The WHR Project - Volunteer Projects

Most of the volunteer activities on the WHR are covered on the Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri/Welsh Highland Railway Society website where details of the various volunteering opportunities are to be found. On top of this there are sometimes other activities and/or groups peripheral to the society who also help the railway in some form or other and so their details as well as the main key activities can be found on this page.
If you have something to offer the railway or wish to help in some way please  Email us to get in touch.

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Track work parties

Looking ahead - the volunteer track work programme for 2013

Paul Bradshaw writes:

WHR Volunteer Track Work programme

For any of you who has not joined one of our track gangs recently a number of things may surprise you.  For starters, there is a large variety of jobs which need to be done during the winter close season.  You are likely to find that your efforts are needed anywhere between Harbour Station and Caernarfon.  You may be a member of a gang which is doing some important alignment work to bring the track back into tip top condition for the 2013 season.  You could be solving a drainage problem or tackling the lineside tree growth.  Another pleasant surprise can be how fine the weather can be. 

The Black Hand Gang will continue to operate on a fortnightly cycle and the Tuesday Gang expects to be out on the WHR pretty well every Tuesday.  ROWG will continue to operate a bimonthly cycle with a full week in odd numbered months and a long weekend in even numbered ones.

So that you can get them into your diary the 2013 dates for BHG and ROWG will be:

Black Hand Gang

January      12/13    26/27
February    9/10      23/24
March        9/10      23/24
April           6/7       20/21
May           4/5^     18/19
June           1/2       15/16    29/30
July            13/14   27/28
August       10/11    24/25^
September  7/8       21/22
October      5/6      19/20
November   2/3     16/17     30
December    1       14/15#    27-30*   

^ = Bank Holiday weekend
# = Possibly Santa trains?
* = provisional


Rest of the World Gang

January      wk    19-25
February    lw    15-18
Mar            wk    16-22
April           lw    12-15
May           wk    11-17   
June            lw    7-10
July           week    20-26
August        lw    16-19
September  week  14-20
October       lw    11-14
November   week    9-15
December    lw    6-9

lw = long weekend from Friday to Monday
working week = Saturday to Friday

The above dates are given in good faith.  Be aware that arrangements may change so contact the working party organiser before you commit yourself to joining us just to make sure.

The weekends of the Bank Holidays, the July week and August long weekend are in periods when hostel accommodation at Minffordd and Penrhyn can be expected to be much in demand.  It is suggested you make your booking early if you wish to stay in one of the hostels then.

All the details above are available as a printable pdf document: Track Works Programme 2013.

Check the Track Work pages of the Society's website for up to date information and all relevant documentation and forms.

Tuesday Gang
The Tuesday Gang expect to be operating pretty well every Tuesday in locations all round the WHR. Tasks are usually associated with maintenance and improvements the the railway's infrastructure.

Contacts
Contact details for all the trackwork activities are to be found on the Contacts page of the Track Work section of the Society's website. 
[top of page]
K1 Working Parties [top of page]

The K1 Group of the WHRS look after the welfair of the historic Garratt locomotive K1. They are always looking for volunteers and so would be very pleased to meet new people to help them.Although with K1 in regular service working parties are normally held at Dinas when K1 is out of service during the Winter period only. All the details about K1 can be found on the Society's K1 pages together with some historical details in the K1 section of this website. 

Help with the NG15 Restoration [top of page]

Volunteers are needed for the regular working parties to restore the NG15 locomotive No134. This is a Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri/Welsh Highland Railway Society sponsored project and  monthly working parties held at Dinas. More information including contact details are available on the restoration team's website: www.ng15-134.co.uk .

Wagon Maintenance [top of page]

The renovation and repainting of what was a motley collection of South African Railways wagons is making a real difference to the image of the Railway, as well as providing useful rolling stock. There is group dedicated to their welfare and this is to be found on the Society's Wagons Roll pages. Full details of the work being carried out and how to help are to be found there.

East Anglian Group Homework Days, Horseheath, near Cambridge [top of page]

The East Anglian Group is a society group who hold regular working parties at Horseheath near Cambridge.

The group has regular meetings, visits out and working parties with the latter held at Mill Green near Cambridge approximately every four weeks. More details of these, as well as how to become involved, can be found on the Society's website and on the East Anglian Group's pages there.

Also some more  illustrated reports of earlier activities of the EAG's projects can be found on this website. See the EAG page.

Team Wylfa [top of page]

Team Wylfa is a group external to the society and run by Clive Briscoe who works at Wylfa power station on Anglesey. The group has been active for over 10years and Clive runs numerous evening working parties as help allows, as well as working on other projects such as the NG15 restoration. 

For more details of the group have a look through the  Team Wylfa page where there is a potted history that gives an idea of the sort of activities they get involved in. Clive is always looking for volunteers to help so you'll be made more that welcome. In addition the Team Wylfa Reports page has some up to date information about recent activities. 

To get in touch with Team Wylfa, Contact: Clive Briscoe, clive.briscoe@magnoxsites.com, or phone 07756 489780 (mobile - leave a message and Clive will phone back after 17:30) or 01407 733595 (office)

General Volunteering [top of page]

For those of you who are not sure what you would like to do, or would like a variety of tasks from ditching and brush clearing, to painting buildings, washing carriages and helping with the buffet trolley and guide book selling. Please contact the volunteer co-ordinator for the operating railway, Tony Baker, on 01492 874579 or email tony.baker@festrail.co.uk. Anyone is welcome whether for one day or one month. Tasks are available to suit all ages and capabilities.

Back to Get Involved, or the WHR Project homepage
Website authored by Ben Fisher; this page last updated 20st May, 2012 by Laurence Armstrong