Tynedalesman - Annual General Meeting 2004

The Officers Reports published in Tynedalesman No. 140,
September 2004 issue appear below:-

South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society
Company Registration no. 185032. Registered Charity no. 514939.

Annual General Meeting: 13th November 2004

Agenda Item 3:
Reports of the Chairman, Officers
and Heads of Departments

Chairman�s Report
by John Sutton

When you elected me at the Annual General Meeting in November 2001, I set out five aims:-

For the Society to pay off its bank loan - not achieved.

For the Society�s accounts to remain in the black - achieved.

To have six carriages in service on passenger trains - not achieved.

To start work on the extension of the line towards Slaggyford - no physical work achieved but a great deal of preparation work has been done.
To see a ten per cent increase in members and volunteers - not achieved.

Looking at the above aims, it would seem that I have not been a very good Chairman. I will let you judge me for what we have or not achieved.

A great deal of track has been renewed. Steam locomotives, Helen Kathryn will be in steam this year, and in 2005 Thomas Edmondson will be back hauling the passenger service trains.

I would like to thank in particular the following members:-

Steven Dyke, our Secretary, for keeping the Council of Management and me in line on a variety of procedural and legal pitfalls;

Tom Bell, Assistant Secretary, for all of his hard work and support for me;

Mike Ryan, Treasurer, for his easy to follow financial reports, his guidance and support to both myself and to the Council of Management.

The Council of Management is all about teamwork and communication, at times lacking. Hopefully everyone will realise the importance of these and continue to work with the new Chairman, to ensure that teamwork and communication are paramount.

It only remains for me to say thank you to all of the members, not only of the Council of Management, but to all of the members who have given me their support, time and energy to maintain and operate the South Tynedale Railway.

I wish every success to the new Chairman and assure him of my full and continuing support.

John Sutton.

Secretary�s Report
by Steven Dyke

The bi-centenary of the first steam railway locomotive has been celebrated this year by a number of events nationally, of which the largest was undoubtedly �Railfest� at the National Railway Museum in York. It was a successful and well-attended event, demonstrating the continuing level of interest in railways, not only amongst enthusiasts and historians, but from the general public. That is good news for everyone involved in railway preservation, but there is increasing competition - for visitors, volunteers and funding - from a wide range of attractions and events, railway and non-railway.

A visitor survey has been undertaken on our line in course of this year. Its results may well show that most of our passengers enjoy their visit and consider it to be good value for money. There are limits, though, to how much time and money people are able to devote to days out. Even just in terms of railway atttractions, there are several recent developments whose catchment areas overlap with ours. A downturn in passenger numbers, then, does not necessarily imply that we are doing anything wrong, but it may be simply an indication of increased competition.

It is perhaps disheartening that some of the essential work that is done by Society members, cannot be seen when completed. Some permanent way work and locomotive repairs are examples, apart from administration and mentions in reports, cannot do justice to the effort and skills involved, on the part of relatively few dedicated volunteers.

Since the previous Annual General Meeting, there will have been eight scheduled meetings of the Council of Management, with a special meeting under consideration, (at time time of writing), to discuss operating procedures. In the course of the year, it was agreed to appoint Mike Le Marie as a Council member. The combination of his new enthusiasm and others� powers of persuasion may have led him into accepting the nomination to be Chairman!

There is always the risk that a series of reports can create the impression of a �mutual admiration society�, but on this occasion a particular mention is deserved by the following Council members and officers:-

John Sutton and Alan Blackburn, who are at the end of their terms as Chairman and Deputy Chairman, for their efforts to keep the Society �on the right track�.

Ivan Ward, who is standing down from Council after long service, including his term as a former Chairman.

Mike Ryan, who is standing down from Council and from the post of Treasurer. His work in preparing financial reports and budgets has been greatly appreciated by Council members.

Robin Alderson, for so ably taking on the role of Newsletter Compiler on a temporary basis, in addition to his other responsibilities.

Duncan Wheeler, for his work in the post of Safety Liaison Officer.

Liesel von Metz, for offering to take over responsibility both for Tynedalesman and the re-titled post of Health and Safety Officer.

Tom Bell, for his continuing work as Assistant Secretary, dealing with the secretarial duties at Council meetings, which I am unable to attend regularly.

Steven Dyke.

Membership Secretary�s Report
by Kathy Aveyard

Membership Statistics

At the time of my reports to the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Annual General Meetings there were 260 members.

This has reduced by 15 to 245 in 2004; the lowest figure since 1979.

In 2003 there were 16 new members, with 13 members lost from the figures from non-renewals and 2 members deceased.

In 2004 there were 15 new members, with 27 non-renewals and 3 members deceased.

Of the 15 new members, 1 is from Alston and 4 are from the North East. 6 (40%) of these have expressed an interest in becoming actively involved with the Society�s activities.

Of the total membership:-

40% are from the North East;
23% are from the North West;
5% are from the West Midlands.

35% (86) are life members;
37% (90) are members paying the full annual rate.

We have 3 complimentary members in recognition of services to the Society.

The remaining members pay reduced rate (66%) subscription (i.e. junior associate, senior citizen or subsequent member at the same address as a full member).

Membership Subscriptions

The current rate of membership subscription no longer covers the cost of production and distribution of the newsletter. After careful consideration, the Council of Management agreed to recommend an increase in the rate of subscriptions to �15 (full rate) and �10 (reduced rate) with life membership remaining at 15 times the relevant annual rate for full, subsequent and senior members.

It is also proposed that eligibility for life membership should be restricted to those who have been annual members for a continuous period of 5 years, with the option of payment in 2 annual instalments.

Kathy Aveyard.

Infrastructure Department (Forum 1) Report
by Richard Graham

It has been a busy year, where everyone�s efforts are there for all to see. Some good gangs turned out after the end of the 2003 Santa Specials, to lift the points and track at the south end of Alston Station. Some of the old ash ballast was dug out with the digger, but it is quite a clumsy tool in a confined space, so a lot of hand-digging was also necessary to get the bed down to the correct level. Much of the trackwork which was removed almost fell to pieces as it was lifted; hardly surprising as it had had hardly anything done to it since it was laid over 20 years ago - not bad for second-hand materials!

We moved the buffer stops back to the wall, where they used to be in British Rail�s day, and when we re-laid the points on the platform road, they were moved about 6 feet south of their previous position, to ease the crossover. Whilst all of the track was out, water pipes were laid in from the water tower to the proposed positions of the forthcoming water cranes. The point drives were re-routed between the tracks, so as to keep the rodding away from the edge of the compound, where careless road drivers could damage it.

Also, ground signal no. 18 was redesigned to sit atop a post adjacent to the coal dock, and it was provided with ground detection, since, because of limited space, it was virtually impossible for the driver to see, that the switches were closed before proceeding over the points. It had been thought that temporary operating procedures would have to be adopted for the Easter 2004 weekend, however, with almost hours to spare, the last parts of the job were completed, inspected and certified, and normal operation could resume. There was still some final tidying up to be done and barrow crossings to be provided next to buffer stops, and this was done in one of those rare spare moments!

The second part of the Alston Station renewal project was undertaken during the May 2004 Work Week. This time it was more sheer physical effort than technical expertise, since it was just a case of lifting plain track, removing the rubbish, and re-laying on new sleepers and clean ballast. A mini-digger was hired in, and that proved much more controllable than the Massey Ferguson had been in the New Year. All we had to be careful of was not to hit the sewer that runs very close to the loop, otherwise we should all have been in the proverbial! To make life easier, we spent some time in the weeks beforehand, pairing up the rails in the loop to get rid of the very last of the staggered joints that had plagued us since 1983; then, when we came to do the re-laying, we only needed to undo the joints at the ends and near the signals, and bar the rails out of the way in long lengths. A convoy of dumper trucks (well, two), carried the waste ash ballast next door to the caravan site for re-use, and then returned to transport clean ballast as required, from the heap stored in the car park.

Apart from a bit of final consolidation and occasional maintenance, all we now have to do is to get Cumbria County Council to stop dumping floodwater and flotsam from half a mile away on the line and the track in Alston Station should last for a least another 25 years.

Also in the Spring of 2004, we met on site with representatives of Northumberland County Council, to look at detailed plans for the making up of the South Tyne Trail, where it runs along the railway, and alterations to the provisions at Slaggyford station. At present, it is hoped that external funding might be available to carry out this work in both the Cumbrian and Northumbrian sections, thereby completing some of the preliminary groundworks that will be needed, before we can start laying new railway track.

Further work has been done to keep Slaggyford station in reasonable order, but very soon there is going to have to be some fundamental work done on the station building to keep it structually sound and weatherproof. Indeed we are probably going to have to look at its proper restoration sooner, rather than later.

A final design of the signalling requirements at Slaggyford has been drawn up, and the Signal & Telegraph�s Technical Section is designing the interlocking. Meanwhile, the lever frame is being cleaned, painted and pre-assembled in the workshop.

Work on the Yard Crane and Loading Dock at Alston Station have slowed owing to variety of unforeseen and unrelated events.

Fence repairs were necessitated, in the summer of 2004, when the unsuitability of the big round hay bale in a hilly district, such as ours, was amply demonstrated. One such, minding its own business in a field near Howgillrigg, was suddenly struck by a gravitational urge and rolled off down the hill, and, after splintering the wooden fence, it came to rest on the track. This section of fence will have to be one of the next to be replaced with hayproof, as well as lamb-proof sprung wire.

Although Forum 1 meetings have been scheduled through the year, none has been convened, presumably since everyone is still happy with the way Infrastructure work is proceeding.

Remember, that while there are organised railway works scheduled from time to time, there are also a lot of general tasks of a site maintenance nature to be done, which theoretically these come under Infrastructure�s remit: grass cutting, strimming, tree and shrubbery pruning, cleaning gutters, painting doors and windows, etc., etc,. There�s plenty of scope for someone to say, as in Isaiah Chapter 6, �Here am I. Send me.�

(Actually, that same passage also says �..... and his train filled the temple ..... and the whole house was filled with smoke .....� - railways obviously go back a long way!)

Richard Graham.

Operating Department (Forum 2) Report
by Robin Alderson

I would like to begin by saying, a big Thank You, to all of our operators and members, for giving their time and effort to enable the railway to run its scheduled services during the 2004 season. Also special thanks must go to the few members, who have the time and are able to put in those extra shifts when there are gaps on the roster sheet.

Congratulations to:-

Glen Kilday - for passing out as a Diesel Driver on diesel locomotive No. 4 on 16th May 2004;

John Thompson - for passing out as a Diesel Driver on diesel locomotive No. 4 on 19th June 2004;

Dave Hughes - for passing out as a Diesel Driver on diesel locomotive No. 4 during August 2004;

Glen Kilday - for passing out as a steam locomotive Fireman on 29th May 2004;

Duncan Wheeler - for passing out as a Steam locomotive Driver on 29th May 2004;

Jim Harper - for passing out as a Signalman on 17th July 2004;

Mike Le Marie - for passing out as a Guard on 7th September 2003;

Glen Kilday - for passing out as a Guard on 1st November 2003;

Mike Edwards - for pasing out as a Guard on 6th June 2004;

John Gillott - for passing out as a Guard on 31st July 2004.

Thanks to all who have helped out with the catering this season, providing a valued facility for passengers, in the new catering section in the buffet coach No. 3.

Last October, 2003, we held our Halloween weekend, which considering it was the first time, went very well. I enjoyed myself and I hope that we all have another good event during this year, 2004. Also during October 2003, I dismantled coach No. 1, which is now ready for a rebuild.

Last year�s, 2003, Santa Special trains, were a great success. Again, thanks to everyone who helped with the preparation and assisted on the days. We need to put on an even better show this year, 2004, to build upon our past success. Please offer your help and ideas: contact Robin Alderson or Ivan Ward. Any decorations or Christmas items will be greatly appreciated.

During January, February and March 2004, coach No. 3 was converted into the buffet facility. The floor was covered with ply wood, the inside painted and the outside painted and varnished. The brake van was also rubbed down and repainted, both inside and out. One of the steel bodied coaches was refurbished inside and some repainting and varnishing was also done on the outsides of various other carriages.

The Family Fun Days weekend in 2004, went fairly well, with Drive a Diesel carrying 385 people over the three days. Teddy Bears� Picnic was a good success again.

The Steamathon Weekend in June 2004. Thanks to all who took part. Travelling to Kirkhaugh in the dark with Alan driving was an experience! I feel that we all enjoyed it in different ways, but overall it worked out very well. Do it again? No Thanks!

Thanks to Mike Le Marie for handling the rostering during my absence, in August and also to Carolyn Marshall for helping with the rostering during the season.

It just remains to wish you all a Very Happy Christmas and may we all have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Robin Alderson.

Engineering Department (Forum 3) Report
by Alan Blackburn

The year of the Curate�s Egg:
It has been a year of highs and lows in the engine shed. No desperate lows, but not many great highs either!

Once again, we have had to run a season with only one steam locomotive. It makes us far too vulnerable to engine failures, especially during the month of steam, when there isn�t any time to service the loco. Naklo fortunately ran a mainly trouble free year, barring a spell of leaking tubes, although her end of year exam in September 2004, was a fraught affair as we had three and a half weeks to complete the strip down, cold exam, rebuild and steam test, but we did it.

On the carriage side, we have refurbished another of our steel bodied coaches, and transferred the catering from the guards van to the buffet coach, a conversion that is proving most popular. The stock itself has been largely trouble free this year, as indeed have the diesels, a sticking traction clutch on Naworth being the only notable problem.

In the engine shed, Helen Kathryn, our Henschel 0-4-0 tank loco, in for a ten year rebuild, has gone mostly very well, but was delayed when we had to replace five stays. We were going to get the boiler repairers to do this, but they had no spare time, so we had to fit them ourselves. Being threaded stays, this was a lot more time consuming than the simple welded stay like Naklo. This put back our completion schedule quite a bit, but we should still see it in action by the end of this year, 2004.

Thomas Edmondson, our 0-4-0 Henschel tank loco of 1918, and the winner of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, has been the cause of most of our delays. I cannot mention them all here, but the wheelsets, springs and axle box assemblies have been found to have considerable damage, which we had not expected, greatly adding to the work needed to get the frame finished. To add to our problems, the boiler needed more work than we anticipated, especially after we found it had been pierced by some type of medium artillery round! The repair, probably done in the field in the 1920s, was not deemed to be safe any more, and a new patch had to be rolled, cut and fitted.

Many of these problems have meant us finding new solutions, making many new parts, and tackling jobs that we have not done before. It has been a year of hard work, of overcoming each new problem before hitting the next one. It only remains for me to thank all of those involved, in all areas of engineering work, for their ability to keep pushing the jobs forward, especially on the days when nothing is going right. It has been a pleasure to work with them, and I look forward to celebrating the completion of our next locomotive, and the repair of my office chair! If you fancy joining them, you can, but remember, it�s not all coffee and doughnuts!

Alan Blackburn.

Commercial Department (Forum 4) Report
by Ivan Ward

In the past twelve months we have had our ups and downs, one of the �ups� being the emergence from the carriage works of coach no. 3, fully fitted out as a self-contained buffet coach. Robin Alderson is to be congratulated on his hard work at the beginning of January (the painter did a good job too!). This new facility has proved very popular with our passengers, with almost a 50% increase in sales. Unfortunately we have not been able to operate the coach as much as we would have liked (the same old story - shortage of volunteers).

As in previous years, the 2003 Santa Specials, were very popular, with many of our regular customers returning for the upteenth time. Preparations for this year�s (2004) event are well under way, with only 400 presents to buy from the required 2,200.

The Family Fun Days, at the beginning of May 2004, were successful in that the event showed a surplus, but unfortunately, it still did not attract the customer numbers that the �Friends of Thomas� weekends achieved. It has been decided, therefore, to drop this event for 2005.

The Teddy Bears� Picnic event, this year (2004) was a success and we hope to hold this event again in 2005, but this will only be possible if more volunteers come forward to dress up as bears.

A detailed review has taken place of all of our special events, together with advertising/publicity, to see where money can be saved or where we can get better value for our hard-earned pounds. This is all being looked at in conjunction with a new visitor survey, which is being masterminded by Tom Bell.

Due to the workload in the carriage works at the beginning of the year, the new improvements planned for the shop could not be undertaken, and it was a tight schedule to complete the stocktaking and spring cleaning before the Easter opening. The range of souvenirs and other products continues to be expanded. The latest item is our tea towel which is selling reasonably well. It shows a piicture of Naklo with the passenger train approching the one mile post along the line.

The plan to introduce a new range of postcards has been put on hold until the end of the year, due to the lack of photographs, time, and, above all, the large capital outlay.

It only remains for me to thank all of the members and non-members who have helped in whatever way they could to run the shop, the buffet coach, and to make the special events a success.

Ivan Ward.

2004 Annual General Meeting:
Election of the Council of Management

�Pen Portraits�

Nominee for election as Chairman:-
Mr M. J. Le Marie (appointed as Ordinary Member of Council since the last A.G.M.)

Michael Le Marie. I have been a member of the S.T.R.P.S. since 1997 and I am currently qualified as a guard, diesel passenger driver, and I am currently training as a steam locomotive fireman. When time allows I have worked on various infrastructure tasks. I therefore feel that I have a working knowledge of many aspects of the railway.

I spent 20 years in the Royal Air Force Supply and Movements Branch achieving the rank of Squadron Leader. I served in numerous roles, including hazardous cargo handling, introduction to service of new equipment, as as Senion Supply Officer to the U.K. Harrier Force. On leaving the R.A.F. I spent ten years running a small company specialising in providing display stands for antique fairs being held in historic venues throughout the U.K..

The last eight years has been spent developing my model railway business, here in Alston. In addition, I have served the past six years as Chairman of the �N� Gauge Model Railway Society, a national group with 4,000 members. My personal interests in addition to railways are mountain walking and campanology.

I believe that I have a broad background of business and committee work and I am happy to use this experience to assist in the running and future planning of the South Tynedale Railway.

Mike Le Marie.

New nominees for election as Ordinary Members of Council:-

1. �� Mr J. M. Beckwith

I am Jim Beckwith, married, 67 years of age and I have a great affection regarding Alston.

I have served 12 years as an Instrument Mechanic in the Royal Air Force. This was followed by 12 years as an Instrument Fitter in the Coking Industry.

From 1981 to 1986, I was either Chairman, Secretary, Welfare Officer and/or Standard Bearer for my local Royal Air Forces Association. My last 16 years official work was as a licenced Skipper of a Barge or Narrowboat, with responsibility for up to 50 passengers plus Staff and Crew.

Hoping to be of service to the Society

2. �� Mr J. R. Gillott

John R. Gillott. Date of Birth: 12th January 1946. Place of birth: Sheffield, U.K.

Current Status: Hospital General Manager, BUPA Hospitals Ltd. (On long-term sick leave, folowing major surgery) from 1992 to 2001. General Mahager, BUPA Hospital, Washington. From 1974 to 1992; other hospital management posts.

Education: High Storrs Grammar School, Sheffield. Open University - BA Social Sciences. Institute of Health Service Management - Associate.

Main responsibilities: In my most recent post I was responsible for the overall management and direction of a private hospital with a turnover of just over �10 million per annum and a with a staff of around 150. My duties not only involved most of those common to general management but also focussed on business development, public relations and marketing. These responsibilities included appearing in the media, including radio and television, attending exhibitions, addressing gatherings, visiting potential customers and training staff and students, etc..

I am also currently a tutor, with the Open University. I have a lifelong interest in railways of all types, and I am certain that I can contribute at managerial level to the future success of the railway.

3. �� Mr D. Wheeler

Duncan Wheeler. I became a member of the S.T.R.P.S. four years ago. During that time I have attended at Alston virtually every Thursday, as part of the Thursday �gang�. In addition I have qualified as a guard, diesel driver, steam locomootive fireman and driver, volunteering regularly throughout the season. I have also played an important bearded part on Saturdays during the Santa Specials, but have willingly taken my turn on car park and station duties. I have been supported by my wife, Dorothy, who helps to staff the buffet coach, as indeed I have done.

My experience of preserved railways started in 1977 on a standard gauge line, where I became a steam locomotive driver in 1978.

At Alston, I feel that we must face up to the increasing competition from other railways (and indeed other tourist attractions) now operating in the area. We should not be unwilling to experiment with different events.

I am also in favour of the extension of the line and I hope that, if I am elected to Council, that I will be able to assist in progressing this.

Click here to return to top of page.

SOUTH TYNEDALE RAILWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Registered Office: The Railway Station, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3JB
Tel. 01434 381696.��Talking timetable tel. 01434 382828
Registered Charity No. 514939.

E-mail addresses - click on links below:-
South Tynedale Railway information - Send e-mail to South Tynedale Railway
STRPS membership information only - Send e-mail to Kathy Aveyard
Tynedalesman information only - Send e-mail to Tynedalesman compilers

Mission Statement for the South Tynedale Railway:-
�To provide satisfaction for our customers and volunteers
by operating a friendly, safe and efficient narrow-gauge railway.�

� South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society, March 2005.

More great reads