The only magazine specialising in narrow gauge railways. We recall the past, and offer comprehensive, in-depth coverage of today’s narrow gauge scene. We speak with authority to our readers, many of whom run narrow-gauge railways.
“No mention of the massive role the UK played in global rail development by exporting narrow gauge to the world…” Not long after I first took the hot seat of this illustrious publication in 2009, I started getting sent particularly superb sets of pictures each July. Combining dramatic Cumbrian scenery with true industrial grit they always screamed for use on the cover or centre-spread, and I soon learnt they were taken at the annual Gala and photo charter day of a not too well-known mining museum called Threlkeld. It seemed impossible to go there without coming away with excellent images. I resolved to visit Threlkeld but was constantly thwarted by clashes with my then ‘other job’ in motorsport journalism. Once we nearly made it – my wife agreed to a…
A quartet of locomotives represented the A narrow gauge at what was considered the major event of ‘Railway 200’, marking the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. Ffestiniog Railway England 0-4-0ST ‘Prince’, Statfold NG Trust Hunslet 0-4-ST ‘Trangkil No.4’, and the 15-inch pairing of Heywood 0-4-0T ‘Katie’ from Ravenglass Railway Museum and Perrygrove Railway Exmoor 0-6-2T ‘Anne’, all ran at ‘The Greatest Gathering’, held at the Derby works of rail rolling stock manufacturer Alstom between 1st and 3rd August. The locos formed part of an extravaganza featuring more than 140 steam, diesel and electric locos and rolling stock, including standard gauge steam ranging from the original Stockton & Darlington ‘Locomotion No.1’ to a 9F 2-10-0 and featuring famed locos such as A1 Pacific ‘Tornado’, A2…
The Talyllyn Railway has enjoyed unprecedented levels of success with its fifth ‘Awdry Extravaganza’ event, held from 18th-20th July and celebrating the life and legacy of the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine. The TR has never run typical Thomas the Tank Engine weekends like several other heritage railways, as Awdry was one of the line’s earliest volunteers and his stories of the narrow gauge Skarloey Railway on the Isle of Sodor based directly on his experiences on the Welsh line. After joining the Preservation Society Awdry first visited the TR with his family in 1952. He became a volunteer guard on the trains, leading to the first Skarloey Railway book Four Little Engines, published in 1955. Several more titles followed. For the event the Talyllyn loco…
The private Richmond Light Railway in Kent will stage a second event for the first time in September following the success of the 2ft gauge line’s latest Charity Steam Fair on 9th August. Tickets for the highly regarded annual event sold out in less than seven days, raising more than £3000 for the Riding for the Disabled Association. Visitors who secured tickets were able to enjoy five of the line’s locomotives on trains – Bagnall 0-4-0ST ‘Pixie’, Hunslet 0-4-0STs ‘Elin’ and ‘Sybil’, Decauville 0-4-0T ‘Lily’ and Couillet 0-4-0T ‘Chuquitanata’. The action included double-headed workings and a slate train demonstration. Vertical boiler 0-4-0 ‘Leary’ offered Driver for a Fiver workings in the engine shed road and at the end of the day ventured out onto the main line with a slate…
Just as this issue of NGW was closing for press the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust announced the results of its member consultation on options for the future extension of the line. The consultation followed the rejection in May by the Exmoor National Park Planning Authority of the Trust’s application to extend its 0.9-mile long running line by a further 0.6-mile, from its current limit of operations at Killington Lane to Cricket Field Lane, just short of Parracombe village. Planners threw out the application on the grounds of causing harm to the scenic beauty and character of the national park, to the Parracombe conservation area and listed buildings within it. The consultation amongst Trust members presented six options for the way forward and 97 per cent of respondents voted against…
The Darnall Locomotive and Railway Heritage Trust has been making major progress on several of its restoration projects. Set up by enthusiast Maddie Dolby with the intention of preserving 2ft gauge items either rejected by other collections or in danger of deterioration, the Trust is currently restoring three significant steam locomotives along with diesel and diesel-electric locos and several items of rolling stock. As well as former South African Railways NG15 2-8-2 ‘Kalahari’ no 120, under restoration at the DLRHT’s base in Sheffield (NGW191), the Trust is restoring Orenstein & Koppel 0-6-0T no 740, built for the Matheran Hill Railway in India and once resident at the Leighton Buzzard Railway, and O&K ‘Luttermoller’ 0-10-0T ‘Nellie’, which ran at a sugar plantation in Argentina. Work on Nellie has been underway at…
