Features

  • With Full Regulator: LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

    With Full Regulator: LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

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    By Don Benn This time I am covering ‘The Ebor Flyer’ which ran on April 14 after many months’ planning. This was to be the first official 90mph public run with LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado following its successful high speed test in April 2017, almost exactly a year earlier. Then it ran up…

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  • Isle of Wight Steam Railway welcomes back No. 41313 and showcase event in May 2018

    Isle of Wight Steam Railway welcomes back No. 41313 and showcase event in May 2018

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    The Isle of Wight Steam Railway is set to welcome back one of its iconic Ivatt locomotives. On Tuesday, October 24 Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T No.41313 will be on board the 3pm Wightlink sailing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne. Between 2006 and 2008 three Ivatt locomotives 41298, 41313 and 46447 were relocated to the Isle of…

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  • Real Steam Days: Shed Bashing!

    Real Steam Days: Shed Bashing!

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    The last few years of BR steam were a fascinating time for young steam enthusiasts. John Bailey recalls holidays in the 1960s involving shed visits in various parts of Britain. While I had spent my junior schooldays with pencil and notebook at the nearby Midland main line in Leicester, my interest was not rekindled until…

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  • WITH FULL REGULATOR: LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

    WITH FULL REGULATOR: LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

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      By Don Benn The good work of LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea over the Fells continues and although my column this time is about Southern steam, it is worthwhile reflecting on the consistency of performance by this in-form locomotive, even if the more recent climbs to Grayrigg from Carnforth have been marred slightly,…

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  • In tribute: The brilliant ‘Mr Bill’

    In tribute: The brilliant ‘Mr Bill’

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    The heritage sector has been in mourning following the death of one of its greatest benefactors, Sir William McAlpine, at the age of 82. Known by many in the preservation movement simply as ‘Mr Bill’, he was best known by the public for bringing Flying Scotsman home after it became marooned in California amidst fears…

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  • Success for Essex ‘Railroad Man’

    Success for Essex ‘Railroad Man’

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    In a constantly changing and uncertain world, the farmer who set up the Mangapps Railway Museum in rural Essex has revealed exclusively to Peter Brown that the site he has transformed into a working environment with standard gauge stock is to continue, although there will be no track expansion beyond the boundaries of his fields.…

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  • Two Pannier tanks to Brymbo

    Two Pannier tanks to Brymbo

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    In the last days of BR steam there were some surprising workings, but in the days before mobile phones and the internet, reliable information could be hard to come by. Robert Anderson reports on one of the last passenger trains to be hauled by a Great Western pannier tank, which also involved an LNER Pacific…

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  • The Sumpter Valley Railroad

    The Sumpter Valley Railroad

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    Heritage lines in the United States come in a variety of shapes and sizes, all with their own individual history. Andrew Rapacz reports on an excellent weekend of steam in Oregon. Mention Oregon in the USA to railway enthusiasts and you might draw a blank. Some may know that the Daylight, a Southern Pacific express…

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  • WITH FULL REGULATOR:  LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

    WITH FULL REGULATOR: LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

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    By Don Benn This time I am devoting the whole article to the engine of the moment, LMS Jubilee 5XP 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea. In the days just after its return to the main line it was an indifferent performer but for the last year it has been transformed into a top class locomotive, capable…

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  • Digital nights

    Digital nights

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    The advent of digital photography provided many advantages for photographers over what had gone before and continued technical advances are creating new opportunities. John Titlow presents a selection of recent images recorded long after the sun had gone down. O Winston Link has to be the pioneer of nocturnal railway photography, how difficult it must…

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