Indholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2025 i Narrow Gauge World

“The full extent of what Peter saved is becoming clear – without his efforts few, if any, of these locos would likely still exist…” Welcome to NGW198 and I must start this issue with a note of congratulation – to the team responsible for the latest and most jaw-dropping new-build project we’ve seen for some time. As you will read over the page, a private group is recreating a Hunslet NA/5 2-8-4 pannier tank, as built for the Dholpur State Railway in India – a truly monster loco which when finished has an agreement to run on the Welsh Highland Railway. Remarkably this project has been underway for some three years, reaching the stage of a rolling chassis with cylinders cast and the boiler under construction, with virtually no-one outside…

New horsepower came to the Talyllyn Railway on 13th-14th September when the line focused its annual Heritage Weekend on its slate history. For the first time since 1946, the event slate waggon moved by horse – this was a common sight in the days of the Bryn Eglwys quarry, horses being used to pull waggons along the level sections of the line’s mineral section, such as between the Alltwyllt and Cantrybedd inclines. Local company Carnog Working Horses, which has previously undertaken horse logging work in the area, supplied working horse Molly which hauled the wagon along a section of temporary track laid in the field below Abergynolwyn station. Saturday’s trains focused on the Talyllyn and Corris Railways in the pre-preservation era, employing original carriages from both railways and waggons from…

The end of the 2025 operating season sees three core steam locomotives reaching the end of their 10-year boiler tickets and being withdrawn for overhaul. However the Leighton Buzzard Railway-based Baldwin 4-6-0T No.778, the Ffestiniog Railway’s double Fairlie ‘Merddin Emrys’ and Phil Mason’s Amerton-based Kerr, Stuart 0-4-0T ‘Diana’ are not expected to be out of use for an extended period. The 1917-built Baldwin, which was returned to steam at Leighton Buzzard in 2007, was set to make a final appearance before expiry of its ticket on 30th November during a special 26th October event at the Bedfordshire line. As part of the LBR’s Halloween celebrations the day was expected to also feature vertical-boilered locos ‘Taffy’, visiting from Alan Keef Ltd and resident De Winton ‘Chaloner’, together with Kerr Stuart Wren…

USA The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado was forced to suspend operations for two days on 11th October due to damage caused by a tropical rain storm. Heavy rain that swept through southwest Colorado over the weekend caused significant flooding in the San Juan Mountains through which the 45-mile long 3ft gauge line runs. The first Saturday train from Durango reached reached Silverton safely, but railroad manager Jeff Johnson told local media that it was deemed safer to return passengers to Durango by bus, and two later trains had to be turned round early as the weather deteriorated. A diesel service was dispatched with local emergency services to rescue stranded hikers – “then we found ourselves unable to operate for two days, in any capacity,” Johnson said.On…

The German Transport Exhibition held in Munich in June 1925 saw the use of three brand-new 15-inch gauge 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives built in the city by Krauss (reports Christian Jummrich) and 100 years on Leipzig and Dresden hosted centenary celebrations for the ‘Liliputloks’. Most of the 15 locos eventually built in this series, as well as three almost identical Krupp locos, have been preserved. Some are still in operation today on various park railways in Europe, the three oldest running in the Grosser Garten in Dresden and on the railway at Auensee in Leipzig. The Leipzig-based second loco built, works no 8352, set off by road to Dresden on 3rd September where over the weekend of 6th-7th September it featured in a varied programme on the 5.6km long park railway in…

Timbertown goes up for sale The owner of the Timbertown theme park in New South Wales, AUSTRALIA has announced plans to retire and put the attraction up for sale. The park, depicting a Colonial-era sawmiller’s village, includes a 2km long 1ft 111/2in gauge railway, worked by former South Johnstone Mill Fowler 0-4-2T ‘Ruby’ (17881/1928). MTVS event for pioneer loco Members of the Museum of French Steam Tramways and Secondary Railways (MTVS) at Crèvecœur-le-Grand, FRANCE made their own contribution to ‘Railway 200’ at the end of September with a celebratory event which featured a replica of pioneer standard gauge locomotive ‘Marc Seguin’ running on temporary track. The original loco of 1829 was the first steam engine to employ a multi-tube boiler.…

For your editor and many a reader of NGW, a new season effectively begins with the first enthusiast day of the year at the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust. Anyone who has been to any of these events at the museum near Tamworth (and if you read this magazine and haven’t, why on earth not?) will know that there is always plenty of action from multiple steam locos, and always something new to see. So back in March off I went, and this time among those new things was the former Rustenberg platinum mine Bagnall 0-4-2T ‘Isaac’, reliveried in a very fetching shade of Caledonian blue. The loco was working its train of two Darjeeling carriages into an equally new and very wide platform at Oak Tree Halt, on the…

In this issue we take narrow gauge modelling to its ceiling… To the point where modelling becomes model engineering, with model locomotives large enough and powerful enough to pull their owner and in many cases a train load of passengers around a track. The occasion stimulating this feature is the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition, held every October at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre. I’ve been attending this show for many years, and one aspect I know I will always enjoy are the many narrow gauge examples that always feature among the models. Narrow gauge prototypes produce much ‘chunker’ models and today have a major influence whichever of the three popular track gauges one adopts – 31/2-inch gauge, mainly for raised track, 5-inch gauge which can be practically employed on a ground…

From 60 years ago Narrow Gauge down the M1 On the morning of Saturday 21st August, a 2ft gauge Bagnall locomotive could have been seen travelling down the M1 to London from Leicestershire at up to 50mph! This does not herald the arrival of a narrow gauge main line in Great Britain, but was, of course, the moving of our locomotive ‘Peter’, an 0-4-0ST of 1917 from the Cliffe Hill Granite Co Ltd, to our site at Brockham, where it is proposed to make this the first loco in steam regularly at the museum. The actual loading had taken place the previous evening and had been no easy task, even though the engine weighed only 31/2 tons… The company’s breakdown lorry, a massive American vehicle, backed up to Peter, but…

A new-build version of one of the largest Hunslet narrow gauge locomotives ever built is set to operate on the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR), and could enter service in as early as 2028. On 13th September, hours after a small ceremony for the former South African Railway NG15 2-8-2 recently returned to service on the WHR saw it officially given the name ‘Kalahari’, members of the Welsh Highland Railway Society attending the group’s AGM were given details of the new-build project. A small independent team in Somerset is constructing an ‘improved’ version of a Hunslet ZA/5 class 2-8-4 pannier tank, the final two of which were built in 1959 for the Dholpur State Railway in India. Remarkably the build has been going on for some three years in complete secrecy,…

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s Woody Bay station is among seven rail structures that have been given Grade II listed status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of the Railway 200 celebrations. The Woody Bay listing covers the station building, former stable block and signal cabin, excluding its lever frame which is not original. The L&B now has two listed sites, Woody Bay and the Chelfham viaduct. A spokesman for the L&B described the listing as testament to the foresight and dedication of the line’s volunteers, supporters and staff over the last few decades. “We are also pleased that Historic England have acknowledged the role that narrow-gauge railways played in the development of the railways more widely across the UK,” he added.…

Volunteers at the Gunpowder Railway at Waltham Abbey in Essex are making significant progress towards housing more of the 2ft 6in gauge line’s heritage stock under cover, after completing the construction of a steel building frame. Components for the frame were discovered in undergrowth around the edge of the railway yard, and despite likely dating back to the Second World War era, were found to be in near perfect condition. “It required only cleaning and red oxide treatment before being reassembled rather in the manner of a large Meccano set – but without instructions!” the line’s Nick Turner told NGW. When complete the shed will measure 11 metres long by four metres wide.…

The Cavan and Leitrim Railway Museum enjoyed a successful final steaming day of the 2025 season on 28th September, the museum’s Dromod Centre seeing plenty of visitors keen to take a ride behind resident former Stanton Ironworks Avonside 0-6-0T ‘Nancy’ (1547/1908). With the site now closed for the winter, in addition to maintenance work the overhaul of Hunslet Hydraulic loco LM384 will continue – the loco, that once operated on hire to the Tralee and Blennerville railway, was obtained from the Bord na Mona peat operation following its closure. The museum has clarified information provided for NGW’s story last month on the rescue of the remains of two railcar saloons built in the 1950s for the West Clare sections of the 3ft gauge CIE network and recently stored at the…

As briefly mentioned last month the Pairi Daïza Railway, a 600mm gauge line based in a zoological park in Western BELGIUM, celebrated its 10th anniversary on 13th-14th September with a 10-strong cavalcade of locomotives (reports Guy Tyteca). The line, which UK narrow gauge engineer Alan Keef Ltd was heavily involved in the building of, consists of a 2km loop running between animal enclosures in the 75-hectare park, passing among others kangaroos, gorillas, hippos, rhinos, giraffes and elephants. For the 10th birthday event a 10-strong ‘reunion’ was organised with six visiting locos. Four came from France, the P’tit Train de la Haute Somme sending 1925-built Vulcan 0-8-0+T no 8, from the Chemin de Fer de la Vallée de l’Ouche the 1910 Couillet 0-6-0T ‘Burgonde’, from Pithiviers Le Meuse 2-6-0T ‘Les Fontenelles’…

As features editor of NGW, Ialways look forward to receiving the Waite’s World text for each issue. Yet this time it induced a sense that was not quite decrepitude, but definitely one of being less young. It was the reference to an enjoyable open day this August at the Eastwell Heritage Centre in Leicestershire – home to Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST ‘Lord Granby’ (633/1902). It proved just too tempting to do some mental arithmetic, leading to the unavoidable conclusion that 66 years had elapsed since I last saw this locomotive at the nearby 3ft gauge Eastwell ironstone system. It was shut in a shed, awaiting its fate along with five other engines on a line clearly on its last legs. Quite what took me to Eastwell on 21st September 1959 was…

The manufacture of gunpowderwas first recorded at Waltham Abbey, Essex in the early 17th century and production expanded rapidly over the next hundred years. All raw material and finished product was moved by barge, via canals on the site and then down the River Lea to the River Thames. Railways first appeared on site in the late 1850s to move the increased amounts of coal, raw materials and manufactured product that resulted from the introduction of steam powered mills. These early tramways were of 2ft 3in gauge, and used wooden rails to eliminate the risk of sparks, with all the wagons being propelled by hand. Over the next 40 years the site doubled in size to more than 400 acres in extent and an extensive network of 18-inch gauge tramways…

The idea for a railway on the Portuguese islands of Madeira came from Antonio Joaquim Marques of Lisbon, who obtained a concession from Funchal City Council to build a line. There were several reasons for this scheme, although a main one was that people needed to get to the pilgrimage church of Nossa Senhora do Monte, built in the highlands of Funchal island. Once the railway was built, they were able to do so in large numbers. Additionally, Monte was an area for tourism and recuperation, and many of Funchal’s richest families lived there, so a reliable means of transport was needed. The concession was granted in 1887 when the Portuguese engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, who was of French parentage and also an ex-apprentice of Gustav Eiffel, was engaged…

March date up north An early entry for those brand-new diaries is the Narrow Gauge North model show. The 2026 edition of this popular event will be held on Saturday 14th March at its usual venue of the Civic Hall in Pudsey, Leeds, from 10:30am to 4:30pm. The venue, just five minutes walk from Pudsey station, has a large free car park. Disabled access will be available to all areas except the stage and hot and cold refreshments will be on offer. Details of the layouts appearing are to be confirmed but there is bound to be much to enjoy – the 2025 show attracted more than 20 layouts along with a host of traders. Details will be posted on the website, narrowgaugenorth.org.uk and on facebook.com/ngnorth. Garden rail show date…

■ While 16mm scale models of the Talyllyn Railway’s rolling stock are plentiful, this from Coach & Wagon Works is one of the most detailed yet. It’s also something new as bogie carriage no 24 is one of three built for the TR by the Ffestiniog Railway’s Boston Lodge Works from 2023. The kit has a birch-faced ply body and includes everything needed to complete the carriage. The bogies and wheels are metal and there are the TR’s signature sprung side buffers, brass door handles and all the decals. Inside detail extends to fabrics, carpets, pictures and even mirrors, all visible as the roof is removable and interior lighting supplied. The kit comes with 32mm gauge wheels – 45mm versions are not an option, but also on offer is a…

The Ffestiniog Railway was the venue for another successful Bygones weekend on 3rd-5th October, despite the best efforts of the weather to disrupt the event. The weekend which traditionally sees the line celebrating its heritage with the likes of Victorian-era train sets and staff and visitors in period wear, neatly coincided with the arrival in the UK of Storm Amy – the first storm of the winter season in Europe and a record-breaking cyclone that caused major damage and left three people dead in France and Ireland. Regular NGW correspondent Steve Sedgwick attended the Bygones event and described the weather as extreme. “Winds exceeded 50mph and the rain at times was horizontal,” he said. “Unsurprisingly, conditions were very uncomfortable for FR staff and volunteers – it was painful to be…

A BBC radio programme appears to have sparked some controversy over the status of a locomotive currently working at a watercress farm in Dorset. An edition of Secret Dorset broadcast in September on BBC Radio Solent highlighted the line at Dodding’s Farm, in Bere Regis, Dorset. Transport writer David Henshaw had contacted the programme to tell them about the railway and its petrol locomotive, called ‘The Watercress Queen.’ Mr Henshaw stated that he had last visited the farm in 2023 and the railway was then operational, adding that it has just reached its hundredth birthday. BBC reporter Patrick Hughes visited the farm and concluded the loco had been out of action for a while, saying; “the inside was full of cobwebs,”. He interviewed farm manager Kelvin Dutton who stated “It’s…

Dismantling has been completed of the most recent arrival at the Derbyshire ‘Workshop X’ restoration facility, which has been commissioned by the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust to restore Black Hawthorn 0-4-0ST no 748. Completed in 1883 for a copper mine in southern Spain and named ‘Portugueza’, the 640mm gauge loco was one of only two narrow gauge steam engines built by the Gateshead company. The other was the 3ft gauge ‘Kettering Furnaces No.3’, displayed for many years at the Penrhyn Castle Industrial Museum but now being returned to working order at Northern Heritage Engineering in Darlington for the Waterford Suir Valley Railway in Ireland. No 748 underwent many changes during its working life included being renamed ‘Escucha’ and having side tanks added either side of its saddle tank. Analysis…

A five-mile section of the former A Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension Railway has been opened to pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders under the title of the Muckish Railway Walk, recalling a wild and remote section of the Northern Irish 3ft gauge line in the shadow of Muckish Mountain (reports Hugh Dougherty). The walk, which includes refurbished cuttings, culverts, embankments and the L&BER’s characteristic round stone gateposts, re-opens a part of the county inaccessible since the closure of the line in 1947, as no public roads penetrate the area. A two-mile length of the trackbed has been surfaced – the remaining three miles to Falcarragh Station is passable, but still to be brought up to full standards. Local groups and Donegal County Council plan to reinstate the whole 50-mile route from Letterkenny…

Correspondent Mick Bass recently rode the ‘Green Train’ tourist train service between Luras and Tempio on the Mediterranean island of SARDINIA.The route is one of those operated under the title of ‘Trenino Verde’, used since 1984 to describe former secondary routes on Sardinia now used for tourist services – the name, meaning little green train, is linked to the rich vegetation which can be viewed from the trains. Currently 251 miles of the Sardinian network are used for the Trenio Verde services with a range of trains available to visitors, though Mick described the station at Luras as “looking completely abandoned when you first arrive”. He added however, that the rail journey was highly enjoyable through vineyards and flagged level crossings; “The station at Tempio doubles as a bus terminal…

It is sometimes said that the ironstone quarries in the Midlands came and went without becoming etched into the collective memories of the communities nearby, in contrast for instance to many coal mining communities which continue to be defined by the industry long after the mines closed down. It’s true that many villages in places such as South Wales were built solely to house the colliery workers, whereas in the Midlands ironstone fields they were there long before quarrying began, and the industry only ever employed a relatively small proportion of their residents. One such old-established village is Eastwell in Leicestershire, perched at the top of the marlstone escarpment 80 metres above the Vale of Belvoir, close to the county’s borders with Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Rutland. For more than 80…

The approaching end to the year also brings to a close celebrations of Railway 200, the bicentenary of the opening of what is generally regarded to be the world’s first public railway, the Stockton & Darlington. The year has seen several major events including the ‘Greatest Gathering’ in Derby, the journey of the replica of the S&D locomotive ‘Locomotion’ from Stockton to Darlington in September and for narrow gauge enthusiasts the remarkable event at the Ffestiniog Railway in June which saw ‘200 wheels on The Cob’. On 6th October, however, there was another, much more low-key commemoration, of an event much more recent than 200 years but of equal importance to both the narrow gauge and railway preservation as a whole. On 6th October 1950, 75 years ago, the last…

Glyn Valley new-build I can’t have been the only NGW reader who did an excited double-take of the news headline in issue 197, ‘Glyn Valley plans new-build loco’, and at a further glance saw the 0-4-2 wheel arrangement. Was this at last a plan to resurrect one of the Beyer, Peacock tram locomotives, tragically all culled following the line’s demise in 1935? (Sadly not, as the new story relates the project will see the building of a Kerr, Stuart 0-4-2ST following the donation of a completed set of frames – Ed). Surely (the GVT tram loco) is the next obvious new-build project in the world of narrow gauge? The Glyn Valley Tramway Trust’s publicity images showing a tram loco at Chirk strongly suggests this is the vision. The GVT trams…

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the two parts of Germany were subsequently reunited, virtually every aspect of life changed for the people of the DDR (East Germany). The country’s narrow gauge steam railways were rare exceptions, happily surviving intact. As Keith Chester remarked in the text accompanying his evocative 1978 pictures of Wernigerode in NGW190, almost exactly the same photos could be taken half a century later. In some respects this should not be a surprise. Even in the 1970s most of 750mm and 1000mm gauge lines in the DDR were under state heritage protection, Denkmalschutz. Apart from the Pressnitztalbahn, closed in 1984, the long-term result has been that today the same stock still works the same routes as it did in the late 1970s. But while…