19Oct 2023 by Digital Minion

Parts, Parts, Parts and more Parts…

News
Digital Minion here… You may have noticed some social media updates regarding our parts and inventory.  We’re very lucky to be able to work with some fine people and businesses who seem to have the knack of finding parts for old trains. Which is lucky because I forget where I put my laptop charger on an almost daily basis. Anyhew, just wanted to put a few words together (Potter still has a case of the word-block and we don’t let Buckie near the website incase it gets covered in grease and oil).. We’re starting the all-important process of cataloguing everything we have obtained in terms of parts and consumables. There’s a lot of stuff on shelves, in the new racking, still in pallets – but the important part is, it’s…
Read More
23Jul 2023 by Potter
Onwards and Ever Sideways

Onwards and Ever Sideways

News
Once upon a time there was a Minion. And this Minion was supposed to write updates for the SETG website, but his writing mojo deserted him and he grew distracted and disillusioned with the whole process. But lo! There came unto him a guiding light named Chris Buckland, who struck him about the head with a shoe paddle and spaketh with a Great Voice. "Good game, good game, cuddly toy, cuddly toy! Stop sodding about, Potter. Get on with updating the website, you great sack of jobbies in a belt", said he. And thus was Potter galvanised to his task. "I must write Things", he said whilst rubbing Savlon into the larger head lumps, "and I must inform the impatient readership (both of them) for there is news to impart."Now,…
Read More
22Jul 2023 by Digital Minion

Shop Update

News
Hello, Digital Minion here.Just a quick update to say that the shop has been rather naughty and misbehaving, so we've had to take it offline for a reboot. The perils of e-commerce and the slow advance of AI are to blame... Obviously once the website gains sentience then it's going to send a terminator from the future to hunt down Potter...If anyone has any outstanding orders that are still undelivered, please email me directly at sales@setg.org.uk and we will assist. Apologies for the inconvenience. I will be attacking the Matrix shortly....
Read More
11Apr 2023 by Digital Minion
The Digital Minion Writes…

The Digital Minion Writes…

News
Hello – Digital Minion here. Once again we’ve distracted Potter and told him that there are Eurovision Audience Tickets hidden in the locker room.  He was so excited, he ran as fast as his tiny little legs to carry him - without checking that the door does indeed lock from the outside.So far he hasn’t twigged, and we can hear him rummaging through Buckie’s dirty socks, all the while singing his heart out. ABBA’s 1974 winning hit ‘Waterloo’ is a firm favourite. I really must find those ear defenders… I’ve wrestled control of the blogging keyboard, as it turns out Potter (while doing a passable impression of the blonde one from ABBA – I’ll leave it to the reader to work out which one) is rather busy with ‘the big…
Read More
16Nov 2022 by Digital Minion

Web-based Nonsense

News
[COUNTER_NUMBER id=1904]Hello, Digital Minion here.Potter has been constantly messaging me politely asking if we can have a live Tea and Bacon counter on the website. I'm not sure why everyone needs to know the number of rashers of bacon Potter and Buckie can consume in one sitting (hint - it's a lot) or the number of mugs of tea drunk during the hours of hard graft put in to restoring 3417, but I'm just the Digital Minion/Driver, so I do as I'm told. As long as there's 12 hours overtime in it and a day off in lieu. So, marvel at the wonder that is the Official SETG Tea & Bacon Counter. Then marvel at how we fit into various uniforms or overalls...
Read More
11Nov 2022 by Potter
Work Report Early to Late 2022

Work Report Early to Late 2022

News
Good 'morrow, dear reader! We at the SETG, awash with tea and replete with bacon sandwiches, bid you welcome to this latest update on our trials and tribulations at Strawberry Hill. First of all, allow us to begin with a soothing soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/embed/dUH633TF-ho Ah. Sweet, sweet music! The SETG would like to apologise to those of you who rely on this website to keep you updated on our progress at Strawberry Hill; as you will all be aware, the group has been through some considerable trauma over the last few months and things are barely back to any semblance of normality. As seems to have become the norm, the VEP has become as much a form of practical therapy as much as a form of transport and the depot a…
Read More
26Jul 2022 by Potter

Margaret “Maggie” Abrahams 1st February 1950 – 26th June 2022

News
From Potter. Surbiton, 26th July 2022."Three weeks ago we lost our friend Maggie. It was sudden, brutally so, and the Abrahams family are still reeling from her death. Her passing has left Lynn and Doug aching desperately for their adored mother, and David lost without his wife of 52 years. We have been to Strawberry Hill twice since her death, and the Trim Shop is a lonely space without her. I sat there a few days after she died, sat in her chair at her sewing table and wept. I miss my friend. Long before the SETG came into being, while I was still just another motorman on the South Western division, I first met Maggie. We were working an early morning Alton train, and Maggie was my guard. I…
Read More
09Mar 2022 by Potter
Work Report January/ February 2022

Work Report January/ February 2022

News
Don't you love it when hard work starts to pay off, dear readers? Months and months of steady slog and what appears to be fiddling about - even to those who are doing the work - and then Kerpow! Suddenly everything comes together in a few hours and everyone walks about smiling for days afterwards. After a very busy last few weeks, I'm still smiling. It feels like we are making real headway, and we are able to show you some of the results of our efforts. (Of course we've had some really cracking cooked breakfasts and a lot of tea, too.) So where do we start? The brake chests and controllers are back from Railway Brake Services, along with some additional sundries that it was decided should be overhauled…
Read More
28Jan 2022 by Bucky

Work Report: 27/01/22 (aka ‘THE BACKROOM STUFF’)

News
(Our scene opens in a stuffy office filled with Stuff. Minions are at their desks, yawning, rummaging in their pockets for half-eaten bacon sandwiches and practising their bored faces. Chief Mechanical & Electrical Engineer Chris Buckland is delivering a lecture to the dozing masses. One Minion is attempting to record Buckie's thoughts (both of them) for the edification of the Internet browsing masses. Now, read on....) "Another fine day at Strawberry draws to a close and this maybe the most boring work report to date. But stay with me; it will stay boring to the end. Today was filled with paperwork, paperwork, a bit of train and more paperwork. As readers of this fine site already know, we are all about Doing Things Right and over the past few weeks we…
Read More