Firstly, I must congratulate the Journal’s distribution team for some sterling work to get the last mailing out. Unfortunately, Barry Stephenson, our Membership Secretary, had a very nasty fall and broke his hip. Following time in hospital to get everything re-coupled and a period of physiotherapy and recuperation, Barry is well on the mend.

This unfortunate episode came at a time when Barry is usually mobilising his troops to tackle the packing, but with him being hors de combat, the remainder of the team stepped up and took the operation over. Most of them had been involved in the process before, and thanks to the preparatory work done by Barry, despite his handicap, the packing went without a hitch with Barry, on his crutches, supervising the whole operation.

In such a situation, notice of the delivery of the print run was paramount. David Crossland, of our new printers, Elgar Books, performed his part perfectly, giving Barry and Anne an expected time for the delivery and with the boxes soon under cover in Barry’s operations headquarters (his garage).

Our thanks to the team of Brian Quayle, Alan Crawford, Graham Worsnop and Derek Fry for their help, as well as to Barry, with our hopes of a speedy recovery.

Things have been heating up here in Durley Dell in more way than one. The practical manifestation of the heat was the exceptionally hot weather, with temperatures into the forties, and the editorial staff downed tools for the duration, concentrating more on rehydration than the Journal.

In the metaphorical sense, the heat was bubbling up on a number of publications that are in hand for the Association. As well as the Journals (this one following very close behind the last one), some of the books we have in hand are also coming to the boil.

Some of our projects have now been taken on by other members and their help is very welcome. Acting as production and project managers or pre-publication editors, it means that with their help, we shall be able to step up the preparation of our book for publication.

Our book sales continue to be buoyant and any surplus funds they generate gives us the capital to invest in new titles or to help us manage and maintain our archive. A key aspect of this work is the team effort being put into our photographic collection. There is a very strong group of members taking on specific collections and are verifying and, in some cases, correcting the information we had when the photo collections were donated to us. Not only does this work make the images of more use for research, it also ensures there is the best possible record for each image for use in the future.

One of my regular editorial jobs is to allocate articles in the copy file to future issues of Cumbrian Railways. Whilst a lot of the content is assigned to the four issues scheduled for next year, there are still some gaps that need filling, and this is where you come in. I am looking for more material to use and I am hoping that members can be inspired to put pen to paper and provide articles to fill the current gaps. As regular readers will be aware, a wide range of subjects is covered so if you have anything you feel you could prepare, which would be of interest to our readers, please get in touch. Whether it be a pet interest you have or something you have uncovered whilst doing some research would be great. There was also something else I had in my mind as well. We have a number of active members who were also professional railwaymen and I feel that it would be good if we could make a record of what they did in their working life. I have a working title — A Day in the Life of ... — so all I need is for someone to be able to fill in the dots. I’m sure it would be fascinating to read about the ups and downs of working on our railways. If you feel you can help with such an article, please give it some thought.

ARTICLE	AUTHOR(S)	PAGE
Editorial	Mike Peascod	146
In My View	David Stubbins	147
Hellifield Junction: A History. The impact of railway politics and two World Wars on its evolution, services and eventual decline; Part 1	John M Hammond	148
Rationalisation and Re-signalling of the WCML; Part 8 — Eden Valley Junction	Mike Norris	158
The Tale of Some Very Special Currants	Gerald Beales	166
Furness Railway No.32	Mike Peascod	168
Selective Enlargements and Railway Research	Ron Allison	170
The Accident on the Bridge over Wigton Road, Carlisle, 1875 (and … “Why was a half mile of the NER transferred to the NBR?)”	Ian K Watson	175
The ‘Ultimate’ British Pacifics (?); The LMS-designed Class 7P 4-6-2 Express Passenger Locomotives	Tony Jenkinson	178
The Work of the Community Rail Partnership	Warren Birch	183
Cumbrian Railways Today	John Peel	186
Freight Trains Operating through Cumbria	John Peel	187
Aw Maks o’ Specials	John Peel	188
Signs of the Times at Arnside; Photos by	Andrew Naylor	188/189
The Electronic Telegraph	David Hunter	190
Letters: Navvy Barracks?, LNER Sentinel Railcars, Horse and Carriage		191