We congratulate the ARPS on the successful outcome of their efforts which culminated in the first of this year's steam trips by British Rail on 10th June when 7029 Clun Castle hauled a tour from Birmingham to Hereford as far as Didcot. The engine carried a headboard with the appropriate words: "Celebration Steam Run" and it marks the beginning of a new approach to the use of privately owned steam locomotives running on BR tracks.

Preservation and restoration require at least three essential ingredients; cash, patience, and enthusiastic workers. At Quainton we have a portion of each constituent but we are always ready to welcome more. Recently however, our patience was sorely tried by thieves who entered our premises and stole a number of valuable fittings from our engines including lubricators from the Beattie. The story of the episode is told in this issue in a light hearted vein but we must realise the danger we face from the worthless pests. We have also learned of hooligans damaging stock at Bodmin and Chacewater. These lessons should spur us on to even greater efforts to reconstruct the covered accommodation at Quainton which should improve security; please do help us now in this worthwhile project and get in touch with Ray Hedley, our Depot Chairman.

Our third Steam Weekend of 1972 at Quainton will have taken place at the time this magazine was at the printers and we trust our visitors have enjoyed themselves. We hope members will have found a lot of satisfaction from taking part in these events when as proud parents we like to 'show off the baby'.

With this issue we start the first of a series of articles on the Wotton Tramway which has been written by our member Stephen Joseph who has made a fresh study of the history of the line and has produced a very readable story. The scripts have been checked by Ken Jones and our object is to present all the available information during the course of the series. If you are able to add anything new please write to me and it may be included in a subsequent instalment.

Also in this issue is an explanation of the signalling diagram of Quainton which we presented with the June News. Tim Stevens has prepared this in response to several requests from members.

By the way, please note my new address from the end of September.

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 1972 and so does not reflect events in the 40+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
Editorial - Quainton News No. 13 - September 1972