Snow way were Island trains running
HAYLING Seaside Railway along with nearly every railway operating company in the country was forced to suspend services because of the winter whiteout.
Volunteers were unable to reach the line for much of the week, and it was January 10 before the first working party comprising Ian Edwards, with his son 16-year-old Keith, from Portchester, and 15-year-old Josn Raper were able to reach the sheds at Beachlands.
After a morning digging out the platforms and pointwork at the Funland station, Josh, a pupil at Horndean Technology College, stood proudly by the 1967 Ruston diesel locomotive "Edwin", before departing with an engineer's train to Eastoke Corner.
The one-mile journey to Eastoke Corner - which usually takes about 15 minutes in fair weather - took well over an-hour-and-a-half.
The crew had to dig out two level crossings into the Chichester Avenue and Bound Lane car parks, which were covered with up to three inches of cast-iron hard sheets of ice.
After a delivery of hot fish and chips from Elliot's Coastguard Cafe, the hard-working team prepared for the return leg back to the depot, which was completed in a far more respectable 20 minutes.
Railway owner Bob Haddock and his team of volunteers avidly scanned the skies and the weather reports for the days ahead, as they worked hard to restore full passenger services.
The railway - which ran a night-time service for the first time on Hayling since the Billy line closed in late 1963 during the late night Christmas shopping event in December - normally operates at weekends and on market days on Wednesdays, as well as during school and bank holidays.
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Weather for Hayling
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
