On This Day
Yesterday
03 April 2010
Following the death of Society stalwart, Dai Pickup in October 2009, a commemoration was held at Ravenglass station. Around one hundred friends and colleagues gathered around Ravenglass turntable on a beautiful spring evening to hear Graham Withers talk about Dai's life and achievements. Graham presented Railway Company Director Peter Hensman with a plaque dedication to Dai which is now displayed at Ravenglass.
Dai's wish had been for his ashes to be scattered alongside the railway between Hollin How Bridge and Fisherground Crossing so as "to keep an eye on Peter's timekeeping, watch the Sims' buses on the valley road, and be first to the bar at the King George on Judgement Day - to look after the malts!" The train duly paused at this location and Graham Withers scattered the ashes along the lineside, observed in quiet contemplation by the passengers on the train.
Dai had been involved with the Preservation Society from its early days and variously held offices of Financial and Membership Secretary (from 1964), Membership Secretary (from 1969), Chairman (from 1976 until 1980) and Secretary (from 1985 until 2006). Dai's substantial legacy to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Preservation Society Trust became the genesis for the the new steam locomotive project Whillan Beck.
Today
04 April 1963
Coach M20165M, a six-compartment non-corridor suburban brake second coach built by the LMS at Derby in 1927, was delivered by rail on its own wheels to the Company's siding. It was purchased to provide budget accommodation for younger Society members whilst volunteering on the railway and became known as 'Skid Row'. It provided berths for 12 volunteers, or more if some slept on the floor. The first users of the coach were seven members of the Kendal Area Group.
The coach, by then in poor condition due to the ravages of the weather, was dismantled and cut up in 1987 after no buyers could be found.
Dismantling the coach in December 1987. Photo by Roger Dickinson
Tomorrow
05 April 2022
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway locomotive No. 7 Typhoon arrived from its stint on display in the Engine House at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway. It went on display in the Ravenglass Railway Museum prior to undergoing overhaul. The locomotive left the museum in May 2023.
Typhoon in the Ravenglass Railway Museum. Photograph by Matthew Pye