News

THE Historic Dockyard Chatham has sounded an SOS for volunteers to help keep its standard gauge railway running. Since the Royal Navy Dockyard closed in March 1984 and became a unique visitor attraction as the world’s only preserved naval dockyard from Tudor times, the internal standard gauge railway has continued to operate at least once…

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THE South Devon Railway and the South Devon Diesel Traction Group held a John Frood Memorial Running Day on February 25. John was a long-term serving member of the South Devon Diesel Traction Group and was usually to be seen acting as second man to the diesel locomotives on gala days. He had already achieved…

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PLANS to turn Dover’s Old Harbour Station into a live music and theatre venue have been given the go ahead. Last August, the plans were submitted to Dover District Council by local man and lessee Stuart Cameron to convert the Elizabeth Street premises into an entertainment venue, with temporary staging and a licensed bar. The…

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PLANS to expand the heritage line laid on part of the Waverley Route have been submitted to Scottish Borders Council. The Whitrope Heritage Centre, which is based in two railway carriages at Whitrope Sidings, just off the B6399, wants to enhance its railway operation. The first section of the track was laid in 2005, with…

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THE Ravenglas & Eskdale Railway will be celebrating two major events this year – the debut of its ‘Train from Spain’ and the 50th anniversary of what is considered the heritage sector’s first new-build locomotive. The Train from Spain, Krauss Pacific No.8457 – which ran at the Ibero-American Exposition in Seville from 1929-32 and was…

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For many years, the National Railway Museum’s LSWR Beattie well tank No. 30587 was locked in behind a concrete barrier in the South Devon Railway’s Buckfastleigh museum, seemingly with no hope of ever running again. It was one of a trio which, before the heritage railway movement got into full swing, drew enthusiasts from all over…

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The back conversion of Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35011 General Steam Navigation reached another milestone with the launch of a ‘cranking up the pressure’ appeal to convert its plain flawed central axle into a crank axle. General Steam Navigation was placed in storage when it was withdrawn from service in February 1966, but in…

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MARK Allatt, one of the best-known figures in the heritage sector today, has stood down as chairman of Tornado builder The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust after 16 years. He told trustees that he wants to devote his time to building the seventh Gresley P2, No. 2007 Prince of Wales, and has become its project director.…

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The Elsecar Heritage Railway has been given permission to reopen two level crossings which stand in the way of its plans to expand. On February 17, the Barnsley-based standard gauge line, which is built on a Great Central Railway trackbed, achieved road approval to reopen the crossings at Tingle Bridge Lane, Hemingfield and Smithy Lane,…

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ONE of the smallest locomotives ever to have stood in King’s Cross station, the LNER’s great cathedral of steam, wowed the crowds in the Western Concourse during a February visit. The Ffestiniog Railway’s George England 0-4-0STT Palmerston along with the line’s four-wheeled coach No. 10 was on static display from February 18-26. Its appearance a…

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