News

A SPECIAL train ran over the Severn Valley Railway to mark 10 years to the day since double freak floods decimated the northern part of the line. The special train on Monday, June 19, used carriages from one of the UK’s most luxurious trains, the ‘Belmond Northern Belle’, which is stabled overnight on the heritage…

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THE Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust, which is seeking to restore 1889-built NER J21 0-6-0 No. 65033 to steam over the line it used to work, has been awarded £954,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, it was announced on June 19. The award will also be used to develop a heritage and interpretation centre within…

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No other main line in Britain went from steam to modern traction overnight. Don Benn recounts the incredible locomotive performances recorded on the Waterloo – Bournemouth line in the days leading up to the sudden end of Southern steam. Monday, June 12, 1967 was the first day of the final timetable for steam and I…

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This year sees a number of significant anniversaries being celebrated. Brian Sharpe recounts the story of one of Britain’s heritage lines which has now been running trains for 40 years. The Nene Valley Railway has its origins in the boom in new preserved steam railway schemes in the 1960s but in this case the line…

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FIVE heritage railways and a unique museum have been awarded the coveted Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The awards, which recognise excellence in voluntary activities by community groups – and are considered their equivalent of an MBE, the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement or the Queen’s Award for Technology – were announced by Buckingham Palace…

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After eight years working trains to most parts of the country, 101mph A1 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado finally notched up a ‘first’ on May 29 when the 4-6-2 crossed the Royal Albert Bridge and entered Cornwall. Heading UK Railtours’ ‘Cornishman’, the A1 had departed Paddington with 420 tons on, travelling via Reading, the Berks &…

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EXCLUSIVE By Geoff Courtney The world record realisation for a railwayana auction may be under threat on September 2 when a George Cross awarded in 1965 to the driver of a Britannia Pacific for heroism is to go under the hammer. Interest in the medal is bound to be high, among not only those railwayana…

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By Geoff Courtney The UK’s newest, and one of its most innovative ever, railway restoration projects received royal approval on June 13 when Princess Anne unexpectedly rode its tracks, to the delight of everyone connected with the £26-million scheme. The princess was at the Royal Mail’s Mount Pleasant centre in Clerkenwell, near King’s Cross station,…

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THE Downs Light Railway – one of Britain’s ‘secret’ miniature lines – has held its first public open days in its 92-year history. Geoffrey Hoyland, the first headmaster of the Downs Malvern School, a preparatory school in Colwall, started a miniature railway in its grounds in 1925, with the aim of a creating not just…

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Princess Anne, who has shown a real interest in railway preservation over many years and is no stranger to heritage lines, will be unable to view the innovative Mail Rail underground attraction in central London when she visits the site on June 13 due to safety concerns. Mail Rail is part of a £26 million…

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