Christmas has arrived early at Daresbury with the opening of the New Track Deviation, more on that below after some earlier updates from throughout the year.

Tom here for the last update of 2021, and there has been much activity at the track whilst covid rates were low through the Summer and Autumn months and as we headed into Winter.

It has been great to see many members at the church hall for our monthly meetings and guest speakers – lets hope Boris allows these to continue into 2022!

The club also held an AGM in October (which was originally delayed due to covid), and various topics were discussed and voted upon – the minutes of which (including committee meeting minutes) shall be available soon on the website.

In other news, some members have departed from the committee, and I myself have now been accepted and onboarded onto the committee – so that I can serve the club better with more frequent updates online.

The Cheshire Steam Fair 2021 was a very different affair for 2021 due to covid restrictions and no passenger running, but despite the pandemic the club still put on a really good show of engines with various traction’s of steam and diesel/electric and gauges – you can see the photos in the gallery here and also a video we live streamed on our Facebook page

Before we closed the track for the final stretch to be laid and connected for The Track Deviation completion, Barrie injected some excitement into the club during October – “nope it wasn’t another covid jab”, but the eagerly await Night Run 8 for 2021! Due to covid this was postponed back in 2020 – another great night with plenty of tea and cake, some new faces and new engines too – you can see the photos in the gallery also.

Jake also won Northern Association of Young Engineers 2021 in First Place – congratulations! I think we have had many a young member win from our club previously, including Amy in 2004 and Ben in 2008!

And now for the main event, what we’ve all been waiting for to end on a high for 2021 – The Track Deviation is now completed, allowing for our Daresbury track to reopen to members!

>> You can read the full Deviation Report from Dave here – and you can find the previous reports also!

You can see the gallery of the Deviation last year Winter 2020-2021 and also the latest gallery of the Deviation works this year to completion in 2021

To recap:- During the lockdown a start was made by a group of members to deviate the track from its route over the first bridge and round the water tank. The purpose of the deviation is to make a more direct transition on to the new extension.

Craig, Dave, Paul, ‘The Barries’, John, Bob (with the gallons of tea served) and many more members from our brilliant club have put an amazing amount of time and effort into making the Track Deviation happen over the past 2 years from planning to what we now have today. Im sure as members we are all very grateful and can’t wait to use the track once more – not to mention the many visitors who may want to try it also next year!

The last screw into the track on the Track Deviation was inserted by the 21st November, edging ever closer to being able to test!

Even as the snow came down towards the end of November, the track team were working through the cold weather; the Deviation was now ready for testing!

Early December The first test train on the Deviation was John’s Hymek (diesel electric) followed by the first steam train being Paul’s Duchess.

The following weekend, more engines of various sizes were tested and all of the club’s passenger vehicles were hauled around the track, and we are happy to report that following some minor adjustments in certain locations – all passed the clearance tests.

On the new Track Deviation section, there were three slightly loose track beam tie-down bolts and one missing beam packing (5mm, blue packer). These were all corrected.

Everything regarding the Track Deviation appeared to be in excellent functioning order, but a note to be aware of is a slightly loose pillar top at 495. This does not constitute a risk, but will at some convenient time next year require to be fixed in-place properly. Thank you to Craig and Dave for the details.

>> You can read the full Track Deviation Report from Dave here – and you can find the previous reports also!

You should note the proposal in the last Track Deviation report for what could be the next stage of the Track Deviation and our beautiful track – a new “Steam Fair Station” with improved visibility, access to passengers and a downhill start – something to think about for 2022 or 2023 to help recover from no passenger hauling during 2020 and 2021, its worth a thought or two indeed!

Some of the signalling equipment is undergoing repairs by Duncan and Patrick, please be careful when running at the track – we hope to report that they are fixed in the new year.

For the latest updates and bulletins with regards to running your locomotive at the track, we advise all members to join our WhatsApp group on your smartphone device – Please email myself or the Secretary for more details on how to join.

Merry Christmas to all and we wish you a healthy and prosperous 2022

Tom Taylor

Other related Daresbury Gazette articles:

• A Varied Steam Fair Experience for 2021 – June Edition – Daresbury Gazette
• Happy New Year – Access Update – March 2021 Edition – Daresbury Gazette
• Seasons Greetings – COVID-19 and The Deviation Update – December Edition – Daresbury Gazette
• Track Temporary Closure and The Deviation Update – November Edition – Daresbury Gazette
• Tier Risk System Update – October Edition – Daresbury Gazette

1. One member working alone
2. Two or more members from the same household (or support Bubble) working together
3. A pair of members not from the same household