News

By Cedric Johns The A1 Trust’s Tame Bridge Parkway-Carlisle ‘Border Raider’ trip hauled by 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado on Saturday, September 16 ran into pathing problems arriving in Carlisle nearly an hour late but despite last-minute route changes the train recovered and was only a minute late back at Thame Bridge Parkway. Not for the…

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By Cedric Johns and Robin Jones BULLEID Merchant Navy 4-6-2 No. 35018 British India Line has made its passenger hauling main line debut in BR green. The shiny black livery the newly restored West Coast Railways locomotive carried during its test runs in recent months has given way to the historically correct colour, to the…

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The world has been in mourning for East Somerset Railway founder David Shepherd, who died aged 86 on September 19, after losing a 10-week fight in hospital with Parkinson’s Disease. After becoming an international wildlife artist and later a leading conservationist, he also bought two steam ‘beasts’ from British Rail in 1967 and helped transform…

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GWR nameplates from a Saint and Bulldog, a Southern Railway offering from a Schools class 4-4-0, and a pair from across the Irish Sea, are among the headline acts in GW Railwayana’s November 18 sale at Pershore. The Saint is Tortworth Court, from No. 2955, named after the Victorian mansion home of GWR director the…

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A 7¼in gauge live steam model of GWR No. 6860 Aberporth Grange, featured in Heritage Railway issue 232, was the runaway success in a Dreweatts transport sale of live steam models at Newbury on September 20, with a realisation of £60,000. Built by leading modelmaker David Aitken and described by Dreweatts’ steam and model engineering…

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Like a lower league contender determined to mix it with higher level competition, an LMS Jubilee nameplate challenged the GWR and LNER at Great Central’s September 2 sale at Stoneleigh Park, and emerged not only with credit, but with the latter trailing in its wake. The gold medal for a £13,900 realisation went to Lydford…

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AN enthusiast group has been set up to rebuild part of the former Garstang & Knot-End Railway as a 2ft gauge line, in a bid to boost local tourism. The original line ran between Garstang and Knott End-on-Sea in Lancashire, and was built to provide an outlet for local farmers in the Over Wyre area.…

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By Geoff Courtney THE Spa Valley Railway has returned to normal operations after one of the line’s bridges was damaged by a lorry in an incident that severed the link with the national network and infuriated exasperated officials. Their anger came to the surface after the incident in the early hours of September 15, when…

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