Sam Hewitt

By Hugh Dougherty AN AYR design and construction company owner has developed plans to save derelict and dangerous Ayr Station Hotel from demolition. Robin Ghosh, who has already played a key role in saving Ayr’s Seafield House – the historic home of railway engineer Sir William Arrol – said the Glasgow & South Western Railway-built…

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ONE of the last two Chiltern Railways Class 121 ‘Bubblecars’ has been acquired by the Bodmin & Wenford Railway Trust. No. 121020 (55020) was delivered to Bodmin General from Tyseley on October 20. Along with sister vehicle No. 121034 (55034) it was withdrawn from Chiltern service on May 19. They were the last first-generation DMU…

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A £2.5million appeal to secure the future of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has been launched – with people being asked to pledge their support online. Earlier this year, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the NYMR £4.6m towards the £9.2m sustainability project, the line’s Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey Appeal. The appeal was launched under the…

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THE Llangollen Railway continues to make rapid strides towards the completion of its new western terminus of Corwen Central, with the completion of the subway staircase. In October, contractors cast the top flight of stairs to bring access up from a depth of 14ft to platform level. The completion of the stairs coincided with a…

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ENGINEER Ian Storey is talking to prospective buyers about selling his unique LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 44767 George Stephenson. The locomotive last ran on the North Norfolk Railway three years ago and is currently dismantled as a ‘kit of parts’ at the Midland Railway-Butterley’s West Shed. The locomotive is registered to run over Network Rail…

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THE award-winning Tracks to the Trenches event will return to the Apedale Valley Light Railway for a third time next year, it has been confirmed. Organiser the Moseley Railway Trust will once again be holding the event on July 13-15. The event, centred round a recreation of a Western Front trench, brings together narrow gauge…

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The entire workforce of famed Swiss rack railway Brienz Rothorn Bahn visited the Snowdon Mountain Railway in an unprecedented cultural exchange. The historic Alpine railway, which has climbed to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn since 1892, was closed for the day as all its staff were in Snowdonia, closely monitoring how the Welsh railway…

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BRITAIN’S latest new-build steam locomotive will be one of the star attractions at this year’s Warley National Model Railway Exhibition. NBR Engineering Services Limited, the engineering arm of the 20in gauge North Bay Railway in Scarborough, has been following up its success in building replica Bagnall Sipat 0-4-0ST Georgina, as highlighted in issue 215, with…

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THE Government has backed the National Railway Museum’s controversial decision to gift LSWR T3 4-4-0 No. 563 to the Swanage Railway. The question of the NRM’s “giveaway” of the T3 and two other steam locomotives in public ownership to outside organisations was raised in the House of Commons by MP Kelvin Hopkins (Labour, Luton North)…

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THE Swanage Railway Trust has launched an initial £50,000 appeal in a ground-breaking bid to return LSWR T3 4-4-0 No. 563 to working order for the first time since 1945. A supporter has underwritten the cost of taking the 1893-built locomotive to Bill Parker’s Flour Mill workshop at Bream in the Forest of Dean for…

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