Thompson Park Miniature Railway, Burnley, Lancashire UK.

July 2025 Newsletter.

Narrative by Bret Harrison, Track Maintenance Dept.

Firstly, a sad announcement of the passing of our Society President John Pickles, He had been ill for quite a while and a separate obituary can be found elsewhere on our website. John will be missed.

So, into July and our summer running on Wednesdays coinciding with School Holidays has commenced. The summer so far has been somewhat mixed weatherwise leading to some busy days and some quiet ones with no one in the park. We never know what is coming next, however in the quiet periods it has given us on Track Maintenance some unexpected time to catch up a bit with the work, something we have little time to do at this time of year normally.

On the busy periods we find that we are stretched volunteer staff wise to operate the Railway comfortably which is regrettable when only a minimum of members turn out to assist. 

 On a more positive note, the ash pit we built into road 2 in the station is working well. The steam drivers have no problem in stopping in the correct place and are using the pit as intended to clean their fire. We moved the location of the stopping area to its present location as we needed a straight line for the pit and in doing so, we moved the footway access to platform 3 back a few feet.to where it in fact should have been fitted in the first place. This gave us the room we needed and had the effect of making platform 3 accessible which was not possible before when a train was straddled across it. In addition, platform 2 is still plenty long enough to accommodate a full train so we are pleased with the result.  All the steam guys must do now is remember to lift out the ashpan when it is full and empty it.   

The station has had a facelift in as much as the railings have all been power washed and repainted in black with silver tops and do look very smart. The backs of the safety information boards have all been cleaned of their plastic backing and repainted. The automatic speaker PA system has been working reliably after a few attempts to get it going correctly and this is a big boon to us as it saves us announcing the safety aspects of our train journey for the passengers verbally. In addition, the LED signals are working reliably concurrently with the turnout settings for the station approach. Andrew has plans for integrating an LED matrix board to replace the 3 aspects that illuminate to indicate to the driver the platform he has been set for. 

A repeat of last year was a visit from the children and staff of Heasandford Junior School for a visit to the park and the Railway. We welcomed 90 children on a day when we were not public running and once again a very enjoyable day both for them, the school staff and us was enjoyed. It is a pleasure to have them here. In addition, we also were able to operate the Railway for the Scouts and Guides of St. Cuthbert’s church on a further occasion. The connection here is that one of our active members is also involved with this Scout Group. Again, it is a pleasure to bring joy to people.

Picture sent in by the children after their visit to say thank you.

The locomotive department have been busy fitting a compressor and airtank into the tender of Fagan our club owned steam engine. This will avoid the use of the braking coach we have been having to drag behind the locomotive.

Last Wednesday when I was working the station signals, I was asked about the 2 miniature coal wagons we always display by the “Welcome” sign when we are running. It is both a tribute to the many coal mines in the area in the past and in particularly a memorial to the 16 local miners who were killed outright, the 21 badly injured 3 of whom died later from their injuries in the Hapton Valley Mine explosion disaster in 1962.  Bank Hall pit was situated perhaps 500 metres from the railway. The wagons are not toys; they were built by engineering students and are perfectly capable of running. The disaster still resonates with families today.

         So, the summer moves on and we hope for more stable and summery weather. Enjoy your summer and don’t forget to include a visit to the park if you are able and a ride on our little railway.  We cater for all, our lottery funded accessible wheelchair/Family coach is always available when we are running.

Bret.