Christmas Folk Train. ! !
The "Folk Train" on Friday December 16th
was a great success and was well filled even though it was snowing heavilly
as we waited for the train. Ged Phil and Rob entertained us on the train
and continued the music in the Buffet Bar at Stalybrige Station. Terry sold
some more station fridge magnets, Kim and Alan did a very brisk trade with
the raffle tickets with a prize of a dining train meal for two on the East
Lancashire Railway , (which are still on sale), and we even got 5 new members
joining our "Friends" group. We welcome all the new members and
especially our now most travelled supporter Morgan Rue from Luxembourg.
Morgan works for the European Commission and lives in Luxembourg but actually
hailes from Gorton, so took the opportunity of travelling with us while
on Christmas holiday. Thanks go out to all our supporters, to the great
musicians and to the staff at the Buffet Bar for the lovely breakfasts.
Some of the people in the 2 car "Pacer" train forming our Christmas 2011 FOLK TRAIN to Stalybridge. Our resident trio Ged Phil and Rob provided the music on the train and in the Buffet Bar at Stalybridge.
If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you will see some pictures of our past folk trains.
The picture below was last years MCRUA railtour picking up passengers at Reddish South for the tour to Newcastle and Durham. The great news now is that MCRUA are again stopping at Reddish South on a railtour to Lincoln, Wainfleet and Skegness on Sat May 5th 2012.
May railtour Roundup!
Sat 28th may saw no less than 4 Railtours passing through Reddish South with one stopping to picking up passengers. This was the "Retrorailtours" Southend Air Show tour with a London option. A fair number got on at Reddish South and about half the passengers on the train got off at West Hampstead London while the rest got about 3 hours in Southend. There were lots of real hard core rail enthusiasts on the train who had travelled many miles to ride behind the very rare preserved Class 31 locos , owned by British American Railway Services. This is part of the American Iowa Pacific Holdings group. The locos were 31601 and 31190 with a third loco on the back of the train to provide heat and lighting, this was a DB Class 67 67029 which is Deuch Bahns executive train loco , which again is pretty rare on a passenger train.
The tour was on time all the way to and from London and was going very
well until the return to Stoke on Trent when everything came to a halt along
the line due to trespassers on the line north of Stoke. Unfortunately when
the line was cleared by the Police , the Virgin Trains and Cross-Country
Trains scheduled services had priority and the rail tour had to wait about
50 minutes for a clear path, and infact 4 trains passed us while we were
held in a siding just before Stoke on Trent Station which must have been
infuriating for the passengers waiting to get off in Stoke. !
Anyway this did not detract from a superb day out and the Friends of Reddish
South Station group were kindly allowed to sell some fridge magnets of the
stations along our line , by Retrorailtours , for which we are very grateful.
Station Clearup - April 2011
A very succesful " Clear up and Planting Day" took place on Sunday
17th April when trees, shrubs and summer bulbs were planted by the volunteers
who turned up on this warm sunny morning . Grants from the " Manchester
Airport Community Trust Fund" and the "Community Foundation for
Greater Manchester" funded the tools and equipment and all the plants,
trees and bulbs. Our own sales of Reddish South Station fridge magnets also
funded the teas and refreshments for the volunteers who turned up to help.
! It was a great morning and the 2 hours planned to get all the work done
had to be extended by an hour or so to finish the work planned so far. We
have a lot more young plants to go in after any frost danger has passed
, so eventually Reddish South Station should look really nice this summer.
Bulb Planting Saturday 30th October
A lovely warm autumn day saw plenty of people joining the “Friends” volunteers in planting over 2000 spring bulbs. Four ton of Top Soil was delivered early and over £40 was taken in donations for the bulbs. A special thank you should be given to Terry for getting the passers by on to the platform. Dot and Kim took people down to platform, where Alan, Tom, Dave and Noel were busy planting and covering the bulbs with Top Soil. We are now looking forward to spring time when our Station should be a mass of colour.
Thank you to all who came and supported our efforts. We look forward to
seeing you all on the 17th December when our Christmas Folk Train will leave
the station at 9 26am.
2nd April 2010 - Good Friday Folk Train
Well over 60 people joined the Folk Train to Stalybridge on Good Friday for breakfast and entertainment in the famous buffet bar. Unfortunately due to illness MP Andrew Gwynne was unable to join us, but the "Friends " group were supported by three local Reddish Councillors and plenty of passengers . There were some passengers already on the train from Stockport and as well as the large contingent who got on at Reddish South we were also joined by some passengers at Denton. "Splash Radio" of Wigan were represented on the train and they did some interviews which will be broadcast shortly on their web-site. They campaign for better transport facilities in Greater Manchester and we welcome their support.
Obviously there were no updates from our MP on progress towards our campaign
for passenger services to Manchester Victoria, but maybe there will be some
progress by the time we have our next "Folk Train" in August.
The next train has been provisionally booked for FRIDAY AUGUST 27th which
is the Friday before August Bank Holiday Monday. We will also be attending
some local community park "Open Days" with our stall.
Reddish Heritage Day - Saturday 12th September
Another very successful open day was enjoyed by hundreds of visitors to
the Reddish Heritage Day at the park near St Elizabeths Church on Saturday
12th Sept. We had over 80 new signatures to our list of supporters for opening
the line to passenger services to Manchester Victoria and we sold lots of
fridge magnets too. We now have well over 500 signatures of support from
the various "open days " this summer and have had support from
Stockports Mayor and Lady Mayoress , along with both their Deputies in office
and the continuing support of all the local Councillors and of course that
of MP for Denton and Reddish , Andrew Gwynne.
Folk Train Special - Friday 28th August
The following 3 pictures were taken on the "Folk Train Special" on Friday Aug 28th, when well over 50 people joined the train on a very wet and windy weekday for breakfast in the famous buffet bar on Stalybridge station. We were entertained by our resident folk duo "Ged & Phil" both on the train and in the buffet bar and we would like to Thank them for some great music.
Our MP for Denton & Reddish Andrew Gwynne also made a brief speech in the buffet bar and he gave us some encouraging words about the campaign. He said that although Northern Rail could see no possibility of using the existing empty trains that are seen every day passing through Reddish South, because these trains are too infrequent and at the wrong times for economic services, there may be scope for the campaign via the "Manchester Hub" project. This is a long term plan for the whole of Greater Manchester for better rail links, services and expansions whereby major funding is being sought for the whole of the area. It is a long term plan which will rely on funding and subsidies but at least it may be a way forward with some prospects for our campaign. Mr Gwynne went on to say that he has got some hope for the future and will continue to lobby all the bodies concerned on our behalf, and his speech went down really well and he got a standing ovation at the end.
It was a great day out and our thanks go to everyone who supported us including some travellers from Nottingham and Wigan , to "Ged & Phil" the folk duo and to the staff at Stalybridge buffet bar who supplied some nice breakfasts / bacon butties / drinks etc and of course to Andrew Gwynne MP for his continued help and support.
Unity Park Family Fun Day - Sat Aug 22nd at the Park in South Reddish
A couple of pictures from the newly named Unity Park Family Fun day, where the friends had their stall on display.
The top photo shows Cllr Colin MacAllister Mayor of Stockport
and Andrew Gwynne MP supporting our Reddish Unity Park open day stall where
we gained even more support for our campaign for new passenger services
from Reddish South to Manchester Victoria. It was a great day , lots of
visitors and plenty of signatures of support for these services.
" Friends" members Alan , Kim , Sue , Keith , and Dot man the
stall at the latest open day at Unity Park Reddish.
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FOLK TRAIN "2" SATURDAY 26TH JULY REDDISH SOUTH STATION - Report and Pictures
The second folk train special was a huge success, the train was full to standing room only. They could only just cope in the buffet bar with all the meals. Cllr Walter Brett gave a great speech encouraging everyone to get behind the campaign, which is now gaining momentum. Apologies were sent by MP Andrew Gwynne.
Thanks for all your support with the event - it shows that the people of Reddish do want a regular service and would support it.
Here a selection of pictures from the day:
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The crowds gather at the station. |
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Waiting for the Saturday only train. |
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The station as it is today. |
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The conductor was a little surprised with the number of passengers!! The busy train! Standing room only! |
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At the Buffet Bar. |
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"The Reddish Ramblers" the un-named folk group, performing at the Buffet Bar. |
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Some of the early arrivers at Reddish South Station- about 50 to 60 got off and joined us in the Buffet at Stalybridge. ! |
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Some of the 50 to 60 passengers on the train. |
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MP Andrew Gwynne alights from the train at Stalybridge |