March 2019

Welcome to the Blog for March.

Saturday 2^nd March

Today we met with some of the organisers for the Wartime Weekend, who explained a bit about the background of the War, and the event itself, before moving on to what we would be doing: selling newspapers. Or rather, giving out the programme of events for the weekend at Cheltenham and Toddington stations. So, for those of you planning to visit the Wartime Weekend, ensure you pick up a copy!

We also had a bit of a discussion about suitable 1940s clothing, the most important part of which is wearing shorts! (Weather permitting.) There were also suggestions for making cardboard gas mask boxes to add to the authenticity and period feel of the event.

We then recapped some of the topics discussed at previous meetings, such as signalling (what’s the difference between a distant signal and a banner repeater?) and the permanent way. This was useful for those who had missed the days where these subjects were discussed at length.

Sunday 17^th March

Corrour Station

Today, in the comfortable setting of the meeting room in the Tim Mitchell building, we had a presentation by Helen on various aspects of the West Highland Line in Scotland.

Construction of the line from Craigendoran Junction (Helensburgh) to Fort William began in October 1889. The line opened in August 1894, with 3 trains per day each way.

Huge obstacles to building a railway had to be overcome by the engineers of the line, notably Rannoch Moor, a very wet, boggy landscape; the eventual solution was to float the railway over the Moor. The mountainous terrain through which the railway wended its way resulted in many interesting features, such as Horseshoe Curve. Corrour Station, inaccessible by public road, is the highest mainline station in the country.

Rannoch Moor

An extension of the line to Mallaig opened in April 1901. Its most notable features are its many concrete viaducts (at the time a novel construction method), the most famous of which is Glenfinnan Viaduct (featured in the Harry Potter films). There is a local legend that there is a horse buried in Glenfinnan Viaduct; modern investigation has shown that this isn’t true. However, there is a horse and cart buried in another of the viaducts.

 

Glenfinnan Viaduct

In the afternoon we took a ride on the DMU to Broadway and back, watching the signals on the return journey. This was an interesting activity, making great use of the excellent forward view in the DMU.

Written by Anders