It is in January of the New Year that we take a look back over the previous twelve months to remind ourselves of the progress we have made. It is very easy when one is immersed in a project of this size to only see the challenges that lie ahead and to overlook the tremendous success’ that we have achieved.
2018 was no different. Looking back at the diary, the highlights went something like this…
January – the last ever steam up at Newliston and then straight into the demolition and removal of materials.
February – work continued on Thursdays at Almondell to complete the ‘C’ circuit and other work. The Saturday team focused on the move from Newliston.
March – the ‘Beast from the East’ hampered progress, nonetheless we ran Rail Work X for school children.
April – Ms Moira Niven MBE, Lord-Lieutenant of West Lothian visited Almondell.
May – Alex West won a number of awards at the 25th Model Engineering and Modelling Exhibition held at Doncaster Racecourse. ‘Meet Thomas’ event at Bo’ness, relocated the workshop to the North East end of Almondell and we coped with the ‘Big Dig’.
June – Placed the concrete troughs over the bridge. Finished the level crossings as the final link to running a full circuit.
July – First steam up on the circuit ‘C’. Hydraulic and steam tests. Portable track event in Rothesay. Final land restoration at Newliston and site fully vacated.
August – Relocated the mess hut, dug the base for the Heritage Centre and Museum, and put in the road to the relocated workshop.
September – Family & Friends running day followed by a Sponsors’ Day, topped off by a visit from members of the 7¼” Gauge Society.
October – Richard finished his 3½” gauge loco, ESME exhibited at the STEM weekend at the National Mining Museum, we started building the bridge abutments and ran trains on Halloween.
November – Installed level crossing gates and the club ran the annual Farr Trophy evening.
December – Ran Santa Trains each weekend at Bo’ness, hosted a STEM event at St. George’s School, made improvements to the access road, completed the building base, drains and sewerage system, and still found time for the Christmas Party and running trains on the 27th December.