Sunday 7th June 2015
This was another day that didn't quite work out as planned. Originally I was rostered as steam driver but I was informed that a fireman was not available and asked to operate the service with the diesel railcar instead. I turned up to drive the diesel railcar to find Andy, Carl and Dave preparing '3803' to work the service. Although 3803 was booked to do 5 trips, delay in bringing her into steam meant that I was asked to operate the first trip with the diesel railcar. Andy, Carl and Dave worked the second, third and fourth trips with '3803'.
'3803' leaving Shackerstone.
The day was very hot so, on the 4th trip, '3803' was found to be setting the grass alight.
Aftermath of a previous grass fire photographed on 7-Sep-2014.
To prevent further problems, I was asked to 'fire-up' the diesel railcar again for the last trip of the day, allowing the crew of '3803' to take an 'early bath'.
The two DMU trips used the single-unit 'Bubble Car'.
Tuesday 7th July
I prepared the 'Bubble Car', swept out the passenger areas and moved down to platform 1 at Shackerstone in plenty of time to work the 11.00 o'clock departure. Unfortunately, because of a misunderstanding, our Guard did not appear. Ritchie Marcus, who owns the railcars and was working on the half of the 2-car set currently in the 'Works', volunteered to act as Guard temporarily. Meanwhile, the Signalman made attempts to contact the rostered guard by telephone. Later in the day, the rostered guard appeared, allowing Ritchie to return to his repair work. The weather was generally good with some intermittent rain and we had a reasonable number of passengers during the day.
Tuesday 21st July 2015
We enjoyed bright sun and an excellent day for passenger numbers. Fortunately, the single unit 'Bubble Car' had been reunited with the in-service half of the 2-car set so we'd sufficient seating available. At Shenton we were joined by a party from a Leicestershire Care Home so the Guard's Compartment became full of wheelchairs and walking frames. The party spent some time at Shackerstone station before posing for a group photograph and travelling back to Shenton and their waiting road transport.
A party from a Leicestershire Care Home pose at Shackerstone for a group photograph before taking the train back to Shenton.
Each of the trains was quite well patronised amd we carried a number of children and parents. At Market Bosworth, railway volunteers were making preparations for the Rails & Ales Event on the 24th, 25th and 26th July. On one trip, the Guard's Compartment carried a Freezer from Shackerstone to Market Bosworth and on the last trip two large, metal wheeled bins were carried!
The DMU pauses at Market Bosworth on its way back to Shackerstone.
Related posts on this site
Diesel Multiple Units.
Midweek Diesel Railcars at the Battlefield Line (2014).
My pictures
Shackerstone, June 2015.
The Battlefield Line, Summer 2015.
