Gala trains to call at Eardington?

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By Paul Appleton

The small team of volunteers behind the project to refurbish the platform at the Severn Valley Railway’s forgotten station – Eardington Halt – were in buoyant mood during the September 20-23 autumn steam gala, after hearing that the planning committee aims to stop trains at the former halt during the 2019 spring steam event – provided all goes to plan.

Speaking on the Sunday of the gala, stationmaster Steve Downs said that sufficient tea and home-made cakes had been sold from the station’s tiny refreshment room to complete the funding gap for the edging slabs needed to complete the restored platform face.

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Fresh out of the box: The work required to complete the platform edge can clearly be seen as newly-overhauled visitor LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 6233 Duchess of Sutherland approaches on Sunday, September 23, the final day of the autumn steam gala, as featured on pages 48-53. PAUL APPLETON

Fifty new slabs are being made so that the full length of the original platform can be reopened. A quantity of these are already on site at Eardington and the remainder will be made over the coming weeks, with a view to finishing the work during the winter shutdown in January and early February.

Steve said: “We needed to raise another £8000 to get the edging slabs made and we are just about there, thanks to some generous donations and the sale of refreshments during station open days, which seem to be very popular, despite trains not being able to stop here.”

The metre long slabs are being produced specially for the project using a specially made mould.

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