Cornwall vintage railway targeted in two burglaries


A spokesperson said visitors had been unable to get "the full experience"

A vintage railway has said staff and visitors are feeling the impact after two break-ins.

Bodmin & Wenford Railway has been targeted twice in recent weeks, with access to the carriage forced and alcohol and food stolen.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the break-ins. They said the most recent incident happened overnight between 26 and 27 March, a week after the first incident.

A spokesperson for Bodmin & Wenford Railway said they believed £800 to £1,000 worth of goods were stolen.

The spokesperson said: "We've had to keep our little bar that we have on the train closed for a week over the Easter holidays - so obviously there's a loss of earnings - but there's damage to the carriage and obviously all the stuff that he actually stole as well."

"The thief broke into the donation box as well and took all the money out that people have donated so quite a big impact for a little charity heritage railway." They added visitors had also been impacted because they weren't able to get the "full experience" as they were unable to go to the bar on board.

The spokesperson said the crew had fixed the damage so the attraction was now open but were having to empty the train every evening in case the thief returns. "It makes it really unnerving actually because sometimes we work until late and it goes dark on the station and it's actually made us feel quite insecure about being here by ourselves in the dark," the spokesperson said.

Given other heritage railways have successfully reopened, I think this is big mistake, and one which will probably cost the railway a fortune in lost revenue.

From Cornwall Live

Cornish heritage attraction announces it won't be opening this summer

The Bodmin and Wenford Railway says there are still so many imponderables and unknowns

Its been quite a long time since Bobm visited us.  Since then, construction of the Bodmin General new Platform No.2 has progressed somewhat, and the signalling alterations being designed and the first stage implemented:

Platforms at Bodmin General train station should now be busy with visitors and passengers hoping to get on board some vintage trains and enjoy a scenic trip through Cornwall.

But with the coronavirus pandemic forcing much of the world into a lockdown, this is one attraction which has been eerily quiet.

Jimmy James, a spokesman for Bodmin and Wenford Railway, said Easter is a time when you would normally expect Bodmin General to be a hive of activity, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown there is nothing.

The Wadebridge extension is still a long term ambition being progressed by a seperate part of the railway organisation, with Nanstallon being the first target.  The outline design has been approved by Cornwall County Council (its going to share the old track formation with the Camel Trail cycle/pathway). Last I heard the railway had theorectically been awarded £25M for this by the Taxpayers Alliance......

Hopefully you'll be able to finish the job later in the year. By the by, is there any 'movement' regarding aspirations to relay track towards Nanstallon (which was the identified as the destination of an initial extension, if I remember correctly)? Thanks. 

Yes, when you look at the random stone facing you will think the platform was there from the opening of the original railway.  They have done a brilliant job on it all.  Just needs me and a few others to get on with the signalling work now so that we can get it all into operation.....

What about the new fence at Penzance Station it appears to be the 'spear' type

I'm intrigued by the fencing not being allowed on safety grounds. Has someone misunderstood the reference to spears and thinks it has sharp edges? Surely it can't just be that it would be dangerous to climb (someone might slip and impale themselves, heaven forfend!) as that would rule out Network Rail's palisade fences, barbed wire etc.

Thanks. In the photo it looks too slim for two faces. It looks great and totally in-keeping with what is a gem of a station. Well done to all involved.

The new Platform No.2 will be fenced at the rear (its too narrow to meet the ORR requirements for an island platform).  It was going to be GWR style 'spear fencing' but thats not allowed on safety grounds, so it will be a rounded top design, but will still look similar to the former!  The siding was refurbished, reballasted and realigned slightly as part of the work.  I've got a 'work in progress' photograph showing that somewhere, and when I find it I'll put it on here.

Next signalling stage is to get the crossover disc signals installed and commissioned, but who knows when at the moment.....

Super to see the progress that's been made. Thanks, SandTEngineer. Is the track on the far side of the new platform aligned so that Bodmin General now has three platforms, even though the photo suggests that it is to be used primarily as a siding (as before).

The locomotive has been working regular passenger trains on the line up to and including our Santa trains in December 2019. It has been very reliable and an economic locomotive to use in a heritage setting. The sale is only offered as a result of having 47306 return to service and there being no requirement for 33110 in the medium term at Bodmin.

[snip]

BIDS: Bids should be submitted by 12 noon on 29th February 2020

I'll let you know tomorrow evening if the interlocking is working as it should, as I'm undertaking a full 5-yearly test of the lever frame all day

That's nothing.  In the second picture of the original post, the platform starting signal is "off".  But when we see inside the box, lever number 1 (the left-hand-most red one under the cloth in the third picture) is back in the frame.

I am always too much of a pedant for my own good -

Behind the scenes at historic Bodmin & Wenford Railway