Heritage Railway Issue 224

“Ian Allan abc locospotters books were far more widely read than Shakespeare” THERE was a time, not so long ago, when the British public woke up to be told there would no longer be Woolworths in the High Street. Now the heritage sector has been told that Ian Allan Publishing will produce railway books no longer. Unlike Woolworths or British Home Stores, Ian Allan is far from going out of business, as the Shepperton outfit has a multi-faceted empire which for years has extended far beyond the realm of railway books. However, it has sold its transport publishing division to Crécy Publishing, bringing the curtain down on an era in which Ian Allan was a defining backbone of railway enthusiasm and its by-product, the heritage movement. It may be an…

STEAM is set to return to London Underground after an absence of two years. The weekends of September 2-3 and 9-10 have been pencilled in by organiser London Transport Museum for public steam trains over the Metropolitan Line between Wembley Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Watford. The trains will be hauled by Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No. 1, based at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, and a pannier tank, possibly Dennis Howell’s Hawksworth 0-6-0PT No. 9466. Back-up will be provided by veteran Metropolitan Railway Bo-Bo electric No. 12 Sarah Siddons, as before. Bill Parker’s GWR small prairie No. 5521, which has carried London Transport maroon livery for several years as L150, and which has been fitted with a cut-down cab to conform to the tight clearances of the Underground tunnels, will not…

GREAT Western Society rolling stock company secretary Viv Cooper has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2017 New Year’s Honours list for her 53 years of service to railway heritage. Viv, 70, who is married, has three daughters and four grandchildren and lives in Maidenhead, joined the society when she was in her teens and she quickly became involved in its administration. When the first locomotives and coaches were based on the Totnes Quay branch, Viv rolled up her sleeves to clean them alongside her role in promoting the society through a sales stand at outside events and open days. When the society moved to its permanent home at Didcot Railway Centre, Viv liaised with British Railways for open days and filmings and arranging VIP entertaining. For many…

IAN Allan – regarded by many as the world’s greatest publisher of railway titles – has pulled out of the sector after more than seven decades. The shock announcement, made before Christmas, has seen Crécy Publishing acquire the railway, transport and military books previously published by Ian Allan Publishing. Crécy has also acquired the Oxford Publishing Company and abc imprints. However, Crécy will not be allowed to publish under the Ian Allan imprint, and neither can the abc series retain the Ian Allan name. Shepperton-based Ian Allan pulled out of railway magazine publishing several years ago, with its portfolio of titles being acquired by Stamford-based Key Publishing. Ian Allan chairman David Allan said that the decision to sell the railway book publishing business had been made for “commercial reasons”. Dedicated…

THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Britain’s most popular heritage line, performed well in 2016, with revenue 4% up on budget and costs held to budget, resulting in a 4.0% increase in operating surplus, but the coming year will represent a challenge as a backlog of carriage wheel repairs – a potential bill of £100,000 or more – will have to be dealt with. The NYMR has now introduced EPOS equipment that will allow instant analysis of ticket sales patterns and reaction, for example, discounting to encourage passengers to wait for less-heavily-loaded trains, which it hopes will lead to less overcrowding at certain times (and hence a better experience for passengers) and to improve revenue by charging a premium price for travel on the teak train, which will be marketed as…

A SERIES of previously unreported political U-turns and manoeuvrings at Whitehall that led the unexpected landmark decision to keep open the Settle to Carlisle line has been documented in a new book. Martin Pearson has made extensive use of the Freedom of Information Act to reveal the chain of events that led, on April 11, 1989, to the-then Transport Minister, Michael Portillo, informing the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line that its campaign to keep the route open had succeeded, thus saving one of Britain’s best-loved scenic routes. ➜ Full story: Main Line News, page 63.…