News

By Robin Jones IN 1970, I took my first ride from Buckfastleigh to Totnes on the then recently-opened Dart Valley Railway. When the train reached Ashburton Junction, the main line connection, the train paused and then reversed in push-pull manner, as there was neither access to Totnes station, or a station at the end of…

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A ground-breaking referendum is to be held in Totnes. However, this time it will have nothing to with Brexit, but instead with the future of a railway building of international importance. Under the banner of Atmos Totnes, the local community has drawn up plans to redevelop an eight-acre disused dairy alongside the South West main…

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WORK to remove the last major obstacle preventing the Llangollen Railway from extending into Corwen town centre has begun, with Welsh Water having started work on building a new access road to the waste water treatment plant at Corwen. The new entry point from Green Lane, at the western end of the station site, will…

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AN EXPERIMENTAL ‘Hogwart’s Express’ , trialled by the South Devon Railway, has proved to be a resounding success. The line has been working with fellow Devon charity Hannahs (the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust) to see if it could collaborate by using SDR steam trains as part of the Illustrating Harry Potter exhibition at its Seale…

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SINCE its overhaul was completed two months ago, LMS 4-6-2 No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth has experienced several incidents which have impacted on its trains. Firstly, when running light from Tyseley to Derby as a stand-in engine for Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland, ‘Lizzie’ ran a warm right-hand bogie wheelset, which meant that…

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The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has affiliated its Peppercorn A1 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado with RAF Marham as part of the former Lancaster bomber station’s centenary celebrations. RAF Marham is the home of the RAF’s Tornado GR4 two-seat, all-weather, day/night attack and reconnaissance aircraft. On Friday, August 26, the Nene Valley Railway’s Wansford headquarters hosted…

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THE future of the Class 20s that are on hire to GB Railfreight for the transfer of tube stock between Derby works, Asfordby test site and West Ruislip depot, now that the last trainset (in numerical order) has been delivered, remains unclear. There are still trainsets that are awaiting transfer from Asfordby to West Ruislip…

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NETWORK Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy has cut the first sod of the Helston Railway’s short extension and new platform at Trevarno Farm. Nearly 135 years ago, in March 1882, the then mayor of Helston inaugurated work on the proposed railway between Helston and Gwinear Road by cutting the first sod. On Thursday, September 1,…

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By Mike Lucas and Robin Jones FIFTY years after the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway closed, the newest steam locomotive to be built in Britain has run over part of its trackbed. It took engineer John Uphill 17 years to build 0-4-2T Faith, mainly at the private Gartell Light Railway, near Templecombe, where it was…

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