HUNSBURY: Behind the scenes at Northamptonshire Railway Trust

The engine, Charles Wake

The volunteers at Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust are a committed bunch.
Many of them are happy to dedicate a large amount of time to the upkeep and successful running of the Hunsbury Hill based site.
And some are even happy to dedicate themselves to it in death. For carefully contained in the signal box of the station are the ashes of railway enthusiast Charles Wake.
When he died the former railway worker asked members of the Trust, known as NIRT, to scatter his ashes at the site - but they went one step better and put them in its signal box.
A former President and highly regarded member of the group, the signal acts as a memorial to Charles.
Now he looks over the engine of the same name - another tribute from  his friends - as it regularly ferries happy children and their parents along the track of the former ironstone works.
Volunteer Ian Cave told the story with a certain pride as he happily showed me round the site yesterday, adding that a second railwayman has requested to have his ashes encased in the same box - although hopefully not for a fair few years yet.
Aside from the engine, the centre of the railways operations is Signal Hill; consisting of a carefully tucked away and even more carefully tended garden and two old trains.

The new shop at NIRT

The carriages of one contain a cafe and room for conferences, parties or - at least when I pass through it - what looks like a temporary creche for the enthusiastic youngsters who regularly visit the railway.
It also contains a brand new and spotlessly presented shop - 'it was only opened yesterday,' Ian tells me.
The other is still under construction, with grand plans for a restaurant carriage. The cafe was opened last year and it is hoped the restaurant, large enough to contain 40 seats and a kitchen, will be ready by next year.
"Signal Hill is the cafe and will be our new restaurant, a former railway carriage which we've just moved into position and will be re-building and carrying out interior redecoration on," Ian said.
"The gift shop opened yesterday. The carriage was stripped to its bare walls and everything was replaced.
"It's all about working with others to make it as attractive as possible."
The railway is very much based on community spirit and the shop sells produce from local companies and artists, including postcards and Po & Mo bags and cushions.
In fact, Signal Hill itself was even named on the behest of one of the railway's visitors.

Ian Cave in front of the
carriage that will hold
NIRT's new restaurant

Ian said: "One of the young visitors saw the signal and said, 'look, it's Signal Hill', so we adopted it from then on.
"It's the children that keep it going so we like to do things like that."
NIRT is in its 37th year after being founded by a group of railway enthusiasts from Rushden, who wanted to start their own attraction and bought up a few locomotives.
The site itself was originally one of the main areas for the works of the ironstone area. Between 1870 and 1921 iron ore was mined and volunteers at the Trust are currently researching the areas history.
Work stopped in 1914 when the First World War broke out, but resumed in 1917 due to war constraints. But it only remained open until 1921, when prices of iron dropped and it was closed.
A brief attempt to resurrect the site in 1936 failed when it didn't prove economically viable and the owner packed his workers and equipment of to an alternative site in Finedon.
It wasn't until 1974 when the Ironstone Railway arrived as a tourist attraction, but it has proved mightily popular ever since.
These days it opens on the first Sunday of every month, as well as Bank Holidays and on special occasions between Easter and October.
This year there will be a Heritage Weekend on September 10 and 11, followed by the annual Halloween celebration when the attraction is changed completely with ghosts and ghouls riding the train and a giant marquee erected on Signal Hill.
The Santa Special service runs throughout Christmas.
But last weekend it was Easter and the sun came out to grace one of the areas premier attractions.
Ian said it had been a 'good weekend' for visitors, with those who came on Sunday also tucking into nine cakes made by The Friends of Hunsbury Hill Country Park, which has close dealings with NIRT.
Charles Wake himself - the engine that is - took the kids on trips up and down the line.
Among the Bank Holiday Monday visitors were nine-year-old Dhillon Masih and his little sister Nadia, two.
The pair, visited the attraction with their dad, Jordan Masih, from Sentinel Road.
He said: "It was a good experience. I thought the track would be a little bit longer, but we enjoyed it."
Doubtless the other Charles was watching over it all from his signal box in the sky.

> For much more on the history and upcoming events at the railway visit the rather brilliant NIRT website at http://www.nirt.co.uk/

> Click on the photo album below to see more pictures of the railway:

NIRT