Society Events

May 24th 2008 - Society AGM
The Railway Institute, York
There will be a visit to the National Railway Museum.

November 15^th 2008 - Crewe Luncheon
Details to follow in the Newsletter or from Ken Wood.

The society publicity stand will also be present at the model railway exhibitions at Warley (NEC) and Wigan in November/December this year.

Other Events

July 17th to July 30th 2008 - Shrewsbury's Fabulous Railway Station
A 160th Anniversary Celebration Exhibition - 10am to 4pm daily, except Sundays.
Admission £1-00 (50p concession).

"This Exhibition will be of interest to all who follow the development of Britain’s railway infrastructure, past, present and future. In addition this exhibition is a ‘must see’ occasion for the wide swathe of local people in the Shrewsbury and Shropshire region who work/worked for the railways, or who had/have family connections with the railways. Visitors and tourists from the West Midlands, the North West, the South East and Wales, will be provided with a unique insight into a special part of Shrewsbury’s architecture and railway heritage.

The opening of the first railway line to Chester in 1848 provided the town with its truly superb railway station. To celebrate the opening of the line and the station, the Mayor and Corporation along with invited guests, left for Chester at 1050am in a huge train. It comprised of 3 locomotives and 39 carriages, described by one engineer at the time as ‘stretching one third of a mile’!

A Joint Station Committee drew up the plans for the station, on a site between the Castle and the County Gaol in 1847. The Committee accepted the tender for the works from Thomas Brassey of £30,963 11s 2d. The total cost of buying the land, raising the earthworks and building was around £100,000. Robert Stephenson and Henry Robertson designed the track layout and signalling and Thomas K. Penson, an architect from Oswestry, designed the station. The resulting building is recognised as one of England’s very finest examples of Victorian railway architecture.

The exhibition will be supported by local Railway Heritage walks, talks and film shows".

September 6th and 7th 2008 - Gauge 0 Guild
Telford

These events might be of interest:

Ramsbottom Tank goes to Shildon
The Ramsbottom Tank has been moved by the N.R.M from inaccessible obscurity at Bury to public display in the N.R.M's Locomotion building at Shildon Co. Durham. The move took place in December. The loco seems to have been given a wash and polish and is now displayed in front of Cornwall and on the same track. (Have they ever before shared the same track?). The photo was taken on Sunday 17 December 2006 by Roger Stapleton.

Orion in steam at Shildon
Another photo by Roger Stapleton, this time of the Darroch model of Orion in steam, taken in September 2006 at Shildon, where it is also on permanent display.

Betws-y-Coed Railway Museum
The Jack Nelson Dioramas are the first thing you see after going through the entrance. The subjects are:

• Stockport Viaduct
• A street scene somewhere in Lancashire (not titled), with LNWR Warehouse, Town Office and Coal Tank in coal yard.
• Lake District Viaduct
• Edge Hill Shed Scene at Coaling Plant
• Broad Street Goods
• Liverpool Road, Manchester
• Edge Hill Tunnel
• Runcorn Bridge
• Wavertree Station
• A Typical Goods Yard

The museum also has several other LNWR items, including drawings of stations on the Conway Valley line.