News

THE Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is in mourning following the death of the line’s chief mechanical and electrical engineer Graham Walker, on October 5, following a short illness. Graham Walker was born in 1945 and began an apprenticeship at Derby Loco Works Training School in 1959. He had many jobs in his career, ranging from fitter,…

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LOCOMOTIVE owner and transport businessman Jonathan Jones Pratt has been appointed as acting chairman of the West Somerset Railway (WSR) plc for three months in order to tackle current financial problems. The appointment, approved unanimously by the plc board, was made only 12 days after he was appointed a director, in the wake of long-serving…

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By Geoff Courtney IN an era in when a £50,000 annual basic salary is commonplace for train drivers – those at Virgin Trains are paid up to £63,000, or more than £1200 a week – it is fascinating to see the wages of drivers and lower-ranked employees on the minor railways of early 20th century…

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GWR 4-6-0 No. 6023 King Edward II has successfully passed tests on its new blastpipe and modified draughting during its extended summer loan period to the Dartmouth Steam Railway. Great Western Society engineers carried out the tests over the weekend of September 29-30. The ‘Blue King’ successfully handled a 420-ton load comprising 11 coaches plus…

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Work commenced on August 19 to refurbish one of the two steel viaducts at Millers Dale

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THE anniversary of the closure of Middleton Broom Pit 50 years ago was marked with the Last Coals to Leeds gala over the weekend of September 29-30 at the city’s Middleton Railway. A popular attraction was Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 3839 of 1956 Wimblebury, visiting West Yorkshire from the Foxfield Railway. Wimblebury is the latest…

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By Hugh Dougherty Hopes that the United Kingdom’s last railway-built paddle steamer would sail again next year have been dashed after the Heritage Lottery Fund rejected a bid by the Loch Lomond Steamship Company for £3.7 million to restore Maid of the Loch. Company chairman John Beveridge said that everyone involved was “absolutely devastated” by…

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NEW £5 million Gresley P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales is now a fully fledged Mikado – after having the last of its wheels fitted. In September, the pony truck wheelset was added to the locomotive – following the fitting of the rear Cartazzi wheelset early this year and the eight 6ft 2in driving wheels…

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GREAT Central Railway-based restored Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway wooden-bodied carriage No. 946 is to feature in a commemoration in Edinburgh to mark the end of the First World War. The 50-seat coach is being prepared for the 600-mile journey on a 60ft Duncan Milner Haulage low loader from its home at the Nunckley Hill…

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A historically-priceless document from the dawn of public steam-operated railways was rediscovered by Network Rail in April this year after more than half a century. It was nothing less than George Stephenson’s notebook from 1822, detailing his redesign of George Overton’s original 1821 route for what was to become the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and…

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