Table of contents for Issue 325 in Heritage Railway

OPINION THIS issue is unashamedly an autumn gala special, celebrating the tremendous achievements of our heritage railways and the splendid seasonal vistas through which they ran over the past few weeks. It goes without saying that the past few years has been a trying time for our lines and that many have reported a sizeable increase in passenger numbers for these events, and therefore revenue in an economic climate when every pound in so badly needed – and many times over. The excellent public response to these spectacular galas stands the UK in prime position for next year’s country-wide celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the world’s first modern railway, the Stockton & Darlington. The events – big and small – arranged as part of Railway 200 and the…

RAILWAY 200 – which promises to be the biggest celebration of Britain’s rail heritage ever held – is to start a year of celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway with a headline-grabbing Whistle-Off event at noon on January 1. Heritage railways have been invited to register for the event which will see participating locomotives sounding their whistles. Its organiser, the Heritage Railway Association, said 20 UK lines signed up to take part in the first fortnight since the event was opened to invitations, with more expected to apply – and enquiries have also been received from heritage lines around the world. Global appeal Alan Hyde, Railway 200’s marketing and communications officer, revealed that two railways, one in The Netherlands and the other in South Africa,…

BOSSES at Ireland’s first velorail scheme have been examining its first full season on the rails at Kiltimagh and have declared themselves happy with the results. About 6000 visitors have used the railtrikes over the eight miles of the former Midland Great Western Railway ‘Burma Road’ since it opened officially for business on June 9, 2023. The line opened for the full 2024 season in April and ran through to mid-October. Velorail runs for 6.5 miles either side of Kiltimagh on part of the mothballed railway which closed to passengers in 1963 and good trains in 1975. As the track has been left intact to allow for possible reopening, local community development group IRD Kiltimagh CLG seized the initiative and approached Irish Rail for permission to reopen the section of…

THE ELR is appealing for £150,000 to restart the restoration of its flagship LMS ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 No. 13065 to running order. The 1927-built locomotive, one of a class of 245 designed by George Hughes and later built under the direction of his successor Sir Henry Fowler, is one of only three survivors. It was withdrawn from service at Birkenhead by BR in 1966 and arrived at Woodham Brothers’ scrapyard in Barry in June the following year, staying there until April 1978. The East Lancashire Railway bought the locomotive and restored it to working order in 1993. It ran in black livery as No. 42765 until 2003, when it was withdrawn for overhaul. It returned to service on the ELR in LMS crimson livery as No. 13065 in 2014, and then…

THE Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust at Hunsbury Hill Country Park, in Northampton, celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sunday, September 29. The event marked the final steaming of 0-4-0ST Peckett No. 2130 of 1951 prior to its withdrawal for a full overhaul. It was supplied new to the Co-operative Wholesale Society’s factory in Irlam, Manchester. When the rail system there closed in 1967, it was sold along with sister No. 2131 to Dunlop and moved to its factory in Erdington, Birmingham. In 1974 it moved to the Battlefield Line for preservation. During the event, it hauled brake van rides with Class 02 diesel shunter D2867. Fresh out of the works was Leeds Fowler 0-4-0DH No. 4220016 The Flying Falcon, making its debut with shunting demonstrations.…

THE restoration of a six-wheel carriage converted for use by Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1881 has led to coach restoration expert Stephen Middleton winning a National Transport Trust annual awards. As highlighted in Sally Clifford’s special feature last issue, No. 8 was converted for use by the future Edward VII and reverted to a private saloon in 1892 and is now based on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. Stephen, from Harrogate, has now earned a National Transport Trust Restoration Award. NTT awards director Paul Brook said: “The amount of work thus far has been considerable, and it has been executed by Stephen, his family, and a small team to a very high quality. “All the fittings, for instance, are period, and these, together with the finishes, are…

PICTURE the scene: a busy joint railway hub serving the Great Western and Southern railway companies, with a range of services coming and going to destinations around the two regions but both companies operating independently. As time progresses, inter-regional workings start appearing on rival metals. As the gala market becomes increasingly competitive, organisers are starting to look much closer at what their events can offer as they bid to take top billing and appeal to as broad an audience as possible. With many of the sector’s ‘star’ locomotives having been exhausting the circuit in recent years, the pressure is on to plan something more than simply just running a few extra services, particularly when on any given weekend at least two other events could be taking place simultaneously across the…

THE Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway has been awarded an £85,000 grant to restore the woodland surrounding its Cynheidre base. Made under The Woodland Investment Grant scheme, it is being delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with theWelsh Government. The grant has been made to help the railway progress plans near to Llanelli. The mixed woodland at Cynheidre have grown on the site of the old colliery, once one of the largest in SouthWales. The wood is currently overgrown and inaccessible, and it would have remained so without this grant. The project will enable extensive conservation work to take place, restoring vital habitats and helping species to breed and thrive once more. Volunteers, local groups and schools will be able to take part in the project through…

THE Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway’s England 0-4-0STT No. 4 Palmerston – which, having been built in 1864, makes it currently the oldest operational narrow-gauge locomotive in the world – was the guest at the Lynton& Barnstaple Railway’s successful Autumn Gala on September 28/29, the 89th anniversary of the closure of the original line on September 29, 1935. Palmerston, a recent visitor to the Vale of Rheidol Railway, starred alongside home-based replica Baldwin 2-4-2T Lyn, Kerr Stuart 0-6-0T No. 2451 of 1915 Axe and Bagnall 4-4-0T No. 2819 of 1945 Sir George Newnes, which, as reported in issue 323, was renamed from Charles Wytock on August 13 and dedicated by Christopher Newnes to his greatuncle Sir George, the founding chairman of the Lynton& Barnstaple Railway Company. The 7¼in gauge miniature…

THE Great Northern Railway Society has entered into a partnership with the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre and Hawthorn Engine & Carriage Trust, with hopes that it will aid survival of an as-yet unrestored GNR carriage. Six-wheeled carriages, a vital part of pre-Grouping rolling stock consists, were first introduced by the GNR as long ago as 1872, with some of the carriage bodies later being converted by Sir Nigel Gresley into articulated carriages, many of which lasted into the BR period. Built in 1890 at Doncaster to diagram 245, the vehicle in question is a six-wheeled, five-compartment third class carriage, believed to be numbered 836. After it was withdrawn at Consett by BR, it was purchased in 1975 by enthusiast Eric Maxwell and subsequently moved to the Tanfield Railway where it was…

DIDCOT Railway Centre is a definitive bastion of all things Great Western, but two visiting Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2Ts proved to be the stars of the show at the venue’s September 2022 Autumn Steam Gala. Black-liveried No. 41312, which was built in 1952, appeared courtesy of the Mid-Hants Railway to join up with 1949-built No. 41241 in its striking Keighley & Worth Valley Railway maroon livery, as originally restored for the opening of the Yorkshire branch in 1968. Also in action were GWR Avonside 0-4-0ST No. 1340 of 1897 and GWR prairie No. 4144, which harks back to 1946. The visitors took it in turns to run on the centre’s branch and main demonstration lines on different days, as well as doing a doubleheading stint at the end of each day,…

NEWS ENCOURAGING and providing younger volunteers with the ability to learn valuable skills is at the forefront of many organisations’ planning, and on September 8 five members of the Talyllyn Railway’s Young Members Group (YMG) paid a visit to the workshops at Boston Lodge on the Ffestiniog Railway to learn how to operate woodworking machinery – while advancing one of their own projects in the process. In August 2023, the group successfully applied for a £5000 grant from Mantell Gwynedd under its Youth Volunteering Grant 2023-2025 scheme, which supports youth groups for people aged between 14 and 25, the precise age bracket of the YMG. The grant is funding a replica construction of the gunpowder van that ran on the original railway but was scrapped in the early 1960s, having…

THE Spa Valley Railway’s September 21/22 model railway exhibition has become an annual fixture of its calendar and showcases railways from a multitude of scales. This year’s event saw Heritage Railway staff writer Owen Hayward lead a team to build a working layout in just two days with one goal: to show how the hobby can be beneficial to your mental health. The format of Owen’s challenge was similar to the Channel 5 programme The Great Model Railway Challenge, which pitted teams of modellers against one another to build layouts to a given theme in heats before winners would advance to a grand final, only in a less competitive situation. The team of five modellers undertaking this challenge included two former contestants from the programme; Max Davies was part of…

CRICH Tramway Village has been awarded a special £83,080 heritage grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The grant, which backs a year-long project to help build the business resilience of the Tramway Museum Society, the charity which has run the museum since the 1960s, focuses on three main areas: audience data analysis, business planning and volunteer support. Society chairman Karen Rigg said: “These are all key to helping us understand where to concentrate our resources in future. “A new role of volunteer coordinator and mentor will be very valuable, as building and retaining the volunteer team is important to us. “The majority of our team who run the demonstration tramway are volunteers. “The charity is reliant on income from our visitors, with legacies and donations, and we couldn’t operate…

FOR the first time in 20 years, the South Devon banks bore witness to what was once a familiar sight in years gone by, double-headed Castles hauling an express passenger train. Friday, September 27 saw Vintage Trains’ express ‘The Mayflower’ storm through the West Country to Plymouth with Tyseley’s double-chimneyed 4-6-0s, WR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle and GWR No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe leading the charge. A cold and wet morning greeted ‘The Mayflower’ as it left Birmingham New Street for Bristol Temple Meads, but the pair of Michael Owen’s Class 20s, Nos. 20189 and 20142 Sir John Betjeman, working in multiple, made light work of the first leg of the journey, providing a soundtrack of English Electric thrash to the passengers eagerly awaiting the headline attraction, the…

A NEW ghost train will transport visitors to the haunted Muncaster Castle in Cumbria for its famous Halloween event. The 'Muncaster Express' to Ravenglass via Carlisle and the Cumbrian coast promises "a spinetingling family-friendly journey with onboard characters to bring the spirit of Halloween alive." Operated by West Coast Railways on behalf of the castle, the dieselhauled inaugural ‘Muncaster Express’ will run on Tuesday, October 29. The service has been made possible thanks to funding awarded by Cumberland Council from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. Passengers will board at Carlisle, Workington or Whitehaven and on arrival at Ravenglass will be whisked by coach up to the castle for the Halloween Family Festival. The train is one of several new developments intended to make this year's festival bigger and better…

October 26 ‘The Pembroke Coast Express’ Bristol Temple Meads, Tenby, Pembroke Dock and return. Loco: 45596 Bahamas 26 Settle & Carlisle steam special Nottingham, Carlisle and return. Steam-hauled between Carnforth and Coventry. Loco: TBA. NB 26 ‘The East Anglian Freighter’ Liverpool Street, Ipswich, Southend Victoria and return. Locos: 2x Class 20 TBC, Class 37 TBC. UKRT 27 ‘The Peaks Express’ Circular tour from Preston via Chesterfield and Derby. Loco: TBA. RTC 27 ‘The Shakespeare Express’ Derby, Stratford-upon-Avon and return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: TBA. VT 29 ‘The Muncaster Express’ Carlisle, Ravenglass and return. Loco: Class 47 TBC. WCR 31 The Golden Age of Travel by Steam Circular tour from London Victoria. Loco: 35028 Clan Line. BEL November 7 The Golden Age of Travel by Steam Circular tour from London Victoria. Loco:…

This year’s Autumn Steam Gala featured four guest locomotives: Didcot Railway Centre-based GWR Saint 4-6-0 No. 2999 Lady of Legend, ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 44932 from West Coast Railways at Carnforth, LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas – which proved very popular especially when paired with the LMS set of carriages – and Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Aspinall 0-6-0ST No. 11456 from the East Lancashire Railway. In action alongside were GWR No. 4930 Hagley Hall, BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75069, GWR 4-6-0 No. 7714 and LMS mogul No. 13268 with the Class 108 DMU on shuttles between Kidderminster and Highley. Making its first appearance in its new LMS livery, No. 11456 took the organisers by surprise and they wanted to pair it with the correct stock, so late changes…

WANTED Your lighter takes If you’ve got a quirky photo, tale, poem, or anything else you think might be appropriate, please email staff writer Owen Hayward on ohayward@mortons.co.uk THE Doon Valley Railway ended its 2024 operating season in style on Sunday, September 29, when it marked the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group with a gala open day. Chairman Archie Thom said ‘hundreds of visitors’ turned up and 10 steam trains carried 287 passengers, leaving just 13 seats unfilled. The Dunaskin Brass Band, stalls, and vintage transport all added to the occasion, while the line’s mascot, Shug - a west of Scotland rendering of the noble name of Hugh - raised £100 thanks to rattling a charity collecting can at visitors. “Shug has been a…

THE three-day weekend of October 11-13 was one for celebration by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society as it welcomed back BR 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80105 into traffic following a long eight-year overhaul at Bo’ness – with the gala event also reviving two lost identities as well as bringing in a guest from the opposite end of the nation. Built at Brighton in 1955, No. 80105 was initially shedded at Plaistow and Tilbury in Essex and worked on the London, Tilbury & Southend route, before transferring to Western region depots from 1962 which included several stints at Machynlleth. Preserved in 1973 by Locomotive Owners’ Group (Scotland) Ltd and operational between 2000 and 2010, this recent overhaul commenced in 2016 when the locomotive was completely stripped for inspection. In March this year,…

A PREDOMINANTLY home fleet affair, but the visit of LBSCR A1 ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T No. 72 Fenchurch stole the show at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s October 4-6 Autumn Steam Gala. Returning to the autumn gala scene after a few years on hiatus, the event presented an opportunity for the KWVR to bring in a guest locomotive that it would not normally consider for its bigger spring steam events, with No. 72 heading North from the Bluebell Railway following repairs to a leaky tube discovered during the Brighton Works Weekend, which took place in the summer as part of the launch week for new-build H2 Atlantic No. 32424 Beachy Head. October 4 saw Fenchurch take charge of an evening pie and mash diner, before working passenger services over the rest…

OCTOBER 4-6 may have been a time for reflecting on its history, but this year’s Bygones event at the Ffestiniog Railway saw attention turn to the completion of a new wagon and a fresh repaint of one of its carriage fleet. Built in 2004 as a replica of the original Brown Marshall vehicle delivered in 1873, Van 1 (more commonly known as the curly roof van) is a passenger luggage bogie brake vehicle with a veranda at the guard’s end; the original vehicles even had a small compartment to cater for dogs. Sadly, none of the three built survived, but when the FR set about creating a replica Victorian-era train in the early 2000s, the presence of one of these vehicles in every photograph saw it a necessary part of…

THERE are countless names from wartime that even non-history buffs will know, from prime ministers such as Sir Winston Churchill through to serving airmen like Douglas Bader. Behind the scenes, however, some of the often unsung heroes were the women who filled the thousands of job roles left empty by the men who had been called to arms. Yet, while many photographs and records of women in many departments exist, their involvement in railway engineering has largely been forgotten with the passage of time since the conflict ended. With the launch of Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35005 Canadian Pacific scheduled to take place in spring 2025 (as reported last issue), the Mid-Hants Railway is seeking to fill this void in history – one which is instrumental to the locomotive’s…

THE Severn Valley Railway’s October 3-6 Autumn Diesel Bash proved to be its latest modern traction success story, with attendances 12% up on the same event in 2023 and 29% above the budgeted figure. In what was billed as“an almighty celebration of heritage diesels,” highlights included the first passenger working in more than 22 years for visiting Class 58 No. 58023 Leicester Depot and two Class 25s coming together, with No. 25268 Sybilla making an extremely rare excursion from its home base at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to be joined by Class 25 No. 5262 from the South Devon Railway, plus Great Western Railway’s Class 125 High Speed Train, comprising Class 43 power cars Nos.43094 and 43122, alongside more than a dozen home fleet members. Atotal of 4104 visitors…

A PAINTING of a Scottish steam shed scene by Stephen Warnes was voted visitors’ favourite work of art at the Guild of Railway Artists’ 2024 Railart exhibition, held in Kidderminster Railway Museum from August 17 to September 29. Titled ‘Almost ready for the off,’ it depicted D30 4-4-0 No. 62428 The Talisman, a long-time Hawick (64G) engine named after a Walter Scott novel, waiting to access a shed’s turntable. North Cumbria-based Stephen is well-known for his local landscape paintings and is also a respected railway artist, having joined the guild in 1987 and being elected a full member seven years later. By winning the visitors’votes at the exhibition, he was awarded the prestigious Lawrence Hammonds Award. Railart is the guild’s flagship annual event, and this year drew more than 3000…

THE first official partnership between Network Rail and a heritage railway has been celebrating 12 months of success and achievements. Network Rail’s Central route and the Severn Valley Railway signed its unique partnership in September 2023, providing an opportunity for each to benefit from the other’s expertise, technology and facilities. The blossoming relationship has seen a host of benefits delivered that either save time or money, or which help to make on-the-job training safer by taking place on a railway when trains are not running. One example of partnership working which took place earlier this year saw the past meet the present with a drone inspection of SVR’s iconicVictoria bridge. Built in 1861, it is one of a small number of castiron bridges remaining in theWest Midlands still being used…

SEVERN Valley Railway volunteer Rod Derry raised more than £1500 for charity in tribute to another of the line’s volunteers who recently died. Keith Hall, a steam locomotive driver, had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease and passed away in June. Rod, a close friend and colleague of Keith’s, wanted to do something in tribute and, at the request of Keith’s family, set about raising funds in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA). “I saw a great friend who was supremely fit and active destroyed by a cruel illness,” said Rod. “So much research is needed before the outlook for sufferers will improve. Keith died a few months short of his 80th birthday, and we lost a fine engineer, a mentor and friend.” Rod arranged for the collection…

MANGAPPS Railway Museum is to host an end-of-season steam and diesel finale on October 26/27 which will include the return of an 0-6-0PT that last saw service two decades ago. Owner John Jolly has made a last-minute decision to organise the autumn event following the success of his August Bank Holiday gala that attracted large crowds of enthusiasts and families to his working museum near Burnham-on-Crouch, in Essex. One of the major attractions at that gala was the appearance of Drewry 0-6-0DM No. 11103 (later Class O4 D2203), which ran in its original 1950s Wisbech & Upwell Tramway guise complete with sideskirts and cowcatcher – a masterstroke by the museum that proved to be enormously popular with visitors. “The August gala was a great success, word got around, and guess…

HERITAGE skills were not the only things being witnessed in modern settings at the Talyllyn this autumn, as the railway held its second Heritage Weekend event during the weekend of September 28/29, not only celebrating the origins of its Corris rolling stock but also marking the 160th birthday of its flagship namesake locomotive. A product of Fletcher Jennings & Co.’s Lowca works near Whitehaven in Cumberland, 0-4-2ST No. 1 Talyllyn has an air of mystery surrounding its precise arrival in Gwynedd. A local paper in April 1865 reads: “The new engine for the Towyn and Talyllyn Railway arrived a few days ago. It is small, but doubtless powerful, and will do the work on that line,” while an order book from the works claims that the locomotive was actually delivered…

SIR Nigel Gresley’s oldest-surviving locomotive is set to return to service in 2025. The North Norfolk Railway has reached agreement with the Gresley Society that secures the long-term future of 1920-built GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744. It last ran in 2018 when it was withdrawn for a heavy overhaul, which was expected to take no more than three years. However, the overhaul was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and increased costs. The NNR has agreed to cover the cost of the work, with the amount being repaid through the operation of No. 1744. Under the agreement, Northern Steam Engineering will complete the work on the boiler, before the N2 moves to Weybourne’s workshop for the rest of the work to be completed. It is now expected that the N2 will…

NEWS ON a line steeped in industrial heritage with a plethora of varying locomotives, while it may be steam that holds the majority appeal, the Tanfield Railway’s September 21/22 Delivered by Diesel Gala celebrated the wide array of internal combustion locomotives that keep industry moving. With three locomotives drawn from the resident pool, event organisers ensured the weekend highlighted how they played their part in shaping the modern industrial landscape of the North East by securing a visitor in BR 0-6-0DM class 03 No. 03078 from the North Tyneside Railway. Built at Doncaster in 1959, it entered service on December 24 allocated to Thornaby depot for use on station pilot duties. Moving several times in the ensuing years it finally ended up at Gateshead where it became synonymous with working…

LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 44871 is set to haul ‘The Armistice Steam Express’ tour on Monday, November 11, in what has become an annual tradition for the Railway Touring Company. Starting from London Victoria, No. 44871 will take the South Eastern and Chatham Main Line through the London suburbs via Sevenoaks to Tonbridge. Passing through Tonbridge, the line climbs to Tunbridge Wells before the decent to Stonegate as the tour continues through Battle towards Hastings. The tour will proceed on the coastal route towards Ashford, stopping at Rye to allow passengers to alight here should they wish and spend just over four hours exploring the Sussex town. Those choosing to stay on the train will continue on to Ashford for a reverse move and then be diesel-hauled the short distance…

NEWS THOUGHT to be the first heritage special main line train organised to commemorate the work of a volunteer, the Bahamas Locomotive Society’s ‘The Mancunian’ fundraiser, with 300 passengers on board, travelled from Manchester to Bridgnorth on September 28, before returning later in the day. Manchester-born Steve Peach had been a volunteer for 50 years, spending all his spare time indulging in his love of steam locomotives for the society, first at its Dinting Railway Centre base in Derbyshire and then at the Engine Shed museum on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. The train was hauled by ‘Black Five’ No. 44871 from Manchester Piccadilly station to Kidderminster, from where Steve’s favourite locomotive, LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas, took over on the last leg to Bridgnorth on the Severn…

UK Railtours is to run a special to Norwich on Saturday, December 14 for the traditional Christmas offering of carols at the cathedral. Starting from King's Cross, and behind a Class 37 provided by Europhoenix Rail (EPR), the tour is scheduled to head north on the East Coast Main Line to pick up additional passengers at Potters Bar and Stevenage, before taking the Cambridge branch at Hitchin and heading through Letchworth Garden City to Cambridge. Passing Cambridge and taking the Fen Line via Waterbeach, the tour is then planned to pass Ely and run via March for a final passenger pick-up at Peterborough. Attleborough and Wymondham, the tour is booked to arrive at Norwich just before lunchtime for the carol service and the chance to explore the city. A further…

AN early gauge one clockwork model of an American outline 4-4-0 locomotive made by Bing of Germany sold for £4400 at a Vectis railwayana and model trains sale on September 26, nearly 25 times its middle estimate of £180. Sharing the runner-up spot at £950 each were a Bassett-Lowke gauge one clockwork LNWR 'Cauliflower' 0-6-0 No. 930, a 4-6-2 made by Marklin of Germany in O-gauge live steam, and a Bing gauge three live steam LNWR 4-4-0 No. 7093 King Edward. Prices exclude buyer's premium of 2212% (+VAT).…

AUTUMN SPECTACULAR There’s no doubt that the Bluebell Railway’s Giants of Steam gala has, over the years, brought in a varied mixture of locomotives ranging from express steam to heavy goods workhorses, therefore cementing itself as one of the ‘must do’ events in the region’s events calendar. With last year’s having focused on Southern Region Pacifics, this year’s October 11-13 event brought in one of the top link locomotives from the opposing compass point. Streamlined A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley was outshopped from the LNER’s Doncaster works in 1937 and was named after the man responsible for its design. Although he is perhaps most synonymous with the Eastern region, Gresley’s career started with two of the LMS’s pregrouping constituents. Born in Edinburgh in June 1876, he served an…

SEASONAL SPECTACLE ABOUT 2200 people travelled on the Great Central Railway during its October 3-6 Autumn Steam Gala, one of its biggest annual highlights. The star guest was WR 4-6-0 No. 7828 Odney Manor, from the West Somerset Railway, joining the home fleet of WR 4-6-0 No. 6990 Witherslack Hall, LMS 8F 2-8-0 No.48305, BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No.73156, BR Standard 2MTs 2-6-0s Nos.78018 and 78019, Class 20 D8001 (20001) and Derby Lightweight single railcar M79900 Iris. The event began with ‘The Midlander’ first class dining train, departing from Loughborough Central at 1pm on the Thursday. The Friday evening had trains departing from Loughborough at 6.30pm and 8pm. On the Saturday and Sunday, a series of family-friendly guided tours highlighted the history of Loughborough Central station and went behind the…

AS RAPIDO Trains geared up for its own Railex show on September 27/28, it announced no less than four new projects, with the revelation that its acquisition of the license to produce models for the Ivor the Engine franchise (reported last issue) being one of the highlights. The three remaining product ranges were equally well received – and were swiftly followed by a surprising additional announcement. A) Evolution Coaches (OO) In 2022, now-defunct retailer Hattons released its Genesis range of four wheel carriages representing a generic design inspired by many of those introduced by pre-Grouping companies; filling a gap in the market they went down a storm. With numerous locomotives and a boatload of era-appropriate wagons under the firm’s belt, the pre-Grouping era has become a quintessentially Rapido thing and…

READERS’ LETTERS ATTHE HEART OF THE HERITAGE RAILWAY SCENE ONE of the reasons I rarely buy so called ‘enthusiast’ magazines is because of the constant nonsense spoken and written about Dr Richard Beeching. Beeching did not close a single railway line: He just wrote a report. In your editorial you mention the ‘Beeching era’ - when was this? Richard was appointed chairman of the British Transport Commission on June 1, 1961, and newly-created British Railway Board on January 1, 1962 in 1962, and returned to ICI in June 1965. When appointed he was required by the Minister of Transport to take a long view consideration of the railway network, described in a cinema presentation of the time as the most extravagant railway system in the world with archaic outdated working…

THE replica 1825 Stockton & Darlington opening train, which, as reported last issue, will run over the route from Shildon via Darlington to Stockton-on-Tees next September 26, 27 and 28 as part of the centenary celebrations, has been built to 21st century main line standards. Northern Heritage Engineering Ltd of Darlington, formerly North Bay Railway Engineering Services, has been contracted by Darlington Borough Council to build replicas of three chaldron waggons and Experiment, the train’s purpose-built passenger carriage. On September 27, 1825, large crowds gathered to see engineer George Stephenson at the controls of Locomotion No.1 as it hauled a train comprising 36 waggons filled with sacks of coal and flour, plus Experiment, which had seats for 18 passengers but no springs to make the ride comfortable, and had cost…

THE East Lancashire Railway experienced a 15% increase in visitor numbers at its October 11-13 Autumn Steam Gala compared to last year’s corresponding event. In action were SR West Country light Pacific No. 34092 City of Wells, LMS ‘Jinty’ 0-6-0T No. 47298, BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92134 from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 0-6-0ST No. 11456 (see also feature, pages 92/93), Hunslet 0-6-0 No. 2890 Douglas, LMS ‘Pug’ 0-4-0ST No. 11243 (Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway No. 19) and Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20 and Barclay No. 1969 of 1929 0-4-0ST J.N. Derbyshire, both from the Ribble Steam Railway (see also News, page 34). Among the highlights was No.11456 running into the bay platform at Rawtenstall. It is difficult to signal trains into this platform, so…

AN appeal both for volunteer labour and financial assistance has been made by a group which is building a new miniature railway at Cromer – with the aim of running the first trains next summer. Last issue, we reported on the ‘ghost’ narrow gauge contractors’ railway exposed from beneath the sand at Trimingham beach, four miles to the east of the resort, after apparently lying disused for seven decades. Meanwhile, next to the town’s Amazona Zoo in Hall Road, an embryonic 7¼in gauge railway is taking shape. Following the closure of its former home at Ashmanhaugh Light Railway after 18 years, 20 miles to the south, the Cromer Light Railway Club was formed in 2020 and acquired a 20-year lease on about three acres of land. With initial planning permission…

NEWS MORE than 1750 visitors flocked to the North Norfolk Railway’s October 5/6 Autumn Showcase gala to see and ride behind the six full-sized steam locomotives in action. Visiting GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange and 2-8-0T No. 4277 Hercules, visiting from the Dartmouth Steam Railway, again proved popular and the very rare trip of line’s smallest locomotive, Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No. 1700 of 1938 Wissington, with the unique Quad-Art set of 100-year-old articulated teak-bodied carriages almost stole the show on October 5. The weekend also marked the first opening of former Reedham Junction signalbox as an interactive experience for visitors at Holt station following a two-year restoration by a small band of dedicated volunteers. The ‘box was originally built in 1904 to control trains from Norwich to Great Yarmouth…

THE leader of Tewkesbury Borough Council, Coun Richard Stanley, and Rachel Thatcher, manager of Tewkesbury Heritage and Visitor Centre, visited the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway on October 1 to strengthen ties between the line and the local authority. The visit focused on enhancing tourism within the borough, with the 14-mile railway playing a key role in attracting visitors to the area, carrying more than 100,000 passengers annually. Discussions covered a range of topics, including collaborative marketing initiatives to promote both the railway and the wider Tewkesbury area. Coun Stanley said that he was impressed by the line’s commitment to sustainability and historical preservation. “Our borough has a lot to offer visitors, and the G/WR is a major draw. The vibrancy of our borough’s tourism offer plays an important role in…

HAMPSHIRE’S Hythe Pier, which has welcomed many a royal visitor, welcomed HRH The Duke of Gloucester to the rollcall, who visited to officially open the newly-restored platform on the pier railway there -and following in the footsteps of his uncle in doing so. Since its establishment in 2018, the Hythe Pier Heritage Association has been undertaking restoration jobs in a bid to preserve the structure of the pier and its railway – the oldest continuously-operating pier train in the world – including replacement of the tracks and restoration of its rolling stock. During September, new fencing and platform handrails were delivered and fitted as work around the land end station drew to a close, and the duke was welcomed to conduct the opening on October 2. Famous figures His visit…

HIDDEN beneath the arches of Coalbrookdale Viaduct near the Old Furnace in the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and almost forgotten rest two Sentinels which have been on display for a long time, unloved and uncared for. Moves are now taking place to cosmetically restore them after many years of neglect. Historically important, Nos. 6155 and 6185 are among the earliest Sentinels in existence. Conversion to Sentinels from the original traditional steam locomotive formats was done for economic reasons, reducing water and coal consumption by a significant amount. The trust is calling for volunteers to sign up and help it complete the second phase of a project to conserve the pair from its Arts Council Designated Collections. No. 6155, the more intact of the two, was originally a Manning Wardale 0-4-0ST…

MOVES by the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) to restart regular passenger services have been further boosted by a tamping exercise carried out by VolkerRail. As reported last issue, passenger trains returned to the line after a fouryear absence when, during a special running event at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre Road, the Rail and Ale festival in Ruddington on September 6/7, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, passengers boarded hourly shuttle trains for the mile-long journey over the branch to 50 Steps Bridge on the GWR main line, hauled in push-pull formation by Class 08 No. 08784. However, following work to repair Bridge 302A, which lies halfway between Ruddington and Rushcliffe Halt, the visiting tamper was able to travel over the entire route between them. Andy Fillingham, of…

TWO steam locomotives made their comebacks following overhaul at the Ribble Steam Railway’s biggest-ever Autumn Steam Gala on September 28/29. The five-locomotive line-up comprised Britain’s oldest working standard gauge steam locomotive in Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20, built by Sharpe Stewart in Manchester in 1863, and Bagnall 0-6-0ST No. 2680 of 1942 Courageous (originally Birchenwood Gas and Coke Co No. 4), Grant Ritchie 0-4-0ST No. 272 of 1894, Borrows 0-4-0WT No. 48 of 1906 The King and Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1969 of 1929 J.N. Derbyshire. The King, which underwent a contractual restoration and overhaul at Bill Parker’s Flour Mill workshops at Bream in the Forest of Dean, made its first public appearance since it was returned to the Chain Caul Road venue in Preston in June. Almost unique in…

A VINTAGE Pullman car that formed part of the funeral train for Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill has been saved from scrapping and is set to help the Churnet Valley Railway deliver a new first-class experience. Built in 1951, first class kitchen car Carina could be found running as part of the luxurious 'Golden Arrow' services and, on January 30, 1965, was one of the vehicles that formed the train to carry the wartime leader on his final journey from London to Handborough. Carina was also part of the very last'Golden Arrow' departure from London Victoria on September 30, 1972, after which it spent a short time stored at the Longmoor Military Railway before export to France in 1973, where it was used as a static restaurant. Repatriated in 1980,…

NEWS THE golden age when railway companies had their own fleet of boats was brought back to life in a unique double centenary celebration at Dartmouth on September 26. The paddle steamer Kingswear Castle and GWR 2-8-0T No. 5239 Goliath marked their 100th birthdays at the special event held by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company, which runs both of them. A combined railway and river trip took invited guests from Paignton Queen’s Park station, where they were given a welcoming cup of coffee before boardinga train hauled by Goliath for the trip to Kingswear. From there, they were taken across the river by ferry to join Kingswear Castle for a cruise on the River Dart. Kingswear Castle cast off at 1pm and firstly sailed down to the…

THERE will be no autumn for a set of palm trees that have stood next to Newquay station in Cornwall greeting passengers for decades, only to be uprooted as part of work to reinstate a second platform. Instead, it will be a rail ‘forever spring’ for the trees – as they have been transplanted to a new home alongside one of the lines at the Lappa Valley Railway, near St Newlyn East, the venue’s 10¼in gauge Newlyn Downs branch which opened in 1995 and runs for half a mile along the trackbed of the Newquay to Chacewater branch. LVR operations director Ben Harding thanked Network Rail for the gift of the palms and its contractor Colas Rail for transporting them to their new home at the tourist attraction. “We believe…

NEWS THE Leighton Buzzard Railway became a hive of industrial motive power activity during its successful September 28/29 Autumn Gala. Virtually all of the 2ft gauge line’s operational steam locomotives were in action alongside locomotives from what is believed to be the UK’s biggest collection of 2ft gauge industrial diesels, and visitors had the chance to ride the ‘Leedon Flyer’, a special train headed by 1877-built De Winton 0-4-0 vertical-boilered locomotive Chaloner to Leedon loop and back. The event saw Chaloner pulling its first trains since its overhaul was completed, and its first scheduled passenger services for decades. Orenstein & Koppel 0-6-0WT No. 10808 of 1924 Pedmoura, which worked in the Douro Valley coal mines system in northern Portugal, carried a 100th anniversary headboard. The Greensand Railway Museum Trust’s Baldwin…

THE planned closure of the volunteer-run Carnforth Station Heritage Centre has been averted at the 11th hour. The station became famous for its appearance in scenes in the classic 1945 film Brief Encounter, directed by David Lean and starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. The station clock became a powerful icon through repeated use in the movie. Carnforth’s main line platforms were closed and removed in 1970 prior to the electrification of the West Coast Nain Line and the buildings gradually fell into disrepair. However, in 1996 the Carnforth Station and Railway Trust was formed to restore its semi-derelict rooms. Former rail infrastructure company Railtrack invested in it and local residents raised £1.5 million to restore it to its 1940s glory. After three years’ work, the Brief Encounter refreshment room,…

DURING the festive season, Midland Pullman is giving customers the chance to travel from various destinations on board its distinctive High Speed Train set under the title of the 'Edinburgh Christmas Pullman. The first tour is set for Wednesday, November 27, starting from Hull and heading west on the Selby Line to pick up additional passengers at Brough, Gilberdyke, Howden, Selby, Leeds, Shipley, Keighley, Skipton and Settle, before the train takes the Settle to Carlisle line north. From Carlisle the tour is expected to head north-east to Edinburgh for a break of about three hours before the return journey. On Tuesday, December 3, the tour to Edinburgh is planned to start from Swindon and take the Golden Valley Line to pick up further passengers at Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse and Cheltenham…

QUEEN Victoria welcomed guests to Windsor & Eton Central on October 8 as Great Western Railway marked 175 years since its predecessor namesake won the race to open the royal town's first station. Her Majesty was joined by Prince Albert and other Victorian gentry as guests including the Mayor of Slough and the Mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead were treated to a right royal celebration. During the 1840s, GWR was locked in a battle with the rival LSWR to win the queen's patronage for opening the first station in Windsor. GWR opened the line from Slough to Windsor & Eton Central station, then named simply Windsor, on October 8, 1849. Following issues with a bridge at nearby Datchet, the LSWR Windsor & Riverside station finally opened on December 1, 1849.…

A SELECTION of Class 47 worksplates, all with their Collectors' Corner receipts, will be going under the hammer at a Transport Auctions of London sale on October 26, one of which will be from No. 47077 that was built at Crewe in February 1965 as D1661 North Star and saved for preservation when withdrawn from Bristol Bath Road in May 2007. A Western Region engine from new, this Co-Co carried a historical GWR name that was firstly given to a broad gauge 2-2-2 in 1837, and subsequently to No. 40, the prototype of the Star class that was outshopped by Swindon in April 1906, renumbered 4000 in 1912, and in 1929 was rebuilt as a Castle still carrying the same name and number. A Southern Railway enamel sign promoting Southern…

I do not think that there could be a more spectacular or uniquely scenic location in the world for a railway museum than the Italian National Railway Museum at Pietrarsa on the outskirts of Naples. The Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa is sited on the edge of the Gulf of Naples, its views overlook the Amalfi Coast, the Isle of Capri and the Sorrento Coast. Pompeii is nearby and Vesuvius provides the occasional puff of steam. The grounds have a small botanical garden with plants from all over the world. The large museum displays the collection sympathetically over five buildings. The original building houses the collection of steam locomotives either side of a central traverser: You could almost say Swindon by the sea. At the beginning of the 19th century,…

As running costs spiral upward and railways closely monitor that their motive power choices meet operational and economical needs, one railway has been weathering the storm without having to change much at all. While for most an industrial locomotive won’t quite cut the mustard, having often been designed for power over short distances rather than sustained efforts covering several miles, the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway sees their benefits – and has them form part of its core service fleet, especially as the line’s largest locomotives have, until recently, been out of service. Running for 3.5 miles to the shore of Lake Windermere in Cumbria, traversing what was once a part of the Furness Railway network and branching off from the Carnforth to Barrow-in-Furness main line at Ulverston, the L&HR has…

I FEAR the Restoring Your Railway project was only a public relations exercise. One might have hoped that the return of a Labour government would lead to some serious spending on these reopenings. None will be commercially viable but could be justified on a social cost-benefit basis; there has been talk in Tavistock for some years. The original idea was to build a large housing estate to the south of the town. The developer would make a contribution of several million pounds under Section 106 of the Act and this would relay Bere Alston to Tavistock South. It should be possible to get to a small station on the viaduct in central Tavistock. Just north of there is a terrace of recent council houses which would have to go to…

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: Weds-Suns & sch hols until Nov 3. Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway 2ft gauge, ½ mile. Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01622 884254. Running: Weds + Oct 31-Nov 3. Chatham Historic Dockyard Standard gauge, one mile. Chatham, Kent. Tel: 01634 820800. Open: Daily until Oct 27. East Kent Railway Standard gauge, two miles. Shepherdswell, Kent. Tel: 01304 832042. Running: TBC. 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 until Nov 3. Hayling Light Railway 2ft gauge,…