CanPac Overhaul Update!

An update on progress of the Heritage Lottery Funded Canadian Pacific Project has been published. Work continues in cleaning the driving wheels (that reveals something of interest), the frame extensions are straightened and the bufferbeam support welding repair is completed.  Please click on the following link to read the report in full: http://preservation.watercressline.co.uk/blog/entry/wheely-interesting Please help support the Canadian…

Early Women on the Railway

Today is International Womens Day and as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Canadian Pacific Project we have a very special article that looks at some of the earliest women to work on railways.  It is fascinating to read the level of inequality in society at the time – women had to masquerade as men and…

The Children’s Orphanage

As part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Canadian Pacific Project, we are researching and exploring the social history of the railway covering a wide range of topics. The following link provides a fascinating insight into the Southern Railway Orphanage at Woking.  That’s right, there’s more to railways than trains! http://preservation.watercressline.co.uk/blog/entry/the-childrens-orphanage Photographs provided by Roy Smith and the Bishopstoke History Society…

Canadian Pacific Video!

The Watercress Line’s flagship steam locomotive, Merchant Navy class no. 35005 Canadian Pacific, is currently undergoing a full overhaul at Eastleigh works.  Although the railway has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, they still need to raise a further £200,000.  Please help return CanPac to working order. Go to http://www.watercresslinepayments.co.uk/product.php/15/no__35005_canadian_pacific to donate and http://www.watercressline.co.uk/canpac to keep up…