News

By Cedric Johns It was meant to be a celebration: a Britannia Pacific working a train from Liverpool Street to Norwich, replicating the 1950s when class members were rostered to work East Anglian express services to and from London. No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell, the only member of its class in steam at present, was just…

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A NEW company has been formed to take the Great Western Society’s £1.5 million project to build a new 38XX County 4-4-0 to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. While affiliated to the society, the Churchward County Trust Ltd has been established as an independent company in its own right to build the 41st locomotive in the…

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By Geoff Courtney ON a bitterly cold first day of February, with rain hovering and low temperatures exacerbated by an icy wind, 70 or so people assembled in a Cheshire churchyard in honour of a railwayman who nearly 53 years ago sacrificed his life because he opted to do his duty. Wallace Oakes, a well-liked…

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By Geoff Courtney REVIVALISTS who are planning to restore part of a west London steam railway that closed more than seven decades ago are on the cusp of agreeing a lease with the trackbed’s owner. The 3½ mile 2ft gauge line was opened by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1916 and ran from a wharf…

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A giant of the railway world and a true gentleman By Geoff Courtney The omens were good for legendary railwayman Richard Hardy – who died on February 18 at the age of 94 – from the day in January 1941 he was offered an LNER apprenticeship at Doncaster by Edward Thompson. Richard, known to most…

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By Cedric Johns Passengers travelling on The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s ‘North Briton’ railtour on Saturday, February 24, were surprised to discover that the train was fronted by a Class 66 diesel piloting Tornado when it departed on its steam-hauled leg from Doncaster. Those who had joined the train, diesel-hauled from Cambridge and stations beforehand,…

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THE railway movement is mourning the death of Sir William McAlpine who died on March 4 after a short illness, at the age of 82. Director of the McAlpine construction firm, Sir William (known to most as Bill) was a great supporter of the railways, particularly the preservation movement. He became the saviour of A3…

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By Robin Jones The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway is celebrating after Exmoor National Park Authority approved most of its plans to rebuild another four-and-a-half miles of the legendary 2ft gauge line. At a meeting in Lynton Town Hall on March 6, authority members gave the green light to extend the existing running line from Killington…

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Expectations have always been high that major infrastructure work and other repairs and improvements will take place on heritage railways and centres during the winter months. But the popularity of such events as Santa specials has given less time for the work to take place as Peter Brown found when beginning this exclusive survey just…

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Threatened with closure nearly 10 years ago, Gareth Evans finds that the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway is bouncing back, enhancing its offering with additional attractions and locomotive projects, as well as planning its next 50 years. Nearly 10 years ago, the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway was threatened with closure by its then Finnish-owned…

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