News and updates

Current Journal cover picture details
	Front Cover image: As the Journal cover picture changes frequently caption details are not listed here. For details see the Journal page.
Link to larger version of current cover picture shown above

2011 web-page updates (newest entries first) | Back to the page top

2011

Other updating work - Work has started on the programmed update of this web site. The first noticeable change made was the addition of Facebook links. Additional steps are underway, namely changes to behind the scenes coding to assist search engine placement. Later phases will improve page design and change some aspects from the current format, built as a static html site, to the latest dynamic php (database driven) style. Sections planned for early conversion are the meetings calendar/Centre information content, the library index/database and the images section.

30 Dec - Facebook like button added to front page. Society Facebook page added to supplement the Facebook Community entry which is outside our control.

28 Dec - Site admin and maintenance reopened following the Christmas break with amendments to the Barnet and Bromley Centre meeting entries in the Perpetual Calendar listing.

17 - 27 Dec - No updates as SLS website admin was closed due to staff holidays & the Christmas break - We wish all readers the compliments of the season.

14 Dec - Note posted that due to SLS Admin team holidays the last date/time for receiving and processing Gift Memberships as a 2011 Christmas present = 6pm Thursday 15th December

12 Dec - Addition of the held over material from 29th Nov. Additional meeting dates for 2012 added, and a few minor amendments to the existing notified speaker details made, within the Perpetual Calendar. The answer to What, When, Where No 157? posted, What, when where No 158? added and links to the WWW photos also added to the photos on freeview page. The Obituaries page, again, sadly, also updated.The date on membership application form updated to 2012 year, but membership fees held. Several minor maintenace tweaks made too = 29 files updated.

29 Nov - Updates for the November/December Journal Contents and related material. The Journal Cover image of preserved ‘Deltic’ 55022 Royal Scots Grey added to the Photographs on Freeview list. The Obituaries page, again, sadly, also updated. Meet the Society list above updated. improved formatting and additional cross-links on the Journal and Previous Journal contents page. Due to time constraints some material was held over.

13 Nov - Minor amendment to the Library page, addition of the the post code for Sat Nav users. Pdf meetings files for NW Area and Lakeland Centre updated for a meeting swap in Kendal in early 2012. Perpetual calendar already corrected in earlier update.

18 Oct - Update of contact email address for the Barnet Centre

5 Oct - Additional dates for early 2012 added into the Perpetual Calendar.

22 Sep - Update to Orion page with current events listing. The full Perpetual Calendar checked for any recently announced meeting changes and a few minor amendments made. (NB The calendar check was delayed from 12th Sep update with apologies - Webmaster). Work has also started on the programmed update of this web site as set out above.

11/12 Sep - Updating work has added the September/October Journal Contents and related material. Additional photo of ‘our’ locomotive, Freightliner’s Class 66 66957 Stephenson Locomotive Society 1909-2009, added to the locomotives associated with the SLS page, also added as the Journal Cover image and to the Photographs on Freeview list. The obituaries page, again, sadly, also updated. The What, When Where photographs page has had a new image posted and several now resolved images transferred to the What, When Where - answered page. An update to the images on freeview page has also been completed.

7 Sep - Updates to the membership (How to join) page.

4 Sep - relevant officers now back from holidays - Additional meetings added into the Perpetual Calendar and this is now believed to be complete for the remainder of 2011 and also with most of the Spring 2012 meetings listed.

16 Aug - Additional meetings added into the Perpetual Calendar. Replacement venue details and location map added on the Meeting Centres page for Ardrossan as the Ayrshire Centre have a new meeting place and venue map reinstated for Barnet Centre as for some reason their original link with Google maps had become corrupted

5 Aug - Change made to the Perpetual Calendar as the date for the Newcastle Centre meeting on 28th October has been b/f one week to the 21st due to clash with neighbouring large scale event.

31 July - Firstly apologies that due to various circumstances this update for the contents of the July/August Journal and other related content changes has been slightly delayed. The obituaries page, sadly, also updated. The photographs on freeview section updated with latest cover photograph from the Journal. Change made to the Perpetual Calendar as the venue for the Teesside Centre meeting on 7th October has had to be moved to Yarm due to building works at the originally set venue.

18 July - The Perpetual Calendar updated for speaker/date changes at the Newcastle & South Lakeland Centres . . SPC (Stephenson Photograph Collection). Due to changed postal prices the Information Sheet and Order Form have been revised and uploaded. NB Journal 870 July/Aug 2011 This has been issued and is with members; however updating of the Journal page/ Cover Image and other related pages with issue 870 information is slightly delayed due to annual holidays within the SLS production team. This information will be added as soon as possible.

12 Jun - A photo of the Orion 100 steaming at Shildon added above and on the Orion page. Additional photographs of the steaming weekend are available for viewing in our members only Yahoo Group. South Lakeland Centre email address updated and meeting dates added to the perpetual calendar page for Kendal (South Lakeland Centre) and Manchester.

25/26 May - Additional details of 2011 indoor season meetings received today and added to the Perpetual Calendar page. (Middlesbrough & Yarm) Teesside meeting dates also available as a viewable/downloadable pdf

24 May - The last of the material relating to Journal No. 869 (May/June) added including new content in the What When Where section as mentioned on 22 May. The new dates for summer/autumn visits and the early announcement of the 2011 indoor season meetings also now added to the Perpetual Calendar page. (Kidderminster & Newcastle)

22 May - Contents and related material from Journal No. 869 (May/June) added and, sadly, the obituaries page, also updated. The photographs on freeview section updated with latest cover photograph from the Journal. The Waggonway Research Circle website also moved to a new URL today and the links to it globally updated in the Early Railways section of this site. Too many to individually test so please report any which are broken.

17 May - Orion page updated. As a part of the Orion Centenary Youtube videos have been added covering the 2005 return of Orion to steam at Colwall which, of course, is also a fitting way to launch the new SLS Youtube channel.

18 Apr - Minor revision to the Gift Membership scheme clarifying the position with regard to renewal of an existing member's subscription as a gift. The discount membership does not apply but a card can be included in the renewal package.

24 Mar - Routine bi-monthly update; main updates were the contents of the March/April Journal, addition of the latest Journal cover picture with associated update of the photo listing page, sadly an update to the Obituaries page and a further What, When Where picture query. Details of Orion's Centenary steaming at Shildon also added above and on the Orion page. Our sales & publications page has also been revised adding details of a CD index to historic Journals and also announcing that back number Journals are available. Orion's next Shildon steaming added to Perpetual Calendar.

25 Feb - A pdf page listing Newcastle Centre meetings and an application form added - Link here - Newcastle Centre pdf

15 Feb. - Following a report that the Stephenson Fact File was inaccessible I have investigated it this morning and as of now all is up and running. However the service availability log at our ISP does show that some hosted sites would have suffered intermittent outages due to further problems with a server, which was subsequently replaced. Therefore again an apology for issues outside our immediate control causing access problems to the site.

3 Feb - We are sorry for the unavailability of the site for approximately 6 hours today. Our ISP has advised this was due to a cyber attack on their servers causing them to crash."....... a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack against our network................"

23 - 25 Jan - Firstly an apology for the late completion of this routine bi-monthly update. Pages/sections updated were - index/home page - this updates page - the membership form page - addition of the copy letter of representation re the Railway heritage Committee - Updates to the A to Z index page - Perpetual Calendar - the Photographic Collection section - revision of the Journal Contents section to add in the January/February edition - the What When Where? section - addition of the latest cover photo to the photos on freeview listings and finally, sadly, also further additions to the Obituaries page.