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MANY readers will no doubt share my profound dismay at the decision made in late May by the Planning Inspectorate to allow an appeal by a developer which will lead to the demolition of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway’s Bridge 234 in the Lincolnshire town of Bourne (see News, page 24). This classic 1980-built overbridge is (and maybe was, by the time this edition hits the streets) the sole significant publicly-accessible railway-built structure left in Bourne from its days as a four-way junction. At a time when we are making big plans to mark the bicentenary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which worked a global transport revolution as the world’s first steam-operated public railway, the last vestiges of a system that shaped modern-day Bourne are being finally…
THE Kent & East Sussex Railway is approaching the summer tourist season with four causes for celebration – the return of a much-loved A1X‘Terrier’ in a livery it has not carried for more than 120 years, and the arrival of three other locomotives to help out with a busy schedule. While the trio of new arrivals is good news for the operating department, it is doubtless the return of the‘Terrier’ that has heartened staff and volunteers the most, for the KESR has had these locomotives at its very core since the original line opened in 1900, when Queen Victoria was on the throne and the Marquess of Salisbury was her prime minister. Delight at the return of the A1X in its original guise at No. 70 Poplar is also boosted…
PATRONS of a Kent and East Sussex Railway dining train on July 2 will be careful not to spill their meals – as the train has been organised by the East Sussex Nudists group of British Naturist, with diners invited to strip off for the journey! Departing at 7pm, the train will operate one round trip to the line’s Bodiam terminus and back, with food options being a choice of chicken curry, bangers and mash, or a vegetarian take of each. KESR commercial manager André Freeman said: “We were approached to see if we’d be prepared to host a private steam-hauled evening charter train for BN. The customer was reassured by our ‘welcoming and non-judgemental response’, while we were very impressed by their professional approach to all aspects of the…
THE heritage railway sector joined in the nationwide patriotic celebrations to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Venues big and small staged their own tailor-made festivities, with the Severn Valley Railway offering a flagship locomotive for the event in the form of Bulleid West Country light Pacific No. 34027 Taw Valley repainted, with permission of the Palace, in purple livery and renamed on July 2, the start of the jubilee bank holiday weekend as No. 70 Elizabeth II. Furthermore, the railway allowed free travel to everyone called Elizabeth throughout the four-day celebratory event. “This is all about celebrating the longest-reigning British monarch ever,” said Michael Dunn, the SVR’s head of visitor experience. The gesture was mirrored on the East Lancashire Railway between May 27 and June 2 and the Chinnor &…
LOCAL primary schoolchildren have planted seeds for preservation at the Middleton Railway to commemorate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Youngsters from Low Road and Windmill Music Federation, based in Hunslet and Belle Isle, and supported by Opera North, were invited to plant a tree at the world’s oldest working railway. The railway’s vice president, Ian Smith, explained to them how they could be railway volunteers of the future, emphasising the important part railways have played in the mining and industrial history which has shaped the city. After planting the tree, a Photinia Red Robyn, with the help of the line’s volunteer gardener, Mick Jackson, the children were taken by train to Middleton Park in a rake of coaches hauled by Peckett 0-4-0DM No. 5003 of 1961 Austin No.1. Sold to scrap…
THE National Railway Museum has launched a new temporary exhibition, called Royals on Rails, to mark the jubilee. Running in the York museum’s Highlights Gallery, which overlooks the Great Hall, the exhibition features a selection of unique objects from its collection with a royal connection and runs until September 4. It includes a programme of royal-themed activities, such as conservation demonstrations and family activities, during which visitors can learn about how the UK’s railways have changed during The Queen’s 70-year reign. It also includes a specially commissioned film which explores the link between royal patronage and the development of the railways, and gives visitors a glimpse inside the museum’s collection of royal carriages. The six royal carriages on permanent display in Station Hall include Queen Victoria’s grand 1869 saloon and…
