THE Aln Valley Railway’s former Port of London Authority Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 1243 of 1917 Richboro passed its boiler test on November 24, allowing it to work the line’s Mince Pie Specials between Christmas and the new year.
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These will be the first public trains scheduled to travel on the railway’s extended track as far as bridge 6.
On November 17, Richboro, coupled to a Shark brakevan, was used on a works train as far as the limit of completed track to deliver a bogie bolster wagon laden with rails for the next phase of tracklaying. This was the first steam-hauled freight on the original trackbed of the line for over 50 years.
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The track has now been extended as far as the former bridge 5 (which linked fields on both sides of the track) and sleepers are in place, awaiting rails, on Cawledge Viaduct.
Read more News and Features in Issue 236 of HR – on sale now!
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