Heritage Railway Issue 299

IN these dreary and dismal times beset by political and financial crises, what we all now desperately need is inspiration and a ray of hope. October 14 saw the launch of a year of celebrations which will mark the centenary of an icon that has come to represent the finest of the steam railway age as exported to the rest of the world by Britain – the record-setting legend that is Flying Scotsman. It was only earlier this year that No. 60103 was withdrawn from main line service for its overhaul, but now it is back and the public at large seem more eager than ever to embrace what is has to offer. At Heritage Railway, we have been contacted by ordinary members of the public desperate to find out…

AN action-packed and varied year of special events and railtours to mark the centenary of LNER Gresley A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman – for long dubbed the world’s most famous steam locomotive – was officially launched at King’s Cross station on the morning of Friday, October 14, exactly 170 years to the day that the East Coast Main Line terminus was opened. The previous week, the National Railway Museum-owned locomotive underwent test running on the East Lancashire Railway at the completion of its overhaul by Riley & Son (E) Ltd at Heywood, which operates and maintains the locomotive, following its withdrawal from traffic in April. The day before, it travelled down the West Coast Main Line to London in time for the start of its centenary celebrations. King’s Cross…

AFTER asix-hourjourneyfromLondon following the high-profile King’s Cross launch of its centenary year programme, A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman arrived on the Swanage Railway on the morning ofTuesday, October 18 at the start of a three-week visit to the Purbeck line. While running through Christchurch on its way to Bournemouth en route, No. 60103 passed Stourfield Junior School. Its pupils were all out on the field, and waving and cheering enthusiastically as the A3 and its support coach passed by. The A3, which previously visited the heritage line in 2019, will stay until November 7, and there was every indication that it will do much as an added visitor magnet to extend the Dorset resort’s summer season. Flying Scotsman was booked to haul passenger trains between Swanage and Norden from…

AN Irish first has seen the Strabally Woodland Railway run the country’s first passenger train to be hauled by a steam locomotive using a 100% renewable biomass-based coal substitute. On September 24, Barclay 0-4-0WT No. 2264 of 1949 No. 2 Roisin ran with a stove-ready commercial product called Harvest Flame that is made via the process of torrefaction from biomass – olive stones in this case, a residue from the food industry. The former Bord na Mona locomotive once hauled wagons of turf from bogs to be burned in a power station. Now it hauled its train over the two-thirds of a milelong 3ft gauge line in the grounds of Stradbally Hall, in Co Laois, to pioneer a step towards carbon neutral steam heritage, as the fuel was shown to…

THE South Devon Railway has applied for planning permission for major developments at its Buckfastleigh base. Teignbridge District Council has been invited to approve the scheme which will include a new locomotive and carriage restoration building, a car park, and landscaping works. The site’s existing carriage bodywork repair shop will be relocated from its current location within the 1872-built limestone former goods shed which will then be used for more appropriate visitor facilities. A design and access statement submitted by Bristol-based consultant Walsingham Planning said: “The proposals are intended to improve both the visitor attraction and the engineering works, improve traffic management and provide environmental and ecological enhancements. Environmental gains “They seek to bring together the incremental improvements and additions to the site that have been made by the South…

NEW-BUILD BRStandard3MT2-6-2T No. 82045 has been fitted with its tanks inside the newly-refurbished Bridgnorth Shed on the SevernValley Railway. The first of the tanks was fitted in October 17, with the second due to follow days later. The rush then began to get the locomotive into the paintshop for green undercoat to be applied. On November 26/27, No. 82045 will be the standard gauge centrepiece at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2022 at the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham. That will be 82045’s first visit away from its SVR home. As previously reported, at the end of last year No. 82045 became a 2-6-2T after the fitting of its pony trucks. The connecting rods are made and the coupling rods are in production at Stephenson Engineering, Atherton, Manchester, and…