News

By Geoff Courtney New-build Gresley P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales is to receive a boost from an anonymous railwayana enthusiast who is selling his collection at auction on July 15 in aid of the £5 million project. A quartet of pre-Big Four worksplates will be among the lots going under the hammer, as well…

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THE East Somerset Railway further boosted its locomotive restoration credentials with the first steaming of Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41313 after 52 years. The Cranmore workshops have carried out the £145,000 restoration of the former Barry scrapyard locomotive as a contract job on behalf of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. Last steamed in Hampshire…

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The North Norfolk Railway staged its annual diesel gala on June 9-11, starring three Peaks representing Classes 44, 45 and 46. Class 44 was represented by newly-repainted green-liveried D8 Penyghent visiting from Peak Rail; Class 45 by blue No. 45133 and Class 46 by D182 in rail blue but with small yellow warning panels and…

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FOLLOWING the controversial gift of LSWR T3 4-4-0 No. 563 by the National Railway Museum to the Swanage Railway, the locomotive was unveiled at Corfe Castle station by a descendant of one of the locomotive’s designers. Designed in 1890 by William Adams for smooth running at up to 80mph, and built at Nine Elms in…

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HAMPSHIRE has its Watercress Line. The GWR’s Cheddar Valley branch was the Strawberry Line. Now North Yorkshire has an Asparagus Line! If a WR Class 42 Warship was booked to haul real freight near Pickering, thoughts might immediately turn to a hired-in locomotive running a photographic charter on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. However, nothing…

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NEARLY 3000 visitors attended the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s spring bank holiday Cotswold Festival of Steam. The highlight of the event was the double-heading of two former Salisbury shedmates, home-based Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35006 Peninsular & Oriental S. N. Co and visiting BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76017. The double-headed combination of residents WR…

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AS the roof was being installed on the main building at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s new Broadway terminus, the heritage line was busy opening another ‘new’ station. Monday, June 5, saw Hayles Abbey Halt officially reopened by railway patron Lord Wemyss, the Earl of Wemyss and March from nearby Stanway House. This is the family…

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THE North Somerset Railway CIC has moved its 0-4-0 diesel to Radstock for restoration. Originally starting out its life as a Sentinel chain-driven steam locomotive, it was converted to diesel by Thomas Hill (Rotherham) Ltd, which replaced the boiler with a six-cylinder/179hp diesel engine and installed hydraulic transmission. The locomotive once worked at Whatley Quarry…

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By Geoff Courtney A nascent steam railway restoration project in West London that opened only three years ago and currently has just 300 yards of operational track has received a major volunteers’ award and a significant grant that will enable the purchase of enough track to reach the halfway point in its ambitious plan to…

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By Paul Appleton AMID a plethora of End of Southern Steam 50th anniversary events marking the end of an era on BR’s Southern Region in 1967, the Severn Valley Railway’s September 21-24 autumn steam gala will have an appropriate Sunny South flavour. SR Schools class 4-4-0 No. 926 Repton will be making its first appearance…

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