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Sanday Light Railway closure
Topic Started: 5 Jan 2007, 08:11 PM (2,187 Views)
penrose
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Some sad news from what looked like an excellent little railway...:

Press Statement from Sanday Light Railway,
Sanday Orkney Islands, Scotland - January 2007

With deep regret due to a change in Orkney Islands Council policy in December 2006 and after significant investment on our part & due to goods we have not received, we are unable to comply with OIC legal services demands, to continue with the running of Sanday Light Railway.

Over the last seven years it has been our wish not to charge any visitors to our railway here on the island of Sanday, the U.K’s most northerly passenger carrying railway. We have given any donations received to local causes on our island, either to the R.N.L.I. or to Sanday Community School & its wonderful support of Minga School in Malawi Africa, after the school won a competition backed by the Scottish First Minister.

Our last donation was during December when an anonymous couple from Gloucester sent a donation of £100.00 for the school after visiting our railway here in the summer. Each time this amount or more has been raised, as in our wartime weekend last September, and other previous events, it is the equivalent funding for the education of a pupil in Africa for a full year. Unfortunately we were unable to run Santa Specials due to the council’s last minute notice & conditions combined with the disappearance & non arrival of our goods as notified on our website during 2006. This matter is currently still in the hands of our solicitors & the police pending legal action.

Throughout the railways existence we have taken great care with safety and in complying with the Health & Safety Executive and its guidelines for the safe operation of passenger carrying miniature railways as set down in its publications. Additional consideration for our passengers has also been taken through advice from the society we are proud to be members of, the Seven & Quarter Inch Gauge Society, meeting requirements and carrying public liability insurance for our railway. We are proud that during its life no accidents have occurred on our railway, injury to any passengers, visitors, or voluntary staff and no claim has been made against us or through our policy with our insurers on any occasion throughout our existence.

The Orkney Islands Council has now without any prior notice in December 2006, in spite of being fully aware of the railway and heralding us as an ‘Established’ part of Sanday and this community decided we must have an entertainments licence. Insisting in addition we now need to hold increased liability insurance for a minimum of ten million pounds. The other additional conditions of the licence are far beyond that of a small independent non profit making railway that has been a labour of love that we have shared with both the island and it visitors over seven years.

It is also ironic that had we received the goods in which we had invested significant funds over a year ago, we would have in part, complied with council demands and may have had other options to continue in the running of the railway. We would not however have compromised either safety or our policy of not charging, and continued giving any donations to our causes here and in Africa in which we believe most strongly.

It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that Sanday Light Railway has no other option than to close the United Kingdoms most northerly passenger carrying railway with immediate effect.

We wish to thank those many thousands of visitors of all ages, from the UK, the States, Japan, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and beyond who visited us here and our beautiful islands. Our railways legacy will remain in the press and media coverage we have had over the last seven years, and our website will remain a permanent reminder of those who came and shared something that was unique for the Orkney Islands. It remains to be seen if in time our listing by H.M.S.O. ordnance survey maps for Orkney & Sanday will state, ’Miniature Railway.’ (Disused.) It would remain our lasting epitaph. At this time our tearooms & B&B which fully complied with many additional O.I.C. conditions throughout building, will reopen at Easter 2007.(Although this may change.)

Irrespective of the loss of the railway here, Sanday ( As indeed are all the Orkney Islands.) remains a beautiful, wonderful and most desirable place to live and work. For our part it took both vision and dedication to achieve what we did here at Sanday Light Railway.We were more than happy to share what we created with our many visitors. (We estimate over Twenty Five Thousand since 2001.)

It was in our trust and respect of others within our own fraternity and those officials in local authority who are placed in a position of trust and against internal politics and events that Sanday Light Railway has most regrettably been forced to close.

We leave for those who visited us and rode on our trains here, and shared with us the stunning views of our islands and those around us, as they rode on our line, memories that we sincerely hope will be cherished, as will our own of those who visited Sanday Light Railway for many years to come…

www.sandaylightrailway.co.uk
Sanday Light Railway

January 2007

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peterbryant
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I'm very sad to hear this, as it is one of the lines I most wanted to visit. Shame on the council, they've lost a valuable feature. I feel sorry for all the troubles at the line lately, and it's a shame it had to end like this :(
Peter Bryant
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peterbryant
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More can be read at the Times website. It was on Page 3 today:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2533465,00.html
Peter Bryant
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craiggluyas
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All the equipment from the line has arrived at Station Road Steam. See News page.

Craig
Craig Gluyas

Talking to one's self is a sign of madness. I talk to my imaginary friend.
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glastonrail
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Dommo
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See here also:

http://www.stationroadsteam.co.uk/images/slr/index.htm

Mike don't hang around!

Cheers,

Dom
DMR
"There's no such thing as sanity, and that's the sanest fact" M. Knopfler, 1985
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peterbryant
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Interesting, love some of those engines. Wish we could get one! :(
Peter Bryant
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penrose
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Interesting that the carriages have dropped £1k in value in a year...doesn't say much for their build quality. See they've sold fairly fast though!

Peter, I'm sure if you saved up your pennies you could afford the contraption built around mardyke bogies... ;)

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peterbryant
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Too bad it's sold <_< My favourite out of all of them has tol be Green diesel! :)
Peter Bryant
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