LHI The Oral History of the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

LHI Progress Report June – August 2005

The painting of the inside of the coach, which will become the interpretation coach, is now complete. It involved not only cleaning the paintwork and then applying paint in Midland Railway colours, but a great deal of repairs to the woodwork. This was especially true of the doors, where a basic design fault was discovered, resulting in the need to rebuild several of the doors, from the inside out. The rainwater appeared to run through the doors, causing the rot. Once the inside had been refurbished work began on the electrical fittings and the heating system. On the outside, preparation for the exterior painting is well advanced, bearing in mind this is a 60’ long coach!

Filming for the DVD has been started – on a very hot day in mid-August, when the scenes on the railway were filmed, including costume scenes at Shottle, with the help of the Wirksworth Glee Club. In addition, several people who had worked on the railway were filmed at various locations. Shots were also taken of the steam engine (Donington) which was hired in. Several thousand people attended the steam gala at the beginning of September, which was arranged as part of the hiring in of the engine. The gala also marked the opening of the incline to passengers, which finished off the previous LHI Project A Train Ride to History.