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WORK has begun on rebuilding historic Lincolnshire’s historic Deeping St James signalbox following a campaign by villagers. The 1876-built signalbox was demolished in 2014 to make way for new electric crossing gates as part of a £280 million modernisation of the Great Northern & Great Eastern joint line between Doncaster and Peterborough However, many villagers…

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WORK has begun on rebuilding historic Lincolnshire’s historic Deeping St James signalbox following a campaign by villagers. The 1876-built signalbox was demolished in 2014 to make way for new electric crossing gates as part of a £280 million modernisation of the Great Northern & Great Eastern joint line between Doncaster and Peterborough However, many villagers…

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By Geoff Courtney AMBERLEY Museum has marked the launch of its 40th season with the official openings by television and radio personality Nicholas Owen of a landmark former main line signalbox and a standard gauge locomotive shed. Nicholas, a railway enthusiast who supports the West Sussex visitor attraction, performed the dual opening on March 25.…

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A CAMPAIGN to save the last Northern Ireland Railways 80 Class ‘Thumper’ DEMU – used during the Troubles for the Peace Trains to Dublin and back – has been launched by the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, and for every pound you donate, a DCDR volunteer will match it pound for pound up to £4000.…

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By Geoff Courtney RAILWAY preservationists are well rehearsed in celebrating anniversaries, which provide an ideal opportunity to remember the past, celebrate the present and look forward to the future, while at the same time putting on a good show for visitors. The Derwent Valley Light Railway, whose stretch of standard gauge track at Murton Park…

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By Hugh Dougherty Northern Ireland Railways chose to celebrate its 50th anniversary in style with steam. The award-winning Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s recently-restored Great Northern Railway of Ireland 4-4-0 Q class No. 131 pulled a special train, packed with members of the public and former and long-service NIR employees, from Belfast Great Victoria Street…

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THE boiler of one-time Severn Valley Railway flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 4930 Hagley Hall has left the line for overhaul. The SVR finalised a contract with Northern Steam Engineering Ltd of Stockton-on-Tees for the overhaul which has begun immediately with, an expected completion date of summer 2019. Paul Hobson of The Friends of Locomotive 4930…

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In just two months Weardale Railway supporters raised £54,000 to buy a DMU from the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. The Derby, 1960-built Class 108 unit will allow the heritage line to carry twice as many passengers, as it extends back into Bishop Auckland after an absence of several years. The DMU can accommodate 120 people,…

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By Geoff Courtney One of Russia’s leading narrow gauge railway specialists has urged even closer cooperation between enthusiasts in his country and Britain after a fact-finding visit to the UK which he described as “exciting and helpful.” During his visit in early April, Sergei Dorozhkov visited Bressingham Steam Museum, Southwold Railway Trust and the London…

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