It’s now a preserved heritage railway with steam trains taking passengers on a 21-mile trip back in time through Staffordshire’s “Little Switzerland”.
The Kingsley & Froghall Station was originally opened in 1849 and has never been connected to the gas grid. When firemen, volunteers and enthusiasts aren’t stoking coal into the engine’s firebox, they were occupied in the engineering workshop or relaxing in the canteen. However, Victorian buildings aren’t known for high EPC rating and the electric heaters used in were costly and ineffective at heating the buildings. With COVID-19 forcing the company to reassess its outgoings they decided to have an oil-fired boiler and oil tank installed.
Churnet Valley Railway’s John Peake was already well-acquainted with oil-fired heating as the station already uses a Tuffa tank to help heat its changing room and toilet blocks.
For the new tank John picked the company’s 2,500-litre plastic bunded oil tank which he calculated would be enough storage to heat the canteen and workshop for around a three- month interval before requiring a refill.
He commented: “It’s great to be able to use such a local company and the 2500L oil tank is perfect for our requirements – it’s the right size, we have the added reassurance that the bund protects the site from any leaks and swapping from electric to oil heating will help reduce our monthly bills.
“The communication from the sales staff and those on-site when we collected our tank was excellent and we would have no hesitation in using Tuffa Tanks again in the future should we need another tank.”
“It’s always great to work with Staffordshire companies like Churnet Valley Railway and hear how our tanks are being used,” says Andrew Dobson, Tuffa’s digital marketing co-ordinator. “
