News

The two-year trial of DMU services planned for 2018 is by no means the first bid to link the West Somerset Railway to the national network at Taunton. A scheme which attracted plenty of attention was tried over 25 years ago. As reported in Headline News in our last issue, senior officials of Britain’s longest…

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By Geoff Courtney THE ‘no seats available’ sign went up early on the Kent & East Sussex Railway at Christmas when, for the very first time, every one of the railway’s 67 Santa Special trains was sold out in advance.   Indeed, there was no seat available by the end of November, three days before…

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THE Bluebell Railway has been awarded £1.1 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its Accessible Steam Heritage (ASH) project. The scheme involves substantial repairs to the Sheffield Park running shed, which will be partly converted and also extended at the side to create a new exhibition hall. This public space will feature a…

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THE Midland Railway-Butterley wants to appoint a full-time engineering supervisor to bring two ‘Jinties’ back to life. Three of these LMS 3F 0-6-0s were rescued for the railway in the 1970s as being ideal for the operation of passenger trains, two coming from Barry scrapyard and one from industrial service in West Yorkshire. The two…

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The festive season normally sees an intensive programme of main line steam tours, many originating in London and bound for a variety of Christmas markets or carol services. The Railway Touring Company usually runs several tours from King’s Cross or East Anglia to both Lincoln and York in December and 2016 was no exception, although…

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PRESERVATION pioneer 2ft gauge Peckett 0-6-0ST Jurassic is to return to service on the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in 2017 after a third of century out of action. Built in 1903 in Bristol by Peckett and Sons as works number 1008 for the quarries and cement works of Kaye & Co in Southam in Warwickshire,…

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THIS beautiful 5in gauge model of Flying Scotsman sold for £35,400 at Special Auction Services’ 30th Trains Galore auction at Newbury on December 14-15. That was more than double the top end estimate. Originally owned by a stationmaster who had several live steam models, this beautifully executed and detailed live steam coal-fired model, built in…

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