Sam Hewitt

By Geoff Courtney A nascent steam railway restoration project in West London that opened only three years ago and currently has just 300 yards of operational track has received a major volunteers’ award and a significant grant that will enable the purchase of enough track to reach the halfway point in its ambitious plan to…

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By Paul Appleton AMID a plethora of End of Southern Steam 50th anniversary events marking the end of an era on BR’s Southern Region in 1967, the Severn Valley Railway’s September 21-24 autumn steam gala will have an appropriate Sunny South flavour. SR Schools class 4-4-0 No. 926 Repton will be making its first appearance…

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A REVIVALIST group has been formed to campaign for the restoration of the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton branch. However, the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton Railway Steering Group wants to see it rebuilt as a fully fledged part of the national network, not a heritage line. Campaigners point to the infamous traffic queues on the A149…

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ONCE the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway’s flagship locomotive, Peckett 0-6-0ST No. 1008 of 1903 Jurassic has returned to steam after 31 years. Jurassic was delivered new to the quarries and cement works of Kaye and Company in Southam in Warwickshire, together with similar locomotives named after prehistoric geological periods. It was bought by the LCLR…

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WD Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90733 is a confirmed guest for the North Norfolk Railway’s September 1-3 autumn steam gala. The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway locomotive will be meeting newly overhauled Sheringham-based WD No. 90775, which has just returned to steam after overhaul. It will be the first time in preservation that a 2-10-0 and…

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Over the May Bank Holiday weekend, the annual Fairbourne Railway steam gala featured the long awaited return of 15in gauge 2-4-2 Sian. Built for the line in 1963 by Trevor Guest, Sian had been away for more than 30 years. Partnered by Mountaineer, Sian pulled two ex-Fairbourne glass screen-ended coaches on the extended 15in gauge…

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A REPLICA Ford railmotor, typical of those employed by Col Holman F Stephens on several of his light railways, has been moved from Yorkshire to Tenterden Town station on the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The replica was built in Yorkshire, using some original Ford components, by the late Colin Shutt, a member of the…

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By Geoff Courtney THE owner of an ex-Swanage Railway Standard 2-6-4T enjoyed being in the spotlight with his locomotive when it wowed visitors to Mangapps Railway Museum in Essex on June 11, after seven years of inactivity. Stewart Robinson, a former BR trainee civil engineer who founded a rail infrastructure company 20 years ago, bought…

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A LANCASHIRE & Yorkshire Railway wooden-bodied carriage is back in traffic following a £45,000 restoration project on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, which lasted a decade. Volunteers and several specialist companies in the locality were involved in the overhaul of first-class six-wheeler No. 279, which dates from around 1880 when it was built at…

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TWENTY-ONE of the Severn Valley Railway’s most dedicated volunteers have been presented with special awards by the line’s patron the Duke of Gloucester, to mark 50 years of service. Having collectively clocked up more than 1000 years of service on the SVR, the group of loyal volunteers, ranging from drivers and station staff to carriage…

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