Delayed show on track for success (From Worcester News)

Delayed show on track for success

3:40pm Monday 20th August 2012 in News

STEAM train enthusiasts have been working 13-hours a day to lay a stretch of track near Malvern for a show later this year.

The track has been laid at the site of the Welland Steam Rally off the B4208 just north of the village.

The site is owned by the Ross-on-Wye Steam Engine Society, and the work has been done by its members in their own time.

“We got the track from a collector down in Wales, and to find out how to lay it we looked on the internet and called some preserved railways for advice,” said club member Pete Evans.

“We had to move 100 tons of earth and lay down 1,000 tons of stone for the track bed, and then lay the track on top of that.

“It’s been very hard worth but it’s worth it. We’ve been doing 13-hour days on the site, but we’ve been loving it.”

They have laid only a fifth of a mile of track, but that will enable them to bring full-scale steam locomotives to their shows.

“The first one will be the last locomotive to run on the Ross to Monmouth line,”

said Mr Evans.

This will be during the steam rally itself, which is on September 21-23.

The show is normally held in July, but members postponed because heavy rain made the site unusable.

The rally, which attracts thousands of people every year, promises three days of nostalgia, with steam engines, vintage farm vehicles and military vehicles, classic cars and motorcycles, and much more.