News

By Geoff Courtney THE owner of an ex-Swanage Railway Standard 2-6-4T enjoyed being in the spotlight with his locomotive when it wowed visitors to Mangapps Railway Museum in Essex on June 11, after seven years of inactivity. Stewart Robinson, a former BR trainee civil engineer who founded a rail infrastructure company 20 years ago, bought…

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A LANCASHIRE & Yorkshire Railway wooden-bodied carriage is back in traffic following a £45,000 restoration project on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, which lasted a decade. Volunteers and several specialist companies in the locality were involved in the overhaul of first-class six-wheeler No. 279, which dates from around 1880 when it was built at…

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TWENTY-ONE of the Severn Valley Railway’s most dedicated volunteers have been presented with special awards by the line’s patron the Duke of Gloucester, to mark 50 years of service. Having collectively clocked up more than 1000 years of service on the SVR, the group of loyal volunteers, ranging from drivers and station staff to carriage…

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ONE of the three Great Central Robinson 8K (LNER O4) 2-8-0s surviving in Australia has been cosmetically restored to its First World War condition. A sister to No. 63601 which returned to steam on the Great Central Railway in 2000, Railway Operating Division No. 2004 in February 1919 became the 350th ROD locomotive to go…

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THE Llangollen Railway has been boosted by £59,000 of subscriptions to its share offer The Big Push, which aims to finance the completion of a terminus station at Corwen. As highlighted in HR 228, the share issue, launched in early April, is attempting to raise £370,000 in £1 shares. During June, the volunteer workforce at…

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THE Great Central Railway has launched an appeal to raise another £100,000 to fund its bridge over the Midland Main Line at Loughborough after the discovery of unexpected problems below ground. Contractors have begun work to drive concrete piles that will support the abutments into the ground. However, the piling machine has encountered water, which…

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THE ground-breaking visit of GWR steam railmotor No. 93 to the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway has been postponed due to gauging issues on the main line. The Great Western Society’s Didcot-based No. 93 and its trailer, No. 92, were scheduled to visit between June 29 and July 16, with the first of the dates…

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A SPECIAL train ran over the Severn Valley Railway to mark 10 years to the day since double freak floods decimated the northern part of the line. The special train on Monday, June 19, used carriages from one of the UK’s most luxurious trains, the ‘Belmond Northern Belle’, which is stabled overnight on the heritage…

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THE Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust, which is seeking to restore 1889-built NER J21 0-6-0 No. 65033 to steam over the line it used to work, has been awarded £954,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, it was announced on June 19. The award will also be used to develop a heritage and interpretation centre within…

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No other main line in Britain went from steam to modern traction overnight. Don Benn recounts the incredible locomotive performances recorded on the Waterloo – Bournemouth line in the days leading up to the sudden end of Southern steam. Monday, June 12, 1967 was the first day of the final timetable for steam and I…

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