Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 320 i Heritage Railway

OPINION EVERY steam enthusiast in the UK and beyond owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Quentin McGuiness and the 6880 Betton Grange Society, plus all those who have contributed over the past 26 years to fill a major missing gap in transport history by creating the 81 st GWR Grange. Ultimate honours must equally go to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, which started out 40 years ago running an industrial tank engine from a station saved from near-dereliction over a few hundred yards to track – and is now a - 14-mile heritage line capable of holding a heritage sector landmark event and impressing during every minute of its three days. When Tom Rolt and his volunteers began running the Talyllyn Railway on May 14, 1951, did any in their…

PEPPERCORN A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado has been moved to the Great Central Railway for test running following its planned return to the main line this summer. Due to a delay in completing its overhaul, which was said to have cost nearly £1 million, what is arguably the most high-profile standard gauge new-build locomotive was unable to fulfil its planned Easter visit to the Nene Valley Railway to mark its return to steam, and its rearranged visit for May 21-27 was also subsequently cancelled. Trust chairman Steve Davies MBE said: "We have faced unanticipated challenges in the area of coded welding, a matter that has affected a number of heritage railway projects as well as our own. "On reassembly of the boiler and its fittings, we needed to undertake some…

THE future of Class 309 No. 309624 has been hanging in the balance after its custodian, the Clacton Express Preservation Group, was given notice to vacate the site at Isfield, where it had resided since initially being acquired by the Lavender Line following closure of the Electric Railway Museum in Coventry, the group having purchased the EMU in 2022. With the clock ticking to find a suitable new home, many feared that the unit would face being cut up for scrap – but on May 14, it was announced that its future was secured, and the EMU would be returning to withing a stone’s throw of its former stomping ground after ownership transferred to the East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel & Wakes Colne station. Two of the vehicles from…

VOLUNTEERS at the transport and crafts working museum in the village of Amberley, near Arundel, deservedly took centre stage on May 3 during a visit by Lady Emma Barnard, the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex. Lady Emma was at the museum, which is home to one of the country’s most comprehensive collections of different gauge locomotives, to present the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest recognition of its type created in 2002 to celebrate the late Queen’s golden jubilee. The Lord-Lieutenant, accompanied by trustees’ chairman Richard Vernon and museum director Katrina Burton, toured the museum and met volunteers working in such locations as the historical fire station and the print and cycle repair shops. As other guests – including Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and South Downs, Coun Pieter…

THE Great Western Society marked its 55th anniversary witha mini-steam gala event at the Didcot Railway Centre on May 11/12, with Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Class 23 0-6-0ST No. 752 visiting from the East Lancashire Railway. Although it was hoped that GWR 1400 0-4-2T No. 1466, the locomotive which the GWS was initially established to save and which has been undergoing overhaul at the West Somerset Railway, would be completed in time to take part in the celebrations, further works required to complete the boiler have delayed progress, meaning it was ultimately unavailable. The anniversary is therefore expected to be marked properly later in the year when the auto tank returns to service. With No. 752 (currently running as BR No. 51456, although never having passed into BR ownership) having…

IT is a weekend that has become an annual fixture in the calendar for many diesel traction enthusiasts, with a variety of popular heritage and rare modern locomotives to be sampled, along with a plethora of beers from the accompanying festival, and this year’s Swanage diesel gala was another roaring success–although it was not without incident when two visiting locomotives encountered problems on successive days. Reported to be the most commercially successful of these weekends in six years, the line-up of 10 locomotives comprised the two resident ‘Cromptons’ – Class 33 Nos. 33012 Lt.Jenny Lewis RN and 33111–alongside eight visiting locomotives that included Class 20 Nos. 20302 and 20111 (Harry Needle Railroad Company), Class 24 D5054 Phil Southern (East Lancashire Railway), Class 37 No. 37219 (Colas Rail), Class 50 Nos.…

THE Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways’ Boston Lodge Works is to design a new boiler for Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Sharp Stewart B class 0-4-0SWTT No. 19B. As previously reported, No. 19B was last year bought by the Darjeeling Tank Locomotive Trust at the auction of the late Adrian Shooter’s estate, along with two replica carriages. A detailed examination of No. 19B’s boiler (the 1903 Low Moor iron and copper one from sister No. 27B) at the Statfold Barn Railway workshops revealed that so many parts were found to be life-expired that building a new one was the best option, as reported last issue. An agreement has now been reached with Boston Lodge to design a replacement and take it through to certification Ff&WHR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer, Jon Whalley, design engineer…

A SERIES of special Underground trips aboard London Transport Museum’s restored 1938 Art Deco tube stock will run over the next four months. The first outing, the June 9 Piccadilly Sunday Special event, will see the unit make a 50-minute journey from Acton Town station in West London to Oakwood station in North London over the Piccadilly Line. Single tickets are also available from Oakwood to Acton Town. At Oakwood station, guests will hear a mini talk about the architect Charles Holden and how his innovative station design has played a major role in shaping the appearance of London. At Acton Town, guests will be able to shop for transport collectibles at a pop-up stall run by the London Transport Museum Friends. They will also receive a souvenir booklet to…

FFESTINIOG & Welsh Highland Railways general manager Paul Lewin has been appointed as the new vicechairman of the Heritage Railway Association, replacing outgoing Chris Price. Paul has been general manager of the Ff&WHR for 20 years, making him the longest-serving general manager in the sector at what is coincidentally also the longest heritage railway, at a combined length of nearly 40 miles. He joined the railway at a critical point, when the major expansion plans to more than double the size of the railway coincided with financial difficulties in the existing operating company. Since then, the FfWHR business has gone from a turnover of £1.9 million, making a £300 loss, to a £6 million business returning an annual surplus in the range £100-300,0000 consistently for two decades. The railway, while…

HAVING stood for 168 years and escaped demolition after closure by BR, the Baron Street engineering workshop just outside Bury Bolton Street station on the East Lancashire Railway needs renovating in order to continue meeting the needs of the heritage railway. Built in 1856 for the East Lancashire Railway Company, it served as its main workshop, and 16 locomotives were built there after being taken over by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. It was then used as a carriage repair shed between 1889 to 1916, after which it became a maintenance facility for trains that ran between Bury and Manchester Victoria for more than 70 years. In 1967 the workshops narrowly escaped when Buckley Wells started to be demolished after passenger services stopped. However, a determined group of volunteers saved…

A FORMER LMS signalman whose quick thinking prevented an almost-certain disaster at Carlisle station 40 years ago was recognised at a locomotive-naming ceremony at the station on May 1 – and among those who attended was the great-grandson of a train guard who was also hailed a hero in a train accident more than a century earlier. The signalman was Bill ‘Willie’ Taylor, who on a shift at Carlisle Power Signal Box on May 1, 1984, realised that a Liverpool to Glasgow freight train carrying highly explosive chemicals had become divided south of Carlisle, and that the rear portion was careering downhill towards the station at an estimated 60mph. The unfolding events started at Preston, where the train had stopped due to dragging brakes, but after attention it continued on…

Yes, I can sense half the people reading this are already cringing and thinking, ‘oh, blimey, are we really doing this nitpicker’s dream?’ However, before assumptions are made about this being one person’s opinion piece, think of all the times other people have stirred such pots. Livery discussion has become so dogpiled with debates over the years, a break-out of arguments is practically clichéd – particularly when a pre-Grouping engine is repainted into BR black or green. The centenary of the Big Four has been and gone, and with the restoration of LSWR T3 4-4-0 No, 563, along with the Bluebell Railway’s recent shuffle in rolling stock, the taste for pre-BR representation seems to be getting stronger. Yet, while some preservationists strive for accuracy right down to the shading on…

SAPHOS Trains is to run two more trips under the banner of ‘The Lakelander’ this season. The first excursion, on June 8, starts out diesel-hauled from Leeds and is planned to head to Dewsbury to pick up passengers before running on to the Calder Valley Line to pick up passengers at Brighouse, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Rochdale and Manchester Victoria. From here, the scheduled route is via the Manchester-Preston Line to pick up remaining passengers at Bolton, Chorley and Preston. At Preston, the train is taken over by a steam engine from a pool of engines, including LMS 4-6-0 No, 46100 Royal Scot, West Country 4-6-2 No. 34046 Braunton and BR 7P Pacific No. 70000 Britannia. A circular route of the Lake District will begina sprint up the West Coast Main…

THREE GWR cabside numberplates achieved the highest prices in a Bristol Railwayana auction on April 21, with the top two, both of which sold for £500, being 6389 from a 4300 class 2-6-0 and 3748 from a 5700 class 0-6-0PT, while the third was 3677, from a classmate of No. 3748, which went under the hammer for £260. Bristol Railwayana does not charge a buyer’s premium. No. 6389 was the only pre-Grouping engine of the trio and the only one not built at Swindon, having been one of 35 in the 342-strong class constructed by Robert Stephenson & Co of Darlington. It entered service in October 1921 and was withdrawn from the Pembrokeshire shed of Neyland (87H) in September 1960. No. 3748 was built in October 1937 and withdrawn from Cardiff…

RAILWAY publicity material dating from the 1880s pre-Grouping era through to the Big Four that represents an enthusiast's lifetime collection will be a highlight of a Transport Auctions of London sale on June 29. Included are many hundreds of items ranging from holiday guides and foreign travel pamphlets to timetables and excursions. Also from the days before Grouping comes a 1909 Great Northern Railway Undergroundstyle pocket map of London that omits the Piccadilly Line north of King's Cross, as this route competed with the GNR's own tube line, the Northern City. A number of London Underground cab destination plates includes a Denham/Liverpool Street example. Denham was to have been the Central Line’s new western terminus under prewar plans, but the extension to there was abandoned following the introduction of the…

SEVERAL preserved identities were to be found amid the reveals made by Bachmann on May 1 as the manufacturer confirmed its latest catalogue additionsfor the summer months. Included were full livery specificationsfor itsrecently announced OO gauge Palvan models (asreported last issue), with six different running numbers on offer, comprising four in BR bauxite livery and the final two in Johnnie Walker Whisky’s corporate green colour. The RRP for each is set at £34.95. 1. Diesel The project to develop a new model of the BR Class 25 locomotivesfor OO scale is nearly at its conclusion, allowing for confirmation of the first 11 models from this new tooling suite to be revealed, covering the 25/1, 25/2 and 25/3 call variations. A motorised roof fan and tinted window glazing will be included…

THE WSR has acquired a new piece of equipment for its Williton workshops that will help foster a new generation of engineers. The acquisition of a lathe has been funded by a generous legacy left to the railway by long-term supporter Kevin Trott, who sadly died last year. Living locally allowed Kevin to see the trains on a daily basis. He was a precision engineer by trade who started himself as an apprentice, throughout his career working for companies in and around the Taunton area and felt there was not enough done to encourage younger generations into the trade, so he bequeathed the railway a sum in his will that has financed the purchase of a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) lathe for use at Williton Works, in what is the…

The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway’s June 15 diesel day will see no fewer than nine diesel locomotives in service to celebrate the evolution of internal combustion engines – with the event concluding with a cavalcade featuring all nine operating locomotives. With designs stretching back as far as the trench railways of the First World War, over the years these have been modified developed by Motor Rail Ltd of Bedford under the brand name Simplex, and to this day many of these locomotives continue to put in sturdy and reliable service. Spokesman John Chappell said: “It’s our 1903-vintage steam engine Jurassic which attracts most attention, but many people come to see this remarkable range of diesel locomotives, some built as long ago as 1920 and 1926. “Diesel Day 2024 will showcase…

British Rail unsuccessfully sought permission to demolish the 1904-built Stanway Viaduct in 1980, and it survived to become the standout feature of today's Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Thanks to the completion of the first phase of remedial works costing £750,000 earlier this year, as reported in issue 318, services over it resumed on Good Friday, and during the hugely-successful May 25-27 Cotswold Festival of Steam it carried passenger trains between Broadway and Toddington, The total cost of restoring the 650ft-long, 45ft-high viaduct is £1.8 million, and the railway is running an appeal for funds at www.gwrt.org.uk/donate/stanway-viaduct-appeal The railway is also offering supporters commemorative plaques which will be permanently mounted on each of the 240 stainless steel plates on the viaduct parapets. The plaque could be in memory of a loved one, or…

AS A non-GWR locomotive, Merchant Navy Pacific No.35006 Peninsula & Oriental S.N. Co was the odd one out in the ground-breaking Western Workhorses-themed Cotswold Festival of Steam - but was booked to take a starring role to star in another landmark historical gathering, this time with Southern classmates. No. 35006 will take part in the Swanage Railway's June 7-9 Strictly Bulleid II gala, which will see the largest gathering of Merchant Navies hauling trains since the end of southern England steam in 1967. It will also be the biggest heritage-era gathering of Bulleid Pacifics in their original 'Spam can' 1940s form with an air-smoothed metal casing over the boiler - and the first time that two rebuilt Merchant Navies have worked services together since 1967. Since the gala was reported…

IN a major success which again highlights the invaluable work of its volunteers in keeping the heritage line running in the face of rising overheads, the Nene Valley Railway Wagon Group has announced the completion of work that has seen the automatic vacuum brakes reinstated on its current fleet of running wagons. From the group’s formation in 2012, there was an eventual aim to demonstrate an express rake of wagons. However, it was hoped that once 10 standard vans were restored, the group would go back and retro-fit the vacuum braking equipment, much of which was non-existent. Late last year it was identified that the group has been victims of its own success, having restored too many wagons to safely run as an unfitted rake behind much of the home…

WHILE GER Y14 (LNER J15) 0-6-0 No. 564 had been in its final year of its boiler ticket, the North Norfolk Railway was left feeling a motive power pinch when its was withdrawn from traffic early after failing its annual boiler examination. It is the second locomotive to be prematurely withdrawn in as many months, following BR 9F 2-10-0 No. 92214 Black Prince being formally stopped in March. During a routine inspection in early May, an engineering surveyor identified a number of firebox stays with potential issues that required further investigation. Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society chief mechanical engineer Keith Ashford arranged for a specialist inspector to attend and carry out further examinations, which further confirmed the need for independent non-destructive testing to be undertaken. The testing was…

ON July 27/28, Severn Valley Railway flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 4930 Hagley Hall will re-enact the inaugural passenger train it hauled out of the embryonic Kidderminster Town station 40 years ago to the day. On May 25/26, Hagley Hall also celebrated its 95th birthday by hauling passenger services, including premium afternoon teas in the line’s first-class dining cars. SVR’s managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster said: “We’d like to wish our special locomotive very many happy returns. It has a special place in the hearts of many of our volunteers and visitors. We were absolutely thrilled to welcome it back in 2022, following 36 years out of service when it was on static display and under restoration.” No. 4930 was rescued from Barry scrapyard in 1973 and entered SVR service six…

NEWS ORGANISING any event is a fine balancing act, trying to create something that appealsto as many people as possible while making sure that the final product is profitable enough to stage= in the first place. Anyone involved with planning a steam gala knows that guest locomotives can make or break these, as can running over too many days. yett conversely, takinga risk can sometimes bring favourable results. Having secured the Great Western Society’s new-build Saint No. 2999 Ladyof Legend for its annual steam gala, the Epping Ongar Railway went on to boasta major coup by securing LMS Jubilee No. 45960 Leander for its final two weeks of service before the expiration of its boiler ticket. With two star guests secured, the decision was made to takea risk and turna…

REINFORCING the fact that the value of a heritage line goes far beyond the preservation of historic artefacts, with businesses in the areas often benefitting from increased footfall and subsequent business, contractors and sub-contractors in North Wales have been boosted by the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways’ project to improve and better interpret its workshops at Boston Lodge, with more than £3 million having been spent on it to date. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Ffestiniog Railway Society and Welsh Highland Railway Trust, the project to restore and develop the main engineering workshops at Boston Lodge has included the restoration and extension of the blacksmiths building to create space for volunteer projects, while additionally creatinga NLHF training and research centre. The waggon repair shed once found in…

WITH an asset catalogue covering a broad range of Wickham trollies and associated equipment, the Rail Trolley Trust has further expanded its collection thanks to the acquisition of several appropriate signalling components – as well as another trailer vehicle. A portable token instrument has been on loan to the RTT for several years; in March this year, its owner advised the trust that they were looking to dispose of it, along with some other items in their collection. After discussions between the two parties, a price was agreed and the assets collected, with a signalbox token alarm and a termination of motor trolley system trackside sign also joining the portable instrument in the RTT’s collection. Having suffered from years of weather damage, the sign has been sent to a member…

THE Wensleydale Railway has taken delivery of Sentinel 0-6-0DH No. 10156 of 1964 Derwent on loan from Hope Cement Works in Derbyshire. Fitted with a Rolls-Royce eight-cylinder engine, Derwent was used to move cement wagons from the works, the largest cement manufacturing operation in the UK which opened in 1929, down the private branch line to Earles Sidings on the main line before onward transportation. John Mulryan, maintenance manager at the works, said: “We are delighted and thankful that the Wensleydale Railway has agreed to support the preservation of this locomotive, which is part of our industrial heritage. We look forward to seeing Derwent being returned to its former glory at its new home.” Wensleydale spokesman Terry Larder said: “We are very grateful to the team at Hope Cement Works…

A DAY after celebrating the 73rd anniversary of the moment that kicked off the world’s heritage railway movement, there was cause for celebration once more in Tywyn when Network Rail officials visited the Talyllyn Railway to name one of its Class 97 locomotives after the pioneering volunteer-run line. The locomotive, which entered service on January 2, 1964, as D6917, is one of the refurbished Class 37s on NR’s departmental stock list, having been fitted with the European Rail Traffic Management System with use on the Cambrian routes including that which runs through Tywyn. Renumbered 97304 in 2007 as a result, it had previously carried the name John Tilley in honour of the former NR engineering manager. The renaming has been in discussion for several years. However, on May 15 the…

NEWS A MERSEYRAIL Class 507 EMU has been bought for £1 in a bid to save the type from extinction. As highlighted in Heritage Railway issue 316, a campaign was launched last September to save one of the last survivors of the class of 33, built by BR at York Works between 1978 and 1980, and which are due to be replaced by the new Class 777s. The Class 507 Preservation Society, which was formed last November, has now paid a nominal sum to fleet owner Angel Trains to take possession of No. 507001 when it is withdrawn in July. When new, it was used to take Queen Elizabeth II from Moorfields to Kirkby when she officially opened the Merseyrail underground on October 28, 1978. It has since run for…

VINTAGE Trains’ bid to emulate the legendary 1Z48 Ian Allan railtour on May 9, 1964, when WR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle reached 96mph between Plymouth and Bristol, was thwarted in a bid to match or better that speed when its May 10 ‘The Great Western Railway’ two-day tour was stopped – by a clump of weeds. The vegetation triggered automatic brakes, bringing the special with about 300 passengers on board to a stop on Hemerdon Bank on the second day of the trip. The original 1Z48 was a celebration of the 60th anniversary of GWR 4-4-0 City of Truro run which reportedly topped 100mph on the same route. The tour, held 60 years and day after the Ian Allan tour, ran from Birmingham Snow Hill to Plymouth on May…

MAY 15 was a busy day for Network Rail chairman Lord Peter Hendy when he travelled to Barmouth to unveil a blue plaque on the town’s iconic viaduct that spans the estuary of the River Mawddach. Opening 1897, the structure was given Grade II*-listed status on March 22, 1988, and has recently undergone a four-year restoration project costing £30 million in order to protect it for future generations. Lord Hendy travelled to Barmouth to join Ken Skates MS (Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport for Wales), Owain Pritchard (Mayor of Barmouth) and members of the Network Rail project team to unveil the blue plaque, which has been funded by the Railway Heritage Trust, which also financed new handrails on the structure. Tim Hedley-Jones, director of the Railway Heritage Trust,…

NORTH Queensferry Heritage Trust volunteers have been celebrating 10 years since the completion of the restoration of the town’s Grade B-listed station building. Trust volunteers leased the station in 2012, obtained grants from a range of bodies including the Railway Heritage Trust and Fife Council and reopened the refurbished building, renaming it as the Forth Bridge Heritage Centre in July 2014. The station is served by trains from Edinburgh Waverley and several heritage steam trains pass through yearly, having crossed the Forth Railway Bridge itself. The station building was constructed by the Forth Bridge Railway Company as part of the masterplan for the iconic bridge, which was also built in 1890, and the trust volunteered to take the surviving building over after First ScotRail, the then Scottish railway franchise holder,…

THERE is, perhaps, nothing so distinctive in railway circles as a narrow gauge railway. Often built on the cheap, almost always constructed foraunique purpose, these little lines have an idiosyncrasy all their own. No two narrow gauge railways are alike, and often their engines are singular too! To my mind, the modelling of these does not simply depend on choosing a likely prototype, but on intrinsically understanding the purpose and intention of what they were to be used for.Just as the Quarry Hunslets are synonymous with the slate industry of North Wales, so too are Manning Wardles with the Lynton & Barnstaple. One of the challenges with a prototype such as the Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardle 2-6-2Ts is that the fate of the locomotives is intrinsically intertwined with the…

ISSUE 318 mentioned Sir Nigel Gresley and his great achievement, Flying Scotsman, one of Britain's finest locomotives – so much so that in preservation it was put on sale, and fearing it may leave the country, the public was asked to raise funds to buy it for the nation. This we did; we did not intend to lose it. Having raised sufficient money, it was purchased for the National Railway Museum when it was contracted out for restoration. But when it next appeared, what had been done to it? It was no longer our Flying Scotsman with its double chimney and German smoke deflectors – even the livery and number changed. That was not only an insult to Sir Nigel, but also to the many fundraisers. It is just not…

SOUTH EAST Amberley Museum 2ft gauge, ¼ mile. Arundel, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 831370. Open: Weds-Suns. Bluebell Railway Standard gauge, 11 miles. Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. Running: Weds-Suns, sch hols. Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway 2ft gauge, ½ mile. Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01622 884254. Running: Weds + June 2, 16. Chatham Historic Dockyard Standard gauge, one mile. Chatham, Kent. Tel: 01634 820800. Open: Daily. East Kent Railway Standard gauge, two miles. Shepherdswell, Kent. Tel: 01304 832042. Running: Suns. Eastleigh Lakeside Railway 10¼in & 7¼in gauge, 1¼ miles. Running: W/Es, sch hols. Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway 12¼in gauge, 1½ miles. Exbury, Southampton. Tel: 023 8089 1203. Open: Daily. Hayling Light Railway 2ft gauge, one mile. Hayling Island, Hants. Tel: 07902 446340. Running: Weds, W/Es.…

THE eagerly-awaited debut of GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange and its superb performances proved to be the pinnacle of the May 25-27 Cotswold Festival of Steam, one of the most successful events held by the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in its 40-year history. The unique gala, on the theme of Western Workhorses, was the first time in the history of the UK heritage sector that three new-build standard gauge steam locomotives were seen together in action, the other two being visitors GWR Saint 4-6-0 No. 2999 Lady of Legend, from Didcot Railway Centre, and West Somerset Railway 2-6-0 No. 9351. It was also the first time that all types of two-cylinder Great Western-designed steam locomotives, following development from 1904 to 1950, were together at the same time in preservation, and…

FOLLOWING a four-year overhaul, NER autocoach No. 3453 was officially launched back into service during the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway’s May Bank Holiday weekend transport festival. Together with NER autocar No. 3170, the pair are transporting passengers along the five-mile heritage line. No. 3170 was the subject of an earlier award-winning 15-year restoration programme by Stephen Middleton to get it back on track following its use asa holiday home after it left railway service. Post-Grouping conversion No. 3453 was built in 1904 asa noncorridor brake third to NER diagram 116. A few years later, it was converted toa push-pull driving trailer to work with steam locomotives and avoid the need for the engine to run round at the end of each journey – with the characteristic portholes cut…

THE visit of 15in gauge BassettLowke 4-4-2 Little Giant Count Louis in its 100th anniversary year to the Fairbourne Railway’s May 25-27 annual steam gala prompted onetime staff member Steve Plimmer to organise a reunion of old friends and colleagues from the line’s 15in gauge days. The reunion took the form of a 100th birthday party on May 26, complete with a cake in the shape of the locomotive and special-edition Count Louis badges for those present. Count Louis was built in 1924 to the order of Count Louis Zborowski for use on his Higham Railway, but it was not delivered owing to his death in October 1924 while competing at the 1924 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. In 1925, the locomotive went to Fairbourne, where it was named Count…

THE Nene Valley Railway has launched an emergency £300,000 appeal to stave off the threat of closure in the face of soaring running costs. In what is the latest plea for extra funding from a major heritage railway within the last year, a statement from the 7½-mile line said: “With operating costs rising sharply and passenger numbers remaining subdued since the pandemic, the NVR urgently requires financial support to sustain its operations and safeguard its future as a cherished heritage attraction and working museum. “Since its inception, it has offered visitors an immersive unique journey through time aboard meticulously restored steam and diesel locomotives. From families seeking an unforgettable day out to enthusiasts passionate about Britain’s railway heritage, the NVR has captivated hearts and minds for more than 40 years.…

BULLEID Battle of Britain light Pacific No. 34081 92 Squadron has taken on a new identity for the duration of the current running season – that of No. 34111 Royal Auxiliary Air Force. The temporary name change came as the Royal Auxiliary Air Force marks 100 years of volunteer reserve service in the RAF. On Saturday, May 25, the locomotive made its inaugural run in its new identity at Wansford on the Nene Valley Railway with HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Honorary Air Commodore in Chief of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and patron of the NVR) on the footplate, having renamed the locomotive. Musicians from the Band of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force provided a musical backdrop to the event, which was also attended by civic dignitaries including…

EVERY heritage line has its icons, but seldom are they so pivotal to the full history of the railway such as Fletcher Jennings 0-4-2ST No.1 Talyllyn. Built at the company’sWhitehaven workshops in 1864, Talyllyn was built specifically for the line where it spent its entire life. When the pioneers of preservation took over the railway in 1951, No. 1 was in a dire state. Having been the popular choice out of it and fellow Fletcher Jennings product (0-4-0WT No. 2 Dolgoch), by 1945 it was exceedingly tired and was laid aside to await its fate. Its poor condition was beyond the means of the fledgling heritage line’s volunteers, but in 1957 the railway was able to send No.1 to Gibbons Bros Ltd in Dudley for restoration, and it returned to…

NEWS THE SevernValley Railway has followed up on last year’s success with modern traction events as more than 5000 visitors attended the May 16-19 Spring Diesel Festival. Visitor numbers significantly exceeded expectations, and a stunning line-up of diesel traction further cemented the railway’s position asaleading provider of enthusiast events as it looks forward to its 60th anniversary in 2025. As reported in issue 316, the line won the Heritage Railway Association 2024 Award for Diesel and Electric Locomotion, while managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster received The Railway Magazine Preservationist of the Year Award, both for his work asa volunteer with the Class 50 Alliance and his leadership of the SVR throughout the previous year. The festival featureda huge variety of diesel traction. Visitors included representatives of Classes 69, 70, 73,…

THE weekend of May 11/12 saw the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway host its annual steam and diesel gala, with this year’s guest locomotive celebrating its 30th birthday. Built for the Bure Valley Railway by Winson Engineering at Penrhyn, 2-6-2 No. 7 Spitfire was delivered there at Whitsun in 1994, its design loosely based on the Indian Railway ZB locomotives. The gala also saw Canadian Pacific 4-6-2s Nos. 9 Winston Churchill and 10 Doctor Syn working together for the first time in six years, with No. 9 having returned to service from overhaul in March. Both were outshopped by the Yorkshire Engine Company in 1931 after a rather chequered history, having originally been ordered from and started by Davey Paxman and continued at New Romney in the years prior to…

WHILE it may have already opened to the public on March 23 in conjunction with the commencement of daily train services, on May 3 the Welsh Government’s deputy director for tourism, development and sport, Steffan Roberts, was welcomed to Aberystwyth to officially open the new 5000 sq ft museum at Vale of Rheidol Railway. As previously reported, the museum utilises the GWR Aberystwyth locomotive shed to providea dry, covered space, within which is displayed a vast number of assets from the VoR’s collection, as well as locomotives and stock on loan from other lines, such as GWR ‘Dukedog’ No. 9017 Earl of Berkley from the Bluebell Railway. The museum also provides a dedicated space that can be hired for private functions and other events like concerts, such as that on…

NEWS THE winners of the 2023/24 Railway Correspondence and Travel Society Photographic Competition, held in conjunction with Mortons Media, publisher of Heritage Railway, have been announced. This year’s free-to-enter contest had the theme of Steam or Modern; People and the Environment, as outlined in issue 311. It offered existing and fledgling photographers of all ages the chance to showcase their work and win special prizes. The overall winner was Eddie Holden, whose image of Ratcliffe Power Station, the last coal-fired one in the UK, showed Class 60 No. 60019 passing Gateway West Junction with the 7.02am Lyndsey Oil Refinery to Kingsbury Oil Sidings freight on February 24, 2022. The judges considered that Eddie, who won the top prize of a DB Cargo cab ride, had captured an everyday railway scene…

NEWS GLORIOUS sunshine and an attractive line-up of locomotives proved to bea winning combination for the Churnet Valley Railway when it rejoined the gala scene after a five-year absence – with the first May bank holiday weekend event far exceeding expectations. Having set high standards at its last steam gala on February 23/24, 2019, which saw Caledonian Railway 439 class 0-4-4T No. 419 visit from its home north of the Scottish border, this year’s event saw the two resident USATC S160 2-8-0s– Nos. 5197 and 6046– joined by BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75014 Braveheart, which has been on loan to the railway from the Dartmouth Steam Railway since January. Local loco A regionally appropriate locomotive, after being built in 1951 at Swindon it was allocated to several sheds during…

THE iconic 1894-built Grade II-listed footbridge from St Erth station in Cornwall is to be moved to the East Somerset Railway’s Cranmore headquarters and re-erected. The footbridge, which gives access over the tracks at the west end of the station, has been given to the heritage line free of charge by Network Rail, which is building a modern, fully-accessible, step-free replacement. Some local residents have voiced their displeasure at the replacement of the footbridge, a key component of the station complex which opened on March 11, 1852, and is Grade II-listed throughout, but Cornwall Council granted planning permission early last year. In 1877, the station became the junction for the St Ives branch, the last broad-gauge line to be built. The station was enlarged in 1897 when another platform was…

THE Keighley & Worth Valley Railway will temporarily suspend services over half of its 5½-mile route in September to allow a key bridge to be replaced. Bridge 27, situated outside Haworth station, is now the focus of the railway’s engineers who are preparing to replace it. The line between Haworth and Oxenhope will be closed for up to four weeks to facilitate the most substantial element of these works. The current bridge was built in 1889 as part of a reconstruction of a previous structure erected in 1867 for the opening of the line. The existing bridge is two separate structures, but they both utilise the same abutments and pier. One of these decks carries the line into Haworth Yard, but this span received significant work in the late 1970s…

IT was news that Jonnie Pay and his volunteers on the Spa Valley Railway had heard all too often – a bridge that carries the heritage line over the busy A26 in Tunbridge Wells had once again been hit by a lorry, this time resulting in two cars being damaged and debris scattered over the road. Fortunately, fate for once smiled on the heritage line, and the incident on May 8 didn’t affect the railway’s services over the following weekend. The accident happened when two vehicles on the upper deck of a car transporter were pushed off as the lorry hit the 14ft 6in bridge, which is close to the railway’s Tunbridge Wells West terminus. Nobody was hurt, although an eye witness said a following vehicle was nearly hit when…

WITH its eclectic mix of rolling stock from around the world, on May 4 the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway added another country to its list of those represented when its Taiwanese visitor was finally launched into traffic. DL-34 arrived in Wales in early February 2023, having made a 6200-mile journey from the Alishan Forest Railway in Taiwan as part of a flourishing partnership between the two railways. The locomotive then spent the next 12 months undergoing the necessary modifications for it to enter service. Modifications to the brake systems were made by specialist contractors, as well as the fitting of couplings to make it compatible with the W&LLR’s own rolling stock. Once the mechanical works were completed, DL-34 commenced a period of testing and driver training to allow the…

A memorial headstone has been unveiled at the long-time unmarked grave of an LNER policeman who died after remaining at his post in a Second WorldWar air raid onYork station 82 years ago. In a moving memorial and dedication service at York Cemetery on April 29, Normandy veteran Ken Cooke was among those who paid tribute to the officer, Robert Smith, one of the 94 people who lost their lives in the Luftwaffe bombing in the early hours of the same date in 1942. On that fateful morning, 800 passengers on the late-running 10.15pm King’s Cross to Edinburgh sleeper service were safely evacuated at York following an air raid warning before the first bomb fell. This was followed by another near the parcels office and more across the station buildings,…

Some say there are two ways of doing things: the Great Western way and the wrong way – and it was thanks to the former that the Bluebell Railway’s May 10-12 branch line weekend was deemed a roaring success as two once-rival regions crossed over foraweekend of glorious sunshine and steam in Sussex. The invasion from the Great Western counties drew on the strong working relations between the Bluebell and the Severn Valley railways. Less than a month beforehand, LBSCR A1 ‘Terrier’ No. 72 Fenchurch went on its travels from the south to Shropshire for the SVR’s own spring steam gala, as highlighted last issue, where, for many, it stole the show working shuttles between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade that included tackling the grades of Eardington Bank. Shortly after returning…

June 8 Skegness Excursion Hastings, Skegness and return. DEMU: 1001. HD 8 Settle & Carlisle Steam Special Coventry, Carlisle and return. Steam-hauled between Carnforth (outward) and Preston (return). Loco: 34067 Tangmere. NB 8 ‘The Tynesider’ King’s Cross, Morpeth and return. Steam-hauled between York and Morpeth. Locos: Steam: TBA. Electric: 86259 Les Ross. RTC 8 ‘The Lakelander’ Leeds, Carlisle and return. Steam-hauled between Preston and Carlisle. Loco: TBA. ST 8 ‘The Blythe & Tyne’ Finsbury Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and return. Loco: Class 43 HST. UKRT 8 ‘The Ffestiniog Express’ Dorridge, Blaenau Ffestiniog and return. Diesel-hauled between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog. Loco: TBA. VT 9 ‘The Cromer Crompton’ Sheringham to Water Orton only. Locos: 33012 Lt. Jenny Lewis RN, 50008 Thunderer. BLS 11 ‘The Dalesman’ Chester, Carlisle and return. Steam-hauled between Hellifield…

NAMEPLATES from three Nigel Gresley-designed Pacifics are the early headliners inTalisman’s live saleroom auction at Newark Showground on July 13.The trio is led by Sir Charles Newton from A4 No. 60005, which emerged from Doncaster in June 1938 carrying the name Capercaille, was renamed Charles H Newton in August 1942 after the LNER’s chief general manager, and 10 months later was again renamed following his knighthood. This locomotive spent its later years working the three-hour Glasgow-Aberdeen expresses and was withdrawn from Aberdeen Ferryhill (61B) in March 1964. One of the Pacific’s worksplates and the regulator handle will also be separately going under the hammer. Accompanying the A4 plate in the LNER line-up are Blair Athol and Neil Gow, from A3 class stablemates Nos. 60058 and 60082. The former was built…

The headquarters of the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway is a is also home to the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, a charity and operator of both the heritage line and the Museum of Scottish Railways, employing about 25 fully-paid staff and around 200 working volunteers. Large, modern buildings and workshops have been constructed at Bo'ness to protect and restore as much of the collection as possible, while the site surrounding the station has expanded beyond recognition with the construction of carriage sheds, a locomotive workshop and the Scottish Railway Museum. The extensive collection inside the museum includes examples from each of the pre and post-Grouping Scottish railway companies, alongside items from the country's private builders. Scotland became famous for its heavy engineering and the construction of steam locomotives, so it is…

Crowds flocked to West Somerset during the May bank holiday weekend as the region’s heritage railway again proved beyond doubt that it is a major asset to the local economy. The attendance at the Spring Steam Spectacular was 50% up on the corresponding event last year. There were five visiting locomotives, with Locomotive Services Group’s LNER-designed B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower making its first-ever visit to the Minehead branch. WR Modified Hall 4-6-0 No. 6990 Witherslack Hall arrived from the Great Central Railway, LNWR 0-6-2 ‘Coal Tank’ No. 6695 from the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, GWR 0-6-2T No. 6695 from the Swindon & Cricklade Railway and Mike Pearse’s Hunslet 0-6-0ST No. 1873 of 1937 Jessie from Blaenavon’s Heritage Railway. While No. 6695 has visited the WSR several times before,…