This track and traction tour actually all started back on 26 Nov 2014. I was in a regular meeting with the Plant and Quarry Managers at Ketton Cement Works as part of my job. They mentioned plans for an open day and bringing in a steam engine for public rides. That evening I got in touch with Kev, who unsurprisingly was rather interested and we discussed how the Society could perhaps be involved. The next move was to contact the Plant Manager about a possible Society fixture. Many meetings, phone calls and emails followed which eventually led to the day which so many enjoyed. Having never been involved in the organisation of a Society fixture before, the sheer detail was a real eye opener. The thorough professionalism and organisation that Kev brings to these events is impressive. With the Society's involvement, the weekend's operation changed and evolved. Saturday was the Works Open Day, aimed at the local community. This was always going to involve steam haulage with 'Rocks by Rail' and the owner of the steam locomotive involved, AB 2088 0-4-0ST (1940) 'Sir Thomas Royden'. Short rides to the coal unloading sidings maximised public involvement.

The summer Saturday dawned sunny and warm. Kev, Martyn Brailsford, Graeme Jolley and myself were stewards for the day [very altruistically foregoing an attractive non-BLS railtour elsewhere - Ed]. A temporary platform (to industry specification plans prepared by the Society) had been constructed on the original line into the works, dictated by security considerations to minimise public access to the wider site. The free public rides, with a specially made 'Ketton Express' headboard on the loco, were delayed as AB2088 had brake problems due to a dip in the track catching a drain valve. All those on the Sunday rides will have felt this dip! The valve was quickly fixed in the plant's workshop and public rides were soon underway. They were busy all day with a short lunch break for coaling and watering (stewards too!). Over 1,000 people were carried on 17 trips; £300 was collected for Hanson's chosen charities. We all thoroughly enjoyed stewarding and it was clear that the public also enjoyed the trips. After the public had left, several moves took place to ensure everything was in the correct position for Sunday. There were five crippled wagons that had been on site for some years and Hanson had hoped they would be moved. Unfortunately, this had not been possible so they were taken to one of the exchange sidings. The Railway Magazine published a picture of one of these trips with photos and a short article on the public event. The weekend featured in many other publications too including Railway Herald, Rail Express, the local press and even made BLN!

As trust built up with Hanson and our relationship was cemented, we had their agreement to run our trips essentially as we wished. They were surprised at first by our preference for the 08s rather than the steam loco! Another day of glorious weather dawned and the first of four groups met in the staff canteen (refreshments were kindly on sale). Each group was walked to the platform to comply with site security and safety. The two resident Class 08s, 08375 and 08622 were used 'top and tail' with two brake vans, Shark 993734 and LMS 731874. It is thought that this was the first time 08622 had hauled passengers. 163 Society members were carried. Each identical trip gave 3.9 miles of Class 08 haulage covering all the clear track, including to the NR boundary 2½ miles west of Stamford station. The three exceptions were the short Axiom Rail stub used for maintenance, the loop beyond the loading silos (where AB 2088 was stabled) and a small section of exchange siding 4 where the cripples were stored.

The 12.00 BLS trip on Sunday 8 June heads towards the exchange sidings, taken from the overbridge on the branch. The locos are 08622 and 08375 which are the resident motive power for day-to-day working at Ketton. [© Gary Pullan 2015]

At the NR boundary, the Peterborough (left) to Leicester (right) main line is visible. [© Gary Pullan 2015]

The Society presented a cheque for £6,000 to Hanson Cement on the Sunday for their chosen charities. Over the weekend almost all of the donations came from the railway operations. Hanson told us that the Society's involvement transformed the Open Day, which they saw as a great success. As a result, they have indicated a willingness to work with us again and even provided us with an unsolicited professional reference for future use. At the York AGM Kev said it was his highlight of our 60th year. All I can add is that it was mine as well. The plant's 65th anniversary is only a few years away.

There may be an opportunity for a similar event with a chance to ink in those missing bits of track - we will, of course, advise you know if anything concrete materialises. Maybe there will be different 08's by then? One of the site's original Fowler diesels is of course at Rocks by Rail, so is that a possibility?

My/our considerable thanks go to Kev, as I am sure that without him we would not have enjoyed the high quality, professionally executed fixture we did. Thanks also to Martyn, Graeme and the other BLS stewards, Gareth Earnshaw and his team from Rocks by Rail and Stewart Jones, Plant Manager and Cliff Daly, Quarry Manager and their staff at Ketton.

With thanks to Martyn Brailsford, the present (solid lines) and previous layout (dotted lines) is shown at this Hanson works railway above. It is still known in railway parlance as 'Ward Sidings' from Joseph Ward who expanded the works in 1927 and was the brother of Thomas W. Ward (chairman of the group), well known in the scrap metal business etc. The existing lines were all traversed by our four comprehensive charity track tours on Sunday 7 June, other than the short sections occupied by rolling stock. The works local quarries' (high quality silica clay and limestone) internal lines were replaced by large dumper trucks and conveyors as production rapidly expanded to 700,000 tonnes annually in the 1970s. One factor in the expansion of the plant over the years was its close proximity to the Leicester to Peterborough railway; the NR connection, top right on the map, is at 7m 60ch just west of Stamford. There is a daily bulk powdered cement train SSuX to King's Cross (still known as 'Churchyard Siding, Castle Cement', the latter being the brand name in the 1980s); the dedicated four-wheeled tankers are discharged pneumatically. Other locations are served less frequently and coal is brought in by rail occasionally from Immingham, Hargreaves Coal Terminal and New Cumnock to the relatively new branch extension (top left) to the coal unloading terminal with its run-round loop. Its first passenger trains were our June trips. A range of waste materials is burnt at Ketton to reduce coal use, including tyres and plastic mixed with shredded paper. A 12MW solar panel farm (amazingly 50,644 modules on 27 hectares) at the quarry produces 13% of the works' electricity.

See http://goo.gl/3uudbm for the Cement works history.

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