The sun shone for our first open day of 2025, Easter Sunday. We were joined by steam loco O4 no.6284 again, seen here coming past the station with a train load of happy passengers. O4 no.6284 coming round the engine shed loop, with the new fence visible on the right.Our May open day was another sunny day, with plenty of passengers enjoying steam train ridesO4 creating atmospheric clouds of steam as it sets off from the station on our June open dayStopping at the engine shed to top up the water tankWith all the dry weather we had an extra volunteer role added to the rota for our July Open Day – fire patrol, to make sure no sparks got into the dry grass. Happily there were no fires, and being on duty at the pond loop gave the opportunity to take some photos from a different angle.
Fire patrol also meant some time for insect spotting amongst the grass and thistles – (L-R) Red Soldier Beetle; bee, wasp and more Red Soldier Beetles; Large White Butterfly
For our August Open Day we joined the Rail 200 celebrations with steam in Teesdale – a steam loco, miniature steam traction engines and even a non-steam vintage car!Another full train being pulled past the pond on our August Open Day.A slightly overcast day created clouds of steam on our September Open Day.We rounded off the season with our Heritage Open Day behind-the-scenes tours – here the Rio Grande waits at the station for the first passengers to arrive.Despite the heavy rain all day, a few intrepid visitors came to enjoy the Heritage Open Day rail tours, including at stop at the pond to see how the habitat has changed since the railway was built 50 years ago.
