Features

By Don Benn It’s a quiet time on the main line just now so I am going to catch up with some more from ‘The Border Raider’ in September 2017, plus a run behind BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75069 and a couple of previously unreported runs with Tangmere plus, finally, a superb over speeding…

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The Great Central Railway’s January 26-28 winter steam gala proved a resounding success, thanks to the appearance of two guests in ‘Big Four’ colours – B12 No. 8572 in LNER apple green and LMS ‘Crab’ No. 13065 in crimson lake, writes Robin Jones. Bumper crowds packed the Great Central Railway for what is widely considered…

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Brian Sharpe recounts the story of steam’s return to one of Britain’s most popular tourist areas 50 years after BR retired its last six steam engines in the area, with 1968 photography by Maurice Burns. At the end of 1967, the Carlisle sheds had closed to steam, and steam power became concentrated almost entirely in…

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It is said that good things come in small packages, and as Stephen Roberts outlines, this could easily apply to the heritage railway at Midsomer Norton, the only place where standard gauge steam rides are available over Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway track. This preserved railway in the foothills of the Mendip Hills is run…

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By Don Benn This time I am reporting on a variety of runs in the Midlands and into Wales, some recent and some back in the 1960s and which even include another run by that well-loved and much reported on Bulleid Pacific Clan Line, this time from 1991. First off in Table One is a…

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The complete 2018 Heritage Railway guide to special events at preserved lines and museum centres. Events in HR are listed in chronological order, concentrating on those of interest to the enthusiast. All railways will be holding additional events to those listed in HR, which are aimed more towards the family market, details of which can…

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50 years ago, on January 27 1968 the Alnmouth to Alnwick branch line in rural Northumberland closed to passengers. Trevor Gregg reflects on that final day, the history of the line and upon the superb efforts of the Aln Valley Railway Society to resurrect the line. In 1844 a rail route linking London to Tyneside…

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