Robbery - Support Fund
After another successful Santa Special season, volunteers at the Avon Valley Railway discovered a large theft of stored track materials on the 28th of December. A substantial quantity of cast iron chairs (used to hold the rails in place and bolted to the sleepers - holding the track to gauge) stored in the yard at Bitton had been stolen sometime between the 23rd and the 28th, likely being passed over the fence and away down the cycle path.
A spokesperson for the railway said; “after a lot of hard work put in by our volunteers and staff over another successful Santa season, to discover we have been targeted by thieves again hurts”.
“The chairs stolen were earmarked for planned track work within the yard at Bitton and had been collected and acquired by our volunteers over several years. The value of approximately 2 tons of ‘scrap’ cast iron, will be nothing compared to the price we will now need to pay to replace them with new, somewhere in the region of £3000 - £4000. Money that we didn’t need to spend…”
This follows previous similar robberies, of track and signalling components over the last few years, which have hit the railway hard, particularly when running costs are getting higher year on year. The railway’s spokesperson added, “As a charity we find it extremely difficult to keep funding replacements, with some heritage items particularly difficult to source or replace entirely.”
As a result the railway is now working on improving its site security to protect its assets and has already sought quotes to purchase new fencing materials and improve its CCTV coverage. Again though, this is another drain on the railways funds and it invites you to visit the Avon Valley Railway Heritage Trust website where you can donate, with any money raised going to improve site security and hopefully replace some of the stolen components. All donations will be extremely appreciated.
If you have any information about the robbery please contact Avon & Somerset Police quoting crime number: 5223315413