The North Staffordshire Railway Company (1978) Ltd, the supporting charity for the Churnet Valley Railway, is happy to announce that the 2019 Raffle Tickets have arrived and are now available to purchase on-board all services or from the North Staffordshire Railway Company direct (details are at the bottom of the page). This years target is to raise over £11,300 to replace the edging stones on Froghall Station Platform 1, as the current ones are starting to show their age.
The Churnet Valley Railway returned trains to Kingsley & Froghall station for the first time since 1965, on 11th August 2001. Since then many thousands of trains have arrived and departed from what is the line’s current Southern terminus, hauled by a variety of locomotives ranging from "Thomas the Tank Engine" to "Duke of Gloucester". Improvements have steadily been carried out over the years to enhance the station's Heritage Appeal, but now the main platform is looking a little tired and the time has come to replace all of the Edging Stones with original style slabs. Each new slab costs £140, and we have 122 in total to replace!
With the highly acclaimed completion of Leekbrook Waiting Room last year – using proceeds from the 2018 appeal – the NSRC looked at which project needed its support for 2019 and that could provide it’s supporters with a visual achievement. The Froghall Station Appeal soon became a prime candidate, and this has now been chosen for 2019. To date the NSRC have managed to raise over a third of the funds needed (£5,693), so now we are looking for help to complete this project .
So how can you help? With 2019 Raffle tickets now available, you purchase them on board all our public services or from the NSRC direct (contact details are below). Envelopes are being left on all trains too, asking for any loose change you may have to support this project, which will be gratefully received if filled and given to anyone of our volunteer teams during your visit. Furthermore if you would like to sponsor a stone to join the “Roll of Honour” then please send cheques or monies to the NSRC, with a note confirming it’s for the Froghall Station Appeal. Or finally for those unable to physically make it to our line, you can visit the NSRC “Total Giving” webpage where you can make an online payment or donate through our PayPal account.