The Ashover Light Railway Society

Spondon’s travels

David Willmott — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 10:16:16 +0000

Followers of this website will recall that our locomotive Spondon visited Porthmadog a few years ago as part of their quirks and curiosities gala; appropriate as it was a resident at the nearby Gloddfa Ganol collection in the early years of its preservation life.

The news is that the locomotive is sechuled to appear at The Great Gathering in Derby from August 1st to 3rd. Appropriate because it spent its working life in the Derby suburb of Spondon, working in the power station.

RAILWAY200 and ASHOVER100

David Willmott — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 14:39:51 +0000

RAILWAY200.

2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Heritage lines across the country will be marking this anniversary with a whole series of events.

meanwhile

ASHOVER100

The Ashover Light Railway opened in 1925, thus we will be celebrating our 100th anniversary in 2025.

The main event will be an exhibition o n April 5th and April 6th in the Bassett Rooms, Church Street, Ashover. Further detail to follow.

2024 AGM

David Willmott — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 14:23:49 +0000

REMINDER

The 2024 AGM of the society will be held on Saturday 21st September.

2024 Annual General Meeting

David Willmott — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 18:49:49 +0000

The AGM of the ALRS will be held on Saturday 21st September, starting at 1.00p.m. In our Rowsley workshop.

Limited seating is available so you are advised to bring your own chair.

ALRS members can expect to receive an agenda and further details in due course by email or mail.

Richard Booth R.I.P.

David Willmott — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 16:15:22 +0000

It is with great regret that we announce the death of our late chairman and (very) active volunteer Richard Booth on February 24th.

Richard was known by many for his wise words and philosophical approach to life, exemplified by his resilience and acceptance of his condition over the last two months.

His contribution to the ALRS was unparalleled and he will be sadly missed by us all.

December 2023 update

David Willmott — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 12:54:44 +0000

Well, it’s been a while. Despite the radio silence here online, progress has been going very well over the past months, particularly in the workshops where three of our five locos have received attention. Take, for example, last Saturday:

Even with a team of only three, we successfully managed to reinstall both drive chains; the large and small air tanks; the middle dividing wall; the fan; the battery; and the throttle/reverser control on ex-NCB Hunslet ‘Linby’. The chains took up most of the morning as the loco had to be jacked up in order to independently rotate the rear axle.

All of this work is part of the heavy overhauls that both the Ruston (260712) and Hunslet (8917) have been receiving over the past year, bringing them up to passenger-carrying standards in preparation for next year.

Spondon has also had a bit of a ‘birthday’, in the form of a new Air Compressor. This will be followed by the rest of the air brake fittings once the two Diesels are back in action.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s been going on. For a more in-depth report, keep an eye out for the Winter Edition of our WTRE magazine, which you can access by signing up as a member of the ALRS. Better still, join us as a volunteer to come and see the progress for yourself: we’d greatly appreciate the help.

2023 Annual General Meeting

David Willmott — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 16:16:26 +0000

Members will shortly be receiving formal notice of this year’s annual general meeting. However, to give prior notice:-

Saturday 30 September at 1 p.m.

At the Rowsley site.

Members are encouraged to attend if possible, but the papers will include a proxy voting form and full details.

(If you are interested in joining (rejoining/renewing) membership you can find the forms in the membership page of this site. Any memberships will not expire until January 2025, i.e. 14 months membership for the price of twelve.

Progress on the northern extension.

David Willmott — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 21:09:06 +0000

Good progress again yesterday (4/3/23) at Rowsley, despite the slightly colder temperatures. All of the new track up to the first turnout of the triangle has been ‘jacked and packed’ so should be all clear for running trains on. Thanks again to Longcliffe Quarries for providing the ballast!

A further panel of rail has also been bent and fishplated, although some final adjustments to the radius is still needed. Approximately half of the old path to the station has been lifted, with three piles of paving slabs available so far for our future revamped station platform.

The workshop has also seen activity, with various tasks including painting of components and some more work on the steam system for our Sentinel being completed.

Finally, all of the pandrols on the original section of mainline have checked over and the odd one or two that had come loose have been refitted.

Write-up and pictures courtesy of L Renshaw.

Advance notice of 2022 AGM

David Willmott — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:07:34 +0000

The annual general meeting of the ALRS will be held on Saturday October 15th, starting at 14.00

The meeting will be held in the society’s Rowsley workshops. Seating is limited, so it is suggested that attendees bring along their own seating.

As usual, after the meeting there will be ample opportunities to examine the progress that the society has made at the Rowsley site.

Operating at Rowsley

David Willmott — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 21:20:19 +0000

Rowsley1-5 copyright Luke Renshaw/ALRS
Rowsley 6-9 copyright Alexander Peat/ALRS

ALRS battery electric locomotive Spondon waits for passengers.

The merchandise stall was thankfully in the shade under the gazebo!

Posters directed visitors to the ALRS display.

Spondon and Linby topping and tailing

Ruston on a demonstration freight

Awaiting passengers

The original ALR never operated exNCB locomotives, but has they been available surely Col. Stephens would have considered them.

A demonstration freight outside the ALR’s workshops.

The ALRS Ruston locomotive at the head of a demonstration freight.