Organised by Story
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
We face the constant challenge of balancing increasing operating & maintenance costs with the need to generate & secure new income. We have 22-miles of track to maintain and it’s becoming harder to secure good quality rail, sleepers and track-related items at affordable prices.
We want to operate some steam services to improve our visitor experience and increase our income. We can’t do this without a service & ash pit to safely dispose of burned coal.
We must act now to safeguard our railway’s future. We need your help.
WHAT’S THE PROPOSED PLAN?
This appeal is focused on safeguarding the railway’s long-term security. It has 2 goals:
1. To secure sufficient track materials to support our plans to restore passenger services to Redmire and meet our on-going maintenance needs for many years to come.
2. To build a service & ash pit at Leeming Bar. This supports our plans to operate steam services, improve our visitor experience and generate new income.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1.We have secured a donation of track, points and signalling items worth approx. £500,000. This deal will secure our track material needs for the foreseeable future. We need to act now.
We must clear the site and pay to transport the materials to our railway. We anticipate this will cost between £30,000 and £50,000.
2. We have prepared plans to build a service & ash pit at Leeming Bar. This will be in the yard, adjacent to the platform. It is proposed to incorporate a public viewing area on the platform. We anticipate that it will cost approx. £50,000 to build the pit.
CAN WE COUNT ON YOUR SUPPORT?
Securing the track will support our Redmire plans and ongoing maintenance needs into the future. It will enable us to replace track at Leeming Bar as part of the proposed ash pit project and also a planned extension of the platform to increase the capacity of our Polar Express Christmas trains. In addition, it will allow us to create a storage siding at Wensley Station.
Building a service & ash pit is a vital part of steam locomotive maintenance & operations. With the correct support facilities in place, we will be able to demonstrate our commitment to providing steam services and enhance our ability to attract visiting locos by satisfying their owners’ needs & requirements. Running steam services will improve our visitor experience and create new income.