MEETINGS & NEWS
YORK AREA GROUP
OF NORTH YORK MOORS RAILWAY
Registered Charity No. 1073653
York Area Group Meetings are held at St. Lawrence's Church Hall, Lawrence Street, York, YO10 3WP, in Autumn/Winter/Spring. Car parking is available to the rear, accessed via the driveway on the left hand side.
A buffet lunch is kindly provided by the Church, for which a voluntary donation is suggested. Also, there is a raffle, drawn in the interval, for a book generally on a railway or related subject, the cost being £1 for 5 tickets.
Could anyone who wishes to attend the above event please contact Nick Beilby on 07948 418774 to let him know.
YORK AREA GROUP NEWS
Our next Fund Raising Day will be held at St. Crux Church Hall, Pavement, York on Friday 19th July, 10.00 – 16.00, complete with the usual sales stalls, plus food and refreshments. Please come along if you can.
This year's Derwent Valley Light Railway Annual Running Evening will be held on Friday 26th July.
The photos below are from the previous year's event - Using BR Class 03 03079, BR Class 08 08528, Rowntree No.3 & 165DS 'British Sugar' (photos: 1-6 David Rice, 7&8 Robin Patrick): -
Hornby 1:76 scale Rowntree & Co (R3895)
R & H 88DS, meets 1:1 scale Locomotive.
Thursday 11th April 2024 saw Nick Beilby, Chairman of the York Area Group of the NYMR welcomed friends and special guests to Murton Halt, the home of the Derwent Valley Light Railway.
The occasion was two-fold as Hornby Representative Andy Singh was here to present Glynnis and Tony Frith owners of the 1:1 scale 1960 built Ruston & Hornsby 4wDM 88DS No.441934 Rowntree No.3 with a Hornby 00 gauge working model of their engine, complete with a special plinth.
Also receiving a model replica from Hornby was Ken Cooke whose name the engine carries. Private Ken Cooke of the 7th Battalion the Green Howards aged 98 is York’s sole surviving Normandy Veteran who, at just 18 years old, stormed Gold Beach on the morning of the 6th June 1944 in the first wave of landings of D-Day.
Also in attendance was the City of York’s Lord Mayor, Reverend Councillor Chris Cullwick, The Lady Mayoress Mrs Joy Cullwick and Sue Hunter the Sheriff of York. At the end of the preceding’s the Lord Mayor, presented Ken with the special headboard to which Ken instinctively held above his head and said, “What else do you do with a headboard”. – Text & photos (below) David Rice.
On Saturday, February 24th, we held our Annual Model Railway Show at St Lawrence's Church Hall. The day was a great success and well attended by a cross section of the public and importantly a good number of young people. That isn’t to say that we cannot improve on some things and the committee will work on this for our next show. We were delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor Rev’d. Chris Cullwick and Lady Mayoress Joy Cullwick who clearly enjoyed themselves and spent a long time talking to exhibitors and visitors.
We enjoyed a wide range of layouts and displays and are grateful to our friends for providing them.
The day was made even more special by the presence of the remaining York Normandy Veteran Ken Cooke (98) who stayed for three hours and had to be prised away, so much was he enjoying himself.
I would like to pay particular thanks to those members who gave their time the previous day and on the day to set up, man the stalls and reception, generally help and come along and support the day. It is greatly appreciated.
The Buffet Car was staffed by the Ladies of St Lawrence Val Beilby and Lesley Buckley and most ably assisted by Chief Steward David Rice. The food and drink was enjoyed by all and hopefully we can make a donation to the Church.
The reward for a long day was seeing the many happy faces of our visitors and exhibitors.
Nick Beilby, YAG Chairman.
Photos: David Rice.
North Yorkshire Moors Railway 50th Anniversary Steam Gala, 21st - 24th September 2023.
Four visiting locomotives joined the resident steam fleet and were 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley from LSL Crewe, 75069 from the Severn Valley Railway, 92214 from the Great Central Railway & 55189 from the SRPS Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway, Scotland. An extensive timetable including freight trains operated over the four days, some double heading including two 9F's. The resident fleet in use were: 5428 'Eric Treacy', 80136 & also ran as 80116,92134, 926 'Repton' (BR 30926), 2392 (BR 65894), Lambton Tank 0-6-2T 29 & No. 8 Cockerill Tram 'Lucie'. Also in steam giving demonstrations of lifting, the Cowans Sheldon Crane, Carlisle built in 1926 ex MPD Doncaster. 60007 is remaining on the railway until at least November.
Photos: Robin Patrick
On Friday 14th July 2023 we held our latest Fund Raising Day at St. Crux Church Hall. Our Chairman, Nick Beilby, would like to thank everyone most sincerely who braved the inclement weather to help set up, assist on the stalls or with refreshments or simply support us on the day. Particular thanks should go to Margaret Jordan from the Church of St. Lawrence for travelling in from Wheldrake to help with the refreshments. We were delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress who showed great interest in our activities and spent over an hour with us. We had a thoroughly enjoyable day which raised £150 and made some new friends.
Tuesday 13th June 2023 - Members participated in a trip organised by the Group to Sandtoft Trolley bus Museum. To view full details please click
Some old photos have come to light, taken by the late Allan Birkin, showing York Area Group members in a working party with a permanent way scrap recovery train, in the Summer of 1996. To view these please click
We sell Moors-Line Back Numbers & Magazine Binders, plus new and second-hand books, magazines, DVDs, Railwayana, Timetables & Memorabilia, to raise funds for our activities and acquisitions - and we accept donations of unwanted items. Please see our
Group volunteers continue to assist on the NYMR, crewing trains, plus maintaining and repairing the NYMR’s permanent way, including the continual task of checking and oiling of fishplates along the whole of the line.
Group funds and volunteers’ efforts have also been expended on repairs and overhauls to the Civil Engineer’s wagon fleet and on-track machines, including Weltrol E230908, Plate Wagons B932267 & B934286, Lowmacs B904152 & B905100, Borail B946060, Plasser 12T Crane 81312, Tampers 73250 & 23309 and our Ballast Regulator; also numerous other sundry parts, materials, paint and tools. We have also financed the acquisition of Lineside Tools and Storage for the NYMR’s Lineside Conservation Officer.
At the Derwent Valley Light Railway, the extensive restoration and overhaul of our former War Department Drewry diesel shunter continues with impressive progress achieved. The old badly corroded cab was transported away to DG Sheet Metal Services at Leeds, as a template for a new one to be fabricated.The shunter is on loan at the Derwent Valley Light Railway, Murton, undergoing restoration. Ongoing work includes overhauling its Gardner engine, replacing its radiators and de-rusting/repainting. More recent photos show the newly fabricated cab before its transport to Murton, followed by application of primer and reinstallation of fittings after fixing onto the loco. Since that, there has been lots of work on bonnet, gearbox, air system, etc. on the way to being able to give it some test-runs. Photos: Tony Simons.
For yet further details and pictures please
The two photos below show the York Power Station Loco, which has now been saved from the scrapman, transported from Essex and is now on the DVLR metals at Murton; also the meccano electric loco which Tony Simons built to promote the project at the YAG Model Railway Show. He is always on the lookout for Meccano to promote engineering. If anyone has any they no longer use, please get in touch with him, email: tony_simons@icloud.com.
Our Wickham Engineer's Railmotor, also on loan at the Derwent Valley Light Railway, is currently undergoing mechanical repairs to its elderly JAP engine, carburettor and starter to get it back into running order. Photos: Paul Sheridan & Mac Bierowiec
