24/10/2026
Earlier today the station organised a rather unusual charter for a special occasion. The guest of honour used to come down from Wincanton as a child to visit her grandparents, who lived at Bere Marsh House, beside the line just north of Shillingstone Station, where she particularly enjoyed watching the trains passing by. For her 90th birthday, it was her dearest wish to see the house again, but this time it was from the verandah of a brake van, accompanied by her close family.
After the ride, she was joined by more members of her wider family for a birthday lunch in the General Utility Van, but not before she thanked the volunteers who’d made it possible.
The ride was a sentimental journey for our guest of honour, but it was also another major milestone for NDR on its journey towards going operational next year.
NDR is still in the pre-operational phase of training up a larger pool of volunteers qualified as drivers, ‘second men’ and guards and, because of the time required to train enough volunteers to be able to provide a regular service, it wouldn’t be possible for NDR to offer similar special charters for some time. But it’s something we would hope could be available in the future. And if you are interested in volunteering for any of these operational roles, please contact us – you might end up helping to make someone else’s dearest wish come true!
Meanwhile, please join us in wishing our guest of honour many happy returns of the day.
