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AS we approach the 50th anniversary of the end of steam on the Southern Region, there are several superb galas organised to mark the occasion. However, what could be better than the return of a Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific to cock a snook at the modernising powers that were? Answer: two Merchant Navies returning to steam – and on the same day. Such an event would normally be less believable than thinking you are going to win the lottery. Personally I would have placed my money on a lottery win. Yet the incredible happened, purely by coincidence on Thursday, May 18. At Carnforth, David Smith’s No. 35018 British India Line – a ‘new kid on the block’ as far as the heritage era is concerned – made its first full…
HISTORY was made on Thursday, May 18, when not one, but two, Bulleid Merchant Navy class 4-6-2s made initial main line test runs on the national network on the same day. By pure chance, No. 35018 British India Line made its long anticipated appearance and morning departure from Carnforth on its first run since being rebuilt – and later that day the Southern flagship and preservation icon No. 35028 Clan Line made its way out of Crewe following an extended overhaul. British India Line appeared alongside Carnforth station the day before, in black livery, and as a jest by its owner, West Coast Railway supremo David Smith, carried the nameplate from West Country 4-6-2 No. 34016 Bodmin, which is undergoing overhaul in the adjacent depot. Routed by way of Settle…
A FOURTH visit to a heritage venue for Flying Scotsman has been added to its 2017 itinerary. Following its hugely successful visits to the Keighley & Worth Valley and Bluebell railways, the A3 will appear at Didcot Railway Centre over the August 26-28 bank holiday weekend. It will be its first appearance at Didcot since 2005, just before being taken out of service for restoration. Because of the huge anticipated public demand, admission will be by ticket only, bought in advance via a link on the centre’s website www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk There will be no pay at the gate admissions. Centre manager Roger Orchard said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the National Railway Museum to show off their most famous locomotive in our living steam railway museum. “Passengers will…
ANDY Munro, chief executive officer of the Great Central Railway, parted company with the Loughborough line on May 16 after just 10 months in the role. A statement from the railway said: “The board of the Great Central Railway plc regret to announce chief executive Andy Munro is stepping down. “He joined the company last year and has been instrumental in delivering progress on two major projects; the start of work on a new bridge over the Midland Main Line for the reunification scheme and the continued development of a new Heritage Lottery-funded railway museum at Leicester North station. Successor will be announced “Mr Munro is leaving the GCR for family reasons and the board would like to place on record their thanks for his hard work and wish him…
THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway is to run its first main line train for fellow East Coast heritage line the North Norfolk Railway on July 5, it has been announced. As revealed in issue 228, the NYMR and NNR have been in talks over the former using its Network Rail access agreement to run the latter’s dining trains to Cromer and maybe beyond. Last year, the Poppy Line ran a sell-out trial series of dining trains from Sheringham to Cromer operated by West Coast Railways. The first phase of collaboration between the two lines will begin on July 5, when the NYMR will run the trains over the Bittern Line as an existing licensed operator on Network Rail (over the Esk Valley Line to Whitby and Battersby) under a revised…
THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s September 27-October 1 autumn steam gala will have a Great Western feel to it this year, with planned visitors to include pannier tanks Nos. 7714 and 1501 from the Severn Valley – presumably a reciprocal exchange for continuing delays over the delivery of boiler stays needed to complete SR Schools 4-4-0 No. 926 Repton which is down to attend the corresponding SVR event on September 21-24. It will be the first visit of a 57XX class pannier to the NYMR, No. 1501 visited previously but was failed early in the course of its visit. It is envisaged that the two locomotives will be doubleheading on most of the trains that they work. The NYMR is also discussing the possibility of bringing in a third GWR locomotive to…
