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  • Santa Special - Melksham: December 15, 2019
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Author Topic: 15th December 2019 - Santa on the train from Melksham  (Read 9502 times)
grahame
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« on: July 28, 2019, 13:46:45 »

The Melksham Rail User Group with support from GWR (Great Western Railway) is pleased to announce that Santa Claus will be travelling on the train on Sunday, 15th December 2019.  New timetables starting that day mean that MRUG» (Melksham Rail User Group - site) can't yet confirm the train time, and there's still an element of chance that engineering works might interfere, but we have Santa on board once again!
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« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2019, 15:32:25 »

The Melksham Rail User Group with support from GWR (Great Western Railway) is pleased to announce that Santa Claus will be travelling on the train on Sunday, 15th December 2019.  New timetables starting that day mean that MRUG» (Melksham Rail User Group - site) can't yet confirm the train time, and there's still an element of chance that engineering works might interfere, but we have Santa on board once again!

Provisional timing - 15:06 from Melksham, back at 16:11.
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« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2019, 07:30:41 »

Santa also on the TransWilts line the previous Sunday - from Westbury to Swindon. See ((here)). To be organised by Westbury Lions and TransWilts CIC (Community Interest Company ) and marketed (I believe) in Westbury.  Posting here to clarify the two events.

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« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2019, 07:29:33 »

Tickets on sale at the Melksham TIC (Tourist Information Centre) as from this morning.   http://www.mrug.org.uk/santa.html

A big THANK YOU to MRUG» (Melksham Rail User Group - site) members (some of who are members here) offering to help in various - err - capacities on the day. So much appreciated.

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« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2019, 10:27:59 »

From Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamRUG/posts/444789856165800

Quote
The Santa train from Melksham is running for the 23rd time - in its 24th year. Until 2013, there were very few trains available and the day, time and destination varied depending on what could be done - one year there was no out and back service that could be used at all. These days, we have much more choice but demand still exceeds supply - so we don't do all that much publicity, which is why it may be new to many people. And of course we didn't use Facebook tolLet people know 20 years ago!
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grahame
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« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2019, 11:08:18 »

Melksham Independent News - http://melkshamnews.com

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« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2019, 09:01:58 »

All set... with 24 hours to go... for Santa on the 15:06 train from Melksham to Swindon and back tomorrow – 15th December 2019.

Email has gone out to volunteers helping on the day with details ...

Quote
* On Wednesday I visited the local toy factory and picked up the presents

* Santa and five of his elves wrapped the presents on Thursday evening

* During Friday, fresh minced pies, soft drinks, cups and rubbish bags were obtained

* Also at the tail end of Friday, our friends at GWR (Great Western Railway) phoned me to confirm that although they are short of Sunday crew in some areas, those are different route/train knowledge areas and our train is all hunky dory.

Lots more individual details in the email ... if you have offered and not received it, please let me know ... and if you're know to us and want to join in to help at the last minutes, please let me know.  We have just about a perfect number of people coming (customers and volunteers) in spite of all the various other events going on and are looking forward to a great trip.   And a big THANK YOU to GWR for their help ...mutual benefit to them and to MRUG» (Melksham Rail User Group - site) objectives.
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« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2019, 18:54:21 »

Wonderful Santa trip ... platform just as busy as it could be, packed 'reserved' carriage, excellent Santa (thank you, if you are reading this), great bunch of volunteers, lots and lots of newcomers to rail (witness the "where is the station" phone calls ahead of time) and great fun had by all.  New timetables passed out with a reminder that trains run 363 days per year.   Thank you too to the GWR (Great Western Railway) management team who came along and both gave a hand and met the customers.



Many more pictures in the morning ... been a busy day.  Was it really just this morning I was updating timetables?
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« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2019, 11:44:51 »

Elf and Safety at Melksham Station (thank you Eddy - one of the MRUG» (Melksham Rail User Group - site) volunteers) - making sure that crowds of newcomers to rail kept well back from the edge.



Great time had by all - a fully booked trip, limited by the capacity of the platform, the carriage on the train, the car park ... and the time that Santa has to get around to everyone.    Stories to appear in the local press this week with more pictures there, and I look forward to seeing many of these people - newcomers to the train in many cases - on regular daily trains in the future.
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« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2019, 15:29:14 »

You might find this useful then, Grahame Cheesy


London & North Eastern Railway passenger safety poster, 1924
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grahame
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« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2019, 15:34:31 »



full story and more pictures online at https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/18106482.around-100-passengers-travelled-santa-special-melksham-swindon-back/
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