As many long term readers of this blog will know, Dave’s local heritage childhood railway was the Kent and East Sussex Railway and ever since it has been one of his favourites. I recently had a nice chat with one of the volunteers working in there Saturday Gang and thought I’d dedicate a post to their very important work.

The Saturday Gang are a group of people who volunteer with the Kent and East Sussex Railways locomotive maintenance and overhaul dept. They work in a fun and relaxed environment but whilst carrying out essential work on the KESR locos. Most railways have overhaul gangs who work during the week so a Saturday one is quite rare. They have been working for 4 years and comprise around 10 – 15 members.

This group of volunteers are very different from the typical locomotive department teams I have come across. Apart from working on a Saturday they prefer YouTube update videos over blog posts and from what you can tell in the videos the volunteers are also quite young compared to the average team. They are currently overhauling 25 Northiam at Rolvenden and these little locomotives are often overlooked by enthusiasts in favour of the big express powerful engines but are just as important. You can find Aprils update video below;

If what you see interests you then why not consider volunteering with them? They welcome people of all ages, skills and backgrounds. No previous experience is necessary. Information can be found on the KESR website here. I know from my own experiences volunteering in the railway heritage world is a very rewarding and enjoyable.

Thanks for reading

Simon.

To read an update from this blog post, please click here.