Tuesday 15th October: Funding Bid Successful

The Mid-Norfolk Railway is to receive £590,000 funding as part of the Breckland Cultural Package, EU Objective 2 bid. This grant will be used to renovate the Victorian Station at Dereham as well as provide some infrastructure for steam services to commence in 2005.

Wednesday 23rd October: Class 141 Enters Service

The Class 141 "Pacer" unit entered regular service for the first time on the 23rd October. This is one of the first of its class to operate in preservation and comments from passengers would be most welcome.

Thursday 31st October: MNR to Buy County School Station

Breckland Council, owners of the rural County School Station near North Elmham, have agreed to transfer the station to the MNR for £1+ VAT. This news comes as preparations are being made with the Sea Schools Association to mark the centenary of Barnardo's opening their nearby training school for boys, which will be commemorated in July next year.

The MNR has, until now, been the tenant at the station, with the tea room open during the summer season at weekends. Set in the Wensum Valley, it is a popular place for cyclists and walkers.

Any Barnardo's old boy who attended the school, and is not a member of the SSA, can forward details to us for passing to the Association.

Permanent Way Reports

By Owen Stratford.

Saturday 5th October: Digging out Sleepers

The team spent Saturday digging out the remaining sleepers at Yaxham for replacement. Good weather aided the process and we are now ready to change them.

Sunday 6th October: Jacking and Packing

Another two panels of track in Dereham Yard were jacked and packed to the correct level, allowing more stock to be removed from the station area.

Saturday 12th October: Changing Sleepers

The weather on Saturday was awful and it was 'touch and go' as to whether we would go out and brave the rain. In the end there were more people than usual and so we set off to Yaxham to change sleepers. Inspired by the weather (or not wanting to get cold) we managed to get a fantastic 48 sleepers changed! That leaves only a few for next week and it should be an easier day as a result.

Sunday 13th October: Tidying up after re-laying Norwich Road

We spent the day at Dereham clearing up and finishing off after the relaying of Norwich Road crossing. The gates were rehung and adjusted. We also tidied up redundant materials and dismantled the old panels. This was quite a task as the corrosion had 'welded' everything together! Tarmac planings that had formed the temporary footpath were also shovelled away and the ballast cleaned.

Saturday 19th October: Changing Sleepers

With a reasonable amount of help we managed to complete the resleepering at Yaxham, changing the remaining 35 sleepers. The weather wasn't too bad, starting off cold. There just remains the task of filling in the sleepers.

Sunday 20th October: Tidying Up in Whinburgh Cutting

We spent Sunday moving logs out of Whinburgh cutting to clear up the lineside. They had become buried in brambles over the last year. We then set off to Wymondham behind 50 019 in the hauled stock to replace a rotten board on a foot crossing.

Saturday 26th October: Jacking and Packing

Saturday was spent packing the siding in Dereham to increase the amount of space available for the operating department. Due to the lie of the land, some of the track had to rise a significant amount and this hindered the rate of progress slightly. None the less, another two panels were completed.

Sunday 27th October: Clearing Fallen Trees

The weather on Sunday was some of the worst in recent times and the gales had brought down several trees across the line. Therefore on the first train three PW members and a trusty chainsaw accompanied the service and cleared out the debris as the train went along.