It is regretful but the continued demands on my late father’s affairs have deflected any attention to this website so far in 2011.  But with the encouragement of Geoff Silcock and the freedom of an Easter break, I have at last got round to doing an update.

To be fair, there is actually relatively little to report.  In December, the weather-affected Santa Specials saw the re-liveried P-class as 5753 rostered as the occasional banking engine rather than anticipated use of “Bodiam”.

32678 had her annual maintenance over the winter.  Repairs around the fire-hole door including replacement of some life-expired rivets with patch screws was carried out, and a specialist welder was employed to fix the significant cracking, previously reported, around the inner firebox doubling plate.  The engine was reported on works trains late in the winter associated with track relaying east of Cranbrook Road crossing.

“Bodiam” had her final hurrah in Rother Valley Blue, at least for the foreseeable future, at the Junction Road season-opener on March 19th and 20th that featured topping-and-tailing on steam workings between Northiam and Junction Road.  How appropriate she should pilot the first train onto the modern Rother Valley Railway proper, with preservation-stalwart No.23 as train engine! 

Driver Dick Dickson reported that on Saturday No.3 piloted the 1030 from Tenterden Town as far as Junction Road (also believed to be the first regular passenger train to pass non-stop thru Bodiam Station), detached at Northiam on the Up, watered, attached to the rear of the 1115 ex-Tenterden Town headed by “Charwelton”, and trailed back out to Junction Road.  “Bodiam” then headed this train back to Tenterden Town, dropping “Charwelton” off at Northiam and arriving shortly after 1300. 

A short break then saw her work the 1330 service, picking up “Charwelton” at Northiam.  She should have come off the back of the 1421 ex-Junction Road at Northiam, but shortage of coal saw her trail to Rolvenden then berth in Orpin’s siding before re-attaching to the rear of the last train, the 1545 departure from Tenterden Town where she remained, out to Junction Road then heading back to Tenterden.

Very roughly this equated to 76 miles of work, 73 in passenger service – perhaps the K&ESR preservation equivalent of a typical day’s turn on the South or East London lines in the C19th or motor train working in the early C20th; significantly more than the equivalent of three round trips from Tenterden Town to Bodiam, and, for the record, executed in GMT.

32678 was spare until the Easter holidays – 5753 being the featured small engine for the Kent Big Weekend Out.  Lack of Class 5 locomotives meant that 32678 has had some unusual work in April including working the Vintage train in place of the A-set on Friday 15th, a hybrid formation on another, and involved with the Sunday “Wealden Pullman” on the 17th.