31st October 2010

Happy Halloween! Well it’s been all go at Pickering!? Yes readers we have been back down there doing more work at the station. This time it was removing surplus spoil from the back of Platform 2. This we achieved with use of a minidigger to load our wheelbarrows which we then unloaded into our own freight train which the railway had supplied. You could tell it was our train as we had our ‘Wombles on Tour – Making The Earth Move!’ headboard and our ‘Wombles on Tour’ carry box on the rear with 3 Wombles riding around. We also had a hard hat wearing Womble riding in the digger to supervise operations! We think around 100 tonnes were loaded, by hand, onto the wagons. We left the site levelled and clear of surplus materials ready for the next stage of the works. Thanks to digger drivers Stephen and Beth, diesel drivers Gerry Skelton and Ken Jackson , guard Kieran Murray and barrowers Mark, Brian and Simon.
Elsewhere back at our own station, Weighbridge Teas remained open and they, together with assistance from the volunteer S&T gang, dismantled the marquee in the yard and put it all away. Community Payback have moved the picnic tables down to the viewing area near the paddock for the winter.

24th October 2010

Well it’s been another wet weekend, we were so lucky last with the Wartime event. Readers will be pleased to know that yet again it broke all records both at the station and across the railway as a whole. We had hoped to get the marquee down but the weather has put paid to that! Elsewhere we have made some additional larger trestles for the tables and tidied up the contents of the marquee. The cottage front room ceiling and walls have benefitted from a repaint, which has been waiting for quite a while and some of the paperwork has been caught up. Following a vacuum and a mop out the General Room floor has received its winter carpet to help protect the timber floor. Next weekend a group of us will be at Pickering digging out spoil behind platform 2, onto our ‘own’ train, to prepare the site for the erection of the ex Church Fenton canopy steelwork. Do come and see us plus don’t forget that Weighbridge Teas are now open every weekend in November from 10am until 4pm.

17th October 2010

Well what a weekend! Talk about crowds. Yes, we’ve had another successful Wartime Weekend with stunning displays to entice visitors off the trains to see the best station on the railway!
We welcomed over 50 re-enactors who took over our station with a troop camp in the paddock, weapons stripping and military vehicles in the yard and even a crashed Messerschmitt ME109 north of the station, which required the pilot to be rescued several times over the event. Both our catering facilities – Weighbridge Teas and the Tea Hut, were open with record sales over the 3 days PLUS Café Alle du Bois in the yard serving sit down hot food, drinks and alcohol under the capable leadership of the railway’s Catering manager Paul Brown.
None of this would have been possible without a large turnout of station and Levisham catering volunteers who set up site, manned facilities and tidied up from dawn to late the following evening – each day! They also provided, serviced and washed up dinner with drinks for 75 on Saturday night!! Mention must be made of the signalmen and booking office staff who also helped, plus our crossing supervisor who helped to ensure trains and visitors did not meet!
We are now all knackered and going off for a rest.

13th October 2010

Just a quick reminder that there is no parking at Levisham Station this Friday, Saturday or Sunday as we are taken over by the German Army. The nearest parking will be around quarter of a mile away. You can still visit us by train and there is a Park and Ride service operating from the A169 into Pickering Station.

10th October 2010

A dry weekend at last! Its been a getting ready for Wartime weekend with the marquee erected in the yard together with lighting, bar (no contents) and picnic tables. Some new serving tables have been made using some heavy doors with trestles made of recycled, non standard fence palings. The barrel rack has been improved as well.
Elsewhere more posts have been installed along the lineside and the public viewing area north of the level crossing has been completed, albeit with temporary rails, ready for the crowds next weekend. The runner beans have come to an end and been cut down and the platform gardens have been weeded and fresh manure applied ready for next season. Replacement of the life expired lineside fencing north of the station continues with Community Payback assistance.
Weighbridge Teas celebrated passing the £20,000 mark this weekend when serving drinks and food to passengers off the last train on Saturday night. Do help them to beat last years total by calling at the weekends, they will be pleased to see you. Next weekend is our biggest and busiest. Both catering facilities will be open all 3 days.

REMEMBER, THERE IS NO PARKING ANYWHERE NEAR THE STATION SO PARK AT PICKERING AND VISIT US BY TRAIN.

3rd October 2010

Well its another wet weekend to welcome the new month and its also Steam Gala. We were graced with Tornado and Manston for the weekend together with the ‘local’ fleet. There were plenty of visitors and Saturday did very well in Weighbridge Teas but Sunday was another wash out. We have installed new fence posts alongside the railway north of the level crossing to fence off our lineside hut and provide a compound for photographers. We await the delivery of the rails to allow us to complete the works. Elsewhere we have been preparing for Wartime Weekend with the marquee moved into the yard ready for erection next weekend, the picnic tables similarly and new trestles manufactured for the serving tables. If you want to know why there is a wind sock up you will just have to come and see us then, but not by car. There is no car parking within a quarter mile of the station as we try and keep the road open for emergency vehicles.