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THE completion of another mission impossible is always a pinnacle of the railway heritage movement, not least of all the realisation of a 45-year dream. For it was back in early 1974 that the Great Western Society bought GWR 4-6-0 No. 4942 Maindy Hall from Barry scrapyard with the intention of back-converting into an example of the extinct forerunner of its type, the Churchward Saint, considered to be the most important steam locomotive design of the early 20th century. The Saint class in so many ways marked the watershed between the steam locomotives of the Victorian era and the modern world, and it is a tragedy that nobody saw fit to preserve one. That ship has now been righted. Back then, such an aspiration may well have belonged firmly in…
WHEN Gresley Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman made its eagerly-awaited public appearance at Swanage station at the head of the first morning train on Friday, March 22, passenger numbers were at first said to be‘reasonable’– but the magic of television quickly changed all of that. Broadcasting live from the line, BBC South TV and BBC Radio Solent caught the public’s imagination and suddenly railway officials were swamped by the public, demanding tickets to ride behind the world’s most ‘famous’ locomotive. Penny Vaudoyer, the daughter of the late Alan Pegler, who bought the A3 out of BR service in 1963, flew in from Portugal to flag off the first train. As the morning wore on, roads to Swanage became far busier than normal. At Poole, long queues formed to take the…
THE recipient of the Heritage Railway Association Peter Manisty Award for Excellence 2019, NER petrol-electric railcar No. 3170 – historically priceless as the world’s first internal combustion-powered modern passenger train – is to appear at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham on November 23/24. Afterwards, it will be taken to the Great Central Railway at Loughborough for adjustments to its running mechanism, and will probably be used on some passenger services during its stay. The 1903-built railcar, which also won the HRA Modern Traction Award 2019 sponsored by our sister title Rail Express, is based at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. The Warley show is set to include the launch of an 00 gauge model of the vehicle by Heljan, made…
THE failure of the Deltic Preservation Society’s Class 55 D9009 Alycidon on the southbound March 3 ‘Auld Reekie’ from Edinburgh, is more serious than originally thought. Two traction motors were isolated at Dunbar following a loud ‘bang’, but difficulty in obtaining power saw the driver stop at Berwick. Investigations revealed a large power surge damaged all six traction motors and affected one of the two main generators. There is a burn mark on the roof of D9009 and also on the inside of the engine room roof. Get in touch editor@heritagerailway.co.uk.…
WR 0-6-0 PT No. 9466, which belonged to the late Dennis Howells, is to be placed on the market, his family has confirmed. Dennis died last year and his family has decided that they do not have the necessary skills and knowledge to keep and operate the engine, built by Hawthorn Leslie in Newcastle in 1951. Its final steamings under Howells family ownership were scheduled for the South Devon Railway 50th anniversary gala, prior to its returning to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, its home base for over 40 years. The engine will be sold with all its main line equipment fitted – its main line registration was renewed by the family at the end of February, after his memorial train, sporting his original ‘Red Dragon’ headboard, ran between Southall and…
LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas officially completed its return to steam after being formally commissioned at its owning society’s Ingrow base on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on Friday, March 29. Bahamas, an iconic performer on the main line during the heritage era, had previously steamed for the last time in 1997 when its boiler ticket expired. Its £1 million overhaul was completed at Tyseley Locomotive Works last year, with the aid of a £775,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant – which also funded the conversion of a riding and tool van owned by the society into the Learning Coach. As highlighted in HR issue 233, this ‘project within a project’ saw the vehicle, which began life as a carriage built at Wolverton Works in 1924, converted into…
