January has seen good rainfall at Sandstone and the mealies are growing. At the same time the 1915 built NG10 locomotive stretched its legs for a private charter. The muddy road is indicative of the rainfall. 

The rain had another positive in that staff were generally confined inside and were able to do a huge tidy up of the exhibits in the  Heritage sheds. Also trapped by the rain our 60 year old Fordson Major was repaired and was soon out cutting the newly grown grass!  Sandstone is looking good!

The Covid 19 Pandemic has changed the way we work and we have extended our report from the pure Steam Report to include all heritage activities at Sandstone.
Enjoy the first edition for 2021 - Click here to read

There is no doubt that the Covid 19 pandemic reduced the number of visitors compared with previous years but given that there was no Cherry Festival in 2020 we were very happy at Sandstone with our event. Covid 19 seems to have closed down many things but not Sandstone! Watch this space for our next event in January 2021!

Here are some statistics from the weekend:

James Atwell attended our Spring Festival and produced a wonderful album of the event. Click on the link:

https://spark.adobe.com/page/hNg30TaINQFXF/?w=0_256&fbclid=IwAR0_6Sk2GfbnkNs74U_MIOztMGsGQavabjKA4gOWGkXWHTiDVFZ92yD1SSM

With the festival over on Sunday 22^nd November, it was time to put NGG16 number 153 to bed. Not many people realise the hard work required in preparing a steam locomotive for storage after a hard day’s work. Driver Mark Ruddy sent us this video and two still photographs of the effort required to dispose of the fire and ash in NGG16 number 153 by himself and fireman Shawn Spaan so that she may rest until her next assignment.

Watch Short Video Here

The final day of our very successful Spring Festival with a wrap up gallery for the day.

The third day of our Spring Festival. Our gallery shows more visitors together with a fly in guest today. NGG16 number 153 was the loco on our train for the day.

The second day of our Spring Festival. Our gallery shows more visitors today with NGG16 number 153 on our train for the day and a number of other attractions that were seen on the train travels at Sandstone. You can still join us as the Spring Festival runs through Saturday ending on Sunday November 22^nd.  

You can see full details on: https://www.sandstone-estates.com/index.php/railway-heritage-58/39-railway-heritage/3485-the-sandstone-spring-steam-festival-19-22-november-2020

Today was the first day of our Spring Festival. Although the Cherry Festival did not happen this year, Ionia Farm, just over the road from Sandstone, is holding a Spring event in conjunction with a number of other farms and Sandstone. Our gallery shows a quiet day today with NGG16 number 153 on our train for the day and a number of other attractions that were seen on the train travels at Sandstone. You can still join us as the Spring Festival runs through Friday and Saturday ending on Sunday November 22^nd.  

You can see full details on: https://www.sandstone-estates.com/index.php/railway-heritage-58/39-railway-heritage/3485-the-sandstone-spring-steam-festival-19-22-november-2020

We hope to see you there!