubbins from Winterton nr Scunthorpe both at Sandtoft and Thorne. The engineering team of the Doncaster & District Model Engineering Society have helped to carry out the major overhauls and maintenance since 2000 without which the locomotive might well have been in China as recycled steel.  .

Above David in the drivers seat. On the left David is steaming up "Remus" being watched by one of the junior members (also eating his sandwich) from the D&DMESL and to the right Remus hauling the first steam locomotive of the afternoon for the Mother's Day Special on the 2nd March 2008.

The new coach built by Knightley Light Railways was collected by a group of former/and present SMR members. The former Mayor of Thorne-Moorends, Margaret Holt Taylor made all this possible with some very successful fund raising and sponsors. (Below Margaret) is seen here riding on the new coach as the train passes the park's pond. This is the type of coach that would have been useful to the collection we had at Sandtoft. Unlike presently at Thorne we would have had room to have stored at least three coaches of this size and layout comfortably in the 1996 railway shed at Sandtoft. One would have the facilities for taking the centre section out for the wheelchair facilities and the other two would have had a similar seating profile. The colour of the coach will ideally match that of the steam locomotive "Remus" as featured above. It might be possible to repaint SMR coach No 2 to match the new coaches colour scheme.
However we face the fact that we are not at Sandtoft and we will have to revive the plans to extend the storage facilities that the Doncaster & District Model Engineering Society have at Thorne.

The new coach would have been a valuable asset to add to the collection as it was once at Sandtoft.  A set of three would have been ideal. I am sure we would have arranged sponsorship and funding  to purchase them in view of the developments that were taking place between 1998--2000.

March 28th 2008  At Sandtoft there has been a  welcomed development for the museum by the illumination of the post of "Infrastructure Manager" The General Manager and other members have taken over the responsibility of the maintainance and development of the museum site. At last the museum is moving forward after some disastrous happenings that included the destruction of the miniature railway.
Regrettably the railway cannot be put back as it was due to the removal and use of the track bed that we put down. There is now the Pelham Building (tin sheeted house) across what was the Sandtoft Central Station. At the north end of the former track the radius has been lost due to alterations of the pavement and road for the trolleybus circuit.  Perhaps a miniature railway could operate on the new land being at long last purchased to the North West of the site. Something that I am sure could be considered to bring back a vital visitor attraction that proved to be so popular with the children (and adults) .   

Above Left: Presently the last surviving track bed that we in for the car park crossing is still in location in March 2008. I see the daffodils still thrive that we planted in the late 1980's.
Above Right: Looking a little further to the right the  work being carried out for the new pay booth and car parking entrance

Below left: The former bus shelter from Belton now stands outside the former railway shed that is now the Sunbeam Cycle Shop
Below right. The ever encroaching industrial estates as more of the land that could have been the museums is eaten up in this case for storing Peugeot cars and vans.   

Above: Yet another building goes up on the expanding Industrial site next to the museum, land that had been on offer to the museum with a donation from a local businessman and match funding in 1999/2000.

Below Left: A view of the melting snow in Thorne Memorial Park as former SMR member Matthew Fox changes over the locomotive on Easter Sunday 2008. A few hours earlier we had to clear the snow off the tracks.
Below Middle: Repairs being carried out to the steam locomotive "Remus" by Doncaster & District Model Engineering Society member Ron Smelt ready for the boiler test.   
Below Right: As part of the successful boiler test on Tuesday 25th it had been identified that the steam pressure gauge needed to be changed due to it showing 5Ibs PSI with no pressure being applied so a new replacement gauge (to the right) has been purchased. We are hoping that the locomotive will be ready for the May Day weekend at Thorne.

30th April 2008 The replacement gauge has been fitted to the locomotive and is back in action for its 23rd year of operation. This a credit to the builder Harold Dyson, the team that serviced the locomotive whilst it was at Sandtoft and the members of the Doncaster & District Model Engineering Society who have tirelessly helped to maintain "Remus" where it operates on the tracks at the Thorne Memorial Park Miniature Railway.   

Above Remus back in service at Thorne Memorial Park with its regular driver David Stubbins on the 6th April 2008. To the right is photograph that was sent to me of the miniature railway at Rugby operated by the Rugby Model Engineering Society on their fist day of their 2008 summer operating season. For more details of this railway and Rugby society click here.