News

COALPORT West station on the GWR Severn Valley route from Shrewsbury to Hartlebury Junction has gone up for sale at £950,000 complete with two BR Mk.1 coaches. In 2002, Steve and Lisa Rawlings heard about a disused station within the World Heritage Site of the Ironbridge Gorge while having a pint in a local pub.…

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LOCAL Welsh AM Ken Skates has given his seal of approval for the project to create a new western terminus for the Llangollen Railway. The three-month scheme to create the signalbox base at Corwen Central came to an end with a three-day exercise to infill the crater in which the structure sits. Volunteers, assisted by…

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Enthusiasts who set out to save Britain’s last rail-connected roundhouse were told it was a futile exercise as Barrow Hill roundhouse, which was closed by British Rail in 1991 after 120 years of use, was deemed a complete non-starter by many preservationists. It was said that it could not compete with a ‘normal’ heritage railway…

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By Geoff Courtney STAFF sheltered for their lives as a devastating bush fire caused more than $1 million damage and wrecked decades of work at the volunteer-run Richmond Vale Railway Museum in Australia’s New South Wales. The blaze on September 13 destroyed three stainless-steel carriages, rolling stock including 10 restored coal hoppers and a number…

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By Geoff Courtney A steam train driver who received fatal burns while saving his passengers from a potential catastrophic accident and was awarded a posthumous George Cross for his heroism will be honoured with a churchyard memorial, after lying in an unmarked grave for 52 years. The recognition of Wallace Oakes’ bravery comes after an…

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Exclusive By Geoff Courtney THE future of UK-built Garratt No. 6029, one of the world’s largest preserved steam locos, remains unclear despite the accountancy firm selling the giant engine withdrawing a decision not to respond to media enquiries about its sale following a protest by Heritage Railway. Global accountancy Deloitte is handling the sale of…

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By Robin Jones MANY mighty steam locomotives have graced the rails of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway over the past half century. However, this year’s September 29-October 1 annual steam gala saw three modest Great Western tank engines steal the show for a record-breaking event. More than 4000 visitors enjoyed nine different locomotives in steam,…

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THE restoration of the late-Victorian bridge which carries the trackbed of the Great Central Railway over the Grand Union Canal at Loughborough will be the next step in the creation of an 18-mile heritage line between the suburbs of Nottingham and Leicester. The beams of the £2.5 million replacement bridge (as reported in issue 233),…

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By Robin Jones ALL 41 rail vehicles at Coventry’s unique Electric Railway Museum have been found new homes following the venue’s enforced closure by the city council. Heritage lines across the country have rallied round to offer accommodation for the museum’s exhibits, which have had to be dispersed across the country because a single-site replacement…

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Exclusive By Robin Jones THE Swanage Railway’s latest addition – globetrotting LSWR T3 4-4-0 No. 563 – may be returned to steam for the first time in 72 years. Controversy flared earlier this year when the National Railway Museum decided that as part of a rationalisation process, the 1892-built locomotive, the sole survivor of a…

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