Heritage Railway Issue 335

THE Greatest Gathering has established itself as an apex of the heritage movement, a brilliant means in which to start the third century of modern railways, with tickets evaporating as soon as they went on sale. The diversity of classic rolling stock exhibits the Litchurch Lane event, not to mention the plethora of sideshows, will undoubtedly have won over many visitors, even if they were not hardened enthusiasts. Festivals like this are too often once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but with Railway 200 having ignited public interest in the subject, possibly like few others since the end of the steam age, should that be the case? “Completing reunification will give the southern GCR a main line connection from the first time, making charters both from and to Loughborough a very attractive proposition…” I…

FOLLOWING its appearance at The Greatest Gathering in Derby, A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman will visit the North Yorkshire Moors Railway this autumn. As part of the line’s Railway 200 celebrations, No. 60103 will haul public services there daily on October 25-29 and November 1-5 and 8-12. Passengers who book before August 31 will get 10% off. Bookings are for an allocated seat return journey from Grosmont to Pickering behind the A3. Non-seat-allocated services between Pickering/Grosmont and Whitby, hauled by different locomotives, will be running, and Scotsman ticketholders are welcome to board these trains. For details, visit: www.nymr.co.uk/Event/flying-scotsman. For discounts for groups of 20 people or more, email info@nymr.co.uk…

BELIEVED not to have steamed in nearly 80 years, a unique GER locomotive may run for the first time in the heritage era when its at Hopetown Darlington’s Titans of Steam gala, being held from September 20 to October 5. Built by Neilson & Co in 1876, No. 229 was one of eight 0-4-0STs that became the Y5 class under the LNER. The design was unusual in that rather than being placed behind the cab, the coal bunker straddled the boiler between it and the saddle tank. It was employed at Stratford Works as a shunter and was even used to test carriage brakes after being fitted with a Westinghouse pump, vacuum brake and steam heating equipment. No. 229 was sold to the National Shipyard at Chepstow during World War…

AT 1.30pm on Tuesday, July 22, Class 50 No. 50033 Glorious, hauling eight GWR carriages with two other diesels at the rear, comprised the first train to cross the newly-repaired Mor Brook bridge on the Severn Valley Railway since it was severed by the January 29 landslip. Thanks to an ambitious and unique joint volunteering effort by many companies in the rail sector, the SVR succeeded in relaying track across the bridge in record time and at zero cost– ahead of A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman hauling the first public service to reunite the whole line on Friday, July 25, covered at www.therailwayhub.co.uk With only a short timescale to complete the job, SVR director Steve Featherstone used his extensive network of main line railway contacts to secure voluntary people…

BULLEID Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35028 Clan Line took centre stage at Waterloo station on July 18/19 when it was displayed with Network Rail’s travelling Railway 200 exhibition train Inspiration. Visitors were able to see the locomotive in light steam in Platform 19, and ticketholders could walk through the carriages of Inspiration. Following this, a rare chance to step aboard the footplate of a main line steam locomotive at a main line station was presented on July 19 when, following successful talks behind the scenes, owner the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society invited its supporters and members of the public to climb aboard fora brief experience of life in the cab. MNLPS communications officer James Cummins said: “The appearance of Clan Line alongside Inspiration at London Waterloo has been a…

A ‘SUBSTANTIAL’ donation from Hitachi Rail has enabled Grade II*-listed Heighington station - considered to be the oldest in the world and at risk – to be sold to the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and therefore saved for the nation. The station in County Durham, designed by local mason John Falcus Carter, was built in 1826 and opened in 1827 to meet the demand from passenger and railway users for facilities and became the first to be built by a railway company. Originally named Aycliffe Lane, it was subsequently renamed Aycliffe and Heighington, later Aycliffe, and on September 1, 1874, it gained its present name. It features the earliest known example of a low platform to enable individual passenger boarding. It was here in 1825 that George…