POPULAR PERFORMERS: Paul Churchman, who chairs both the Bluebell Railway plc and Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, has hailed the line’s April 21-23 Branch Line Weekend as “probably the most successful one we have ever done” – adding: “It certainly was in terms of revenue across all areas of the railway.” The gala featured three visiting locos – Mike Hart’s Hunslet 0-6-0ST Hastings and a pair of East Lancs-based Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway locos, ‘Pug’ 0-4-0ST No. 11243, owned by the LYR Trust, and Andy Both’s ‘A’ 0-6-0 No. 52322. No. 11243 is pictured leading ‘Terrier’ No. 72 Fenchurch at Three Arch Bridge on April 23.
DAVE BOWLES
THE Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the industry regulator, says it will be carrying out inspections at heritage lines focused on working at height, following a number of incidents.
Simon Barber, principal inspector of heritage railways at ORR said: “During the past year, there have been nine incidents reported to us involving a volunteer or worker suffering a serious injury, like broken bones, because of a fall from height. These incidents usually happen away from the track, in a workshop or yard when maintaining or refurbishing a vehicle or preparing a locomotive for use. “We are concerned about how regularly these incidents are happening and consequently we will solely be doing specific inspections on working at height at heritage railways this year.”
Another issue he describes as “prevalent in heritage railways” concerns vehicle runaways. “We have received seven reports of vehicle runaways – where a rail vehicle moves unintentionally due to not being sufficiently secured – in the past year, of which two have resulted in enforcement action,” he said. “Unfortunately, human error is often a common factor here. It is imperative that those working in the sector – whether employees or volunteers – are fully competent in carrying out their tasks.”