Heritage Railway

NEVER in my worst nightmare did I dream for a second that the 21st anniversary edition of the magazine would be overshadowed by the worst crisis in the 70-year history of the heritage railway movement – one in which every line and museum venue big an

THE Talyllyn Railway (TR) is renowned for its colourful spring photographic charters, run by David Williams for the past 21 years, with all proceeds going to the heritage line. Mid-March this year was no different – until all activities were suspende

A TRIPLE SOS has been sounded by the chairmen of three organisations involved in the running of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, in a bid to cover the deficit from not being able to run trains. Late March saw the railways cease the limited e

AS we closed for press, the entire heritage railway sector in the British Isles had ground to an unprecedented halt because of the virus – leaving lines with no idea as to when they would be able to start running trains again. On March 29, England’s

THE survival of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway – Britain’s most popular heritage line in terms of passenger numbers, could be jeopardised because of the closure due to Covid-19. Officials said that the line, which closed on March 19, could poten

FIFTY years after the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) ran its first public trains, and 13 years after it was partially closed by severe flood damage, its future is now threatened again because of the coronavirus pandemic – and it needs £250,000 to surviv

A DOUBLE emergency appeal for help has been issued by the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway – due to urgent repairs to a landslip being needed and the loss of its income streams because of the coronavirus pandemic. As reported last issue, work on

EXPERT staff from Britain’s heritage railways have been placed on standby ready to help Network Rail to fill key worker shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Responding to a call from Network Rail, the Heritage Railway Association (HRA) has been

THE new second platform at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway’s Bodmin General station has welcomed its first passengers. On February 27, the first passenger-carrying train pulled into platform 2 direct from Bodmin Parkway. It was a works train consisting

THE 563 Locomotive Group which is working towards the restoration of the sole surviving William Adams LSWR T3 for steaming on the Swanage Railway, is to focus on boiler work during 2020. Last autumn, the group announced that it had raised over a thir

THE Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s Bratton Fleming station has gone on the market for offers in excess of £325,000 – prompting speculation that it may become a prime target for the revivalists. The station which served the village of Bratton Fleming o

THE winning design for the National Railway Museum’s new Central Hall has been chosen. London-based architectural practice Feilden Fowles has beaten 75 other teams to win the international competition to create the York museum’s new £16.5 million Cen

MORE than 50 years after it saw its last trains, the former Manchester Central station has been given a new lease of life – as one of the Government’s‘Nightingale’hospitals for coronavirus patients. On March 27, NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens

THE controlling interest in County Durham’s Weardale Railway has been bought out of administration by a regeneration charity which aims to turn Bishop Auckland into a major tourist attraction. As reported in issue 263, the 18-mile railway, one of Bri

THE General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society has launched an appeal to raise funds for the lifting of the boiler of Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35011 General Steam Navigation for the first time since BR days. Supporters are being

AS donations and pledges towards the construction of Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive – Gresley P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales – passed 70% of the required £5 million, its tender tank was delivered to its Darlington Locomotive Works (DLW)

GWR prairie No. 4555 – which not only ran on the Ashburton branch in BR days but also hauled the official train that partially reopened the line as the Dart Valley Railway in 1969 with Dr Beeching on board – was the undoubted star of the South Devon

THE Chasewater Railway-based National Wagon Preservation Group has taken ownership of Merry Go Round vehicle No. 354456. The Doon Valley Railway (formerly known as the Ayrshire Industrial Railway Society) has agreed to transfer ownership of No. 35445

TWO Welsh MPs mentioned heritage railways in their respective constituencies during a St David’s Day debate in parliament at Westminster. Simon Baynes (Conservative, Clwyd South) said: “Clwyd South has a proud industrial and mining heritage. There is

THE remains of what is thought to be the world’s oldest roundhouse have been discovered during the building of Birmingham’s High Speed 2 terminus at Curzon Street. The roundhouse was sited next to the original Curzon Street station, which served the

A SIGNIFICANT milestone in the construction of new-build GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange was achieved on Wednesday, March 18, when its overhauled boiler was lowered onto the chassis at Tyseley Locomotive Works. The newly constructed ashpan was fitte

THE Cholsey & Wallingford Railway has completed the acquisition of land next to its terminus adjacent to provide space for a run round loop and the erection of the Victorian canopy from Maidenhead station. Realignment of the fence around the land w

THE Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Association has completed the first phase of the new station building at Wirksworth. Financed with the help of grant aid from Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund, a generous legacy and a large number of donations, the bui

THE Aln Valley Railway has completed the purchase of its flagship locomotive Richboro thanks to a £12,800 donation from a big-hearted couple. Coupled with Gift Aid, the money completed the last £16,000 instalment needed to buy the Hudswell Clarke 0-6

WHILE the type would never have run over the line in LMS days, the Nene Valley Railway held a special gala on March 7/8 to mark the 70th anniversary of the last GWR-design pannier tank leaving Swindon Works. It was on December 12, 1950 that Charles C

HERITAGE lines have fresh cause for optimism about future supplies of steam coal, following a meeting between their representatives and Government ministers, it has been claimed. Kevin Hollinrake MP, whose Thirsk and Malton constituency covers the No

THE £300,000 project to build a replica of 3ft gauge Southwold Railway Sharp Stewart 2-4-0T No. 3 Blyth at North Bay Railway Engineering Services in Darlington is 50% compete. Depending on funding and any coronavirus pandemic shutdown, the new Blyth

THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway continues to make steady progress with the overhaul of 1944-built Franco-Belge 0-8-0T No. 10 Sir Drefaldwyn. Recent work has included machining parts, reassembling the boiler cladding, finishing the set-up of

WITH Easter approaching, a time when each season of railtours gets in its stride, charter train promoters have all been frozen out by the impact of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. Usually first out of the blocks in January, the Railway Touring Com

I BOOKED on the Railway Touring Company’s (RTC) ‘Cotswold Venturer’ on February 22 in the hope that I would get a final run on the main line behind John Cameron’s magnificent A4 class Pacific No. 60009 Union of South Africa before its retirement in A

GRAMPIAN Transport Museum curator Mike Ward has been presented with a model dilemma. A 5in gauge, live steam, model of LNER, Thompson B1 class 4-6-0 No. 61278 has been gifted to the museum in ex-works condition, and Mike would like to know if the mus

At the recent Heritage Railway Association (HRA) Awards Phil Civil, 24, of the Foxfield and Chasewater Railways, won the Young Volunteer of the Year award for the restoration of a locomotive. It wasn’t a famous locomotive; in fact most people will pr

The eagerly-awaited East Lancashire Railway (ELR) spring steam gala was notable for the return to service of Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Class 23 Barton Wright 0-6-0ST No. 752, which hauled its first fare paying passenger trains since 1982. The 18

IN Heritage Railway Issue 264, two pages are taken up telling readers that A4 Union of South Africa is very likely to end up, like its siblings Nos. 60008, 60010 and 60022, stuffed and mounted in some shed. While I do recognise that, as owner of No.

DEALING with members of the public is not without its challenges, but it also has its lighter moments. A booking clerk is often the first person a visitor meets when they turn up at a heritage railway station – so the ability to answer sometimes appa

The Atmospheric Western (Transport Treasury Publishing, hardback, 160pp, £27.50, ISBN 978 1 913251 06 2), and Western Region Non-Passenger Trains (Transport Treasury Publishing, softback, 112pp, £14.50, ISBN 978 1 913251 08 6). ONE OF the usual req

THE Nene Valley Railway (NVR) has purchased Swedish 2-6-2T No. 1178, one of its resident continental steam locomotives, from a private owner. Built by Motala (No. 516 of 1914), it was withdrawn from Swedish State Railway service in 1957 and placed in

MEMBERS of Edinburgh City Council’s development management subcommittee gave the green light to Network Rail’s £10 million plans for a viewing platform 367ft above the Forth Bridge and a visitor hub at South Queens Ferry. The decision was taken after

JEREMY Hosking’s BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 – which had been destined for static display in his new museum at Margate – is instead to be overhauled to running order in the Llangollen Railway workshops. Inside there, it will take the place of LNE

A PRIVATELY owned Cumberland railway museum is celebrating the 175th anniversary of the opening of an idiosyncratic line within the county. In its heyday it had two private stations, suffered early financial mismanagement but went on to become the se

THE organisers of the Wigtown Book Festival have backed the proposed reopening of the Dumfries-Stranraer railway. They are also advocating reopening the line from Newton Stewart to Wigtown, and running steam specials to Wigtown during the annual fest

A 2ft gauge Second World War Wickham army target trolley has gone on display inside the Statfold Barn Railway’s award-winning narrow gauge museum. In early 1938, D Wickham & Co of Ware in Hertfordshire, Britain’s leading manufacturer of rail trolleys

A MYSTERY photograph of a young lady surrounded by nameplates from top link express locomotives has baffled railwayana auction house principal Simon Turner, who found it in a collection of paperwork given to him by a client. The young blonde-haired w

ON the same day that Skegness Town Council decided to save the Jolly Fisherman – one of the world’s most iconic examples of holiday resort advertising – the original Great Northern Railway headboard was carried by a train again. The plight of the Jol

THE Churnet Valley Railway (CVR) has been celebrating its success in landing a £1,427,906 European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) grant to complete its extension into Leek. The funding will cover 80% of the cost of building nearly a m

THE Kilmarnock site of the former Andrew Barclay & Company’s Caledonia Works where steam locomotives were built has been proposed for closure by its American current owner Wabtec, with the loss of around 100 jobs, it is feared. The site, which date

MORE than 1,100,000 people visited restored Union Pacific‘articulated 4-8-8-4 ‘Big Boy’No. 4014 during its 109-day tour to mark the 150th anniversary of the US transcontinental railroad last year. Following the locomotive’s restoration, No. 4014 trav

MEMBERS of the Peebles Railway Heritage Group have received the key to the door of the North British Railway weighbridge hut at the town’s station. Following the handover by Coun Shona Haslam, leader of Borders Council, the group now plans to apply f

THE latest vehicle to be completed in the Mid-Hants Railway’s carriage workshop at Ropley is Mk.1 CK No. 16083, which first arrived in the workshop two years ago in a state of disrepair, not having been in operation for about 10 years. Since then,

A £150,000 project to lift and replace the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s 115-year-old Bridge 11 has been halted because of the coronavirus epidemic. The bridge, which spans the River Worth near Ingrow West station, was installed in 1904 by the Mi