I apologise for having taken until Thursday to write this (I am a bit swamped at the moment!), but THANK YOU very much indeed to everyone who gave their time and support at Swindon Panel last weekend!

All the Domino tiles were removed on Saturday, which was very impressive – I didn’t expect to get them all out in one day. The nameplates were also removed from the outside of the signal box and safely stored for preservation. Later that afternoon, two Network Rail people turned up with the intention of removing the plate, and it is doubtful whether they would have gone to the trouble that Andy and Vincent went to to remove it without damaging it, and much more likely that it would have been snapped off some of the difficult-to-remove bolts. So well done for saving the plate from the bin! We were also able to have a first look at the removal of the end doors.

As all the panel work had been completed on the Saturday, on Sunday we concentrated on doing work relating to the development of the electronic simulator for the panel. This advanced the work normally carried out on Monday evening telephone conferences by several weeks, so many thanks to everyone for getting involved in that. It was pleasant to be doing this in the surroundings of the panel that it is all in aid of.

Thank you very much for coming and giving your time and support. We are at DRC this weekend continuing preparations on the building, and then at Swindon PSB again every weekend after that until the move. Hopefully we’ll see some of you again over the next six weeks.

Thank you!