Information for Members.
The Society was formed in the 1930s and began to rent the Hady site in 1965, subsequently buying the land in 1997 and becoming a limited company. We have regular meetings and members running days, also 2 Open Weekends per year, to promote club activities and fundraising. We currently have 3 tracks for use: a raised track for 2.5-3.5 and 5 inch gauges, with a length of 1125 feet; a ground level track 2100plus feet in length for 5 and 7.25 inch gauges, and a garden railway catering for 32mm and 45mm gauge locomotives and rolling stock. The Society also owns the track, locomotive and running stock at Papplewick Pumping Station, Ravenshead, Notts. Although the site belongs to “Severn Trent Water” it is managed by “The Papplewick Pumping Station Trust” and “The Papplewick Association”.
Our logo is the Stephenson Link, invented by a local man and being the mechanism by which steam locomotives could reverse and also limit the admission of steam to the cylinders. Our quarterly newsletter is called The Stephenson Link.
Membership Rules. 2024 REVISED RULE BOOK AVAILABLE IN THE CLUBROOM.
Your membership fee for each new year falls due on 1st January but can be renewed from the previous September onwards – the renewal form is the back page of your September Newsletter. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU RENEW before 28th February or you will not be insured or eligible for the benefits listed on these pages.
Instructions for renewing are printed on the form (email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), together with the fees applicable for that year. Each member must pay the fee for his/her age group but can have associated membership for a spouse or partner, or children, at a nominal rate.
The membership fees cover the running of the Society – insurance, rates, energy and water, accountancy fees, fabric maintenance, administration expenses and the like. All improvement and new-build projects are the result of fund-raising.
Your Membership Card entitles you to the following benefits :
- on-site insurance.
- use of the Hady tracks during daylight hours, provided that there are at least TWO members on site for safety.
- attendance at the monthly meetings.
- boiler testing (you must present your card)
- attendance at Papplewick’s published events (you must present your card).
- the quarterly Newsletter.
There is a general meeting held in the clubhouse each month on the third Tuesday at 7.30 pm. The short business meeting is usually followed by a speaker who will give a talk on various themes. Sometimes we have films or a presentation from one of the members. A raffle may be held at meetings and donations of prizes are always welcome.
Boiler testing for steam locomotives of all gauges is an insurance requirement and you are not allowed to run an un-passed locomotive.
Testing is carried out on the first Saturday of the month (except September when the Open Weekend is in progress).
Monthly events at the Hady site
The calendar for the forthcoming year is published in The Stephenson Link and on the website EVENTS and +MORE, NEWS sections, and reminder notices are put up in the clubroom or chalked on the blackboard. However, the general pattern is as follows :
- January 1st – Arctic Running (often an opportunity to introduce new-build locomotives)
- The first Saturday of each month is Boiler Testing.
- The first Tuesday of each month is the Committee meeting in the Clubhouse at 7.30 pm. Members are welcome to attend if they wish to discuss a particular point.
- The first Wednesday of each month is an opportunity to use the running tracks from 12pm.
- The third Tuesday of each month is the general meeting in the Clubhouse at 7.30 pm. All members are welcome.
- The Saturday following the third Tuesday of each month is the general running day for members and their families, 10.30am to 4.00pm. Refreshments are available.
- The AGM is held in March each year. Members may appoint a proxy to attend, vote and speak.
Register of Passed Drivers
The Committee have reviewed and revised the register of passed drivers for passenger carrying on public events. This is to ensure we comply with current insurance and safety requirements. Any member aged 16yrs and over may apply to be a passed driver. If you have not completed the new application form, and wish to drive at public events (whether passenger hauling or not), please fill in a application form, copies available in the clubroom. The full revised regulation is available in the Clubroom.
Fund-raising events at the Hady site
Each year in mid-May and early September we hold our two Open Weekends (Saturday and Sunday, 10.30 am until 4pm). These events are our major fund-raisers and we need ALL hands on deck for each of the two days. Admission and parking are free and we make our money mostly from ride tickets, refreshments, shop sales and donations.
Children's Santa Specials are held in December (dates to be published later), LIMITED tickets are available at the September open weekend, 1st. come, 1st. served.
The Club Shop is open on many Wednesday afternoons and most Saturdays. Donations of materials, tools and workshop equipment are always most welcome, but please do not expect disposal of old telly's, computers, stereos, etc. If you are not sure, have a word with either Alec Morley or Eddie Freeman before bringing anything.
Working parties
Voluntary work to maintain the site and to provide new facilities takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, mostly in the afternoons. As mentioned earlier, the first Wednesday and the Saturday following the third Tuesday of each month are designated as running days.
Refreshments are provided free on working afternoons at about 2pm (tea and biscuits).
More substantial refreshments are served by a team of members wives, and are sold at events where families or the public are present.
Links
Members of other societies come occasionally to run their locomotives. Usually this is by general invitation and two Saturdays each year are reserved for this (see calendar as published). Likewise, our members can visit other organisations to run or exhibit their engines. Dates are published if and when, at meetings, on the web site and on the clubroom notice-board.
Garden Railway
The new garden railway has extensive running tracks for 32 mm and 45 mm gauge trains. Most of these are radio-controlled. Note that steam locomotives even at this scale are required to be boiler tested.
RULES and REGULATIONS
Your membership is accepted in trust that your declaration on the application form is upheld.
We have a working relationship with the school next door and rely on them for goodwill in allowing us to hire their facilities from time to time. In turn we ask our members to respect the fact that they and their young children are very often in session during our work-days and therefore request that, on school days :
- no bonfires
- no loud locomotive horns
- share parking with the school staff and parents
- no parking AT ANY TIME on the top access drive to the school. We have no legal rights to it and if a fire appliance could not get through because one of our vehicles was blocking the narrow drive . . . . ?
- The school does allow our overflow parking in their official car park.
Locomotive driving
Your locomotive, when hauling all passengers, MUST have the following :
- a safety chain or cable between the power unit and the driving car, independent of the main coupling
- (steam) a current boiler certificate
- (steam) an efficient spark-arrester (not a deflector) in the main exhaust flow
- effective brakes on the driving car, capable of stopping a loaded train
- an adult driver with paid-up membership
- PLEASE NOTE that Junior members, Non-members and members who have not paid their subs, are NOT allowed to haul public passengers.
Locomotive / Track Running Logs
Any member driving a locomotive at any running event, be it members days or public running on either of the clubs tracks, MUST add their details to the running log for that day PRIOR to running. A full copy of this regulation is available in the Clubroom.
Safety at all times
Before you take passengers, please become familiar with the track, as there are some sharp inclines and places where inexperience could cause an accident. Some corners are blind because of trees and of course, wet weather alters the dynamics of starting and stopping considerably.
Signalling
On the ground track, the golden rule is always : “Give way to any traffic coming from your left.”
At the approach to the woodland section there are several diamond crossings. Trains coming up towards the crossings must STOP, look and give way to any traffic coming downhill. Trains coming down towards the crossings should whistle at the 'W' signs.
The raised track is signalled as far as the overbridge where the block sections end.
This allows queuing into the station and the steaming bay and it is essential, when coming over the bridge, to be alert to any standing trains in front. Protect your train as follows :
Protecting your train If you have to stop other than at a signal or in the station, then you must protect the rear of your train. Do this by raising a hand to any following driver and shouting / hooting if they haven’t seen you. Following drivers please raise a hand to acknowledge.
