Table of contents for Issue 253 in Heritage Railway

THE completion of another mission impossible is always a pinnacle of the railway heritage movement, not least of all the realisation of a 45-year dream. For it was back in early 1974 that the Great Western Society bought GWR 4-6-0 No. 4942 Maindy Hall from Barry scrapyard with the intention of back-converting into an example of the extinct forerunner of its type, the Churchward Saint, considered to be the most important steam locomotive design of the early 20th century. The Saint class in so many ways marked the watershed between the steam locomotives of the Victorian era and the modern world, and it is a tragedy that nobody saw fit to preserve one. That ship has now been righted. Back then, such an aspiration may well have belonged firmly in…

THE East Lancashire Railway has completed the purchase of Bulleid Light Pacific No. 34092 City of Wells. After arriving at the ELR in July 2015 from the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, where it had been since it was rescued from Barry scrapyard in 1971, the 1949-built 4-6-2 became a popular performer. When the locomotive was offered for sale in 2017, agreement was reached for the ELR to purchase No. 34092 and fundraising began in earnest under the banner of ‘A Home for Wells’. On March 31, ELR chairman Mike Kelly said: “Thanks to the public’s generous donations contributing over £320,000, we have now purchased this fabulous locomotive, which is a big hit with enthusiasts and visitors to the ELR. “Over 2500 donations were received, ranging from a few pence…

VINTAGE Trains has announced an industry leading partnership with West Midlands Rail Executive with the aim of stimulating the local economy though the power of steam – and boosting available paths for the ‘Shakespeare Express’. The unique partnership will focus on the integration of the franchise, community and heritage activities and working with the Heart of England Community Rail Partnership to develop and establish the Shakespeare Line and its stations from Birmingham via Henley-in-Arden to Stratford-upon-Avon as Britain’s premier main line heritage railway. Crucial role WMRE executive director Malcolm Holmes said: “West Midlands Railway is creating a single network vision to deliver efficiency and growth to rail services across the region. “Steam trains offer an exciting opportunity to add value to our network and play a crucial role in promoting…

THE latest new-build steam locomotive in the UK has successfully undergone two days of trials in readiness for delivery to its permanent home on the Isle of Man’s Groudle Glen Railway. Blue-liveried Bagnall Sipat-type 0-4-0ST O tter is the second of the type to be built by North Bay Engineering of Darlington, the first of which, Georgina, entered service on Scarborough’s 20in gauge North Bay Railway in 2016, and has established the company as a batch builder! O tter was steamed and tested in front of parties of invited guests at the private 2ft gauge Castleton Light Railway near the Esk Valley Line’s Castleton station in North Yorkshire on March 21-22, after the first fire was lit inside it on March 18. Working relationship GGR volunteers have been working closely…

THE West Lancashire Light Railway Trust has agreed to purchase the freehold of its Hesketh Bank site – but is now appealing for funds to help repay loans. The 2ft gauge line runs for a quarter of a mile around a fishing lake (originally a clay pit) in the village of Hesketh Bank. From humble beginnings in the 1960s, it has grown to include an extensive collection of historic steam and diesel locomotives which have been restored on site. However, recent developments on the old Alty’s brickworks site have placed the future of the railway at risk. Chairman Mike Spall said: “Our long-term landlord, Henry Alty Ltd, is selling the site it occupied off Station Road. We have agreed to purchase the part of Alty’s land on which the railway…

THE Stradbally Woodland Railway is to mark its 50th anniversary by naming its resident steam locomotive following the completion of its latest overhaul. Barclay 0-4-0WT No. 2/LM44 (works No. 2264 of 1949) has never carried a name during its working life with the Irish Turf Board (Bord na Móna) or in preservation. A sister of the Talyllyn Railway’s No. 7 Tom Rolt, No. LM44 was delivered to Bord na Móna on May 6, 1949, a date which coincides with this year’s May bank holiday Monday in the Republic of Ireland. A weekend of 70th birthday celebrations is to be held to mark the occasion, beginning with a private naming ceremony of the locomotive as Róisín on Saturday, May 4 at 1pm. The name was chosen following a vote among the…

THE GWR and LMS locked horns in a top-of-the table clash at a high-profile transport auction in Newbury on March 12, with the victor’s spoils eventually going to the latter a day after the auctioneer had laid down his gavel and the packed saleroom had emptied. The occasion was a much-publicised sale by auction house Dreweatts of live steam models, railwayana, and marine and other transport items. The publicity, and much excitement among collectors, came about due to one of the lots going under the hammer being a 7¼in gauge model of LMS Princess Coronation No. 6230 Duchess of Buccleuch, one of a pair built by the late Harry Powell of Crewe and regarded by many as one of the best railway models ever made. It carried an estimate of…

THE timetable for District 150 – the last chance to travel on a steam train on London Underground beneath the heart of the capital – has now been published. As previously reported, the London Transport Museum and Transport for London will jointly celebrate 150 years of the Underground’s District line by running a series of steam trips behind Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No.1 between Ealing Broadway and High Street Kensington. Three return journeys will operate each day on Saturday and Sunday June 22 and 23. The train will be comprised of the Bluebell Railway’s ‘Chesham set’ of coaches, District Railway coach No.100 from the Kent & East Sussex Railway, the museum’s restored Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Coach No. 353 and Metropolitan Railway Bo-Bo electric No. 12 Sarah Siddons. The trains…

THE restoration of the Greensand Railway Museum Trust’s First World War 40hp armoured Simplex No. LR2182 has taken a huge step forward following fitting of the distinctive cupola roof and appropriate steel protective doors. The work of replicating the platework which makes the locomotive, built by Motor Rail and Tramcar Company of Bedford (No. 461 of 1917), unique, was undertaken by Statfold Engineering Ltd, based at the Statfold Barn Railway. On successful completion of the contract, LR2182 was delivered back to its restoration base at Leighton Buzzard Railway’s Stonehenge Works on February 6. The construction of the cupola roof has been supported by a £3300 grant from the Association of Industrial Archaeology. Other work undertaken by Statfold Engineering Ltd, including manufacturing and fitting the side doors, became possible following receipt…

WR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle is to haul what is set to be the final main line passenger train to Coalbrookdale. Vintage Trains’ special to the Cosford Airshow on Sunday, June 9 will also run along the freight-only branch from Madeley Junction towards Ironbridge power station. Having dropped off its airshow passengers, Clun Castle and its train will run to Shrewsbury to turn and then head back, picking up passengers at Wellington and Telford for the run down the branch. Tyseley’s Class 47 will pull the train down into Coalbrookdale, passing over the Coalbrookdale brick arch viaduct and stopping short of the Grade II listed Albert Edward Bridge (almost identical to the Victoria Bridge on the Severn Valley Railway), built to carry the Wenlock, Craven Arms and Lightmoor Extension…

IN one of the most unusual main line steam workings of the year, SR Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35018 British India Line travelled from its base at Carnforth to haul a private charter train from King’s Lynn on Sunday, March 17. The train was arranged as a tribute to Nigel Dobbing, managing director of the Railway Touring Company, who died last October. Nigel established the company in King’s Lynn 22 years ago, and RTC has become the leading promoter of main line steam railtours in Britain, often running two or three trains every weekend, plus weekday trips in the summer season. The company is also well-known for its adventurous overseas tours featuring exotic steam traction in faraway places. The private train took 84 members of Nigel’s family, his friends, colleagues…

WORKED by Peppercorn A1 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado, and operated by West Coast Railways, the inaugural Edinburgh-Aberdeen ‘The Aberdonian’ excursion rolled into the Granite City amid much excitement, on Thursday, March 14. The local press termed the event at the railway station as a ‘locospotter’s paradise’. Considering the 4-6-2’s recent troubled mechanical background, the engine’s appeal ensured that the first train was well loaded with passengers, according to Mark Allatt, chairman of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. Such was the excitement in the city that North East Member of the Scottish Parliament Liam Kerr tabled a motion in Holyrood praising the return of steam to Aberdeen, but in particular, members of the Ferryhill Heritage Trust who, he said had worked tirelessly to restore the former Caledonian turntable. “Steam trains are…

Was a Fowler 2-6-4T really buried under the M1? I doubt it! FIRST off, congratulations are in order – 20 years is a significant achievement. I fully admit that when Heritage Railway first appeared, I had doubts about it lasting in the face of some fairly robust competition (‘oh ye of little faith!’). No looking back now – well done Heritage Railway. Keep on doing it! I am intrigued by Mr Newman’s account of No. 42325 (Track Talk). I doubt if the Fowlers were regularly capable of 90mph in view of their cruder front end characteristics, but I suppose given a thrashing downhill by an enthusiastic passed-fireman, it’s a possibility. In passing, it may be mentioned that, in the Harrow & Wealdstone incident, there were several locomotives involved: No. 46242…

IT’S frightening how the weeks fly by – to think we’re now into the second quarter of 2019. There is no shortage of enthusiast and family-friendly events, encompassing a range of tastes – from narrow gauge and industrial to former main line steam and diesel traction. As always, we welcome your photographs – either for the magazine or website (see panel below). SPECIAL EVENTS APRIL  Anniversary Steam Gala 2019 11-14: Beamish: Great North Steam Fair 12-14: Weardale Railway: Diesel Gala 13: Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways: The Snowdonian 13: Llangollen Railway: 1940s Home Front 13: Middleton Railway: Heritage Diesel Day 13: Nene Valley Railway: Steam Folk & Morris 13, 14: Avon Valley Railway: Fire & Water! 13, 14: Great Central Railway: Diesel Gala 14: Foxfield Railway: The 20th Anniversary Classic…

SATURDAY, March 30, the day the West Somerset Railway reopened after a three-month closure following its rescue from the brink of collapse (see issue 252) was like a collection of outtakes from the classic 1950s Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt. With smiles all round at Bishops Lydeard, there were repeated calls of celebration from staff, volunteers and well-wishers of "We’ve done it!’"There was even a clergyman present – the travelling ticket inspector – who said he’d prayed for this day. Hauled by Somerset & Dorset Railway veteran 7F No. 53808, with Class 33 D6566 ‘dead’ at the rear, the 10.15am service to Watchet departed with 155 passengers on board. Overbridges, station platforms and level crossings amassed a collection of beaming smiles and waving hands as camera shutters fired away. Road…

THERE is an operational future for steam but not diesel on the main line – that’s the thrust of the Science Museum Group (SMG)’s recently published‘Operational Rail Vehicle Strategy 2019-34’. Covering all three SMG sites – the National Railway Museum (NRM) at York, Locomotion at Shildon and the Science & Industry Museum in Manchester – the strategy includes rolling stock, which will remain operational and could return to action in future. While the main point guiding the strategy is the view that, as museums, displaying collection objects is the best way for SMG to tell engaging stories and to reach a wide audience, it is intended to offer public rides at all three sites. The document acknowledges that “there will continue to be an important role for operational locomotives” at…

THE Mid-Hants Railway is looking forward to the eagerly-anticipated return to traffic of Urie S15 No. 506 this summer. As featured in issue 250, the 4-6-0 is fast approaching completion at Ropley Works. With its steam test set to take place at the end of April, the locomotive is due to enter traffic during May. Resident 9F No. 92212, which was expected to be withdrawn in June, is now due to remain operational until the end of December. The replacement of Butts Bridge over Whitedown Lane, Alton, which has seen MHR services truncated to operate by Alresford and Medstead & Four Marks, is on course for completion by the end of July. The Watercress Line’s March 8-10 spring steam gala featured two visiting locomotives – South Devon Railway-based London Transport…

THE modern-day Cavan & Leitrim Railway’s 3ft gauge Avonside 0-6-0T Nancy has run under its own steam for the first time in six decades following a £160,000 restoration. Supporters of the County Leitrim-based 3ft gauge line, which 50 years ago became Ireland’s first volunteer-run heritage railway, were celebrating after Nanc y (No.1547 of 1908) ran at Alan Keef’s works in Ross-on-Wye on March 23. Not steamed until now Nancy was delivered new to Stanton Ironworks Co. Ltd for use on its Brewer’s Grave tramway serving Woolsthorpe Quarries in Leicestershire. It spent its working life in the ironstone industry until 1961 when it was bought for preservation from the Eastwell Iron Ore Company by a group based at Watnall in Nottinghamshire. The Eastwell quarries system had closed in 1960. Nanc y…

THE first phase of work on the Churnet Valley Railway’s extension into Leek town centre may start weeks after Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s Moorlands Partnership Board unanimously agreed to allocate £19,000 to the project. While the first phase of the scheme will cost £40,000, the heritage line had funds of only £21,000 towards it, so councillors have diverted the shortfall from elsewhere. Planning permission for the extension from Leekbrook Junction has already been granted. So far, £28,626 has been spent on project development including planning permission, legal advice and fees associated with the cost of land transfer. It will cost around £810,000 to build the extension, and £494,000 of grant aid has been applied for from European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The rest is set to come from CVR…

A BLUEPRINT for the strategy to build a new Gresley LNER V4 2-8-2 has been drawn up prior to the formal launch of the project. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, which 29 years ago drew up plans for a new Peppercorn A1 Pacific which materialised as No. 60163 Tornado and is now one of the biggest icons of the heritage era, and which is building a new Gresley P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales, has announced a series of what it calls “significant decisions” regarding its third project, V4 No. 3403. The as yet unnamed locomotive will be only the third in the class, after No. 3401 Bantam Cock and No. 3402, known unofficially as ‘Bantam Hen’, built at Doncaster Works, but no further examples were constructed after Gresley’s…

➜ CLASS 50 No. 50049 Defiance has been added to the guest list for the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s May 3-6 diesel and mixed traffic gala, joining sister No. 50031, prototype HST power car No. 41001, Class 31 No. 31163, a Direct Rail Services Class 68 or 88 and two Class 73/1s from GBRailfreight. ➜ THE future of the Bristol Society of Model and Experimental Engineers’ Ashton Court 3½in, 5in and 7¼in miniature railway now looks secure after a new lease was agreed with Bristol City Council, following a petition signed by 10,000 people. ➜ CLEVEDON Pier in North Somerset, which was constructed from second-hand Barlow rails declared surplus to the requirement of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s broad gauge South Wales Railway, is to mark its 150th birthday with a…

THE Leighton Buzzard Railway kicked off its 100th anniversary year in style with the traditional‘shout’from town crier Peter Hailes. The first train was flagged away from Page’s Park on Sunday, March 24, by the mayor of Leighton-Linslade, Coun Clive Palmer accompanied by mayoress Mrs Rosie Palmer. The day’s trains were hauled by Orenstein & Koppel 0-6-0WT No. 10808 of 1924 Pedemoura, which came to England in 1972 after spending its working life hauling coal trains in the Douro Valley, Portugal, and was officially relaunched on September 24, 2016, but entered full traffic only last year. More passengers than expected made sure that all trains on the day were filled almost to capacity. The line was opened in 1919 to move sand from the quarries on the edge of town to…

A WEEKEND of pure railway, commercial vehicle and cinematic nostalgia awaits visitors to the Spa Valley Railway on May 11-12, when volunteers are putting on an ambitious Transport Film Festival. For railway enthusiasts there will be not only the line and its rolling stock, but the ambience of the last former London Brighton & South Coast engine shed still in use. For lovers of old commercial transport, there will be Audrey, a 52-year-old bus and for movie buffs, there will be archive Pathé News clips and transport films from the 1940s and 50s. The shed is located at the Spa Valley’s Tunbridge Wells West base. Comprising four roads and coded 75F in BR days, it was opened by the LBSCR in 1891 and closed in September 1963, but now enjoys…

THE operator of one of South Africa’s flagship steam charter trains which suspended services indefinitely and in a blistering attack blamed the country’s state-owned rail network company, has given a cautious reaction to moves that may lead to their return. The Reefsteamers’ train ran monthly and four times in December between Johannesburg and Magaliesburg, and was regularly hauled by British-built duo Class 12AR 4-8-2 No. 1535 or Class 15F 4-8-2 No. 3046, sometimes with both as a double-header. Although named the ‘Magaliesburg Express,’ the train took 2½ hours to complete its 34-mile journey, but despite – or perhaps because of – the leisurely pace, it was an attraction that drew crowds both on board and lineside. However, problems with late running and severe delays led Reefsteamers to indefinitely suspend the…

AS reported last issue, Barclay 0-6-0T No. 1578 of 1918 Gertrude has been reunited with its sister Doll at the Leighton Buzzard Railway. Ger trude was one of three locomotives built for Alfred Hickman Ltd’s Sydenham Ironstone Pit at Kings Sutton in Oxfordshire, the others being Winifred (No. 1424 of 1915) and D oll (No, 1641 of 1919). The quarry was closed in 1925 and the trio were transferred to Spring Vale Furnace and Steelworks at Bilston, near Wolverhampton. Winifred is believed to have been scrapped by 1939, but Ger trude and D oll worked until withdrawal in 1959. Both locomotives were saved by the late Max Sinclair, who acted as a ‘middle man’ for enthusiasts who wanted steam locomotives. Ger trude and D oll cost £2 each. Max sold…

THE Swindon & Cricklade Railway has been chosen as the new home for a long-mooted project to back-convert a Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific into its unrebuilt form, making it unique in the heritage sector. No. 35011 General Steam Navigation is to be moved from the Southern Locomotives Ltd private site at Sellindge in Kent to Blunsdon to speed up its restoration. The General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society, which bought the engine in July 2016 from its previous owner, aims to retro-convert the locomotive to its original specification by restoring its air smoothed casing along with Bulleid’s oil bath encased valve gear incorporating chain drive. Built in December 1944, it was first allocated to Nine Elms, before being rebuilt at Eastleigh in 1959. A month before its withdrawal in February…

THE newest station in the heritage sector – the Welsh Highland Railway’s £3 million Caernarfon terminus – opened for business on Saturday, March 30, when it was used by scheduled services for the first time. The new station, part of the £15 million Caernarfon Tourism Attractor Destination bid led by Croeso Cymru, and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, will be officially opened on June 14. The first scheduled departure left the station 21 years on from when the heritage-era WHR first opened in the town: the original line terminated at Dinas, and revivalists used the former standard gauge trackbed to run from Caernarfon to there. As featured in issue 247, the new station is carefully designed to fit in a constrained site, blending…

FACED by withdrawal from the main line when its ticket expired on April 9, LNER A4 4-6-2 No. 60009 Union of South Africa has been given a new lease of life after it passed an early boiler inspection and was declared fit to run for another 14 months. However, the A4 is currently stopped for new piston and cylinder liners which are being fitted by Ian Riley at Heywood. According to owner John Cameron, the work will be finished and the engine ready for its booking with the Railway Touring Company’s York-Edinburgh-York ‘Edinburgh Flyer’ on Saturday, April 20. In the meantime, John is busy arranging new bookings for the remainder of this year, which he said will be “mostly regular trips.” Work on the A4 meant it was unable to…

April SAT 13: ‘The William Shakespeare’ Preston, Stratford-upon-Avon & return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: TBA. ST SAT 13: ‘The Pennine Blackpool Express’ London Euston, Blackpool & return. Steam-hauled: TBA. Loco: TBA. RTC SAT 13: ‘The Border Raider’ Tame Bridge Parkway, Carlisle & return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60163 Tornado. UKRT SAT 13: ‘The Citadel’ Manchester Victoria, Carlisle & return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: Nos. 44871 and 45212 or 45157 The Glasgow Highlander. WCR TUE 16: ‘The Cathedrals Express’ Slough, Minehead & return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD WED 17: ‘The Salopian Express II’ Dumfries, Shrewsbury & return. Steam-hauled: Carnforth, Shrewsbury, Carnfor th. Loco: TBA. WCR THU 18: ‘The Belmond British Pullman’ London Victoria, Shalford. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: No. 35028 Clan Line. BEL Apr 19-21: ‘The Easter Jacobite’ Fort William, Mallaig…

Many of us have a wish list or bucket list, featuring amongst other things the places we have longed to visit. I have been lucky to see steam in action all over the world, from China to Cuba and around the UK, to some preserved lines in the USA. One place had eluded me however, a big railway with a big reputation for being a very impressive line – the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad. This 3ft narrow gauge line runs for 64 miles across the Colorado and New Mexico border, climbing to Cumbres summit, just over 10,000ft and passing Toltec Gorge, 600ft above the river below, a stunning challenge for steam. So when I heard Bob Branch mention in 2017 that the following year he was planning to head west…

PLANS to expand facilities at the National Railway Museum while creating 2500 homes and more commercial space jobs at York Central have been approved by the local authority. The York Central Partnership comprising the museum, Homes England, Network Rail and City of York Council, have been working for the past four years to develop proposals and to assemble a £155 million funding package for infrastructure works to unlock one of the largest brownfield city centre sites in the UK, covering 45 hectares, and generating up to 6500 jobs. The outline planning application is now subject to final approval by the Communities Secretary James Brokenshire MP. Under the scheme, the NRM will use its £50 million masterplan to enhance visitor facilities. The scheme includes plans to close Leeman Road to unite…

THE Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust at Midsomer Norton has been left a legacy of more than £500,000 by one of its longest supporters. Member Peter Sainsbury from Colchester, who died unexpectedly in 2017, has left most of his estate to the trust. At the present time, trust officials are working with the executors of his estate as probate and distribution are being settled. Trust chairman Stephen Lacey said that the intention was not to see the bequest frittered away on carrying out small jobs, but to use it to obtain additional funding for major projects through grant aid. A fitting tribute Peter’s family agreed that a fitting tribute to him would be the completion of the locomotive and carriage shed and maintenance facilities at Midsomer Norton, for which…

A NAMEPLATE from a Gresley Pacific that brought down the curtain on a 31-year era in LNER and BR history is to go under the hammer for the first time. It is Kingfisher from No. 60024, which in September 1966 worked the final revenue-earning BR service by an A4. Built at Doncaster in December 1936 as No. 4483, it was initially allocated to Edinburgh’s Haymarket shed, and in the 1950s regularly hauled ‘The Elizabethan’ express which ran nonstop for 393 miles between King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, at that time the world’s longest scheduled nonstop train. Such a long nonstop journey required a change of crew at about halfway, and this was achieved by pairing 23 members of the class, of which Kingfisher was one, with corridor tenders. Scottish swansong…

A 37-year-old US man faces up to 10 years in a Polish jail for attempting to steal part of the railway line leading to the Auschwitz camp. A local police spokeswoman said the man had admitted the attempted theft of an item of cultural importance. Visitors are now being asked not to take selfies while standing on the preserved tracks leading to the gate. Auschwitz Memorial posted a message on social media telling people to respect the memory of the millions of people murdered there by the Nazis. Its official page stated:“There are better places to learn how to walk on a balance beam than the site which symbolises deportation of hundreds of thousands to their deaths.” It reminded people to consider the symbolism when taking a photo.…

THE Severn Valley Railway has been awarded £853,800 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to carry out essential repairs to its 142-year-old Falling Sands Viaduct. The award was confirmed shortly after the SVR reached its £397,000 appeal target to raise matched funding. Water has seeped into the structure, causing it to crack and erode. Without remedial work, the SVR could have been forced to reduce the length of trains, or even face temporary or permanent closure of part of the line. SVR director of development Shelagh Paterson, said: “The appeal name of ‘helping hands for Falling Sands’ summed up the spirit of everybody pitching in to do their bit. “Our original fundraising target was £275,000. As last Christmas approached, this had increased to £397,000. However, thanks to the thousands of…

RAILWAY photographic image supplier Colour-Rail has added the 100,000th image to its website. Having supplied duplicate slides for 30 years, Colour-Rail’s website went live in October 2009 with around 10,000 images being available to buy as either prints or downloads. Since then at least 500 new images have been added on the 15th of every month. Colour-Rail was originally seen as a supplier of colour steam-era images, but in recent years the steam selection has seen large numbers of black and white pictures included, and the number of ‘modern traction’ images is now on a par with the steam subjects, being joined by stations, engine sheds, rolling stock and infrastructure and in more recent times also by world railways and even buses. With thousands of images still to be scanned,…

DESPITE patchy weather and an earlier date in the calendar for the Bluebell Railway’s branch line gala, attendances at the March 15-17 event were 30% up on last year’s event. The Friday of what is traditionally the first special event of the railway’s year proved the most popular day, and indeed provided the unique opportunity to see the cavalcade of four LSWR locomotives in the form of Bluebell residents Adams 0415 class 4-4-2 radial tank No. 30583 and B4 0-4-0T No. 30096 Normandy together with visiting W24 O2 0-4-4T Calbourne from the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and the National Collection’s Beattie well tank No. 30587. Earlier this year the Adams radial tank was reliveried by Heritage Painting from LSWR green for the first time since 1983 to British Railways…

THE last chapter in 163 years of railway engineering history in Springburn, once Scotland’s locomotive building capital, will hit the buffers on June 1, when the former St Rollox Railway Works, known locally as‘The Caley’, will be closed by current owner Gemini, when 200 skilled workers will lose their jobs. The works was founded by the Caledonian Railway in 1854 and was extended by Dugald Drummond to serve as the railway’s locomotive, carriage and wagon works. Famous Caledonian Railway locomotives, including the Cardean 4-6-0s and 4-4-0 Dunalastair classes, were designed and built there, while the works continued to build LMS locomotives into the 1920s. Two St Rollox-built Caledonian Railway locomotives survive in active preservation: 0-6-0 No. 812, preserved on the Strathspey Railway and 0-4-4T No. 419, a Bo’ness & Kinneil…

IN addition to its set main line tours programme, Steam Dreams is to operate 56 extra trains centred around London this summer – starting with the first departure from Waterloo on Tuesday, June 4. The tour promoter has planned four trains every Tuesday out of Waterloo for a 14-week period ending on Tuesday, September 3. Three of the trains are planned as passenger services to Windsor for the benefit of overseas visitors and sightseers. Departing Waterloo at 8am, 11.10am and 2.10pm, the 'Royal Windsor Express' will operate on a one-way basis. On arrival at Windsor and after delivering passengers, the return journey to Waterloo will be based on empty stock being prepared for the next departure. Passengers alighting at Windsor will be free to return to central London in their…

SAPHOS Trains’ first outing this year is to Stratford-upon-Avon, on Saturday, April 13, but it is not until May 4 that more steam is being raised with a‘Welsh Marches’ trip from Crewe to Cardiff, calling at Shrewsbury and Hereford. Next up is an‘English Riviera Express’which departs Bristol on June 16, heading for Kingswear via Westbury, Taunton and Exeter. Four days later, on June 20 ‘The Dorset Coast Express’starts out of Bristol Temple Meads for Weymouth via Yeovil Junction, for a dip in the Railway Centre’s yard. The‘English Riviera Express’ is booked to repeat the trip run by departing Bristol on Sunday, June 30. The ‘Fellsman’ enters the frame on July 10, running from Crewe to Carlisle and return. Turning to motive power, only two locomotives from the Locomotive Services fleet…

THIS time I am covering the successful return of popular A1 No. 60163 Tornado to the main line after a difficult period of nearly 11 months following the hiatus on the East Cost Main Line last April. As this year is the tenth anniversary of its first main line runs, I have included a very good run from the early days as well as the two recent efforts. To conclude, I managed to persuade Graeme Bunker-James to write a section on his perspective of the first 10 years. The Auld Reekie The long-awaited return of Tornado came on Sunday, March 3, with UK Railtours’‘Auld Reekie’charter from Doncaster to Edinburgh – the return of which would be hauled by Deltic No. 55009 Alycidon, thus leaving the Peppercorn Pacific in Scotland for‘The…

Although the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement was first used in the USA in 1836 and in the 19th century 85% of US express locomotives were of this type, the 4-4-0 had been slow to catch on in Britain; most of the earlier ones being tank engines. The GWR had a few broad gauge 4-4-0s, but the first outside-cylindered 4-4-0s had been designed by William Bouch for the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1860. The inside-cylindered 4-4-0 became the classic British express locomotive of the Victorian period but the type did not appear until 1871, when it was introduced in Scotland by Thomas Wheatley of the North British Railway (NBR). The use of inside cylinders results in a steadier engine, less prone to oscillation at speed and was also felt to give…

THE immense age of some steam locomotives which are still hard at work in revenue-earning service never ceases to astonish. Flying Scotsman, for instance, will be 100 years old in just four years, while Britain’s oldest working steam locomotive, the Ffestiniog’s Prince, built in 1863, is still scuttling around, far from being pensioned off. As a boy in the early 1950s, I recall seeing from my Birmingham-bound train in the Sheffield area an ancient double-framed Midland Railway 0-6-0 designed by Matthew Kirtley, (1813-1873) still at work for British Rail. Kirtley, born near where I live in Durham, dated back to the Stephenson era. And right at the end of steam in the 1960s, when nationalised rail bosses were scrapping even recently built 9Fs in their demented race to dieselise, North…

SOUTH EAST Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre 2ft gauge, ¼ mile. Arundel, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 831370. Running: Weds-Suns + B/Hs. Bluebell Railway Standard gauge, 11 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine. Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. Running: W/Es, B/Hs + Apr 15-18, 24-26. May Weds-Suns. Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway 2ft gauge, ½ mile. Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01622 884254. Running: Apr 21. May 5. East Kent Railway Standard gauge, two miles, Shepherdswell, Dover. Tel: 01304 832042. Running: Apr 14, 19-22, 28. May 5, 6, 12, 19, 26, 27. Eastleigh Lakeside Railway 10¼in & 7¼in gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience. Running: W/Es + sch hols. Hastings Miniature Railway 10¼in gauge, 600 yards, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex. Running: W/Es + sch hols. Hayling Seaside Railway…