News

By Geoff Courtney Stunning live steam models of two GWR locomotives are set to star at a Dreweatts’ transport sale on September 20, with a combined estimate of up to £200,000. Both in 7¼in gauge, they are No. 4708, one of only nine in a class of mixed traffic 2-8-0s, and No. 6860 Aberporth Grange.…

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By Geoff Courtney THE end of August may be a reminder that summer is on its way out to make way for the mellow hues of autumn, but for railway enthusiasts it is the harbinger of the visual feast of the annual Railart exhibition. Run by the prestigious Guild of Railway Artists, which has within…

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By Geoff Courtney ENTHUSIASTS who do not mind mixing hard graft with the joys of their hobby are being invited to join a UK-led working party that has set its sights on completing a restoration project that will return steam trains to a station in central Romania that closed two decades ago. The station at…

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A RADICAL plan to carry West Somerset Railway passengers to a new station at Norton Fitzwarren by canal barge has been mooted. The Friends of the Grand Western Canal group wants to carry out a feasibility study into restoring a long-lost section of the waterway to link up with Britain’s longest standard-gauge heritage line. The…

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THE project to build a new LNER B17 4-6-0 No. 61673 Spirit of Sandringham is continuing to make steady progress, both at the project’s Llangollen Railway base and elsewhere – and now sponsors are being sought to take it to the rolling chassis stage. The steel castings for the frame stays are being manufactured by…

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VOLUNTEERS and friends of the Middleton Railway have been in mourning following the death on July 27 of Susan Youell , the widow of the line’s founder, Dr Fred Youell. Susan, 86, played a major part in the early running of what claims to be one of the first two standard gauge heritage lines, while…

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A LONG-forgotten Hunslet 0-6-0ST which was recovered by Nene Valley Railway volunteers from a convent in March last year needs a new home. Thought to have been long since scrapped, 16in Hunslet No. 1589 of 1929 Newstead was rediscovered by NVR fireman Steve Thomas. Members of the line’s Small Loco Group paid a visit to…

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THE overhaul of SR Schools Class V 4-4-0 No. 926 Repton at its North Yorkshire Moors Railway home was completed in late July when the locomotive was steamed for the first time, little more than three weeks after the boiler was craned into the frames. Running-in trials began in early July when the locomotive, resplendent…

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By Roger Melton AN ONLINE appeal to raised money to repair vandalism to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s world-famous LNER teak trains raised £42,000 from the public inside a fortnight. As Heritage Railway closed for press, more cash for the appeal, boosted by the seven-coach rake’s appearance in the international hit drama series Downton Abbey,…

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LANCASHIRE’S Windmill Farm Railway has celebrated its 20th anniversary with a gala weekend. Since opening on May 24, 1998, the 15in gauge line at Burscough has become in effect a miniature railway museum. Over the weekend of August 12-13, founder Austin Moss hosted a special event to mark the occasion. The emphasis was on steam…

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