News

The world has been in mourning for East Somerset Railway founder David Shepherd, who died aged 86 on September 19, after losing a 10-week fight in hospital with Parkinson’s Disease. After becoming an international wildlife artist and later a leading conservationist, he also bought two steam ‘beasts’ from British Rail in 1967 and helped transform…

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GWR nameplates from a Saint and Bulldog, a Southern Railway offering from a Schools class 4-4-0, and a pair from across the Irish Sea, are among the headline acts in GW Railwayana’s November 18 sale at Pershore. The Saint is Tortworth Court, from No. 2955, named after the Victorian mansion home of GWR director the…

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A 7¼in gauge live steam model of GWR No. 6860 Aberporth Grange, featured in Heritage Railway issue 232, was the runaway success in a Dreweatts transport sale of live steam models at Newbury on September 20, with a realisation of £60,000. Built by leading modelmaker David Aitken and described by Dreweatts’ steam and model engineering…

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Like a lower league contender determined to mix it with higher level competition, an LMS Jubilee nameplate challenged the GWR and LNER at Great Central’s September 2 sale at Stoneleigh Park, and emerged not only with credit, but with the latter trailing in its wake. The gold medal for a £13,900 realisation went to Lydford…

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AN enthusiast group has been set up to rebuild part of the former Garstang & Knot-End Railway as a 2ft gauge line, in a bid to boost local tourism. The original line ran between Garstang and Knott End-on-Sea in Lancashire, and was built to provide an outlet for local farmers in the Over Wyre area.…

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By Geoff Courtney THE Spa Valley Railway has returned to normal operations after one of the line’s bridges was damaged by a lorry in an incident that severed the link with the national network and infuriated exasperated officials. Their anger came to the surface after the incident in the early hours of September 15, when…

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By Phil Marsh HARRY Robinson, thought to have been the oldest surviving member of London Underground’s Metropolitan Line’s steam crew, has died aged 96. He joined the Met as a cleaner at Neasden in April 1938 and drove several notable anniversary trains in his long career. The return to steam at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre…

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THE Bury Standard 4 Group recently took delivery of the repaired boiler for its former Barry scrapyard BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80097. The boiler has undergone a major overhaul, which comprised a complete new boiler barrel, a new lower throat plate section, new ¾ outer firebox sides, extensive copper welding to the firebox tubeplate,…

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