Sommaire pour Issue 294 de Heritage Railway

MANY readers will no doubt share my profound dismay at the decision made in late May by the Planning Inspectorate to allow an appeal by a developer which will lead to the demolition of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway’s Bridge 234 in the Lincolnshire town of Bourne (see News, page 24). This classic 1980-built overbridge is (and maybe was, by the time this edition hits the streets) the sole significant publicly-accessible railway-built structure left in Bourne from its days as a four-way junction. At a time when we are making big plans to mark the bicentenary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which worked a global transport revolution as the world’s first steam-operated public railway, the last vestiges of a system that shaped modern-day Bourne are being finally…

A DEDICATED Swanage Railway volunteer crafted two special headboards marking The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – carried on the front of the line’s trains between June 2 and 5. Malcolm Munro, a member for more than 40 years and a volunteer signalman, took a week to make the silver and red wooden headboards. At the age of 16, Malcolm rode on the last BR train from Wareham to Swanage on the evening of January 1, 1972. As the branch’s tracks were being torn up for scrap that summer, Malcolm made the decision to join the Swanage Railway Society. He said: “The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is an event of national importance and I wanted to do something to help the Swanage Railway mark the rare occasion in an appropriate, memorable, and special…

THE Heritage Railway Association has welcomed the reintroduction of lump coal supplies from Ffos-Y-Fran, but has warned that there is much more to be done if a long-term supply of steam locomotive fuel is to be secured. The South Wales mine has ended its suspension of supply to the heritage steam sector after its screening equipment was recommissioned in house during late May. However, the reprieve provided to UK heritage railways may be only short-lived, as the mine is currently due to close completely during November. Details of the resumption of supply were revealed after a meeting by the Heritage Railway Association with the mine on-site during late May. The association’s chief executive, Steve Oates, said: “The availability of Ffos coal again is a huge boost and I know many…

NORTH Yorkshire Moors Railway-based Cockerill Type IV vertical-boilered tram No. 8 Lucie has visited its birthplace and original home line in Belgium for the first time in more than a century. The 0-4-0VBT, owned by NYMR head of traction and rolling stock Paul Middleton, was built by the John Cockerill Company in 1890 and delivered new to the Tramway of East Brussels in 1890 where, as No. 8, it ran passenger and funeral trains between Saint José Place and Brussels Cemetery in Evere. Down the mines No. 8 spent just seven years in action there before the East Brussels Tramway was bought out and the line regauged to metre gauge. No. 8 was sold to the Vieille Montage Mining Company and moved to its mine in Angleur in 1897. It…

WITH its landmark £475,000 project to replace the roof of Bridgnorth shed underway, the Severn Valley Railway CharitableTrust Ltd is now seeking to raise £500,000 to upgrade the yard and its track immediately in front of it. Second-hand when laid in the 1970s, the yard rails are worn out after nearly 50 years of use. Points need replacing and the wooden sleepers are life-expired, despite careful maintenance over the years. Clogged drainage is exacerbating the problem of ground movement due to inadequate water run-off. All groundworks are expensive, and rapid inflation and continual escalating costs mean that the necessary materials must be sourced quickly, enabling the works to begin as soon as possible, with the aim of completion during 2023. The yard is used daily and is an integral part…

THOSE with a head for business and a love for railways, and who are seeking a move to or within South Devon have been presented with an ideal opportunity as the Brunel Holiday Park at DawlishWarren has gone up for sale – less than six years after it was last sold and only three since reopening after a major refurbishment. Located at the Blue Flag seaside resort, the holiday park is sited directly next to the main line along the seafront, with accommodation offered in five BR Mk.1 restaurant coaches. The site, established by the GWR in 1935, the Great Western Railway Staff Association (which ran it on a not-for-profit basis) announced it was to close permanently in 2016, with the vehicles earmarked for scrap after years of exposure to…

A PAINTING of GWR No. 4081 Warwick Castle was one of the stars of the Guild of Railway Artists’ spring exhibition, selling for an eye-catching £5000 in aid of the DEC Ukraine appeal. Held at Kidderminster Railway Museum from April 9-May 1, the exhibition was dedicated to Frank Hodges, one of the GRA’s cofounders and for many years its leading light as secretary, exhibitions organiser and honorary chief executive. He died in February at the age of 79. The painting, depicting No. 4081 and titled Castle in the Golden Valley, was the work of guild president John Austin, and had been donated by its owner, a private individual, for sale by way of sealed bids in aid of wartorn Ukraine. Worthy cause Several exhibiting artists expressed their pleasure to Heritage…

GLASGOW’S world-famous St. Rollox locomotive works has been given Category B listing status protection by Historic Environment Scotland, it was announced on May 18. St. Rollox Works is significant as a rare surviving example of a late 19th century locomotive works in Scotland and the only surviving example in Springburn, which was once a global centre of locomotive construction. Built largely in 1882, St. Rollox Works was the largest and longest operational locomotive manufacture and repair works in Scotland. It was established and constructed by the Caledonian Railway Company as its principal locomotive construction and repair works. The works were remodelled by the Caledonian’s newly-appointed chief engineer, Dugald Drummond to designs by district engineer Robert Dundas between 1882-87, in response to the company’s need for a much larger works as…

RECORDS were broken when the Market Deeping Model Railway Club staged its first show at Stamford Welland Academy since the 2019 event was wrecked by four drunken teenagers. The May 14/15 Stamford Model Railway Show attracted over 1100 visitors, more than doubling the previous best of 450. Visitors queued at the doors before the 10am opening time on both days. The show boasted 44 layouts and other stalls spread over four halls. As previously reported, the 2019 events generated international headlines for the wrong reasons when four 16-years-old boys shared a bottle of vodka on a night out before taking their GCSEs, broke into the gym at the same venue, and deliberately wrecked the models during a rampage, during which they also played football. Police were called when the academy’s…

BEYER-GARRATT No. 6029, the largest and most powerful operational UK-built steam locomotive in world preservation, has changed ownership Down Under after being bought by the New South Wales state government from a private syndicate. Although officials are remaining tight-lipped about its price, reports within the Australian preservation movement are quoting a figure of $150,000 (£85,000), which if accurate represents what one enthusiast described as“an absolute bargain.” The 4-8-4+4-8-4 weighs 264 tons, is 109ft long, and has a tractive effort of 63,016lb ft. It was built by Beyer Peacock at its Manchester works in 1953, and after being shipped halfway round the world entered service with NSW Government Railways the following year as a member of the AD60 class. After 18 years working heavy coal trains, it was withdrawn in 1972…

THE Foxfield Railway is to launch its autumn and winter programme on September 4 with a special event celebrating North Staffordshire’s railway history. The event will focus specifically on the North Staffordshire Railway and locomotive builder Kerr Stuart of Stoke-on-Trent. The Knotty Heritage Train will be running an hourly service from Caverswall Road station with two locomotives in steam working turn-and-turn-about. The Victorian atmosphere will be enhanced by volunteers in period costume. There will also be a chance to meet some of Queen Victoria’s Redcoats on leave, and visitors are encouraged to dress up to take part in the 19th century fun. The event will also mark the return to traffic of Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST No. 4388 of 1926, which has been out of action since 1999. It will be…

THE 300th anniversary of the opening of Scotland’s oldest railway was marked on May 7. Members of the 1722 Waggonway Project held a ceremony on the course of the Tranent Cockenzie Waggonway’s trackbed to recall the opening of the pioneering line that was built with wooden rails and sleepers for coal transport. Volunteers brought their replica railway wagon out of its usual home at the project’s museum and pushed it along the course of the line – without the help of rails – and volunteers were dressed in period costumes. Chairman Ed Bethune said: “We decided to mark this significant event in as visual a way as possible as the opening of the first railway in Scotland was a really important historical event in the development of rail transport. “The…

Spring is the quintessential time of regeneration and rebirth. In early May, that message resounded loud and clear when I visited West Somerset, with its blooming swathes of radiant green foliage beneath azure skies, and the inspirational heritage railway that links the towns and villages on its fascinating coastline to its hinterland in the shadow of the Quantock Hills. The recent and long-awaited opening of the Seaward Way level crossing has allowed trains back into Minehead, and significant progress has been made on the upgrading track so the line can once again accommodate larger engines. Three superb visitors made the line’s May 5-8 spring steam gala a must for visitors, including myself. Continuing its tour of southern England was the Scottish Railway Preservation Society’s 1907-built Caledonian Railway Class 439 0-4-4T…

FOLLOWING a hesitant start in May, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland management planned a busy June which featured the return of its popular ‘Steam & Jazz’ trips, the first of which ran from Belfast on June 3. The‘Blue Thunder’ return trip from Dublin to Cork, Limerick, Ennis, Athenry and Portarlington was scheduled to depart diesel-hauled on June 11. Friday, June 17 sees a second ‘Steam & Jazz’ special leave Belfast for a mystery destination behind GNR(I) Q class 4-4-0 No. 131 providing the motive power. On Sunday, June 19, Father’s Day, Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST No.3, the former Guinness shunter, will provide rides in the Whitehead yards. The same day, the ‘Wicklow Steam Express’ departs Dublin for a return outing behind GNR(I) Q class compound No. 85 Merlin, presently allocated…

GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE When you take out a subscription to Heritage Railway That’s a 28% saving when you pay by direct debit It could be the early 1930s all over again: Glorious spring sunshine as Lynton & Barnstaple Railway replica Baldwin 2-4-2T Lyn couples up to a rake of the line’s restored original coaches at Woody Bay on May 7. The locomotive is finished in the colours and configuration of the original Lyn after it returned from overhaul in 1929. The train sitting in the platform ready to depart from the immaculately restored Swiss cottage-style station surely completes as perfect a recreation of a period setting as anywhere in the heritage sector could hope to achieve, and bodes well for the planned future extensions of the legendary line.…

After an enforced break of two years due to Covid restrictions, we resumed what are usually our annual charter visits to the railways and other heritage attractions of the Isle of Man. Our trips are aimed primarily at keen photographers interested in achieving pictures that are not normally available to visitors, in a safe and controlled environment. The island has a wealth of heritage, including both steam and vintage electric traction, much of it running through exceptional scenery, and we are grateful to all of the venues we visit for the opportunity to indulge our passion for photography. Although many enthusiasts concentrate their attentions solely on the Isle of Man Steam Railway, for these events we also enjoy supporting the island’s smaller venues, so this year saw us visit the…

Our heritage sector is often quick to highlight astounding restoration jobs and milestones, and rightfully so. Overhauls of locomotives and rolling stock that haven’t turned wheels for decades or were once thought unsalvageable are certainly cause for celebration. But toiling away in the background of many lines are vehicles just as crucial to maintaining the permanent way and signalling now as they were in BR days. On April 22, 1922 D. Wickham & Co Ltd despatched the first rail vehicle from its works in Ware, Hertfordshire. A 3ft 6in gauge trolley fitted with a Dorman 4MV engine, it was supplied to the British-owned Taltal Railway in Chile. The firm found its beginnings in 1882 with William Wickham, a brewer of pale ale and bitter, on Ware High Street. By 1890…

THE Kent & East Sussex Railway is approaching the summer tourist season with four causes for celebration – the return of a much-loved A1X‘Terrier’ in a livery it has not carried for more than 120 years, and the arrival of three other locomotives to help out with a busy schedule. While the trio of new arrivals is good news for the operating department, it is doubtless the return of the‘Terrier’ that has heartened staff and volunteers the most, for the KESR has had these locomotives at its very core since the original line opened in 1900, when Queen Victoria was on the throne and the Marquess of Salisbury was her prime minister. Delight at the return of the A1X in its original guise at No. 70 Poplar is also boosted…

LOCAL primary schoolchildren have planted seeds for preservation at the Middleton Railway to commemorate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Youngsters from Low Road and Windmill Music Federation, based in Hunslet and Belle Isle, and supported by Opera North, were invited to plant a tree at the world’s oldest working railway. The railway’s vice president, Ian Smith, explained to them how they could be railway volunteers of the future, emphasising the important part railways have played in the mining and industrial history which has shaped the city. After planting the tree, a Photinia Red Robyn, with the help of the line’s volunteer gardener, Mick Jackson, the children were taken by train to Middleton Park in a rake of coaches hauled by Peckett 0-4-0DM No. 5003 of 1961 Austin No.1. Sold to scrap…

VANDALS went on a wrecking spree at the Ribble Steam Railway on May 25, only a day after a new turntable was installed. Intruders attempted to break into the line’s museum, but while unsuccessful, they smashed up anything within reach. Carriage locks were damaged, signalbox windows smashed, and a caravan broken into and internally trashed. The culprits, three male youths, were caught on CCTV that included clear images of their faces and which has all been passed on to the police. Sadly, less than a week later, further damage was sustained when the youths returned, this time with a female joining them. Anyone with information should call 101 and quote log number 1596-25.5.22. On May 24, a new 156ft turntable was installed, the culmination of two years’ planning and construction.…

GER Director’s Saloon No. 63 has been offered for sale by its owner, Stephen Middleton. The 111-year-old carriage served the GER, LNER and BR until withdrawn at Newcastle in 1972. It entered preservation in 1973, initially at Market Overton, but moved to several other locations before arriving on the Kent & East Sussex Railway in 1989. After Stephen acquired it for his Stately Trains collection, the Locomotion museum at Shildon started work on the restoring the underframes in autumn 2000 while he focused on the bodywork, completing the carriage just in time to be shipped to Canada for a theatrical production of The Railway Children in Toronto during 2011. There it starred alongside LSWR 4-4-0 T3 No. 563, which had also been used at Waterloo for the same show, and which…

LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas was temporarily renamed as sister No. 45606 Falkland Islands to mark the 40th anniversary of the war between Britain and Argentina over the disputed territories. A renaming ceremony was held by the Bahamas Locomotive Society and the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society at Ingrow on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on May 14. Several Falklands war veterans and air cadets from 2431 (Keighley) Squadron were joined by Keighley major Coun Julie Adams. The Falklands Islands nameplate is part of the RCTS collection.…

THE 2ft gaugeWelshpool & Llanfair Light Railway played host to visiting locomotives of three different gauges during its May 20-22 Beyer Bash, which celebrated 120 years since the line launched its original two locomotives. In 1902, Beyer Peacock & Company supplied 0-6-0Ts No.1 The Earl and No. 2 Countess to the mid-Wales line. To mark the anniversary, the special event was held to honour the Great Manchester manufacturer whose Gorton Foundry was founded in Openshaw by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson and traded from 1854 until 1966. Four guest engines joined the pair from other heritage railway venues. As previously reported, the world’s first articulated Garratt, 2ft gauge 0-4-0+0-4-0 K1, which was built in 1909, repatriated by Tasmania, and is now owned by the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland…

FOLLOWING the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Museum closing (as reported in issue 293), Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0DM D1012 Cadbury No. 14 has been transferred to the Statfold Barn Railway for static display. Although it had been on show until recently at Cadbury World in Bournville, Birmingham, the 1955-built shunting locomotive worked at the confectioner’s Moreton-based factory until retired in 1977, when it moved into preservation at the Llangollen Railway. It was only operational there until 1979. On March 9, 2003, it transferred to Bournville site where, aside from a few short visits for display elsewhere, it had remained on show in the car park ever since. Over the winter of 2019/20, it was donated to the GRC&WM, which began a fundraising campaign to transport it to the Llanelli & Mynydd…

SUNDAY, May 22 was a day of celebration for the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway – when it had three Kerr Stuart 0-4-2ST Brazil class locomotives in steam for the first and possibly last time in many years. The design is believed to have got its identifying name as the first built was apparently shipped to the South American country. No. 926 Leader was operating its last public services before being withdrawn to await its turn in overhaul queue, running alongside No. 4219 Melior. The day also saw the return to service of No. 886 Premier after it had completed its own recent overhaul – with some of the paint still wet! This trio comprised the first steam locomotives built for the original industrial line that served the former Bowater…

THE SevernValley Railway’s Spring Diesel Festival on May 19-22 proved a major hit, with about 4800 passengers – including the line’s members and shareholders – travelling. That number was a marked increase on the figure for the similar previous event held in May 2019, and despite increased costs, the event again turned in a healthy profit. Among the guest locomotives which arrived at short notice as late replacements for others that could not attend were GB Railfreight’s Class 73s Nos. 73107 and 70136 and Class 33 D6515, a first-time visitor to the railway, courtesy of 71A locomotives. Swanage-based D6515 and Peak Locomotive Co Ltd’s Midland Railway – Butterley-based D4 Great Gable and D182 arrived from the Purbeck Line on May 10 following the diesel gala there on May 6-8 (see…

NEARLY 1000 people turned up at Woody Bay station on May 14/15 for the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s annual Spring Steam Gala – the first time it has been held since 2019 due to the coronavirus lockdown. In action were new-build replica Baldwin 2-4-2T No. 762 Lyn (also pictured on page 66), Kerr Stuart Joffre 0-6-0T No. 2451 of 1915 Axe and diminutive 0-4-2T Faith built by the Railway’s engineer John Uphill. John is offering the locomotive for sale. Lyn and Axe hauled alternating passenger and freight trains. The weather was fine throughout, and a BBC cameraman turned up on the Saturday to film scenes for a future episode of Antiques Road Trip. The next big event will be the autumn gala on September 24/25.…

THE award-winning Didcot Railway Centre has received 1887-built GWR broad gauge convertible No. 820 after it was declared surplus to the National Collection. Its body was designed to fit within the standard loading gauge and to be mounted on a standard gauge underframe, but it originally entered service as a broad-gauge vehicle. This course was followed to meet an immediate need for more Brunel broad gauge stock, while ensuring that the coach bodies could be reused when the 7ft 01/4in gauge was finally abolished in 1892. Originally built as a‘Tricomposite’ vehicle, having first, second and third class compartments, the second class compartment was downgraded to third in about 1907. It was renumbered 6820 early in the last century. Withdrawn from passenger service in the 1930s, it first became a camping…

ARTS Council England has given a £300,000 grant to Darlington Borough Council’s project to create a major new visitor centre at the Head of Steam museum as a focal point of the Stockton & Darlington Railway 200th anniversary celebrations in 2025. Opening in 2024, the attraction will include a café and shop, show field and a new live engineering building, alongside temporary exhibition space, an archive, and extended car parking. The grant will help fund state-ofthe-art virtual reality experiences to bring history to life, a new immersive ride, and new railway-themed play areas. Work officially began on the construction of Darlington’s £35 million Railway Heritage Quarter on March 3 when, as reported in issue 291, borough council leader Coun Heather Scott cut the first turf. Also supported by £20 million…

SOUTHERN Locomotives Limited’s rebuilt Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34053 Sir Keith Park ran its last public passenger services before withdrawal from service at its current home on the Spa Valley Railway on the weekend of May 14/15. However, the line will not be without a member of the class for long – following the announcement that Swanage-based No. 34072 257 Squadron will be moving Tunbridge Wells in the autumn to assist operation of the winter Polar Express services. Despite competing with the FA Cup final and other big events in the region, 660 visitors came to see No. 34053 off over the 15 trips run during the weekend. After its final fire was dropped and locomotive cooled, the dismantling of Sir Keith Park commenced in earnest, with workers from…

TEN locomotives starred in the Swanage Railway’s eagerly-awaited first Diesel Gala and Beer Festival held since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Now in its 15th year and featuring an intensive three-train service, the May 6-8 event saw the beer festival organised and operated by Purbeck Kitchens at Corfe Castle station. A surprise visitor was newlyoutshopped Class 69 No. 69004 from GB Railfreight. It spent the event on display at Swanage station to help raise money for the Prostate Cancer UK charity. It was the first time that a member of the class has visited the Purbeck line. The other visitors were: Class 25 D7612 (25 262), courtesy of South Devon Diesel Traction; Class 31 No. 31128 from Nemesis Rail; Class 37 No. 37703, owned by the Harry Needle Railroad…

LNER A4 Pacific No. 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley made its full passenger-carrying main line comeback on May 21, hauling a special tour for members of its owning group – and replaying a trip that the locomotive made 55 years before. In 1967, the A4 hauled several tours, including two trips from Crewe to Carlisle, the last of which marked the start of a ban on privately-owned steam locomotives on BR apart from A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman, which subsequently received a special exemption. Last month’s special tour for members of the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust over the same route as the ones ran 55 years ago marked the completion of the locomotive’s long-running £1 million overhaul. Resplendent in its wartime black livery and 10 on plus Class 47 No.…

GWR Castle 4-4-0 No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe is set for an imminent main line comeback. No. 5043’s boiler was returned to it frames at Tyseley Locomotive Works in mid-May, with the boiler cladding and fittings being reassembled and ‘ready to go’ as soon as the new superheater header is available. No. 5043 underwent a successful hydraulic and steam test in 2021 after its 10-yearly boiler overhaul, but donated its superheater header to sister No. 7029 Clun Castle when its own header was discovered to have a casting fault. The new complex superheater header pattern has now been completed and printed using digital technology for the first time. No. 5043 is on track to join 7029 in hauling the Vintage Trains summer ‘Shakespeare Express’ trains and, from the autumn, to…

June 11 English Riviera Express Solihull, Kingswear and return. Steamhauled from Taunton. Locos: TBA. ST 11 The Golden Age of Travel by Steam Circular tour from London Victoria Loco: 35028 Clan Line. BEL 11 Return to Steam Celebration Birmingham Snow Hill, Cardiff and return. Diesel-pilot from Oxford on return only. Loco: No. 7029 Clun Castle 11 The Yorkshireman Ealing Broadway, York and return. Steamhauled Leicester-York-Ealing Broadway Loco: No 45596 Bahamas. RTC 14 The Pendle Dalesman Lancaster, Carlisle and return. Steamhauled throughout. Loco: TBC. 15 Settle & Carlisle Fellsman Crewe, Carlisle and return. Steam-hauled from Chester. Loco: 34046 Braunton. ST 17 Fife Lunchtime Tour Circular tour from Edinburgh. Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD 17 Forth Evening Tour Circular tour from Edinburgh. Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD 17 The White Rose Tyseley…

THE Bachmann Collectors Club (BCC) presented a model of Class 90 electric locomotive No. 90028 Sir William McAlpine – named after the late railway enthusiast and businessman who passed away in 2018 – to his widow, Lady Judith McAlpine, at her Fawley Hill estate home on May 9. Sir William was a lifelong railway enthusiast. He was involved with and responsible for many achievements during his life, including his repatriation of LNER A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman from American in 1973 and time as chair of both the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch and Dart Valley railways. The model has been produced as a collaboration between the BCC and Locomotion Models, with 200 sound-fitted models available exclusively to the club’s members, priced at £329.95 and available online via bachmanncollectorsclub.co.uk or calling…

A SECOND Severn Valley-based locomotive has temporarily changed its identity to markThe Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Watched by a crowd of more than 100, the Western Locomotive Association’s D1062 Western Courier was renamed by SVR managing director Helen Smith as sister D1040 Western Queen on the first day of the line’s Spring Diesel Festival on May 19. The original D1040 Western Queen was built at Crewe and entered traffic on September 20, being withdrawn on February 27, 1976. D1040 was the first Class 52 Western locomotive to have a major accident when, on August 15, 1963, it was involved in a collision at Knowle & Dorridge and three crewmen died. The association intends to run trains with a commemorate wreath to remember the three crewmen in August this year.…

JOHN Cameron’s LNER A4 Pacific No. 60009 Union of South Africa has gone on extended static display at the East Lancashire Railway’s Bury Transport Museum. As revealed in issue 293, the A4 – which has been owned by John since 1967 – is to spend at least a year, maybe longer, inside the museum, which was officially reopened on May 31. It is the first time that No. 60009, which had been visiting the ELR when it was taken out of traffic on October 4 last year due to faulty boiler tubes, will be available for public access for any length of time at one single site. East Lancashire Railway’s chairman, Mike Kelly, said: “We have enjoyed, over several years, seeing and riding behind this icon of the rails, one…

A TEST train has made its first successful run into the Llangollen Railway’s new Corwen station. A year ago, the railway’s future was looking uncertain. Now one of its major projects is nearing completion as it continues to forge a path into the future. On the evening of Saturday, May 28, the train was run along the Corwen extension into the station to gauge clearances for the platform and other structures following the completion of trackwork. It was headed by Class 47 No. 1566 (47449), which hauled four Mk.1 coaches plus a GWR Inspection saloon, crewed by long-standing volunteers Mark Smales, Iain Ross and Mike Williams, who between them have given more than 70 years of voluntary service to Llangollen. Project manager Richard Dixon-Gough said: “Seeing the test passenger train…

THE Talyllyn Railway ran its Founders’ Day train on Saturday, May 14, with preservation society president David Mitchell cutting a ceremonial tape using the original ribbon first used 71 years ago, when it became the world’s first volunteer-run heritage line. No. 4 Edward Thomas and No. 3 Sir Haydn double-headed the train which paused at Tŷ Dŵr for No.4 to take water. As previously reported, Tŷ Dŵr is the newly-reconstructed watering point, located on what was the mineral section of the railway beyond the original terminating point for passenger trains at Abergynolwyn. It fell into disrepair and was dismantled in the 1950s, and the faithful restoration of the old Tŷ Dŵr watering point was one of the first objectives of the Talyllyn Railway heritage group in response to the railway…

MORE details have been released about the NorthYorkshire Moors Railway’s September 22-25 annual steam gala, which will feature 12 locomotives in steam, including LNER A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, as reported in issue 291. Currently running in wartime black livery (Main Line News, pages 56-57), No. 60007 will have been repainted in BR garter blue by then. The gala will feature an intensive timetable with special late services until 10.30pm on September 23/24. A beer festival will take place at Goathland, where the engine shed will be open for visits. Levisham will stage demonstration shunting trains and a vintage stationary engine display. Pickering will have trade stalls featuring railway memorabilia and model railways. For tickets and information, visit nymr.co.uk/steam-gala…

THE award-winning Bodmin & Wenford Railway has made history by running the first rake of china clay‘hoods’ in the heritage era. The three-wagon clay train made its public debut on May 17 during a freight driver experience course. Headed by GWR 0-6-0PT No. 4612, fresh out of the Bodmin General workshops after being retubed, it made two trips from General to Bodmin Parkway and one to Boscarne Junction. The clay train fitted in around the service trains, which were hauled by Class 47 No. 47306. Clay trains are an integral part of the history of the line. The Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway opened on September 30, 1839, linking the towns to the quarries at Wenfordbridge. Passenger services between Bodmin General, Wadebridge and Padstow ceased on January 30, 1967, while freight…

HISTORIANS and conservationists have lost their fight to prevent the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway’s Victorian Bridge 234 in Bourne from being demolished. The classic three-arch overbridge built in 1890 served as a gateway to the Lincolnshire market town, which owes much of its 20th-century development to it once being a four-way junction. The closure of the Bourne station to passengers on March 2, 1959, along with the line from Saby to King’s Lynn, marked a watershed moment in UK transport history, because it was the first time that BR had closed a complete system, that of the MGNJR, as opposed to individual lines, and sent shockwaves through the rail industry – two years before Dr Richard Beeching was appointed as BR chairman. Bridge 234 was the last publicly…

TAUNTON Deane MP Rebecca Pow officially relaunched the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust’s Gauge Museum on Platform 1 at Bishops Lydeard station on May 21. Invited guests – including civic dignitaries and many volunteers who worked on the project – saw the Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs cut a ribbon to mark the occasion. The Gauge Museum has undergone a professionally-guided refurbishment: £20,000 provided by the trust was topped up with £40,000 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Bristol-based Smith and Jones Design Consultants Ltd developed the project to take a fresh look at Somerset’s railway history using modern museum interpretation methods. The MP said: “I am delighted to have been asked to reopen the Gauge Museum because preserving our railway heritage and…

FEARS for the future of the East Lancashire Railway have again been sounded as a £150,000 study which will include using the heritage line for commuter trains running between Rawtenstall and Manchester got underway. As reported in issue 287 of Heritage Railway, Rossendale Council was successful in securing funding from Restoring Your Railway and Lancashire County Council to produce a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) into the travel corridor between the two destinations. A public consultation exercise into the scheme is now in progress. Congestion Council leader Alyson Barnes said: “There are major employment and residential projects planned in Greater Manchester in the coming years which will no doubt add to congestion on the M66, so we really need to plan now to minimise the effects of this on residents…

THE Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway has officially launched three new luxury coaches into traffic. Joan, director’s saloon Ruth, and first class saloon No. 140 were built by the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway at Boston Lodge Works. The craftsmanship of the new carriages are a legacy to Lord Wakefield, who founded the Lake District Estates company and saved the railway in 1960. Joan and Ruth are named in honour of his eldest and youngest daughters – Mrs Joan Raynsford and the late Mrs Ruth Adorian, who were company directors for more than 50 years. Mrs Adorian, who had motor neurone disease, was a strong campaigner for disability access in public spaces. Georgina Townsend, Mrs Adorian’s daughter, cut the ribbon to launch the carriages on May 16. Mrs Adorian’s son, James…

A PLANNING application for the reinstatement of the Ardingly branch, restoring the Bluebell Railway’s south main line connection, is set to be lodged later this year. The electrified branch that linked Horsted Keynes to Haywards Heath was closed by BR on October 28, 1963, after which the heritage line could run services into Horsted Keynes station. The branch still saw occasional use to transport rolling stock to the Bluebell Railway, the last such movement being recorded on May 13, 1964, when LBSCR ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T No. 32636 Fenchurch passed through prior to lifting of the track. That began on July 15 and reached Horsted Keynes by September 21. During the summer of 1968, Sheriff Mill Viaduct was demolished so Mid Sussex District Council could straighten the bend on New Lane as…

STEAM Dreams’ May 17 special behind LNER B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower saw passengers taken to the Brooklands motor racing circuit to participate in centenary celebrations marking the 350hp Sunbeam racing car’s 133.75mph record achieved by Kenelm Lee Guinness on May 17, 1922. The highlight of the trip was that, by special arrangement, the train was allowed to slow to about 10mph when passing Weybridge overlooking the highly-cambered track. Replicating F Gordon Crosby’s famous painting, the Sunbeam and Mayflower ran side by side for a short section. Terminating at Woking, passengers were taken to Brooklands by vintage buses to view a collection and a parade of 1920s racing cars. Guests on the train included Lord and Lady Montagu, representing the National Motor Museum, and Lady Judy McAlpine, president of the…

WHEN John A Aspinall moved from Ireland’s Great Southern & Western Railway to become Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1886, his mission was to design a new range of locomotives to be built at the new Horwich Works, near Bolton, which occupied a 3250-acre site and opened on November 15 of that year to replace the original works at Miles Platting, Manchester. Incorporated in 1847, the L&Y operated through some of the most densely-packed industrial areas in the country and became a hugely successful railway company, with routes stretching from Liverpool and Fleetwood in the west to Goole in the east. Three divisions operated routes between Manchester, Blackpool and Fleetwood; Manchester, Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Liverpool; Manchester, Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Todmorden, Accrington, Burnley and Colne;…

For a country that prides itself on eco-tourism, Costa Rica has very few railways, and it is impossible to travel throughout by train. Railway preservation there is almost nonexistent, with just three historic electric and seven steam locomotives scattered around the country in varying states of decay. Amazingly, one is still in its running shed after the railway closed and was abandoned in 1982. Costa Rica has no railway museum and appears to have forgotten its railway past. Even the two locomotives sited outside the railway offices in the capital are behind railings and impossible to get close to. Located in Central America, Costa Rica is bordered by Nicaragua in the north and Panama to the south east. There was never a through railway linking the three countries (but what…

I FEEL I must write about the apparent surrender of the Heritage Railway Association in recommending that our educational World War Two events are cancelled. This is just like giving Putin another victory, as they have allowed him to sway their thinking. I write as an ex-RAF regular airman, a survivor of theSecondWordWar(just), asteam enthusiast and multi-role reenactor. We cannot allow outside influences to interfere with what we do. The loss of profits just as they are most needed is a serious thing in itself, plus this year would most likely have been a bumper one, with people actively looking for events. All they had to do (and a few are) was remove the words ‘war weekend’ and rebrand as 1940s events – and then send a percentage of the…

SOUTH EAST Amberley Museum 2ft gauge, ¼ mile. Arundel, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 831370. Open:Weds-Suns. Bluebell Railway Standard gauge, 11 miles. Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. Running: Tues-Suns. Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway 2ft gauge, ½ mile. Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01622 884254. Running: Weds + July 3. Chatham Historic Dockyard Standard gauge, one mile. Chatham, Kent. Tel: 01634 820800. Open: Daily. East Kent Railway Standard gauge, two miles. Shepherdswell, Kent. Tel: 01304 832042. Open: Suns + B/Hs. Eastleigh Lakeside Railway 10¼in & 7¼in gauge, 1¼ miles. Running: W/Es + sch hols. Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway 12¼in gauge, 1½ miles. Exbury, Southampton. Tel: 023 8089 1203. Open: Daily. Hayling Light Railway 2ft gauge, one mile. Hayling Island, Hants. Tel: 07902 446340. Running: Weds & W/Es +…