News

THE first Vintage Trains Limited driver to qualify under the new Train Operating Company status, Ray Churchill, has been presented with his European Train Driving Licence. This new requirement came into force on October 31 and prescribes that all drivers must hold this licence to drive on the national network. It is designed to enable…

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VINTAGE Trains Limited’s first major exercise as a Train Operating Company – the debut of the steam-hauled ‘The Polar Express’ on the UK main line – appears to have been a stunning success in terms of the amounts of tickets sold. As we reported in our last issue, the Tyseley-based operator is running the trips…

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A 15-year project to restore the forgotten North Eastern Railway railcar that is the ancestor of modern internal combustion passenger trains worldwide has scooped the top honour in the Heritage Railway Association 2019 Awards. The NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust has been awarded the coveted Peter Manisty Award for Excellence, the association’s most prestigious award.…

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By Cedric Johns IT’S generally known that A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa is due to run out of its ticket next year… but will it ? The A4 is the only example of Gresley’s streamlined 4-6-2s currently working on the main line and its main line certificate expires at the end of April,…

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Andy Castledine highlights potential impact of network changes THE Williams Review – the remit of which is “to look at the structure of the whole rail industry” – was announced by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling to much industry fanfare. Headed by former British Airways chief executiveKeith Williams, the review, launched on October…

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By Paul Appleton GREATCentral Railway-based 1948 Locomotive Exchanges participant No. 6990 Witherslack Hall, will be spending Christmas in the SevernValley after being signed up to bolster the railway’s steam fleet for its busySanta season and the railway’s walk-on post-Christmas festive programme. The protracted overhaul of Severn Valley Railway-based ex-BR Standard 4MT No. 75069 will culminate…

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THE Talyllyn Railway has launched an appeal torestore the line’s original locomotive watering point at Ty Dŵr betweenAbergynolwyn and Nant Gwernol. Before the locomotive shed and workshop opened at Tywyn Pendre in 1867, the railway’s first locomotive shed was at Ty Dŵr, just above Abergynolwyn village on what was known as the mineral extension. Here,…

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By Bill Parker EUROPEAN steam railway heritage has been in mourning for one of its giants. Andras Szendrey, who died on November 3 in Budapest aged 66, was a career railwayman who developed an interest in heritage and became director of MAV Nosztalgia, the Hungarian Railway’s heritage organisation, which he ran for 21 years. He…

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By Cedric Johns Fresh fromthe paint shop at Crewe, Locomotive Services’ BR 7P No. 70000 Britannia is back in traffic after an absence of threeyears from the main line. Dogged with vibration problems, the 4-6-2 was‘stopped’ for intensive work on its wheels and axles with emphasis on thereplacement of bearings. Placed in the hands of…

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