Well that's it for another year. The suitably-dressed class 108 provided our final services of the year in the shape of some Sion Corn specials on 21-23 December, and some members of the group took part in the final working meetings of the year with the traditional "cold turkey" meeting at Pentrefelin last Friday and some "not yet cooked turkey" meetings during the weekend of 21/22 December.
Further information about all of the aforementioned can be found below.
During 2024 we carried just over 28,000 passengers (counting each single journey separately), the fleet covered 120 diagrams, 49 of which were 4-car, and covered a total of 9,083 miles.
This year the Railway ran some 'Sion Corn' special trains between Corwen and Lapland (aka Carrog) for the first time and they took place during the period 21-23 December. Sion Corn is the Welsh equivalent of Father Christmas/Santa Claus and the name translates as "Chimney Pot John" or "Chimney Stack John", thereby revealing more about his method of gaining entry to homes than the English equivalents.
In preparation for those services, the class 108 went to the costume department for the application of Christmas lights, baubles, tinsel, stars etc. a few weeks ago but was, nevertheless, provided with some top-up decorations and also some headboards (a Santa Special one at one end and a newly-produced Sian Corn one at the other) prior to departure on the first day...
The following pictures show the class 108 setting off empty to Corwen at the start of the day on Sunday 22/12/24 to collect its first passengers and take them to 'Lapland'...
The above picture was taken from a guard's van (aka brake van) stabled at Pentrefelin and, with a small amount of artistic licence, could presumably be described as a guard's eye view.
The Sion Corn specials were deemed to be a success, with all of the passengers having a good time, so they are likely to be repeated in some shape or form in the future.
The class 108 would have preferred a different pattern of operation because the short trips and long layovers resulted in a net drain on the batteries of its trailer car due to there being insufficient time with the scenery moving past the windows to compensate for the use of lighting and heating.
Work continued with the secondman's door which was found to be in poor condition. The wooden frame has evidently been reinforced in the past, but needs another dose of that, as it is quite weak in a couple of places. Copious quantities of filler were also found hiding under the various layers of paint.
Work continued on the battery boxes, with the construction of some new metalwork to support the front cover on one of the boxes, a new liner for the better of the two boxes, and a new base for the other. Some of those bits were painted as well.
A final assembly of the corridor 'scissors' was carried out. It had previously been 'dry assembled' to check that it would all go together properly so it took some time to take it apart, apply Copperslip, and put it all back together again. A trial installation of the gangway faceplate and both of the treadplates was successful following a little adjustment to the vehicle's woodwork by the corridor end, and the shortening of one of the treadplates that was originally intended for a class 104. Both treadplates were primed and left to dry.
After the unit finished its Sion Corn services there was a 'de-baubling' exercise to remove the festive decorations and file them away in a safe place.
The hand throttle cable for the no. 2 engine had to be replaced after it snapped during the preparation for the final Sion Corn service on 23rd December.
Following the removal of the driver's desk from the power car (50416) the framework of the desk was cleaned up and primed...
The top coat of paint was applied to the roof of the trailer car (56171). In his report, the person who did the painting claimed that he had been unable to complete the job on Saturday 21st December because he "ran out of today", prompting a response from a colleague that he had increased the likelihood of that happening by doing the job on the shortest day of the year!
Thanks to John Joyce for supplying the pictures that were used in this edition.
Finally I would like to wish our readers a Happy New Year.
Although our railcars do not normally work any passenger services during December, we have this year been asked to prepare one for some 'Sion Corn' services later in the month. Sion Corn is the Welsh equivalent of Father Christmas or Santa Claus. The class 108 passed the audition for the role and has, therefore, been dressed accordingly. Further information about that and some of the other work that has been carried out on our railcars can be found in the 'Unit-specific' section below.
The last two panels for the luggage rack backing were cut and fitted. The lengths of aluminium beading that run up to the ceiling on the driver's side were cut and one length was fitted. The other two pieces were put up temporarily so that measurements could be taken for the timber beading for the ceiling panels at the rear of the unit. The lengths of timber beading that were subsequently produced were then taken away to be drilled and painted as homework.
The following picture shows the panels that were fitted to complete the green walls and was taken while the aluminium beading was still in place...
The secondman's door was removed so that a start could be made on refurbishing it...
The first step was to remove the fixtures and fittings including the wooden panels, lock and handle, and scissors, all of which will be dealt with as appropriate...
The next step was to make a start on removing the various layers of paint...
Following a final dose of needle-gunning on their framework, both battery boxes were painted with white primer on the inside and black primer on the outside...
As mentioned above the class 108 will be used for some 'Sion Corn' services in the run up to Christmas so it was festooned with fairy lights, tinsel, baubles etc...
The team that carried out the final stage of baubling (is that a valid verb?) claimed to have considered the use of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and 3D-modelling software to determine the optimum positions for the baubles but instead used up some of its 'artistic' spelling licence for a more pragmatic approach known as B.O.R.B.L.E (Bash On Regardless Before Lunchtime Endpoint).
Whether or not the external tinsel will survive the Welsh weather until it needs to make its debut remains to be seen.
Two members of the group set about confiscating the driver's desk from the power car (50416) on the grounds that it had passed its use-by date and needs to be replaced by a new one...
The desk had been made out of medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and was several times its original thickness in places due to swelling up with moisture...
The doors on the driver's side of the power car (50416) were flatted down and glossed, and the lining touched up in places, in readiness for it all being varnished at a later date.
Work on the roof of the trailer car (56171) continued with the completion of the re-riveting work and the application of primer on the central section...
Over at Butterley, the loose driver's door frame was secured and a repair was made to the frame on the secondman's side.
Some adjustments were made to the wall panel securing timbers in the rear compartment and some more panels were fitted including the one that sits above the luggage rack...
The heater ducting had its fastening brackets fitted and the top ones were fitted to the wall panels...
The lower ones will be fitted next time.
The framing for the wall panel that fits in front of the water tank was fitted following extensive repairs that had been carried out as homework...
Thanks to Allen Chatwood, Dewi Davies, John Joyce and Martin Plumb for supplying the pictures that were used in this edition.