Heritage Railway Issue 319

OPINION THIS issue, we proudly celebrate 25 years since the first edition of Heritage Railway appeared on the shelves in May 1999. Since then, we have aimed to give 100% support to the sector from which we took our title and celebrate its many magnificent landmarks as they happen by bringing them to the attention of an eager public. Our anniversary month has also coincided with the latest major achievement – the appearance of new-build GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange to haul its first passenger trains, albeit within the confines of Tyseley Locomotive Works. Members of the 6880 Betton Grange Society and their invited guests were afforded the extremely rare honour of being the first to ride behind what appeared every bit to be an out-of-the-box full-size standard gauge…

HEADLINE NEWS A NEW chapter in Great Western Railway history began in April when the 81st Charles Collett Grange 4-6-0, No. 6880 Betton Grange, ran for the first time at Tyseley Locomotive Works – before hauling a series of passenger trains on an internal siding following its official launch at a private ceremony 16 days later. As first reported on the special www.heritagerailway.co.uk/18671/ bettongrange webpage Heritage Railway set up for the occasion, No. 6880 first steamed on Thursday, April 11 in the presence of officials from the 6880 Betton Grange Society and Tyseley staff, before undertaking short solo runs. While No. 6880 had been booked to appear at the Severn Valley Railway’s Spring Steam Gala (see pages 50-55), as reported in issue 317, further work was still outstanding and it could…

LMS Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46464 -which has not hauled trains for more than four decades – is nearing the end of a lengthy overhaul and has made its first moves under its own steam. Since 2000, a small team of dedicated volunteers from the Carmyllie Pilot Company Ltd (CPCo) have progressively undertaken the locomotive’s restoration work, which included creating a new lower tender dragbox, smokebox, running plates, cab sides and roof, with much work initially carried out beneath tents at Brechin on the Caledonian Railway where the locomotive was moved to in 1989. After the boiler was sent away to Northern Steam Engineering Ltd in Stockton-on-Tees in 2019, CPCo concluded that a more suitable location was required to reassemble the locomotive and building on the long-standing relationship between the…

THE Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways has launched a new mobile telephone app that allows its passengers to be guided along their journey from the comfort of their seat. Developed as part of the railway’s interpretation and Boston Lodge project, the FfWHR Explore app has been funded in part thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, as well as the FR Society and FfWHR Trust, and provides descriptive and historic information about the various stops and points of interest on a passenger’s journey. Ducks… and an alligator Younger minds can be engaged further as each line also has three‘Out the Window’games to spot landmarks such as the FR’s humorous rubber duck bath in the woodlands between Penrhyn and Tan-y-Bwlch stations, or the Wagyu cows between Dinas and Waunfawr on…

HEADLINE NEWS THE April 27 target for the completion of the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society’s overhaul of Bulleid 4-6-2 No. 35028 Clan Line was one that was the group could not afford to miss – as the date marked the 50th anniversary of its first main line railtour in the heritage era. Built in 1948 at Eastleigh Works, Clan Line worked many prestigious expresses during its career, including the ‘Golden Arrow’ and ‘Night Ferry’ trains, and was unofficially timed at reaching 104mph at Axminster while pulling an ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ in 1961. Its BR career ended on July 2, 1967, with a farewell special out of Waterloo bound for Bournemouth, although it was not formally withdrawn for another week. With BR banning privately-owned steam locomotives from operating on the…

FRIDAY, April 26 was not only the start of the Mid-Hants Railway’s spring steam gala (see News, pages 12/13), but also its flagship locomotive, SR Merchant Navy class 4-6-2 No. 35005 Canadian Pacific, finally returned to Alresford after more than a decade in the former SR works buildings at Eastleigh depot. Having initially arrived in 2011 for dry storage, work to overhaul the chassis commenced there in 2013, and a Heritage Lottery Fund grant being was awarded to the project in 2015. With the boiler being overhauled at Ropley, recent attempts to bring the chassis home were thwarted following a weight restriction imposed on a bridge over the adjacent main line that needed to be crossed to exit the depot. Alternative options were explored, including departure through a different part…