News

Unbeknown to the vast majority, Flying Scotsman was in danger of being declared a failure for the second time, 24 hours after having its re-metalled centre driving wheels returned from Riley Engineering and refitted at Wansford on the Nene Valley Railway. Having arrived at Norwich on the evening of November 10 the A3’s footplate crew…

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Following a lengthy bottom end overhaul by Riley Engineering, A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa has enjoyed a good season running down south until recent weeks. The A4, accompanied by Merchant Navy 4-6-2 No. 35018 British India Line, travelled from York to Carnforth on October 12 and on to the East Lancashire Railway for…

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Currently stabled at Butterley, after being ‘stopped’ suffering with cracked flues, Stanier 4-6-2 No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland has been withdrawn from traffic for winter maintenance. As part of the engine’s fettling process, the 4-6-2’s chief mechanical engineer, Simon Scott, confirmed that the Duchess will be returned to main line duties repainted in LMS maroon,…

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By Cedric Johns Jeremy Hosking has bought two Deltic diesels to add to his growing steam and diesel fleet based at Crewe. Purchased under the name of Diesel Locomotives Limited, a division of Locomotive Services Limited, the Class 55s are D9016 Gordon Highlander and No. 55022 Royal Scots Grey, both previously owned by Beaver Sports…

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A totem sign from a station immortalised in a poem by the late Poet Laureate and railway enthusiast Sir John Betjeman was the top seller in a one-off railwayana sale held by Chippenham Auction Rooms on November 10. The BR(S) sign, which went under the hammer for £2700, was from Dilton Marsh Halt, opened by…

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Railwayana collector and Heritage Railway reader Richard Wadeson has a 62-year-old Ian Allan ABC Combined Volume in his book collection which he would love to return to its original owner, trainspotter Master I Ritchie… if he could only find him. Richard, a railway enthusiast since the mid-1950s, was given a copy of a winter 1955/56…

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JANUARY marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, which plans to hold special events throughout 2018. The society began when a small group of enthusiasts, meeting in a garden shed at Cheltenham in September 1927, formed themselves unto the Cheltenham Spa Railway Club with Aubrey Broad as secretary…

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LONG-STANDING Severn Valley Railway member and locomotive owner Phil Swallow wanted just one thing for his 60th birthday – to raise money for the future of the railway he loves so much. He asked friends and family not to buy him birthday presents, but instead to donate to the SVR Charitable Trust’s endowment Future Fund.…

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By Geoff Courtney A passenger steam train has returned to the Essex town of Halstead 52 years after its line was closed and the track was lifted. There was, though, no fanfare, no gathering of preservationists and enthusiasts, and very few cameras clicking, for the train is but an image, albeit an innovative one that…

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