Rewinding the clocks back....

It's official, Winter is here. The clocks went back on Sunday, and after an extra hour in bed, the team of volunteers made their way to Waldersea to do some overdue work. Upon arrival, volunteers had a look to see how the line was looking. Some clearing was required to get the work done.

Photos from Sunday are shown below.

Towards the end of the day, you can see the main parts of the track are now clear. This week, we hold our meeting in March, all members and anyone interested are welcome to come along. Sunday, the group will be meeting again, at Elm Road Crossing, March from 11am until 4pm.

More information on this, and our other activities can be found at http://www.bramleyline.org.uk/

The Road to Peterborough....

Show Report

It's hard to believe that we started the ball rolling so long ago with the Peterborough show!. Going back in time to May, we approached British Railway Modelling about exhibiting at the National Festival of Railway Modelling at Peterborough. We booked a small six foot space, with the sole purpose of going out and meeting with people who have an interest in our railway.

We decided the Information stand we had was not great, and we would need to see if we could better it. Sometime ago, the group bought a second hand information stand which went up very easy and worked on magnets. These where contained in two bulky boxes, which have been stored for sometime. We opened them up and built the frame. Very easy, it looked like a winner. Then we tried to attach the blue backgrounds. Disaster - they where far too big, and just fell off.

The solution - Modify them. Our Vice Chairman spent an afternoon cutting these down to size, and repositioning the magnets on the back. This worked really well and the the stand was erected for the first time at our Wisbech meeting in September 2009.

Now we had this six foot stand, what on earth were we to put on it?

We spent a whole Sunday doing posters, and sorting pictures out to go on the boards. We feel we got the stand right. Once done, it was time to get everything ready for the 2009, National Festival of Railway Modelling.

When we set out to do this show, our aim was not to make lots of money, while that would be nice, it was our aim to get out there and speak with people interested in our cause, from far and wide. We did bring along some Bramley Line merchandise to sell from our range in the gift shop, including the new replica Wisbech East Platform tickets. Over the weekend we spoke to many people, some from Railway Industry, others local to the area, others from a far. We enjoyed talking to everyone who come to our stand, and would like to thank everyone who purchased merchandise.

We hope that we have shown the cause to everyone in a good light, manged to dispand some of the myths which have existed, and it was very good getting to speak to so many supporters. We raised a total of £160 at the event for the cause. We would like to thank Warners Group and Market Deeping Model Railway Club for their hospitality.

Our attention now returns to working on the line and obtaining the rest of the money for getting the lease. Sunday October 25th details to follow.

Moving forward

Despite reports that the weather was to be poor on Sunday, it was actually a very nice day out on the Bramley Line. Work started at 9.30 where we left off two weeks ago in clearing the track heading North towards Coldham. We made Stirling progress with the clearing and some of the photos from the day are shown below.

At the Start of the day, with some clearing having already taken place before the photo was taken looking north towards Coldham.

Bowing down, no really getting to grips with all this grass!. We love grass. Grass stops the weeds growing and is also very easy to clear once the line is up and running.
The view from the track looking back towards March Elm Road. It's looking good, even if we do say so ourselves

Work continues into the early afternoon and the team are moving forward
From a distance, the grass that needs cleared from the Coldham end looking south towards March Elm Road

At the end of the day, the view looking up towards Coldham and the line that has been cleared. The Civil Enginnering Department are continually looking for new and active volunteers. Can you help? If so, please get in touch. E-mail us at office@bramleyline.org.uk.





Also on Sunday, while all the Clearing of vegetation was taking place, another team of volunteers where putting together our stand for the 2009 National Festival of Railway Modelling which is this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the Excel centre, East of England Showground, Peterborough. We hope to see you there and speak to as many people as we can.

We will have all our merchandise at the show, including two new additions -
These are :-



Wisbech East Replica Platform Tickets - 50p each


An Advance ticket, which once the line is operational, can be exchanged for a Family day rover allowing 2 Adults and 2 Children to travel. These are LIMITED EDITION tickets and cost £10 each, which will offer a significant saving when the line opens, but will not be valid on Special Event days.

We will also have our Sponsor a Sleeper, Bramley Line Mugs, Baseball caps, Polo Shirts, Sweatshirts and Fleeces, as well as some old merchandise available for good prices.

We are stand 134 and we look forward to seeing you there.

Elm Road Crossing takes shape

On Sunday, October 4th, the Civil Engineering Team where out at Elm Road Level Crossing in March to erect more fencing to the one corner which had not received any fencing. A Great day weather wise and the work continues.

We think someone just had a look in the old workers toilet next to the crossing

Digging for Gold for the Wagon Load of Cash Appeal? - No, digging the holes for the new fences to go into.

One wrong swing and the Landrover gets it!

The fencing going up and starting to take shape

North of the Crossing, a tree has grown in what was once a very empty part of the line. It is intended that Elm Road Station will go here, and therefore, the tree, needed to come down. Below is said tree!

Details of next weeks Civil Engineering Sunday work will appear here soon and we'd like to extend our thanks to the volunteers who have been coming out. We hope you'll join us, full details are available on our website at www.bramleyline.org.uk

Mid Week Wisbech fun!

This week we had a Mid Week team out on Wednesday. The Mid week team will concentrate on the Wisbech end of the line which until now, has been neglected somewhat, although not by purpose. We met at Weasenham Lane and had a look around there. We decided that the area around Weasenham Lane, although not clear of vegetation, was not a major cause for concern as it is at present.

So, we moved along the line to Wisbech A47 Crossing. We decided the bit from Wisbech A47 Bypass to heading back to Wisbech was in a bad way, and this is where we decided to concentrate our efforts.

We sometimes wonder if we should have been called the Bramble line. We spent four hours hacking away brambles and trees to get the ballast line clear. Some photos from the day are shown below.

Our Roy gets stuck in to those brambles...

As you can see, there is a lot to do here, but we are up for the challenge, the question is, are you? We are always looking for more volunteers to come along and help. If your interested, please get in touch via our website at www.bramleyline.org.uk

This Sunday, we are working at Elm Road Level Crossing, March in a break from vegetation clearence to finish off the fencing work. Your welcome to join us!


Looking ahead, it's not long until the National Festival of Railway Modelling, we will be there with our slimed down Bramley Line Roadshow. Come speak to us on the day, we look forward to speaking to you. For more information on the show, visit the website here.

Pushing North towards Wisbech at Speed...

This Sunday, the Civil Engineering team were out working on the railway as per usual. We had a good number of volunteers this Sunday, and managed to push further north than we expected. Having done a lot of tree clearing between March Elm Road and Chain Bridge, the section between Chain Bridge and Coldham appears to have very few trees which need dealt with, and very few brambles at the March end, it's all Grass.

This is great news, as the grass is fairly easy to get up and once the lease is obtained, it will go very easily with Weedkiller.

Some photos from the day are shown below:

While the work goes on, our chairman keeps up to date on the latest news

You wont find any gold treasure, just some rusty bolts!

Everyone having a well earned rest. Now your seated, we will begin!

Now a couple of photos to let you compare the before and after:
As you can see, lots of grass, no trees close to the line and no Brambles!

So far, the team having started at the end of August, have cleared a lot of the line. The map below show's how we are getting on


Moving forward, it's a busy week this week on the Bramley Line. Some members of the Civil Engineering Team will be out working to clear vegetation from Weasenham Lane Level Crossing working towards March. Although this is currently happening when people are available, it is the intention to start a Wisbech Mid Week and Weekend Team to work towards March, hopefully meeting up with the March to Wisbech team somewhere in the Waldersea area eventually.

So if your available this Wednesday day time, we are meeting at approx 10.30am at Weasenham Lane Level Crossing.

Also on Wednesday, it's our Wisbech Meeting being held at 19.30 at St Peters Church Hall, Upper Rooms. This is a great way to meet people who are interested in getting the Railway off the ground and finding out how to get involved.


On Sunday, October 4th, the Civil Engineering team will be taking a break from Track Clearing, to erect some more fencing at March, Elm Road Crossing. If you are interested in getting involved, we will be there from 10am until approx 4pm. All Welcome.

Civil Engineering Sundays

Another Sunday, another Civil Engineering Department day out clearing the railway. Work this week follows on from the teams great effort to clear from March to Wisbech, so far clearing between the Stop Board at Whitemoor Yard through to Chain Bridge. This Sunday, we started at Chain Bridge and made excellent progress north towards Coldham. We welcomed another new volunteer to the group, and a reminder that everyone is welcome to get involved. For more details, visit our website at www.bramleyline.org.uk

Some photos from the day can be seen below.

Simon sorting out Tea as usual.

The Line looking in a better state thanks to the team.