Heritage Railway Issue 282

IN the year we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Talyllyn Railway becoming the world’s first volunteer-led heritage line, the euphoria fromthe local community thatgreeted the returnof steamto Bala town centre on June 12/13 shines like a beacon in these dismal times. Rawenthusiasm for the potential thataheritage line can bring to a localityand itseconomyshows no sign of dissipating. The ReRailedweekend, as reported inNews, pages 26/27,worked wonders in raising the profile of the hugelycommendable plantocreateamajor tourist attraction of the heartof a town that is sooften largely bypassed by visitors. Theevent remindedmeof the atmosphereatembryonic rail heritage venues I visitedwith mydad in the early1970swhen themovementwas still verymuch gettingstarted; the firstopen days at Tyseley, the SevernValley Railway running its first trains toHamptonLoade, theWelshpool&Llanfair pushing fromSylfaentoRaven Square, andmanyothers. TheBaleLake Railway is nowflying the flag…

THE Llangollen Railway was aiming to restart services on Friday, July 9. Subject to inspection and approval of maintenancework carried out on the River Dee bridge, the Llangollen Railway Trust–which has now taken over the running of the line following previous operator Llangollen Railway plc entering administration with £350,000 debt–will begin with a Llangollen to Berwyn shuttle service using diesel railcars operating between Fridays and Sundays. Thework on the Dee Bridge was scheduled to restart onMonday, June 28 and is expected to last for one week. The volunteer permanent way team has to fit the check rails to the timbers, align the track and weld up the rail joints to complete the work started inMarch, when new baulk timbers were installed prior to the plc receiver suspending work. Theworks will…

LNER A4 No.60009 Union of South Africa is tobowout of traffic at the East Lancashire Railway in January following anappearance at the line’s October gala. The streamlined Gresley Pacific’s boiler certificate expires in 2022, and owner John Cameron then plans toplace it onpermanent static display at his farm in Fife alongside his other LNER engine, K4 No. 61994 The Great Marquess. The ELR has announced a four-day farewell event for the popular ‘No. 9’ fromDecember 31 to January 3, and it will alsobe the star attraction at the railway's Autumn Steam Gala on October 15-17, running alongside other locomotives from the resident fleet. It is due to be rostered for service trains on July 24/25, August 11-15 and September 1/2, and will also haul dining trains on July 24, August…

ANEWfund to help raise £5million to reopenthe GreatCentralRailway (Nottingham)anddevelop it as oneof its county’s leading heritage attractionshasbeen launched. TheForward Fund aims to provide newvisitor facilities, includinganew station building at the Nottingham TransportHeritage Centre in Ruddington. It will also raisemoney to upgrade tracks and bridges on the nine-mile GCR(N), including the complete overhaul of Bridge 326, which carries it over the A60 road on the outskirts of Loughborough. Last September the Officeof Rail andRoad ordered all rail traffic over the bridge to be halted because of its poor state of repair,meaning that freight trains serving the British Gypsum plant at East Leakehave had to be stopped. When the newbridge is installed theywill restart, taking lorries off the road and ensuring the heritage line can serve the community. Futurepotential Bridge307overBunnyLaneatEast Leakeisalsocurrently closed…

EMOTIONSranhigh and gratitude flowedinabundanceas the Brentor familyadmired the SouthernRailway BulleidPacific simmering in the platform at theSpaValley Railway’sTunbridge WellsWest stationonJune 26. The locomotivewas Battle of Britain No. 34053 Sir Keith Park, but for the weekend it was transformed intoWest Country No. 34095, completewith the appropriate Brentor nameplate, West Country class scroll, smokebox numberplate, Eastleigh shedplate, and renumbered cabsides. Phill Brentor, who joined BR as a shunter at Eastleigh in 1988 and became a driver of Southern electrics out of Guildford before retirement, was responsible for the identity change. The 64-year-old explained howhis father’s family name wasMarkovitch, but his dad wantedamore English name and changed it by deed poll to Brentor after visiting the Devon village. Replicaplates Phill,wholives in Peterborough, and hissister Jane each have replica Brentor nameplatesmadebyNewtonReplicas andWestCountryClass scrolls,while Phill also…

THECholsey&WallingfordRailway’s newshowpiece terminuscanopy–originally erectedatMaidenheadin the days of Brunel’sGWRbroadgauge–has beenofficiallyopenedbyNetworkRail chairmanSir PeterHendy. The ceremony atWallingford on June 25 sawTVpresenter Tim Dunn unveil the information boards, with GWR pannier No. 4612 on loan from the Bodmin&WenfordRailway taking guests beneath the canopy. The late Sir William McAlpine, then chairman of the Railway Heritage Trust, was particularly keen to see this Victorian structure restored, and it was fitting that Lady Judy McAlpine was present to see the finished structure. She said: “Sir William was very interested…Irecall only toowell his furywhen it was found tobe cut up! “We came to have a look at progress shortly before he went into hospital, and I would love him to know it is now up and looking beautiful.” After conversion from broad to standardgauge, the overarching canopy protectedMaidenhead’s…