Last Friday volunteers from Network Rail attended for one of their now regular volunteer days. These have been run now for four years with work varying from resleepering to vegetation and drainage clearance. Last friday's volunteer day focussed on cutting drainage between Oakworth and Damems Junction. The NR volunteers have cleared and improved this ditch over the last three years to the point now where any further improvements require a tree surgeon and a large excavator. This is a very important maintenance activity, as recent events at Stonehaven on the national network show, and we are appreciative of the work they have put in. When we started running volunteer days, we didn't know how they would turn out, it was just an idea and we hoped maybe we would recruit some people to help with our big jobs and gain some friends in the wider industry. After four years I think we can take the view that they are a success. These days are now well established and enjoyed by KWVR and NR volunteers. They promote the railway to the wider industry and what we are about, that community spirit behind engineering works is rarely found these days outside organisations such as us. They also help us recruit engineers who provide technical assistance on some of our larger projects, this became vital during Bridge 11 where many of the NR volunteers from these days were heavily involved. They are all keen to be very involved in bridge 27 too, reducing the costs for us and improving the quality of the work we do! You will see from the photos that we took the Ivatt out as our works train engine on Friday, this was run as a thank you from KWVR volunteers to the NR volunteers who helped with Bridge 11, seen as we have yet to be able to buy them a pint on the train. | 
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