Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 305 i Heritage Railway

THE Severn Valley Railway is trialling the return of photographic charters after their temporary withdrawal two years ago over safety concerns. The first will take place in partnership with Timeline Events on Tuesday, April 18, featuring visiting GWR 4-6-0 No. 4079 Pendennis Castle, a guest at the line’s April 14-16 Spring Steam Gala. The day-long charter will see Pendennis Castle paired with an SVR set of GWR carriages, although nobody will ride in them. Photographers will travel to carefully selected locations along the line using their own transport or that provided by Timeline Events. SVR managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster said: “This type of operation is commonly used. It has proven successful at other heritage railways. “Very importantly for us, it greatly reduces the risks that were previously identified when…

BOARD game aficionados are invited to a special evening on board a steam train at the Nene Valley Railway, working in partnership with Tabletop Gaming magazine for two-hour trip on May 20. Guests are asked to arrive at Wansford between 6pm and 6.15pm, ready for boarding the train, which will depart at 6.45pm. Tabletop Gaming’s editor, Christopher John Eggett, said: “There’s a great history of board games about trains, and what better way to enjoy that than on a historical train?” Ticketholders can bring any game they wish. Tickets range from private compartments (£199) to individual tickets. To book, visit www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/ information/ticket-to-ride-ona-train…

LOCOMOTIVES at theWest Somerset Railway and Epping Ongar Railway will be travelling in opposite directions this April and June as residents from each venture out for gala appearances at the other. Appearing at the WSR’s event taking place between April 28 and May 1 will be the EOR’s WR 4-6-0 No. 4953 Pitchford Hall, where it will operate alongside GWR Saint No. 2999 Lady of Legend, which was retro-converted from another Hall class, No. 4942 Maindy Hall, and will therefore provide an interesting comparison between the two. No. 4953 has visited the WSR twice before, the last being in 2010, but this visit is only its third away from home since completion of its overhaul in October 2019. The gala will also be the first chance to see a Saint…

FORTY years after it ran the final farewell tour for the Class 52Western diesel hydraulics, D1013 Western Ranger has been reunited with the headboard worn on that trip. A consortium of members from owning group the Western Locomotive Association bid on the significant piece of history at a Great Central Railwayana auction on March 4. A complete withdrawal of the Westerns had been expected in railway circles by the end of 1976, but with much surprise, seven remained in operation at the start of 1977. As their final days approached, farewell tours were announced and all seats quickly sold. The last normal service train hauled by a Western out of Paddington was the 10.40am to Plymouth on February 8, 1977, worked by D1023 Western Fusilier. BR’s official and final farewell…

LAST-MINUTE talks about the future of Castle 4-6-0 No. 7027 Thornbury Castle were still ongoing as we closed for press. As previously reported, No. 7027, which has never steamed in the heritage era, was bought by the Great Western Society’s 4709 Group, which aims to recreate a GWR 47XX 2-8-0 ‘Night Owl’. In a statement issued on March 31, 4709 Group spokesperson Richard Croucher said: “I think it’s probably fair to say that we have exhausted all the alternative options for Thornbury Castle and to date, the GWR has received no approaches from any group or individual with adequate funds or access to sufficient resources to enable a restoration of it. After a six-month-long wait to establish whether there was a potential for a different future for No. 7027, we…

NEW safety certification issued by the Office of Rail and Road will allow main line operators to test vehicles at speeds of up to 60mph on the East Lancashire Railway, making it one of just a select few where tracks are passed for such speeds. Previously restricted to 25mph, the section of line between Heywood, Bury and Summerseat will be capable of seeing main line stock testing reach the new maximum speed with the rest of the railway still restricted. ELR’s head of operations, Jeff Armstrong, said: “This new nonmain line certification from the ORR marks a significant expansion in our testing capacity. “We have a long tradition of welcoming operators and contractors to the network, but this new licence now eliminates any need to request temporary dispensations, making the…

 AFTER less than a month of being advertised for sale by its previous owner, Class 04 0-6-0DM D2203 (BR No. 11103) has left the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway at Skipton and moved back to somewhat regional home territory at the Mangapps Farm Railway Museum in Essex. Built by Vulcan Foundry under sub-contract by the Drewry Car Co. in 1952, it was used as a shunting locomotive on the Wisbech & Upwell Tramway in East Anglia. The line was officially closed on May 23, 1966, and it has been said that D2203 is both the last-surviving locomotive to have operated on the tramway and the only survivor of the first batch of four Class 04s built. Following a spell in use with BR, D2203 was sold to into industrial…

A MILESTONE was reached at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre when the chassis of Hunslet 16in 0-6-0ST No. 3782 of 1953 Arthur was lifted back on its wheels. Built to a design of 1923, Arthur was delivered new to the NCB and sent to Markham Main Colliery, near Doncaster, where it remained in use until 1976. It acquired parts from a similar locomotive, No. 2688, during an overhaul in 1972. When withdrawn, it was the last steam locomotive working for the NCB in the Doncaster area. It lay out of use until 1978, when it was moved to Crab Key, Ellastone, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire, where it joined a private collection of industrial engines. A year later, it was moved to a similar collection at High Cogges, near Witney, Oxfordshire, but remained…

A GALA weekend will be held on the miniature line at the Colne Valley Railway on May 13/14, repeating a successful event held last year. Visiting locomotives on the 7¼in gauge railway will be Mrs Darling, a Tinkerbell class locomotive; Sir Goss, a tender engine based on a Tinkerbell; and Aneirin, a single Fairlie based on the Ffestiniog Railway’s Taliesin (all from the Swanley New Barn Railway); Dragonfly, another privately owned‘Tinkerbell; Stafford 0-4-0ST Tihany (from theTop Field Light Railway); a‘Holmside’ 0-6-0T based on an NCB engine; and two‘Scamp’petrol locomotives. (Aneirin will be appearing on the Sunday only.) A portable 5in gauge railway will be in operation, along with miniature traction engines. The event will also include full-size traction engines from the East Anglian Traction Engine Society, which will stage a…

THE A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust has stepped up its fundraising efforts for a core component of new Gresley P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales. The P2’s cylinders are now a monobloc, which is making considerable progress at Howco Ltd of Irvine. As previously reported, the cylinder block was delivered to the trust’s Darlington Locomotive Works for the trust’s 2022 convention in a largely complete condition. It has since been returned to Howco, where machining and other work has been progressing. Following welding, the cylinders have been heat-treated to release stresses, and the liners have been satisfactorily fitted and are undergoing final machining. The monobloc is due to be brought back to Darlington in the coming months, as one of several components to be delivered during the year. However, the trust…

SEVERN Valley Railway’s head of steam engineering, Duncan Ballard, has joined the project to build new Churchward County 4-4-0 No. 3840 County of Montgomery. Duncan has been appointed to the board of directors and trustees of the Churchward County Trust. His fascination with GWR steam was sparked by No. 3440 City of Truro, which he saw being overhauled at Bridgnorth and Bewdley as a child. He started volunteering at the SVR as soon as he was old enough, signing on as an apprentice boilersmith in the mid-1990s, the same year that he qualified as a passed cleaner. Two years later, he joined the SVR’s main line locomotive support crew but left in 2002 to pursue a career as a boilersmith, initially going to Riley & Son, followed by four years…

AFTER Intercity’s successful inaugural Scottish tour, when its newly restored push/pull driving brake standard open set ran over its old stomping ground between Edinburgh and Glasgow, one further tour has been advertised. On April 14, No. 47712 will haul the‘Cumbrian Mountain Anniversary’tour from Crewe, departing 10am and returning at 7.05pm. Pick-ups are at Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western. This journey will mark the 10th anniversary since the preservation of Class 47 No. 47712 Lady Diana Spencer by Crewe Diesel Preservation Group. The push/pull set will be used for a journey over Shap on the West Coast Main Line to Carlisle for a two-hour break. The return is via the Settle and Carlisle route before rejoining the West Coast Main Line at Farington Junction, retracing the journey’s steps back…

FOLLOWING the‘useitorloseit’ comment last issue, Pathfinder Railtours bookings have been increasing steadily. Very limited seating is available on the April 14-17 ‘Spring Highlander’ land cruise. The ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ on April 21, Pathfinder’s only run this year over this scenic line due to pathing difficulties, had only five seats were left as Heritage Railway closed for press. Bookings are steady for the ‘Spring Cornish Explorer’ on April 29 and for Pathfinder’s golden anniversary train to Weymouth behind Class 40 No. 40145 on June 10. The ‘Crompton Torbay Venturer’ on May 29, behind a pair of West Coast Railways Class 33s, will head from Burton upon Trent, picking up at Tamworth, Birmingham News Street, Stourbridgew Junction, Kidderminster, Worcester Shrub Hill, Cheltenham Spa, Cam and Dursley and Bristol Parkway. From Paignton, an…

THE A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust has introduced family tickets for tables of four on this summer’s ‘The Aberdonian’trains, hauled by A1 Peppercorn Pacific No. 60163 Tornado from Edinburgh and Glasgow They cost £249 for parties of two adults and two children in tourist class, in which individual tickets cost £99 – meaning that children can travel for the equivalent of just £25.50 each. The trains from Edinburgh and Haymarket will run on Thursdays July 20 and 27, Saturdays July 19 and August 19, Thursdays August 31 and September 7, and September 16. ‘The Clyde Aberdonian’from Glasgow Central and Stirling will run on Saturday, July 22 and Thursday, September 14. Bookings can be made online by visiting 21stcenturysteam. co.uk. For telephone bookings and enquiries, please call 01325 488215, or email enquiries@21stcenturysteam. co.uk…

LONDON Underground was the overall victor in Railwayana Sales’internet auction that ran from February 27 to March 5, although BR’s Scottish and Eastern regions and the pre-Nationalisation Southern Railway ensured it wasn’t a one-sided contest for top honours. A King’s Cross St. Pancras platform roundel from the Underground station that is served by six lines and pre-Covid handled 90 million passengers annually – that’s nearly 250,000 every day of the year – clinched it with a £5050 realisation. Another platform sign was runnerup, a BR(Sc) Dundee Tay Bridge totem that sold for £2550, while third and fourth places went to two more platform signs, Southern Railway target Egham from a Surrey station on the Waterloo-Reading line (£1800), and BR(E) totem Alford Town, from a Lincolnshire station on the Boston-to-Louth route…

PLATFORM READERS’ LETTERS AT THE HEART OF THE HERITAGE RAILWAY SCENE ➜ Where was the Time Team viaduct? AS a subscriber, I just love the magazine and I was wondering if you or the readers could help me? One particular episode of a TV series called Time Team dealt with a partially buried railway viaduct that had been progressively roofed over as a spoil heap became larger. I wondered if anyone could recall the location and the story behind it? P Beckett, Worthing, West Sussex Are you a user of online professional networking websiteLinkedIn? If so, follow the recently launched Heritage Railway magazine page on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/ company/heritage-railway-magazine/…

CONCERNS have been raised regarding snap door locks on older heritage railway carriages.Trains have arrived in stations with the door handles in the vertical position, which could have led to an accident – but fortunately none have occurred. Snap locks are a type that does not latch automatically when the door is pulled closed and must be physically turned 90 degrees once the door is in the fully-shut position. It had been anticipated for some time that the GWR stock on the Severn Valley would be temporarily withdrawn while appropriate safety control measures and solutions were looked into, and their use in the April 14-16 Spring Steam Gala is now unlikely. Several options are being explored to bring them back into service safely, including additional train staff and improvements to…

THREE railway heritage venues have received a total of nearly £1.2 million in Government grant aid via Arts Council England. The Nene Valley Railway, Amberley Museum and the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust’s West Shed Museum at the Midland Railway – Butterley are among 70 cultural venues, museums and public libraries supported by a £60 million boost through the Culture Investment Fund, it was announced by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer on March 20. Arts Council England receives its funding from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The NVR was awarded £669,873 to support three major infrastructure projects: to relay worn-out track through Wansford Tunnel, including new drainage; to relay track and roadway at Wansford level crossing; and to relay track in Wansford yard, where old track has been buried…

HERITAGE lines have been issued with urgent safety advice following an incident at the Great Central Railway, when a passenger lost their footing while alighting from a train at Loughborough’s Platform 1 and sustained a serious injury. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has appealed for witnesses to the incident, which happened at 11.49am on Saturday, January 14, as reported last issue. The RAIB warned heritage railways that suitable arrangements may not be in place to mitigate the risks arising from the operation of passenger trains formed of slam door rolling stock where the trains are closer to, or longer than, platform lengths. It has urged other operators of trains which use coaches with doors that are not centrally controlled and/or locked by train crew to review the risks associated with…

ROCK legendsThe Who have cancelled their appearance on the first night of the big May 27-29 Fawley Hill Festival of Vintage Transport. Frontman Roger Daltrey complained of feeling unwell on the band’s recent US tour and felt it prudent to cancel some gigs, but has since recovered and The Who will be performing a UK tour this year as planned. In the meantime, The Who’s spot at the National Transport Trust festival on May 27 has been taken by Elvis Presley impersonator Ben Portsmouth, his band, and backing singers, who have played at previous Fawley Hill events. Ben is the only non-American to win the Memphis Elvis contest. Proceeds from the festival will go towards Macmillan Cancer Support. Fawley Hill is now selling VIP tickets for the Saturday to include…

RATS could be roaming the Essex countryside this autumn – but not of the rodent kind. For its September 22-24 diesel gala, the Epping Ongar Railway has secured a visit from Class 25 D7659 thanks to the Waterman Locomotive Trust and Peak Rail. Built in 1966 and mostly allocated to the London Midland Region, it also spent some time based at Cricklewood depot. It returned to service in late 2021 after a 23-year absence and overhaul. It may not be the only ‘rat’ operating over the three-day weekend, as the EOR’s resident Class 25 – D7523 – is expected to return in time to appear alongside the visiting classmate, having been absent itself for nearly a decade and it too having undergone contract overhaul on the Battlefield Line. Diesel gala organiser…

SAM Mullins OBE is to step down as director and chief executive of the award-winning LondonTransport Museum after 28 years at the helm. Since he joined in November 1994, under Sam’s direction the venue has grown to be the world’s leading museum of urban transport, with visitor numbers soaring from 180,000 to about 400,000 per year. He oversaw its £22 million redevelopment in 2007 and saw the venue named Visitor Attraction of the Year in 2022 at the London Tourism Awards. His vision has long been to extend the museum’s reach beyond the walls of its Grade II-listed building in Covent Garden. In 1999, the opening of the LTM Depot in Acton as the first publicly accessible museum store in the UK was a major step toward realising this aim.…

It was 60 years ago on March 27, 1963, that BR chairman Dr Richard Beeching’s report, The Reshaping of British Railways, was published. A seminal landmark in UK railway history, it took an accountant’s approach to the eradication of loss-making lines within a national basis, rather than region by region. Despite the mounting BR deficits in the face of the mass switch from rail to road transport, the report was famously greeted with anger and hostility from large swathes of the public. In the campaign for the 1964 General Election that followed, Labour vowed to sack Beeching and reverse all of his cuts. Labour won – and not only continued with the Beeching cuts, but after his departure from BR, went on to make more of its own. On May…

THE Scottish Railway Preservation Society tour from Linlithgow to Inverness on Sunday, March 26 was delayed leaving Inverness after Class 37 No. 37676 derailed in InvernessYard. Both No. 37676 and classmate No 37403 Isle of Mull had entered the yard for servicing of locomotives and coaching stock after arrival with the tour when No. 37676 became derailed. This mishap blocked in the rest of the train and meant that the only solution was to extract the coaches two at a time and reform the set. After a sterling effort from all involved, the train was reformed and tested, and was back in the platform for a departure two hours later than planned, leaving at 6.32pm. No. 37403 then took the train home as a single engine. The cause of the…

UK Railtours has released a new date for its‘Snowdonian’ railtour that had been planned for Saturday, April 1. It has now been rescheduled for Saturday, September 30, due to planned strike action taking place in April. Starting from Euston, with pick-up points at Watford Junction, Milton Keynes Central and Rugby, the excursion takes the West Coast Main Line and is then is planned to diverge at Crewe and head via Chester to Llandudno. There will be two off-train options at Llandudno: the chance to travel the length of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways or a visit to Bodnant Gardens. Alternatively, passengers may wish to stay in Llandudno to explore the seaside resort or take a bus to Conwy or Colwyn Bay. There are options of first class dining, first…

STEAM Dreams has announced dates for its‘Sunset Steam Express’dining trains around the Surrey Hills from London Victoria. These will be on the same day as the firm’s previously advertised Garden of England steam tours: Tuesdays June 22, July 4/11/18/25 and August 8/15/22/29. Departure from Victoria is at 6.15pm, returning at 9.45pm, with B1 No. 61306 Mayflower rostered as motive power. Standard class costs £69, first £119 and Pullman dining £155. There are no dates as yet for the Royal Windsor Steam Express trains from Victoria, but these should be on the Steam Dreams website soon. Bookings are good for the April 22 split-day tours from London Victoria to Winchester and back, plus the afternoon trip along the Test Valley. The April 26 Victoria to Chesterfield is also doing well. May…

ON Saturday, March 4, Didcot Railway Centre staged an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Collett’s Castle class locomotives (see issue 304). I decided that I would attend and also photograph the double-headed Castle special, run by Vintage Trains from Birmingham Snow Hill in conjunction with the event. March 4 was also the exact 56th anniversary of two Castles working specials to Chester. No. 4079 Pendennis Castle worked 1X82 ‘The Birkenhead Flyer’ from Didcot, having started from Paddington diesel-hauled, and No. 7029 Clun Castle worked 1X83 ‘The Zulu’ from Banbury, also diesel-hauled from Paddington. By then, both engines had entered preservation, so the events of March 4 this year were appropriate in more ways than one as No. 7029 was on the special train and No. 4079 in the…

ITALIAN andTurkish steam topped the charts in an online auction held by photographs, slides and negatives specialist JustaClickAgo from February 20- 26, when a single lot of 175 colour slides taken in the two countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s sold for £520. Behind came British heritage modern traction from the mid-1980s, including Class 43 HST125, taken in the Birmingham area and at Crewe Works by the late David Williams of West Bromwich. One lot, comprising 200 colour slides, went under the hammer for £470, and a second selection of 195 slides for £420. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 18%. Are you a user of online professional networking website LinkedIn? If so, follow the recently launched Heritage Railway magazine page on LinkedIn at www.linkedin. com/company/heritage-railwaymagazine/…

ABOUT 50 cast iron and 30 enamel signs will be major features of the Great Central live online‘Bloxham’-style auction that is being held on April 15, with hand and platform lamps also making a significant contribution. The ‘no frills’ sale, which starts at 9am, is part of the series held by Great Central that puts general railwayana under the hammer. There will be up to 600 lots, and an absence of telephone bidding and few reserves should ensure that progress is speedy enough to allow participants to digest the afternoon’s football results. ➜ LNER and LMS Pacific locomotives in O gauge scooped the two top realisations in a Vectis model train sale at Thornaby on March 17. An Ace Trains Class A4 No. 4468 Mallard headed the list at £750,…

BRITAIN’S newest steam locomotive is to make its public debut at the Perrygrove Railway’s April 29-May 1 steam gala. The 0-6-0ST, based loosely on a Peckett design, is the latest to be outshopped by North Bay Railway Engineering Services in Darlington. Designed and built to specifications supplied by Perrygrove, it will become the seventh steam locomotive in the 15in gauge Forest of Dean line’s fleet. Its livery is similar to that carried by diminutive stand gauge Port of Par Bagnall 0-4-0ST Alfred and Judy, which are based at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. It will be named at a ceremony for invited guests the day before the steam gala. The gala will see all locomotives in operation, along with traction engines, rock crushers and saw benches in action.…

THE NOW unique Class 17 D8568 is to appear at the Great Central Railway’s April 22-23 Spring Diesel Gala. The Diesel Traction Group’s Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway-based locomotive will star alongside longterm guest Derby lightweight railcar Iris from the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. In action from the home fleet will be Class 37 D6700, Class 45 D123 Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry, Class 50 No. 50017 Royal Oak subject to completion of repairs, testing and examination, and the line’s two Metro Cammell diesel railcars. D8568 will also be a guest at the Swanage Railway’s May 12-14 diesel gala and beer festival, alongside other visitors Class 45 No. 45108 from the Peak Locomotive Company, Freightliner Class 47 No. 47830 and the Class 40 Preservation Society’s D345/40145, with Class 33s Nos. 33012 and…

ROLLING stock owned by the Somerset & Dorset RailwayTrust has been moved from its home of 46 years atWashford station on theWest Somerset Railway to the North Dorset Railway at Shillingstone, where they will be restored and displayed. As reported in issue 265, in February 2020, WSR plc gave the trust a years’ notice to quit the site. Following further talks, agreement was reached for the trust to remain at Washford until November 23, 2023 (issue 290). Several exhibits have already been moved for display at the S&D Railway Heritage Trust’s Midsomer Norton base. A formal loan agreement has now been reached with the NDR and the first two wagons, LMS box van No.179162 and LMS open wagon No.607324, were transferred on March 10, with remaining stock to follow. Also…

THOSE seeking to enjoy the Swanage Railway diesel gala in its entirety can go a step further by travelling to the event aboard LondonTransport’s Class 438 4TC unit and behind Class 33 D6515 Lt. Jenny Lewis RN to and from Eastleigh thanks to the Branch Line Society. ‘The Jurassic Crompton’ will ferry those travelling to Purbeck on Thursday, May 11, the day before the gala begins, departing Eastleigh at about 11.12am and arriving at Swanage at 6.41pm. The return working, entitled ‘The Return of the Jurassic Crompton’, will leave Swanage at 3.30pm on the Sunday afternoon, shortly before the gala concludes, with arrival at its destination scheduled for 10.40pm. It is intended that the trains will work over some sought-afterroutes, such as Laverstock Curve and the connection from Norden to…

GREAT Central Railway-based BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 will be the third and final guest at the Severn Valley Railway’s April 14-16 Spring Steam Gala. The 1953-built locomotive, which is owned by Darlington Railway Preservation Society, with the Loughborough Standard Locomotives Group as its custodian, secured its place in history when it featured in a 1955 British Transport Film documentary, Snowdrift at Bleath Gill. Hauling a goods train, it had become stuck in a snowdrift on the Stainmore line, and the film highlights first-hand the heroic struggle to rescue it. No. 78018 spent 11 years at Barry scrapyard and arrived at the GCR in November 2012, where its restoration was completed. It entered service in October 2016. “This is a solid branch line loco,”said Duncan Ballard, the SVR’s head…

NETWORK Rail chairman Peter Hendy been appointed to a similar position with the Heritage Railway Association. Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, is also a trustee of the Science Museum Group and a trustee and a director of London Transport Museum. Peter took on the role of HRA chairman at the organisation’s annual general meeting in Birmingham on March 10. On the board, he joins North Yorkshire Moors Railway chief executive and Talyllyn Railway president Chris Price, Seaton Tramway chief executive Jenny Nunn, and Kent & East Sussex Railway chairman Simon Marsh. Lord Hendy said:“The heritage railway sector is of immense importance to communities around the country. Heritage railways are hugely significant draws for tourists and for wider investment and are vital for the preservation of technological and social history…

LNER A3 pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman has seen its city of birth added to its centenary year calendar following an appeal by Doncaster’s mayor – after the location was originally excluded. During a visit to Edinburgh Waverley on March 24, when Gresley’s iconic A3 visited the Scottish capital to mark 100 years since being rolled out of the workshops (as reported last issue), Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones made her case for a visit of No. 60103 to its birthplace directly to National Railway Museum officials. On March 10, she tweeted: “The Flying Scotsman is coming home! We have been in discussions with the NRM for more than a year to get the most famous locomotive in the world to visit its birthplace of Doncaster as part of its…

TWO 12-year-old enthusiasts have been hailed as heroes for raising £12,000 to restore one of the NeneValley Railway’s signalboxes after it was damaged in a suspected arson attack. The damage to Orton Mere ’box was one of several deliberately started fires on March 12 and early the following day, which also saw several cars destroyed and a sheltered accommodation home damaged. The railway said it would cost up to £20,000 to repair the damage to the signalbox, so school friends Oliver Walker and Harry Cowley decided to set up an online fundraising page. In their spare time, they had watched and photographed trains on the heritage line. Both are also James Bond fans, and the ’box appeared in the movie Octopussy, scenes from which were filmed on the line. Sponsored…

AcelebrationofBRgreenliveryistobestagedatthe GloucestershireWarwickshireRailwayonSunday, June11. WR 4-6-0 No. 7903 Foremarke Hallwill be rostered alongside Class 47 D6948 and the line’s Class 117 DMU for the day. At Nationalisation in 1948, the newly formed BritishTransport Commission began developing a standard identity for the unified industry after inheriting a diverse range of locomotives and rolling stock, all carrying a variety of liveries. In the early 1950s, trials were conducted with locomotives being painted in various colours, such as both deep and light blue (known as‘Express Blue’), maroon, light apple green, and the Southern Region’s malachite green. From 1954, a new livery often referred to as‘British Railways Locomotive Green’was adopted for BR express steam locomotives, as carried by Foremarke Hall, and which was very similar to GWR Brunswick Green. However, the specification was BS224 Deep Bronze…

THE Llangollen Railway has announced that its Corwen extension opening date has been set for June 1 – and that the resident group restoring a locomotive yet to steam in preservation had been awarded charitable status. The announcement of the opening date for the LR’s westward extension to Corwen comes after the previously planned opening for March had to be postponed following delays to the installation of the canopy during the autumn and winter. As reported in issue 303, the new framework sections were lifted into place during the final week of January, with cladding out commencing afterwards. By March 25, the scaffolding had started to be dismantled, with the majority of the work on this completed and attention now focusing on completing the station’s facilities in time for the…

AMANDA Squires, CEO of the Mid-Hants Railway, is stepping down from her role due a change in her personal circumstances. In a letter to the railway’s members on March 2, Amanda announced that she would leave the position at the end of the month, saying: “Sometimes, life takes an unexpected turn and you find yourself in a situation you simply weren’t expecting. “After being in good health for a long time, my husband’s journey with Parkinson’s disease became considerably more challenging shortly after I joined the Watercress Line in April last year and he now needs greater support than I am able to provide. “Therefore, I have made the lifechanging decision that I need to step down from my role in order to spend time supporting him.” Watercress Line Heritage…

THE race to complete the restoration of Glasgow Coronation tram No. 1245 in time for the coronation of King Charles III has been called off. Volunteers and bosses at Summerlee Industrial Museum decided to take their time and complete the work to their usual high standards, rather than to pull out all the stops for May. However, there is a chance that the 1939-built Glasgow Corporation tram, whose class name recalls the coronation of King George VI in 1937, might be ready to run before the end of the current coronation year. Volunteer team leader Charlie McAloon said:“While we’ve made excellent progress, there was no point in rushing for the sake of it. The tram now has its external panelling completed, glazing is well underway and, thanks to a new…

TEAM 45, the group working to return Class 45 No. 45132 to operational condition at the Epping Ongar Railway, has launched an appeal to help fund repairs to the locomotive’s main generator. No. 45132 failed at the Mid-Hants Railway on March 3, 2000 when the main generator banding burst, causing damage to the essential component. Since then, it has been undergoing a gradual restoration scheme to repair and return it to service, with the generator being repaired at Bowers Electrical in 2008. Following a move to the EOR in September 2014, work continued, and a successful start-up took place on March 26, 2019. During a series of commissioning runs, another defect on the generator unfortunately developed that resulted in it requiring further repairs. The problem is now being tackled by…

➜ ANEW boiler for Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST No. 2047 Warwickshire has been placed on order with Israel Newton by its owner, the Warwickshire Industrial Locomotive Preservation Trust, with delivery due in 2025. The Severn Valley Railway-based locomotive, supplied new to Rugby Portland Cement Co Ltd and used as Bridgnorth station pilot after being bought for preservation in 1967, last steamed in 1977 and was subsequently found to need extensive works, including a boiler retube and a new smokebox, smokebox door and ashpan. In 2020, a £50,000 appeal was launched to complete its restoration. ➜ THE Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust is offering its Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1788 of 1929 Kilmersdon for hire. It was overhauled at the Mid-Hants Railway’s Ropley Works last year and returned to traffic in August…

THE RailTrolleyTrust has moved two more items from its collection to its second base at theTanat Valley Railway. On January 25, Robel ganger’s trolley No. 56.27 and the remains of Wickham type 18A Mk. VI No. 10842 were collected from Meldon Quarry, having been acquired from RMS Locotec in March and July 2021 respectively, and delivered to the TVR the following day to join the Shropshire collection. The Robel trolley was inspected and pressed into service immediately, subsequently proving itself to be a useful piece of on track plant. The Wickham vehicle was stripped some years ago and has been used as a trailer; the trust has been looking at options regarding its future use and will be making an announcement about this in the near future. The trust’s fundraising…

ROBERT Stephenson & Hawthorns 0-4-0ST No. 7063 of 1942 Eustace Forth has been bought by Peak Rail life member DelTilling from its previous owner. Supplied new to Dunston Power Station in Gateshead, it was preserved by the longdisbanded Hexham Rolling Stock Group and taken into the National Collection in 1978. It went the North Yorkshire Moors Railway but proved too small for the purposes of the line, and then ran in its CEGB green livery and acted as Percy in the National Railway Museum’s Thomas the Tank Engine events. Its boiler certificate expired in 2009 and it was gifted to the Foxfield Railway in 2014 as it was a duplicate of the National Collection’s RSH 0-4-0ST No. 7416 of 1948 Agecroft No.1. After undergoing a boiler overhaul, it eventually moved…

A NEW centre cylinder connecting rod is to be forged for unique BR Pacific No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester at a cost of up to £30,000. During recent testing of the coupling and connecting rods, they were all found to be sound – apart from one. The centre con rod was replaced during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and a new one was manufactured when the locomotive was rebuilt at the Great Central Railway. Following a stress analysis of this component, a source for the manufacturing of the forging has been found, along with the required machining. A statement from the BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust read: “We have always ensured that our finances are sound, as from experience, these types of unexpected occurrences are likely to happen…

BOOKINGS are looking good for Statesman Rail’s spring tours. Only limited places are available on its three-day‘Lord of the Isles’Statesman weekend trip from April 11-13, starting at Rugby to Kyle of Lochalsh. The‘Settle and Carlisle Circular’ on April 22 is now fully booked, as are tours on May 5 and May 29. The‘Dorset Coast Statesman’ on April 19 also has only limited places, as does the May 10 ‘Snowdonia Statesman’from Chesterfield to Llandudno. Bookings are still coming in for the‘Dorset Coast Statesman’ from Whitchurch to Weymouth on May 20, the‘Yorkshire Coast Statesman’from Ayr on May 27 and the‘Yorkshire Coast Statesman’on May 31. Visit www.statesmanrail.com for details.…

DELTIC nameplate Ballymoss was the unchallenged winner inTalisman’s saleroom auction at Newark Showground on March 18, when it went under Roger Phipps’hammer for a diesel record-breaking price of £32,400. The plate, bearing the name of the winner of the 1957 Irish Derby and St Leger and 1958 Coronation Cup and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, was from D9018/55018, built by English Electric in November 1961 and withdrawn 20 years later. Two steam nameplates that also featured in the auction, United Provinces from LMS Jubilee No. 45578 and Hyderabad from another Jubilee, No. 45585, sold for £10,000 and £8000 respectively, while the smokebox numberplate from LMS Princess Coronation No. 46251 City of Nottingham went for £7300 and a cabside numberplate from GWR No. 5009 Shrewsbury Castle for £3300. Station totem signs…

WITH nameplates Coronationfrom LNWR George the Fifth class 4-4-0 No. 1800/LMS No. 5348 selling for £20,000 and LadyMargaretHall from GWR No. 7911 fetching £12,500, as reported in last month’s issue, steam took the plaudits in Great Central’s live online auction on March 4. This duo’s success was aided and abetted by Trematon Castle from GWR No. 5020 (£9600), Broome Manor from GWR No. 7805, which went for £8200, and Holyrood from Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60152 (£6400). At this point, diesel and electric traction showed their hand, of which more anon, and so to continue with steam, Ajax from LNWR Precursor No. 639/LMS No. 5190 sold for £6000, while GWR trio Leaton Grange (No. 6821), Eden Hall (No. 4996) and Broome Hall (No. 4908) went to new homes for £5000,…

THREE of the‘Big Four’pre-Nationalisation companies put on an entertaining show for their live online audience in GW Railwayana’s March 11 sale, with only the LNER missing out on the action. Centre stage went to the GWR with the two top nameplates plus one other, but the LMS, with three nameplates and two smokebox numberplates, and the SR also with a nameplate, were a strong support act. Heading the cast list was King Edward VI from No. 6012 that went under the hammer for £19,500, thus indicating that, despite the increasing influence of diesel and electric traction railwayana, steam era collectors remain loyal to their longstanding favourites. And on a similar theme, nameplate Holkham Hall from No. 6926 and Leeward Islands from Jubilee No. 45614 were each firmly in five-figure territory,…

THE first of the BR class 31 locomotives, D5500 (31018), which is part of the National Collection and can be found in the Great Hall at the National Railway Museum in York, is the latest exclusive from Locomotion Models, which has commissioned manufacturer Accurascale UK to produce the‘Toffee Apple’(the nickname being derived from the shape of its control key) in OO scale, utilising its currently under-development new tooling of the class. D5500 was built in 1957 by Brush Electrical Engineering at Loughborough Works as part of the 1955 BR Modernisation Plan to replace steam; originally built as Class 30, it was reclassed as 31 after being re-engined during the 1960s. D5500 was withdrawn in July 1976 and then restored at Doncaster, and has spent some time in preservation operating on the…

STICKING with theWestern Region, Dapol also announced it would produce the diagram‘N’version of the GWR autocoaches that were built as new vehicles during 1907 and not conversions from withdrawn steam railmotors. One of the six built under lot 1126, of which Dapol is basing its models, No. 38 survives in preservation at the Telford Steam Railway and this will be replicated in OO form as W38 in BR maroon livery, one of seven models being produced each in a different livery, including GWR and BR variations. The model will boast the usual wealth of separately fitted detail, along with a removable roof to facilitate the fitting of crew and passengers. Workings interior lights will also be available on DCC and sound-fitted versions of each. Currently at the CAD stage, prices…