Table of contents for Issue 263 in Heritage Railway

A CLASS 55 Deltic will be visiting the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway for the first time when it holds its March 27-29 diesel gala. The Deltic Preservation Society’s No. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier will also be taking part in driver experience courses on March 24-25. The other guest locomotive will be Ian Mandley’s Class 33 No. 33201 from the Spa Valley Railway. The pair will run alongside the home fleet of Nos. 97205, 37227 and 08825/97808. Cab rides will be offered on each service of an intensive timetable, and there will be brake van rides behind the Network South East liveried No. 08825/97808 hauling the Shark brake van running up Risborough South Siding 1 between departures and arrivals at Princes Risborough. Trains will be calling at platform four at…

THE trackbed of the former colliery line behind Nottinghamshire’s long-disused Gedling & Carlton station is being cleared by Network Rail in order to create a new heritage trail. The Gedling Heritage Way has been designed to connect footpaths across the borough which run past some of the area’s most historic sites. It will follow the former GNR track linking it to Netherfield Lagoons, and also provide a through route to the new Chase Farm housing development, Gedling Country Park and Lambley Dumbles. It is also planned to transform the station building into a heritage centre with a tea room named in honour of Lord of the Rings creator J R R Tolkien, for use by walkers and cyclists on the new trail. It is said locally that Tolkien visited an…

IMAGINE if Santa had set off from the North Pole on his annual present delivery round, and the reindeer’s reins had not been fastened to his sleigh. The Man With All the Toys would have been left stuck in a snowdrift, with chimneys all round the world unvisited on December 24. Such a scenario might well have mirrored that at Bury Bolton Street station on the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) on December 22, when visiting LNER A4 4-6-2 No. 60009 Union of South Africa uncoupled from a rake of coaches forming a packed Santa special. Families in festive mood standing on the platform were left startled when the corridor connection between the Pacific’s tender and the lead vehicle (an LMS Stove R) was ripped off in spectacular fashion as the…

‘IT never should have closed’is a remark often made about a particular railway line that fell victim to the Beeching Axe or its aftermath. However, the closure of the East Lincolnshire main line from Grimsby to Boston half a century ago remained top of the‘regrets list’ for none other than a member of the late British Railway chairman’s planning team. John Edser, who joined Dr Richard Beeching’s planning team 10 weeks after the infamous 1963 report The Reshaping of British Railways was published, said the line – part of the Great Northern Railway’s main route from Grimsby to London – was earmarked for closure because of the sparsely-populated countryside that it largely ran through. John, who was part of BR’s Central Planning Unit, said: “You had Grimsby to Louth, but…

A £120,000 appeal has been launched to upgrade Ingrow West Bridge on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. The rail bridge is to be replaced with a new concrete deck that will be cast in readiness for the replacement to take place this spring. The Bahamas Locomotive Society will assist with the bridge replacement using its 50 ton steam crane to lift the concrete beams into place. The railway has already just spent more than £125,000 stabilising the banking by Ebor Lane bridge with a further £40,000 to be spent this year. ➜ Donations may be made online at https://cafdonate.cafonline. org/11566#/DonationDetails or by cheque sent to The Treasurer, KWVR Trust (Bridge Funding Appeal), The Railway, Station, Haworth, Keighley, BD22 8NJ.…

TWO water colour paintings by the well-known railway poster artist, Norman Wilkinson, have been bought by the Scottish Maritime Museum (SMM) at Irvine. Regatta, Oban Bay and Pleasure Steamer, Loch Lomond, were painted in the 1930s, and are believed to have been commissioned by the LMS, although they were never printed as posters. The Loch Lomond steamer features PS Prince Edward, operated jointly by the LMS and LNER, which had taken over the loch steamers after the railway grouping of 1923, and, if used, the poster would have carried the initials of both companies. SMM curator Matthew Bellhouse Moran said:“We already display railway posters promoting shipping services, such as The Kyles of Bute, by Alasdair MacFarlane, painted for British Railways in 1956, and Rothesay Bay, by Frank Henry Mason, commissioned…

➜ TWO Class 08 diesel shunters, Nos. 08483 and 08410, are being offered for sale by an online auction run by charted surveyor Walker Singleton, with the closing date for bids of noon on January 30. Based at Plymouth and Penzance, the shunters belong to Great Western Railway and can be viewed by appointment only. Further details are available on 0207 689768 or by emailing assets@walkersingleton.co.uk ➜ BOB Norling, who began his career with New Zealand Railways at the Palmerston North steam depot in 1959, was awarded the Queens Service Medal for services to railway heritage and the community in the Ruapehu District in the New Year’s Honours list. His projects included the installation of an authentic signalbox at Ōhakune, along with the restoration of Ōhakune station and the Ōhakune…

THE Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways lost one of its most respected members on December 27 when Eileen Clayton passed away in Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor’s district general hospital. During the mid-1980s, Eileen led the line’s parks & gardens department and developed it into a vehicle to enable volunteers of all ages to be involved with the FR. Under her leadership, stations became aesthetically pleasing. No project became impossible. When it was decided to construct a new volunteer hostel at Minffordd, Eileen’s department took on the task, making extensive use of volunteers of all ages. It’s no exaggeration to say that her legacy is immense – not only with projects she led, but also the culture she created in terms of engaging and training volunteers, leading the way for the wider…

THE Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is to crown its 25th anniversary year with an autumn visit of A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman. George Saville, general manager of the Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust, said:“This announcement of the world record-breaking locomotive visiting us will certainly make it a tremendous year for the MNR.” The exact dates for the high-profile visit in late September and October are yet to be announced. The MNR is also planning two special anniversary weekends and new music trains to join its successful jazz trains. As reported last issue, S cotsman is set to make its debut visit to the Mid-Hants Railway and on February 14 it will officially reopen the full length of the line, which was closed at Alton in January 2019 for the rebuilding of…

LEVEN-BASED Fife Heritage Railway has reached agreement with the Scottish Railway Preservation Society for the 10-year loan and cosmetic restoration of Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 2046 of 1937 British Aluminum Company No. 3. An example of the smallest Barclay standard gauge design, with 10in diameter cylinders, its entire working life was spent at Burntisland, until replaced by diesels in 1971. Donated to the SRPS in 1989 by the British Aluminum Company, it is currently at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway. The group’s Jim Rankin said: “We are really excited about repatriating this loco back to Fife.”…

➜ EIGHT former Caledonian Sleeper Mk. 3 sleeping cars are being stored temporarily in a siding outside the Severn Valley Railway’s Kidderminster carriage shed for main line operator Locomotive Services Limited. The SVR said it made good commercial sense for the line as the storage period will be until the end of March while the Kidderminster-Bewdley section is closed for the Falling Sands Viaduct repair work to be completed and some of the line’s own coaching stock is stabled at the north end of the line. ➜ STEVE Backhouse has taken the reins as general manager of Isle of Wight Steam Railway. A volunteer on the line in his younger days, in recent times he worked with Lakeland Arts managing a portfolio of its Cumbrian visitor attractions. His appointment was…

THE unearthing of Scotland’s earliest railway, the 1722-built Cockenzie and Tranent Waggonway, by the 1722 Waggonway Heritage Group, has been listed as one of the top five digs of 2019 in Scotland by the Scottish Society of Antiquary’s archaeology hub, Dig It! As reported in issue 256, volunteers unearthed a section of the waggonway in June 2019, and discovered that it was laid to 4ft 7in gauge, rather than 3ft 3in, as generally believed up until the dig. The significance of the find is that the heritage group’s work is listed alongside four other archaeological achievements, including Viking, Pictish and early Christian digs. It is the first railway or industrial heritage find to be recognised in this way by Dig It! Ed Buthane, chairman of the 1722 Waggonway Heritage Group,…

PAPERS for the seventh International Early Railways Conference are being invited. The June 10-13, 2021 event at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea combines the early railways and early main line railway conferences. Researchers into early railway history, from its 17th century origins through to the developing main line and industrial railways of the 1870s, are invited to submit papers, arising from previously unpublished research, to be delivered at the conference. One day will be allocated to the pre-main line era, and the remainder of the programme will be devoted to the development of main line railways in their earliest years. Topics In particular, papers are particularly sought on political and statutory influences and context, economic evaluation, capitalisation and finance, management, staffing and administration, engineering, including all civil and mechanical…

THE target of the volunteer-led Vale of Berkeley Railway Trust – a second scheme to reopen the Sharpness branch – has been unveiled. On October 22, Stroud District Council announced a draft plan which included the building of a station in Sharpness, to support housebuilding plans. A major housing consortium aims to build up to 5000 houses in the Sharpness, Berkeley and Newtown areas over the next two decades, adding thousands of daily car movements to local roads and increasing traffic loads on Junctions 13 and 14 of the M5. Under the draft proposal, the new station would allow regular public services including commuter and shopper trains to run over the former GWR/Midland Railway joint line from Sharpness to Cam and Gloucester. Public services Trust chairman Howard Parker revealed that…

EVER aware of new marketing opportunities, Steam Dreams’chairman David Buck has broadened the scope of his business by introducing extended holiday tours, in addition to day excursions programmed for the coming months. The first of these is the‘Moors & Mountains Explorer’– a nine-day tour which departs London Victoria on May 7, initially bound for the Dartmouth Steam Railway’s Kingswear terminus via Salisbury. From there, the‘Explorer’moves on to Carmarthen, via Bristol, Gloucester and Cardiff. An LMS‘Black Five’is due to double-head with LNER B1 No. 61306 Mayflower over the Central Wales line to Shrewsbury. The tour then heads along the Cambrian Coast Line for a three-night stop at Porthmadog. Monday and Tuesday, May 11/12, are spent exploring Snowdonia and include opportunities to travel on the Ffestiniog, Talyllyn, the Welsh Highland and Snowdon…

WHILE negotiations are taking place with railtour promoters seeking the use of Stanier 4-6-2 No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth, the big red engine has secured a prestigious trip for a weekend in London over May 7-9. Booked by Arena Rail Holidays, the Pacific is down to work a train celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE Day on May 8. Beginning its journey at Preston, the ‘Victory Special’ calls at Warrington and Stafford, then runs south to London Victoria. As this is a three-day trip. No. 6201 will be stabled at Southall over two nights, before making the return journey. Prior to this high-profile event, ‘Lizzie’s’ owning society chairman Clive Mojonnier is hoping that the Pacific will have several main line runs in its diary. He anticipates that the locomotive will be…

WITH the names of Hobdey, Summers and Wooliscroft, they could be estate agents or, perhaps more likely, partners in a firm of solicitors. They were neither, but rather the authors of a locomotive nameplate register that was part of the very early railwayana scene but has now become a footnote, a publication virtually lost in the mists of time. The enigmatic trio has fascinated long-time railwayana collector Paul Tilley for decades. Who, he ponders, were Hobdey, Summers and Wooliscroft, and why did they use just their surnames on the register’s cover? Why did they combine to publish a register that aimed to record virtually every surviving pre- and post-Nationalisation steam locomotive mainline nameplate and their owners? And in the days before the internet, Wikipedia and others, how did they gather…

It was our great privilege to have known Les Hutchinson at the National Coal Board Nantgarw Coking Ovens and mine installation in the Rhondda Valley. He was a quiet, industrious man – the South Wales coalfields and elsewhere possessing many such true railwayman – whose long-acquired engineering prowess and knowledge was only equalled by his determination to keep his beloved engines moving. This was with minimal spares, and sometimes no spares at all, and to mend and adapt as his Austerities’ steam tenure came inexorably to its end... The sheer enthusiasm that shone through, was equally matched by the crews that worked the two extant Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0STs around the clock, and that had frequently met their match, as they battled for 61/2 days a week against the virtual mountains…

➜ How about a heritage railway annual visitor pass? IN issue 262, Gerald Creed has a very interesting letter about making heritage lines attractive for visitors. He also mentions the National Trust. Thinking about the National Trust, they have an annual membership enabling you to visit any NT site over the course of the year. Why haven’t heritage railways cottoned on to this? A ‘Heritage Railway’ membership card would enable visitors to go to several heritage railways over the course of the year – particularly excellent for the enthusiast in areas where there are a number of railways close by, although I am sure there will have to be concessions for gala days and the like, but maybe simply paying a small extra on such occasions would suffice. Do you…

ALEXANDRA Palace will again be the venue for one of Britain’s top model engineering shows on January 17-19 when the London Model Engineering Exhibition returns. On display will be thousands of scale models from the early age of steam engines right up to marvels from the modern age. This year’s event will be packed with more than 2000 models built by individuals, clubs and societies – from traditional model engineering like locomotives, railway layouts and traction engines, to large collections of scale model ships, aircraft, tanks and militaria to remote controlled trucks and even James Bond models and memorabilia!…

THE Dartmoor and Weardale railways have been offered for sale by their owner British American Railway Services (BARS). The company, a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holidays, which went into receivership last year, has also placed locomotive spot hire company RMS Locotec on the market. Iowa Pacific CEO Ed Ellis told Heritage Railway as we closed for press: “During the past 11 years, Iowa Pacific supported BARS financially. I made the decision to put Iowa Pacific into receivership last fall and concluded that it’s time to find new owners for the assets of BARS. “Unlike in the US, very few operating railways are bought and sold in the UK, so it’s not really possible to name a price, but the market will shortly answer that question.” The 18-mile freight-only surviving section…

THE Mid-Hants Railway (MHR) gave one of its stalwart locomotives a fitting send off when it was withdrawn from traffic at the end of its boiler certificate on December 30. BR 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 has been a popular performer with crews at the Watercress Line, who regard it as nice to drive and fire. The powerful locomotive has a reputation for being a great steamer. As this issue went to press, there was no word on the next steps for the locomotive. It was stored on the MHR, having been drained and cleaned out. As previously reported, the BR Standard was expected to be withdrawn in June, but it was then allowed to remain operational until the end of December. The team at Ropley shed ensured it looked its…

TWO more locomotives have permanently joined the fleet at the award-winning Statfold Barn Railway near Tamworth, which has one of the world’s finest collections of narrow gauge engines and stock. The Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills Company (WARGM), a charity which operates the Historic Royal Gunpowder site in Essex, recently undertook a review of its locomotives and rolling stock and decided to concentrate on its 2ft 6in gauge Gunpowder Railway. As a result, its 18in gauge locomotives, Avonside 0-4-0T Woolwich and Hunslet 0-4-4-0DM Carnegie and five carriages, together with powder wagon were rendered surplus to its requirements. However, both the locomotives are unique heritage items and in sore need of restoration and placing in operation. Ownership transfer Accordigly, WARGM identified Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust Ltd as the best possible…

THE Severn Valley Railway-based GWR 813 Preservation Fund has received a donation from the late David Rouse’s family of a large portion of his photographic archive. David had been a preservationist since the 1960s and was principal trustee of the 2251 Fund, the owner of Collett 2251 class No. 3205. This 0-6-0 was resident on the SVR and hauled the reopening train in 1970. Nick Baxter of the 813 Fund said: “We would like to thank the family for their generosity. It will take some time to go through the collection, but an early discovery is an image of GWR Dean Passenger Full Brake No. 933 taken at the SVR. This vehicle came to the SVR in 1968 and was bequeathed to Great Western Society at Didcot, leaving the SVR…

THE Isle of Man’s Douglas Bay Horse Tramway – which in recent years was threatened with closure – has landed a top award. The tramway was highly commended in the 2019 Global Light Rail Awards for project of the year costing less than €50 million. The award organisers said that the tramway was “a well-loved tourist icon”, adding: “Taking the horse tramway away from Douglas seafront is as unimaginable as removing the tower from Blackpool. “Threatened with closure in recent years after 140 years of service, a new project to relay the rails along Douglas Promenade not only secures its future, but also paves the way for potential extension to the island’s electric tramway service.” The award was collected from BBC broadcaster Nicholas Owen at the awards ceremony at the…

THREE Southern Locomotives Ltd (SLL) engines are set to return to action this year. WD Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 7086 of 1943 No. 69 Norman is to become a long-term resident on the Spa Valley Railway. Currently undergoing an extensive overhaul following many years of service on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway, a major sponsor of its £140,000 overhaul wished to see it based in the South East. SLL is aiming to have the overhaul completed during the summer, and it is intended that Norman will arrive at Tunbridge Wells in WD blue livery and numbered 75050, as carried when it operated on the Longmoor Military Railway in 1944, before being shipped to France following the D-Day landings. An SLL spokesman said: “We are sure that this will be a…

THE first reports from several heritage railways suggest they enjoyed a bumper year and festive season. As we closed for press, most heritage lines were still adding up their passenger figures for 2019, but the Epping Ongar Railway revealed it had set a new record by carrying 45,710 passengers – 3906 more than its previous record set in 2018. Strong attendances at events including the real ale festival in July and the Ongar Dinosaurs in May contributed to the impressive result, boosted by more than 16,000 people riding on the Santa specials. New for 2020 will be a Mother’s Day breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea offer on board a vintage train on March 22, with on ‘on-board street party’ to mark VE Day on May 8 and a 1960s day…

STAFF from Severn Valley Railway spread seasonal cheer by delivering sack-loads of toys to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and other charities across the West Midlands. The railway has donated £4000 worth of toys, including a range of board games, notebooks and more. Wearing Santa hats, the SVR’s marketing and events co-ordinator Lewis Maddox and sales manager Lisa Palmer delivered the toys to the hospital and other children’s charities, including Barnardo’s, Home-Start Wyre Forest, Crackerjacks Children’s Trust, Acorns Children’s Hospice, Green Hill Lodge, Bewdley Baptist Church and St Michael’s Church of England High School in Rowley Regis. Charity Santa train Lisa explained: “Christmas is meant to be a happy, joyful time – especially for children, so we wanted to spread some festive cheer and give something back this year.” Also, the SVR…

THE Corris Railway is seeking £22,000 to complete the inside motion of new-build Falcon 0-4-2ST No. 10 and assemble it between the frames. Funds are already in place to complete the outside motion at a cost of £8000. The railway has already announced a target of £44,000 to complete the bottom part of the locomotive, so that it can be demonstrated working by means of compressed air during the open day at Alan Keef Ltd’s Ross-on-Wye works in September. Donations can be made online via www.corris.co.uk or with cheques payable to Corris Railway sent to Peter Guest, 38 Underwood Close, Callow Hill, Redditch, B97 5YS. It is estimated that more than £30,000 from the final overall bill will be saved by railway volunteers constructing other parts of No. 10. Following…

A NEW stop is being planned for the Seaton Tramway so that passengers can more easily access the Seaton Wetlands nature reserve. Seaton Wetlands comprises marshland and reedbeds alongside the River Axe with five bird hides and nearly three miles of level trails and boardwalks suitable for wheelchair, bike and pushchairs. East Devon District Council is already working with the tramway on delivering the new tramstop, and is now considering a masterplan to create a new circular walking/ cycle route around three of the town’s most popular attractions, also including Seaton Jurassic.…

REMEDIAL action taken by the West Somerset Railway (WSR) following an £808,000 loss looks set to return the line to profitablity during the current financial year. At West Somerset Railway plc’s annual general meeting in Minehead on December 14, the 128 shareholders present were shown figures from April to October 2019 showing a surplus of £160,000 above the budget set, with a significant increase in income combined with reductions in costs. A statement from the railway said: “We expect to see a modest profit to the end of March 2020 if the Santa season performs to budget too. The WSR is a going concern moving forward and there are some good green shoots of recovery already this year.” The new figures were a stark contrast to those for the 15…

THE problem-hit Poole Park Railway is set to be reopened this summer, a year later than planned, the local authority said. The 10¼in gauge half-mile line, which began operating in 1949, is being regauged to 12¼in as part of £350,000 investment programme by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council. The ‘new’ line will also have a new locomotive and carriages, improved access and safety features and improvements to the train shed and storage compound. Planning permission has been granted for the demolition and replacement of the existing engine shed. As reported in issue 252, in 2017, the former Borough of Poole Council ousted Chris Bullen, who had operated the line for 13 years, and awarded a 30-year contract to run it to the Friends of Poole Park. However, the contract…

LONDON’S newest heritage railway is seeking £9500 to complete the construction of its new terminus station. The 2ft gauge Royal Arsenal Narrow Gauge Railway (RANG) is being built to take visitors to the Crossness Pumping Station in Bexley from the car park 800 yards away. Crossness Pumping Station was designed by the Metropolitan Board of Works’ chief engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette and architect Charles Henry Driver for the eastern end of the capital’s Southern Outfall Sewer. Built between 1859-65, as part of Bazalgette’s redevelopment of the London sewage system, it features spectacular ornamental cast ironwork. Architectural scholar and art historian Nikolaus Pevsner described it as “a masterpiece of engineering – a Victorian cathedral of ironwork”. Route To cross marshland, building contractor Lucas & Aird laid a 2½-mile standard gauge line…

SIXTY years since one-time Thomas the Tank Engine ‘rival’ Ivor the Engine was launched, plans are afoot to bring it back again. Ivor, the little green locomotive which was part of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited fleet, was the creation of animator and puppeteer Oliver Postgate who visited North Wales on holiday. The adventures enthralled the UK public in black and white on ITV in the Fifties and Sixties and the show returned in colour in the Eighties. Oliver died in 2008, now his son Daniel has said that he wants to make a live-action version of Ivor, and has produced some film ideas. “It would be good to bring back Ivor in a different way, not as an animation as that has already been done,” he…

IN A surprise move, Riviera Trains has announced that its popular‘Torbay Express’ summer holiday excursions from Bristol Temple Meads to Kingswear will not run this year – and is blaming a shortage of available locomotives. A statement published on the Torbay Express website said: “We regret to announce that due to the limited number of steam locomotives available to haul trains in 2020, Torbay Express Limited will not be able to run a full programme this summer. “However, we will be working with our sister company Pathfinder Railtours to produce a small series of steam-hauled summer trains to other destinations.” Riviera director Barry Cordell revealed that having suffered some disappointments when DB Cargo failed to produce steam on required dates, causing cancellations, the Torbay operation was switched to West Coast…

Situated in the wide Rhondda Valley, the original mine came into prominence early in the 20th century with Taylors Navigation Steam Coal Company. The seam of coal became harder to follow when it had become the Taff-Rhondda Company in 1924, and it was then sold again to the larger Powell Duffryn Company in 1927. After the Second World War, the Nantgarw Colliery and especially the Coking Ovens were extended to their final stature by the newly formed National Coal Board, and were finally closed as the demand for coke - degassified coal, decreased towards the end of the 20th century.…

The Locomotive: Built in 1917 by Motala Verkstad, B-class No. 1313 was a 4-6-0 mixed traffic locomotive with an eight-wheeled tender. It worked for the Swedish state railway, Statens Järnvägar, all over the country, but during the 1940s and 1950s it predominantly hauled trains on the East Coast Line, north of Stockholm. Some railwaymen considered the number 1313 doubly unlucky. One Swedish footplateman at Gävle shed refused to drive it during its working life. In fact, it was luckier than two of its sister locomotives – Nos. 1312 and 1314 were both involved in fatal accidents in Sweden during the 1920s and 1930s. After being withdrawn from traffic in 1963, No. 1313 was stored in a barn as a ‘military standby’ engine, and was therefore in very good condition when…

➜ THE Yorkshire Wolds Railway marked the doubling of its 300ft line at Fimber Halt neat Wetwang on January 4 by running its GEC Traction 165hp 0-4-0DH No. 5576 of 1979 Sir Tatton Sykes on a low-speed test run over the newly-connected extension. The completion of the extension included the installation of railway gate posts donated by an East Riding farmer. The new track was awaiting ballasting as this issue went to press. ➜ KEIGHLEY & Worth Valley Railway-based 1899-built Taff Vale Railway O2 0-6-2T No. 85 is to star in the Bluebell Railway’s April 3-5 Branch Line Weekend. ➜ THE restoration of Peckett W6 Special 0-4-0ST No. 1935 of 1937 Hornet is expected to be completed in time for the Ribble Steam Railway’s March 28-29 spring gala. The former…

TWENTY-four historic enamel advertising signs were stolen from the late Sir William McAlpine’s private Fawley Hill estate in Buckinghamshire early on Monday, January 6. Burglars used a crowbar and spanners to remove the signs from the outside walls of the restored Somersham station, which serves the Fawley Hill Railway on the site. Its owner, Lady Judy McAlpine, believes that she may have disturbed the burglars when she went outside with her two Labradors to investigate sounds. Lady McAlpine said:“The dogs disturbed them. I had a feeling that something was going on and went outside, and it seems they then made off.” When daylight broke, the scale of the theft was apparent. One sign that appeared to have been bent by a crowbar had been left hanging from the wall. Lady…

CALEDONIAN Railway 812 class 0-6-0 No. 828 is now expected to return to Strathspey Railway traffic in the autumn. It has been originally intended that a heavy general overhaul would start in April. However, following discussions between railway officials and the CR 828 Trust, which owns the 1899-built locomotive, the scope of the planned overhaul will be amended. Because the engine is in generally good mechanical condition, the overhaul will now focus principally on renewing the boiler’s 10-year ticket. After No. 828 comes back in late 2020, it is then intended that it will run for around five years before being withdrawn for heavy overhaul.…

CONSERVATIONISTS have called for a cast-iron bridge designed by GWR engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel to be installed in Portsmouth, the city of his birth in 1806. The 100ft modular canal bridge, which comprises interlocking parts, was rediscovered during regeneration work at Paddington station in 2004 before being dismantled and transported to Portsmouth’s fort Cumberland on 20 lorries at a cost of about £500,000. Significant structure The bridge is owned by Historic England, but Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust wants to see it become a local tourist attraction in its own right. Trust chairman Charlie Fraser-Fleming said: “It is the only one of its kind in the world. “It was such an important discovery. Brunel was pioneering new techniques that had not been done before.” Historic England is set to make a…

THE Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway has launched a £100,000 appeal to complete its engineering centre. The heritage line has finished the construction of the building at Chinnor designed to enable the maintenance, repair, and restoration of locomotives and carriages. The basic structure is complete, with temporary trackwork installed, engineering and carriage and wagon workshops built, along with a temporary mess room. However, more funds are needed to lay permanent track on concrete sleepers and to install a pit to facilitate underframe inspections, maintenance and repairs. It is also intended to concrete the floor with sufficient strength to enable the use of carriage jacks, build a protected stairwell to the first floor and install a fire escape from the first floor. The railway also wants to build a permanent mess…

TUCKED away almost out of sight for half a century in the back siding at Goathland, the Hull & Barnsley Rolling Stock Fund’s two non-corridor coaches are likely to have gone unnoticed by many visitors to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR). The fund’s two coaches were among the first to arrive on the NYMR 50 years ago and even saw some use on passenger services at the early open days before the railway opened, as well as use for filming contracts for A Month in the Country and South Riding. However, it has been many years now since they have left their home at Goathland, and restoration progress has been slow. Sur vivors Rescued from Departmental service in 1968 and 1969, Nos. 50 and 58 were long thought to…

LNER K1 2-6-0 No. 62005 is to appear at the Great Central Railway’s big January 24-26 winter steam gala. North Yorkshire Moors Railway-based ‘Jacobite’ regular No. 62005, owned by the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group, will join eight home fleet steam locomotives at the event, which will also feature freight and demonstration TPO workings. In action will be WR 4-6-0 No. 6990 Witherslack Hall, BR Standard 9F No. 92214 Leicester City, Stanier 8F No. 48305,‘Black Five’No. 45305 Alderman AE Draper, BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73156, BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018, Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46521 subject to completion of repairs and LMS‘Jinty’3F 0-6-0T No. 47406, which is available following a boiler certificate extension. The line’s Metropolitan Cammell Class 101 DMU will be providing additional local services. A high…

YEOVIL Junction is set to see the expansion of its facilities as plans for Yeovil Railway Centre’s extension to its internal running line and the establishment of a new South Western Railway’s depot are completed. A key link in main line operations, boasting the only 75ft turntable between Southall and Laira, the centre has submitted plans for an extension to its ‘Wilderness’ branch to landlord Network Rail. Should these be approved, visitors will be able to enjoy a longer steam-hauled trip within the centre and take advantage of the chance to alight above and alongside the singled Yeovil Pen Mill-Weymouth line for ‘station’ refreshments. South Western Railway is in the throes of establishing a new depot adjacent to the centre. When operational, the depot will stable four Class 159 units…

SAPHOS Trains kicks off its 2020 excursion programme on Saturday, February 1, when the sell-out ‘North Wales Coast Express’ departs Leicester for Crewe, where steam comes on for the remainder of the journey to Holyhead. It is anticipated that BR Standard Pacific No. 70000 Britannia will be chosen to take the ‘Express’ to North Wales for the opening Saturday. On Saturday, February 15, the ‘Pennine & Peaks Valley Express’ leaves Crewe for a circular tour taking in the Yorkshire Dales, the train then returning via Clitheroe, Whalley and Wilpshire banks. It is expected that LMS 4-6-0 No. 46100 Royal Scot could be selected to haul this day trip. The ‘White Rose’ is booked to start from Shrewsbury for a day trip to York on Saturday, March 7. Follow us @HeritageRailMag…

MAIN line certificated U class No. 31806 was back in traffic working Santa specials alongside Bulleid 4-6-2s 257 Squadron and Sir Keith Park during December, its axle boxes having been cleared to run. Despite its main line ticket, the U is likely to be largely confined to the Swanage Railway, which leases it from John Bunch, because the line lacks the appropriate passenger rolling stock and staff experience in running excursion trains on the national network. However, the 2-6-0 may be seen working trains along the Dorset coast in the summer months. Both the Railway Touring Company (RTC) and Steam Dreams have shown an interest in using the engine to head return workings from Weymouth to Southampton where the morning’s main locomotive – positioned tender first at the rear –…

PLANS to overhaul LBSCR Stroudley ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T No. 672 Fenchurch progressed with the removal of the boiler for assessment at Sheffield Park Works in early December. The remainder of the 1872-built A1X has since returned to public display in the locomotive shed. Fenchurch was withdrawn from traffic in 2011 when its 10-year boiler ticket expired. The aim is to have it running for its 150th anniversary in 2022. The oldest locomotive on the Bluebell, prior to its acquisition in 1964, for many years it was also the oldest locomotive in BR service.…

A PAIR of modern Mk.3 all-welded mild steel coaches have found a new home on a railway renowned for its pre-Grouping vintage and wooden-bodied stock. On December 19, two redundant Mk.3 sleeping cars from the Caledonian Sleeper arrived for use as staff accommodation. They will replace two life-expired sleeping coaches at Sheffield Park station. Numbered 10690 and 10693, they were delivered by rail from Wembley Inter City Depot top and tailed by GB Railfreight Class 66s Nos. 66701 and 66725 Sunderland, to Horsted Keynes sidings.…

THE overhaul of SR S15 4-6-0 No. 828 Harry A. Frith continues to progress steadily at the Mid-Hants Railway’s Ropley works. Some work has been carried out on restoring the ashpan, which dates from the 1980s when No. 828 was restored at Eastleigh Works. Rust has been removed from between the ashpan plates and some welding has been undertaken on the inside of the ashpan. A start has also been made on giving the ashpan some protective black undercoat. The insides of the tube holes on the front boiler tubeplate have been cleaned and oiled. The left and right hand back cylinder covers have also been temporarily refitted to the locomotive. Further work has been done to the smokebox – including cutting holes for the steam pipes and trimming inside…

SCOTLAND’S third Transport Trust Red Wheel was unveiled at Wemyss Bay station on November 29. Designed by James Miller, the station comprises an Edwardian interchange between the train from Glasgow and the ferry to Rothesay which featured on the front cover of Simon Jenkins’ book Britain’s 100 Best Railway Stations. The unveiling was performed by Professor Gordon Masterton, a past president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the headquarters of which, in London, was also designed by Miller. The 30 guests enjoyed a tour beforehand by Greg Beecroft, chairman of the Friends of Wemyss Bay Station, who pointed to improvements made by the Friends during its first 10 years of existence.…

A SERIES of one-day workshops for photographers of all abilities has been arranged by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The courses are aimed at people aged 18 and over seeking to use their digital cameras more creatively, while photographing trains, stations, people and landscapes along what is Britain’s most popular heritage line. They are being run by professional landscape photographer, author and teacher John Potter, and are offered with a choice of beginner (six participants) or intermediate (eight participants) level, tailored to the exact learning needs of those taking part. The morning is spent at Pickering station, working both in the Learning Centre and on the station platforms. Participants will be shown how to take control of ISO settings, exposure, depth of field, white balance and shutter speeds, and given…

EVENTS are listed here in chronological order, concentrating on those of interest to the enthusiast. All railways will be holding additional events to those listed here, which are aimed more towards the family market, details of which can be obtained direct from the railway, but Thomas and similar events are included in the listing. The information was correct at the time of going to press, however we strongly advise that you confirm details of a particular event with the railway concerned to avoid disappointment. JANUARY 24-26: Great Central Railway: Winter Steam Gala ■ FEBRUARY 2: Abbey Pumping Station: Steam Toys in Action 15,16: Didcot Railway Centre: Delivering the Goods 17-21: Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway: Children’s Week ■ 19,20: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway: Jurassic specials ■ 23: Epping Ongar…

Nigeria’s railway system has its origins in the late 19th century colonial period, and this huge country was eventually to benefit from a very extensive and strategically vital system of 3ft 6in gauge lines, supplemented by a small number of 2ft 6in gauge branches. In parallel with the experience of many other countries, a period of considerable prosperity was followed by a relative decline as other forms of transport – mainly road and air – made major competitive inroads into the railway’s markets. However, rail in Nigeria is currently enjoying a major renaissance under the guidance and direction of the country’s dynamic and enterprising Transportation Minister, the Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, including the construction of approximately 575 miles of new standard gauge high-speed lines (line speed 100mph) and the…

Recent visitors to the Telford Steam Railway (TSR) will have been thrilled to take a ride on the ‘Polar Express’ authentically headed by an American locomotive in the form of a US Army Transportation Corps S160 2-8-0 numbered 1225. Meanwhile, around 150 miles away, the Wensleydale Railway has been experiencing similar soaraway ticket sales with its own ‘Polar Express’ trips – also headed by an S160 numbered 1225. Both S160s are based on the Churnet Valley Railway and are owned by Greg Wilson, and both have starred in two of the biggest success stories of the festive season just gone. Both ventures, of course, are based on the Warner Brothers 2004 international smash hit computer-animated Christmas movie based on the Polar Express, the children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, telling…

‘The Wansbeck Piper’ farewell tour sold out so quickly that posters were not required I HAVE been reading Heritage Railway shortly after it was first published in 1999 and I read it from cover to cover. I have just read the article titled The‘Wansbeck Piper’– a 1960s Steam Tour, in issue 261. This brought back a lot of memories as my father, mother and my older brother and myself were on the train. I was only 14 years old at the time. Trevor Gregg mentions in the article that“Once advertised, the round table were staggered at the public response.” I also still have the booklet that was given to every passenger on the train and my ticket No. 0024 over stamped with ‘CHILD’ but I also have a large poster…

THE suggestion in issue 262 (News, page 28) regarding the reinstatement of the Garsdale-Hawes branch makes a good deal of sense and is perhaps timely – in view of the new Government’s ‘promise’ to look at reopening a number of the lines closed during the Beeching era (and before). The connection at Garsdale with the Settle and Carlisle line would be most beneficial to the market town of Hawes which, as anyone will know who visits or lives near the dales, becomes clogged/blocked with cars and coaches during the holiday season. Hawes is, perhaps, the most popular Yorkshire Dales (small) town and the rail connection would surely lessen the impact of hundreds of cars arriving daily. In addition, the branch is still almost totally in situ and is only used…

IF you like to admire models of preserved locomotives, you will not be disappointed by Hornby’s 2020 releases announced on January 6. No fewer than eight preserved steam and diesel locomotives form part of this year’s new product portfolio. Among them is this issue’s cover story, BR 9F No. 92212 which, as reported on page 9, hauled its last train for the foreseeable future at the Mid-Hants Railway on December 30. Due for release in the autumn, the limited edition model will depict No. 92212 in its current BR black with late crest. Forming part of Hornby’s entry level Railroad range, it is interesting to note that the manufacturer said in its description: “With the expiration of No. 92212’s boiler certificate in December 2019, the locomotive is expected to be…