News

TRIBUTES have been paid to Tim Godfrey, the eldest grandson of Sir Nigel Gresley, who has died at the age of 79, ending a link between the golden age of steam and today. Tim, one of the Gresley Society Trust’s vice-presidents, died on December 7 after a short illness. He was born Timothy Dan Godfrey…

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By Geoff Courtney While the debate continues in Heritage Railway about the fate of the original Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive brass nameplates that were replaced by alloy plates in 1953, one of the replacements fitted to the class leader has for several generations fascinated – and doubtless intrigued – pupils at a top independent school,…

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By Geoff Courtney Barry Freeman, one of the country’s top railway artists who was noted for his unwavering attention to detail, has died at the age of 80, poignantly just days before one of his paintings sold for £5200 at a top railwayana auction. Barry, who was born in Northampton, educated at the town’s grammar…

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By Hugh Dougherty and Robin Jones A heroic railwayman, who died trying to fight off armed robbers intent on stealing the Christmas payroll for Glasgow Works on December 21, 1973, has been honoured more than 40 years later, after a plaque to his memory was unveiled at the railway works, thanks to the Railway Heritage…

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WHEN the Gwili Railway found that it needed new bearings for its Class 03 diesel shunter D2178, it decided to make them itself. It was decided that the bearings needed changing due to excess wear. Checking the unit’s history it was found they were last changed at the last major overhaul of the 1962-built locomotive,…

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A multimillion pound project to turn the route of the world’s first public steam-operated railway into a major tourist attraction is set to be launched. The Stockton and Darlington Railway is one of eight heritage sites across the country to be chosen for a high-profile Heritage England revival scheme. Under the Heritage Action Zone scheme,…

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MANY heritage railways across the country were hit hard by the heavy snowfalls over the weekend of December 9/10, with several cancelling their money-spinning Santa services. The Severn Valley Railway called off all of its services on Sunday, December 10, after the line experienced its heaviest snowfall in years. Volunteers worked round the clock to…

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Keith Whitmore has been appointed as the new chairman of the Bahamas Locomotive Society, following the decision of Mark Winderbank to stand down after nearly eight years in the job. Keith has been a member of the society, which preserved LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas, since his teens and spent weekends at the former…

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PART of GWR’s Totnes Quay branch – which featured in the early days of standard gauge preservation – has been unearthed. In late November, a section of rail was found buried a foot beneath the roadway, by workmen who dug down to install a new floodgate just a few feet from the Mill Tail near…

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ROYAL Scot is to head the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s 50th anniversary celebrations this summer. LMS 4-6-0 No. 46100 will be running on the line from the start of the celebrations on Monday, June 24, for three days. The railway is offering a special return trip behind 1927-built Royal Scot at a cost of…

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