News

The first weekend in August saw the Severn Valley and Great Central railways remember in style and atmosphere the final weekend of timetabled BR steam exactly 50 years before, writes Robin Jones. Sunday, August 4, 1968 was the day when ‘normal’ timetabled British Rail main line steam ended. That day saw just two engines with…

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Less than seven weeks after the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ marked the end of BR main line steam, the public were admitted to a former depot where the roots of railway preservation had firmly taken hold.

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By Hugh Dougherty THE Peebles Community Trust plans to open a railway museum in the Borders tourist town to commemorate its extensive, but largely ignored railway heritage. The group has its sights set on a former North British Railway weighbridge office, the sole survivor of the company’s station in the town. The railway it served…

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THE Swindon & Cricklade Railway has launched an appeal to pay for the carriage of track materials to the site of its new northern extension. The railway hopes to celebrate its 40th anniversary by reaching the second town in its name. However, before it can lay track as part of the push to Cricklade, the…

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LINE closure notices were a market feature of the 1950s and especially the 60s under the Beeching Axe, but thankfully they are a rarity in the heritage sector. An exception came on Thursday, August 2 when a genuine pre-closure ‘last train’ ran on a section of the Spa Valley Railway. Diverging from the railway’s main…

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SEPTEMBER 11 will mark the 80th anniversary of what is thought to have been the first enthusiast railtour, which ran from King’s Cross to Peterborough and return in 1938. The LNER had decided to briefly return to service preserved Stirling Single No. 1 to promote its new high-speed service from London to Edinburgh. An engine…

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By George Jones VOLUNTEERS have been encouraged to press on with different aspects of Llangollen Railway’s new Corwen Central western terminus project following high-profile inspections by successive visitors to the site. The ‘guest list’ has included chairman of Network Rail, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, the Welsh Minister for Culture, Tourism & Sport, Lord Elis-Thomas, and…

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The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has announced it has bought Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado’s tender from principal sponsor William Cook Cast Products Ltd. The news came on August 4, the day marking the 50th anniversary of the end of scheduled BR main line steam-hauled services. The trust’s dedicated fundraising body The 163 Pacifics…

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THE team behind A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s project to build new Gresley P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales has agreed a £350,000 order for a state-of-the-art electrical system. The mechanism is based on that fitted to the trust’s A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado, and includes systems that generate and store electricity, together with lighting…

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The Foxfield Railway held its summer gala over the weekend of July 21-22 – the highlight event so far in its 2018 calendar. Industrial steam locomotives went through their paces up the grades on the delightful former Staffordshire colliery line, creating wonderful sights and sounds. Regular demonstration coal trains ran on the 1-in-19 Foxfield Bank,…

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