News

THE Electric Railway Museum – an oasis of preservation for stock that most other heritage venues reject – is set to close after its final open day of the season. The museum in Rowley Road, Baginton, next-door to Coventry Airport, is being forced to find a new site for its unique collection due to the…

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AMBERLEY Museum’s July 8/9 rail gala proved a huge success, with both steam and diesel traction in operation. Resident steam locomotive Bagnall 2-4-0T Polar Bear and Bagnall 0-4-0ST Peter hauled passenger trains. Goods trains ran with a selection of trucks, including the green ‘V skips’ better known for their role in the 1985 James Bond…

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THE new £600,000 replica of original Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Baldwin 2-4-2T Lyn is to make its eagerly-awaited debut at the line’s September 30/October 1 gala, following its first steam testing in July. As the Sunny South was marking the 50th anniversary of the end of Southern steam, the steaming of the new Lyn at…

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SATURDAY, July 1 saw the Gwili Railway open its long-awaited southern extension to the outskirts of Carmarthen. It was 40 years since the last section of the GWR cross-country route between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen – which had been kept open for milk traffic until 1973 – was lifted by BR. The southern extension to Abergwili…

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TICKETS for the eagerly awaited three-day relaunch of Barrow Hill roundhouse in September following its Heritage Lottery Fund-backed restoration are now on sale – and prior booking is mandatory. As reported in issue 214, the Lottery gave £1,170,600 to Barrow Hill’s Moving Forward project, a transformation of the one-time Staveley Midland shed into a nationally-important…

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PECKETT 0-6-0ST Scaldwell has left its long-time home at Amberley Museum for restoration to running order on the Southwold Railway. The locomotive, No. 1316 of 1913, was taken by low-loader from the Sussex museum where it had spent the last 35 years. As previously reported, the museum agreed that Southwold was the best place for…

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THE Downpatrick & County Down Railway has been in mourning following the sudden death of its co-founder and president Bill Gillespie. Bill, who was 85, passed away on June 30, while on holiday in Jersey with his wife Winnie. He and co-founder Gerry Cochrane first met Eddie McGrady in 1982 to propose a heritage railway…

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By Paul Appleton PLANS have been announced for a new three-road wagon shed to be constructed on the site of the former British Sugar Corporation sidings at Foley Park, between Kidderminster and Bewdley on the Severn Valley Railway. The proposal has come about following discussions between the SVR’s wagon department and other related groups during…

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THE Swindon & Cricklade Railway is appealing for extra help in rebuilding a 58-year-old DEMU driving trailer, which replaced another destroyed in an arson attack. Skilled welders and steel fabricators are required to return the ‘Thumper’ vehicle to its former glory, and the heritage railway is offering free membership to anyone who can help. The…

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Exclusive: By Geoff Courtney THE National Railway Museum has dismissed reports from Australia that it is considering a bid for Beyer-Garratt No. 6029, the world’s largest operational locomotive which is currently at the heart of enthusiasts’ concerns down under, following the collapse of the society that owns it and the closure of its museum home.…

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