News

JUST 80 yards now separates the ground-breaking planned £2.5 million Bala Lake Railway extension from its town centre goal. As previously reported, the 2ft-gauge line is to be extended by 1200 yards from its current terminus at Pen-y-Bont into the heart of Bala – giving a major boost for both visitor numbers and the local…

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WESTERN Region 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle – one of the heritage sector’s biggest icons outside of Flying Scotsman and Mallard – was afforded a welcome for a hero as it made its first public movements at an exclusive VIP launch. Shortly after 11am on Saturday, October 28, the 1950-built Swindon product in gleaming BR…

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NEARLY three decades of hard graft, not only to save Britain’s last rail-connected roundhouse but to convince people it could become a major attraction in its own right, have reaped more dividends for Barrow Hill. At the Heritage Railway Association’s annual awards committee meeting in Birmingham on October 7, major honours were bestowed on Barrow…

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It could be reasoned that the original Great Eastern Railway, and latterly the London Transport line linking Epping to Ongar that closed in 1994, would not have that many railway skeletons in its closet. Heritage Railway troubadour writer, photographer and regular at the present day Epping and Ongar Railway, Geoff Silcock, disagrees. Far to the…

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Early October saw half of the preserved production Deltic fleet drawing the crowds at the Bluebell Railway, which for so long was a no-go area for diesels, writes Robin Jones. THERE was a time, not so long ago, when the mere mention of the word ‘diesel’ on the Bluebell Railway was nothing short of sacrilege.…

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Commemorations marking the 50th anniversary of the end of steam on the Southern Region continue to capture the public imagination – with the Great Central Railway seeing a 33% increase in visitor numbers for its autumn steam gala, writes Robin Jones. NEARLY 4000 passengers rode on trains during the Great Central Railway’s October 5-8 autumn…

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It is 82 years since the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway closed, and 38 years since a revivalist association was formed. One of its core mission statements was to restore the legendary line exactly as it was – and thanks to the culmination of a £650,000 new build locomotive project, now has a complete ‘original’ train.…

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By Hugh Dougherty The new South West Scotland Community Rail Partnership has confirmed that it is committed to safeguarding railway heritage on the lines it covers, from Gretna to Stranraer, via Kilmarnock and Troon – and that steam to Stranraer is firmly on its agenda. The partnership, launched at Kilmarnock’s historic station on September 11,…

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By Cedric Johns The A1 Trust’s Tame Bridge Parkway-Carlisle ‘Border Raider’ trip hauled by 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado on Saturday, September 16 ran into pathing problems arriving in Carlisle nearly an hour late but despite last-minute route changes the train recovered and was only a minute late back at Thame Bridge Parkway. Not for the…

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By Cedric Johns and Robin Jones BULLEID Merchant Navy 4-6-2 No. 35018 British India Line has made its passenger hauling main line debut in BR green. The shiny black livery the newly restored West Coast Railways locomotive carried during its test runs in recent months has given way to the historically correct colour, to the…

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