Sam Hewitt

Help save Falling Sands Viaduct

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Sam Hewitt

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11th April 2018

A £275,000 appeal to save the Severn Valley Railway’s Falling Sands Viaduct has been launched – and is being backed by Heritage Railway and our sister title The Railway Magazine. As we reported last month, the Heritage Lottery Fund has given the railway £71,800 to firm up a scheme to carry out repairs to the…
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In tribute: The brilliant ‘Mr Bill’

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Sam Hewitt

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11th April 2018

The heritage sector has been in mourning following the death of one of its greatest benefactors, Sir William McAlpine, at the age of 82. Known by many in the preservation movement simply as ‘Mr Bill’, he was best known by the public for bringing Flying Scotsman home after it became marooned in California amidst fears…
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Well Worth the effort 50 years ago

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Sam Hewitt

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11th April 2018

There are many themed events from galas to railtours being held this year to mark half a century since the last steam-hauled passenger train under British Rail, 1T57, the legendary ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ on August 11, 1968 marked the end of a great era in British history. As we know, that train brought the curtain…
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Success for Essex ‘Railroad Man’

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Sam Hewitt

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4th April 2018

In a constantly changing and uncertain world, the farmer who set up the Mangapps Railway Museum in rural Essex has revealed exclusively to Peter Brown that the site he has transformed into a working environment with standard gauge stock is to continue, although there will be no track expansion beyond the boundaries of his fields.…
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Long and short of it make their mark 60 years on

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Sam Hewitt

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3rd April 2018

Jubilees and B1s weren’t in all honesty the stuff of dreams for us 1950s’ trainspotters – although the former carried names that were at least recognisable and pronounceable, unlike many of the latter – but six decades later their nameplates have a following that transcends their original muted appeal to teenage enthusiasts. One of each…
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Crewe trio takes on older competition at Poynton

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Sam Hewitt

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3rd April 2018

The famed works at Crewe will be a dominating force in Great Northern’s sale at Poynton on April 7, when nameplates from three locomotives built there will be jostling for collectors’ attention. They are Duchess of Kent and Leinster (LMS Nos. 46212 and 45741), and William Wordsworth from Britannia No. 70030. The Princess Royal was…
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Old Oak Common residents in the frame for nameplate success

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Sam Hewitt

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3rd April 2018

Nameplates from two GWR 4-6-0s that ended their days within six months of each other at London’s Old Oak Common shed (81A) will headline GW Railwayana’s sale at Pershore on March 17. They are Ketley Hall from No. 4935 and Usk Castle from No. 5032. The Hall was built in June 1929 and withdrawn in…
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Mayflower out of gauge!

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Sam Hewitt

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3rd April 2018

Now reaching the final stages of its overhaul, B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower has, at this late stage, been declared out of gauge for its first revenue-earning trip, the long delayed charity train from London to Harwich on April 15. As reported last month, the 4-6-0’s boiler has been delivered to Carnforth to enable final…
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I owned one of the Metropolitan Railway original bronze nameplates

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Sam Hewitt

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3rd April 2018

I have been following the articles in Geoff Courtney’s railwayana column and the letters pages concerning the debate about whether the original bronze nameplates on the Metropolitan Railway Bo-Bo electric locomotives were removed for melting down to aid the Second World War effort, or were sold to Stratford railwaymen in the 1950s. As one of…
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Birkenhead stocks steam memories

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Sam Hewitt

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3rd April 2018

In issue 237 in Off The Shelf there is a brief review of a book, Locomotives and Railways of The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. I have not seen or read the book, but the review mentions that the MD&HB railway stretched for 7½ miles along the east bank of the Mersey (the Liverpool side).…
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Sam Hewitt

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