FOBS Monthly News - April 09


FOBS have got two events in the pipeline - see below. But first, a saga. There were fifteen people waiting for a train at Brandon on Saturday 18 April - not unusual, until I add that the time was 5.30 am and the sun wasn't up. They were there at this ungodly hour to board the first of two seaside excursion trains calling here this year. It was so early because the final destination of the train was South Devon. Thank FOBS for getting the train to call - NENTA Tours were happy to agree to our request, and the number of travellers must have justified the stop. It was a beautiful day and those who took all the add-on tours got a ride on a steam railway and a cruise on the River Dart as well. Everything went beautifully until the train approached Westbury, a long way from home, on the return journey. Thick smoke was billowing from under the front engine, which you would expect from a steam engine but not from a diesel. A lineside spectator said that six foot high flames were spurting forth at one point.

The train limped into the station and all the passengers told to leave their seats. All fire extinguishers on board were emptied, the ones on the station were locked up, and when the fire brigade turned up they had to use hydraulic cutters to get through the station fence. It took about three hours to sort everything out: dampen down the fire, park the damaged engine and find another one which coupled up at Reading. The train reached Ely at 1.30 am instead of the expected ten to eleven. And there it had to stop, because engineering work meant the line to Norwich was closed! So Brandon passengers and those further east came back home on hastily-arranged coaches. Well, these things happen.

There's another tour on 23 May, this time with the magnificent steam loco Oliver Cromwell, once a regular sight here in the 1960s on the London expresses (we could do with those back again). Alas, if you wanted to travel on this, it's too late: the train is fully booked. But you can still wave it on its way: look out for news about the time to be at the station.

But back to where I started. We have two events lined up. The first is a film show on 15 May at the Middle School. We will show one of the short British Transport documentary films of the 1960s, and the evergreen Titfield Thunderbolt. The second one is a treat for Father's Day, 21 June, when we are hoping to have a vintage coach for a trip to Oxborough Hall to the Boys and their Toys event. This National Gardens Scheme event includes displays by various model clubs including boat, aircraft, helicopter, engineers, a model railway layout and modern traction engines. Boys of all ages, of course - why not give Father a treat?

Both these events will raise funds for our campaign to save the station. We need all the support we can get, and the more people who pay £5 and become a Friend of Brandon Station, the more we will show that this is a building we all want to preserve.


Article Written by Stephen Dean:
Tel:01842 815372 or Email:stephendean@decanimusic.co.uk