Burnley and Pendle Miniature Railway Society, UK.
April 2026 Newsletter

We are well into our 2026 running season now with some mixed results weather wise. One or two good weather days which have seen us busy but disappointingly some poor weather days also with a cold wind which seems to have prevailed all winter leading to some very quiet days.

In the running season we are restricted to just Wednesdays for our maintenance work to be carried out and these days are often needed to carry out essential maintenance both on the track and also the rolling stock so it is often not possible to advance projects as we would like but nevertheless some projects have been finished.

The new low level storage shed has been completed and is awaiting its living roof to mature now.

Another area which we need to attend to is the concrete apron surrounding the turntable. The concrete is breaking up and we intend to resurface this concrete. It is a job for the summer ?? and we intend to get this done ASAP.

The grassy area beside the new shed and in front of the signal post has been mown with our new petrol mower and is looking much tidier. There were a few depressions in the site and these have been filled with soil for the grass to grow through. The whole area is looking much better and a few mowings should improve the site as it matures. The woods are at the moment full of bluebells and are looking very bonny.

The railcar is at the moment under repair in the shed but other than that all our rolling stock and locos are in order and regularly working.

We have had the metal containers which form our shed area refurbished and repainted in green. It is many years since we did this and it was time for a refurb.

During April we have entertained 2 schools with a run out for their children, One party was from Cribden school in Rawtenstall and the other was from Pendle. We are quite happy to do this for primary schools. It is a pleasure to see the children so happy. We would be happy to see other similar groups doing the same.

On the PWay (track) front we are nearing the end of our stock of timber sleepers and we have prepared plastic sleepers to take over the mantle which we will be fitting very shortly on a spot changing basis. We already have some installed in the track on an experimental basis and these are proving very satisfactory. So we are on the brink of a new era. I am sure they will be a long lasting success.

We are very close to the event where the Hospice hold their lanterns on the Lake event to remember lost loved ones. We run as normal during the day from noon till 4 pm and then we reopen from 7pm till 8 pm. In this evening running session we are very happy to donate all our farebox to the hospice. The event is on Saturday 16th May.