Letters

Complete our survey and win a footplate experience at Nene Valley Railway

by

Sam Hewitt

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17th November 2021

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Credit where credit is long overdue

by

Sam Hewitt

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18th January 2019

We join with everyone in the heritage railway sector in congratulating two truly outstanding recipients of New Year’s Honours for 2019. When local lad Mervyn Allcock set out to preserve the behemoth that is Barrow Hill roundhouse and turn it into a major heritage venue, there were many who remained unconvinced. How on earth could…
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Just reward for a mission beyond impossible!

by

Sam Hewitt

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14th December 2018

Christmas has deservedly come early for the 1903 NER Electric Autocar Trust, and not before time. Yet again, I cannot praise highly enough the efforts of those who rediscovered one of the world’s most historically important passenger vehicles and against a sea of ‘insurmountable’ difficulties, rebuilt it to running order – and with an appropriate…
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On the cusp of magnificence

by

Sam Hewitt

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16th November 2018

This year we have commemorated a low point in the annals of UK heritage traction, the eradication of steam from the main line and its scrapping en masse 50 years ago. There were many observers who believed back in 1968 that with the passing of a generation or two, steam would be slowly but surely…
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Finest fruits of the season

by

Sam Hewitt

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19th October 2018

VisitEngland – as the national tourist board is called – take note. This year we have witnessed the finest collection of autumn galas on our heritage lines that I can remember, in all shapes and sizes. Fifty years since the end of British Railways main line steam, the public appetite for railway heritage shows no…
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Safety and security must come first

by

Sam Hewitt

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21st September 2018

During my two decades in railway journalism, conflicts between the requirements of rails and the ambitions of cyclepath promoters have often been vexed issues, the latest manifestation being the controversy over the use of the footbridge that links Totnes to the South Devon Railway’s Totnes (Riverside) terminus and the town’s magnificent rare breeds farm next…
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Time for a reality check over the Rother valley

by

Sam Hewitt

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24th August 2018

Much interest has been renewed in railway history by the ground-breaking appearance of Rocket on home territory in the Great Festival of the North. However, there appear to be those in the south of England who have taken a trip on a ‘rocket’, not one of a George or Robert Stephenson variety, but one which…
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The long-forgotten ‘missing link’ runs again

by

Sam Hewitt

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27th July 2018

The weeks ahead will see several special events and railtours to mark the 50th anniversary of the last steam train run over the main line by BR, the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ on August 11, 1968, and to mark the occasion, our special issue this month contains two features from photographers who were there to witness…
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Preservation: passing a core test at former model HQ

by

Sam Hewitt

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2nd July 2018

Fifty years ago, steam trains disappeared from our national network, apparently never to return. At the time, several people who could were rushing around trying to buy locomotives out of service and save them not only from the scrapyard, but for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations. The late Morecambe GP Dr Peter Beet…
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Dereham perseverance pays off

by

Sam Hewitt

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12th June 2018

IT is truly heartening in a year when we are commemorating half a century since the end of BR main line steam haulage, to see that mode of traction inching forward to reclaim yet more lost territory. I first visited the Mid-Norfolk Railway 21 years ago, and while at that stage it ran over a…
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