?YOUR success is our success? ? that was the message from Stuart Farmer, general manager based at Okehampton Station, when he spoke to the Friends of Dartmoor Railway at their first annual meeting. Held at the Ockment Centre, on Saturday, April 30, the gathering was told that in the last 12 months great steps forward had been taken. This included the completion of workshops at Meldon, the ongoing renovation of buildings on platform one and the introduction of a Class 37 diesel locomotive, with another two 37s and a 31 being worked upon. Mr Farmer told Friends: ?Your support has been, and will be, invaluable.? The newly constituted organisation already had more than £3,000 in the bank and 235 members, including some drawn from the Midlands, South East and the North, as well as Devon and Cornwall. The chairman of the Friends group is Robert Joint, the treasurer is David Clegg and membership secretary is Richard Proctor. The organisation vowed to work towards even greater attempts to raise funds and attract more members, to give the Dartmoor Railway maximum support. Guest speaker Robin Higgs OBE, president of the Mid Hants Preservation Society (the Watercress Line) had travelled down from Surrey to give the Friends an insight into the work and operation of a preserved railway which has been in existence for 30 years. He emphasised that without volunteers any project would fail. Volunteering was great fun and his organisation had 4,000 members, he added. Colour slides were shown of the line and locomotives, and valuable tips given on management structures and the importance of internal and external relationships. PICTURED: Robin Higgs (left) president of the Mid Hants Preservation Society with Robert Joint, chairman of the Friends of Dartmoor Railway