Heritage Railway Issue 294

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 erased. But ‘not…

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…

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 by the…

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…

PATRONS of a Kent and East Sussex Railway dining train on July 2 will be careful not to spill their meals – as the train has been organised by the East Sussex Nudists group of British Naturist, with diners invited to strip off for the journey! Departing at 7pm, the train will operate one round trip to the line’s Bodiam terminus and back, with food options being a choice of chicken curry, bangers and mash, or a vegetarian take of each. KESR commercial manager André Freeman said: “We were approached to see if we’d be prepared to host a private steam-hauled evening charter train for BN. The customer was reassured by our ‘welcoming and non-judgemental response’, while we were very impressed by their professional approach to all aspects of the event. “BN members…

PATRONS of a Kent and East Sussex Railway dining train on July 2 will be careful not to spill their meals – as the train has been organised by the East Sussex Nudists group of British Naturist, with diners invited to strip off for the journey! Departing at 7pm, the train will operate one round trip to the line’s Bodiam terminus and back, with food options being a choice of chicken curry, bangers and mash, or a vegetarian take of each. KESR commercial manager André Freeman said: “We were approached to see if we’d be prepared to host a private steam-hauled evening charter train for BN. The customer was reassured by our ‘welcoming and non-judgemental response’, while we were very impressed by their professional approach to all aspects of the…