Heritage Railway Issue 244

THE weeks ahead will see several special events and railtours to mark the 50th anniversary of the last steam train run over the main line by BR, the‘Fifteen Guinea Special’on August 11, 1968, and to mark the occasion, our special issue this month contains two features from photographers who were there to witness it. We also have two features on the rebirth of steam half a century ago – that magnificent eight-day gala at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, and the opening in September 1968 of the marvellous main line in miniature system that is the Great Cockcrow Railway in leafy Surrey. Of course celebrating half centenaries is one thing, but September is also set to see a phenomenal part of world railway history being remade. It is then…

AN original nameplate from No. 60103 Flying Scotsman that was controversially withdrawn from sale by leading auction house Bonhams in 2016 after an intervention by the late Sir William McAlpine, a former owner of the legendary locomotive, is returning to market. The plate was carried by the 1923-built Pacific until 1996, when both nameplates were removed by new owner DrTony Marchington prior to the start of amajor £1 million restoration. On completion of the work three years later, the locomotive was fitted with replica plates that remain on the engine today. Dr Marchington, who died in 2011, sold both the original plates to a railwayana collector and dealer who, in turn, sold them on within the railwayana movement. It was one of these plates, the right-hand example, that was due…

AN appeal for £25,000 has been launched to return a narrow gauge former North Wales slate quarry steam locomotive to action. Hollycombe Steam in the Country wants to overhaul Caledonia, a Barclay 0-4-0WT No. 1995 of 1931. “Caledonia requires serious work to the firebox,”said Simon Wildgust, the museum manager.“Dismantled in 2007, work was paused when the extent of the task became clear and resources were targeted at other parts of the collection. “The frames and motion are all in good condition.The firebox work will be outsourced to a specialist contractor and the remainder undertaken by volunteers. New volunteers are welcome to assist us.” Located near Liphook, Hampshire the steam museum’s 1½-mile circular Quarry Railway is home to another former Dinorwic Quarry veteran, Hunslet 0-4-0ST Jerry M, which attended the recent…

TYSELEY Locomotive Works – a rare and precious bolthole for standard gauge steam following its end on the national network in 1968 – is to celebrate 50 years since its first open day. On September 29, 1968, Tyseley Depot opened its doors to the public for the very first time with a display of steam locomotives, traction engines and the like. Now exactly half a century later, over September 28-29, the venue is aiming to recreate the atmosphere of that original event. Back in 1968, the first steam locomotive preserved at Tyseley, 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle was in operation. Having returned to steam last year, it will again be a star attraction at the anniversary event. There will be a host of additional attractions, including historic miniature railway locomotives…

A NEW-build working replica of one of Southwold Railway’s original locomotives is set to be built in Darlington – and it could bring steam to the Suffolk resort within two years. As we closed for press, NBR Engineering Services, the engineering arm of Scarborough’s North Bay Railway, was set to sign a contract to finish the building of the replica of 3ft gauge Sharp Stewart 2-4-0 No. 3 Blyth. One of three sister engines supplied to the line when it opened in 1879, Blyth was the only original locomotive that was in service throughout the entire 50 years of the legendary railway’s operation until it ceased operations in 1929. The Southwold Railway Trust has already built several components for the locomotive in the main frames, buffer beams and frame stretchers,…

MIDDLETON Railway sustained an estimated £30,000 worth of damage after a fire that gutted a nearby builders’merchant spread to the attraction. Having cancelled its steam operations because of the heatwave, the second day of the line’s July 14/15 Leeds Diesels on Display gala was cancelled on police advice, as 100 firefighters tackled a blaze at the Jewson store in Lake Terrace, from where occupants of around 30 terraced houses were evacuated. The blaze, believed to have been arson, spread to the railway where a Palvan, a four-wheeled box van, was destroyed, the exterior of the main building was scorched and the outdoor PA speaker ruined. £30,000 worth of damage The heat from the fire was so intense that a plastic bin on the Moor Road station platform at Middleton Railway…