News

  • ‘Lubrication not speed’ caused 90mph Tornado’s failure

    ‘Lubrication not speed’ caused 90mph Tornado’s failure

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    AN examination of Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado following its April 14 failure minutes after hitting 90mph on the East Coast Main Line, indicated that the problem was caused by a lack of lubrication rather than speed. The locomotive was heading The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s ‘The Ebor Flyer’ from King’s Cross to York…

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  • New P2 donations pass £2 million

    New P2 donations pass £2 million

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    DONATIONS towards the world’s fastest-moving new-build main line steam project – Gresley P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales – have now passed the £2 million mark. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s £5 million project is now 40% funded just four years after being launched and it is on target to meet the completion date…

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  • Tracking down the trust

    Tracking down the trust

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    For more than 30 years, an organisation has been busy securing heritage infrastructure on Britain’s national railway system. Peter Brown meets Andy Savage, director of The Railway Heritage Trust. It was two days after the death of Sir William McAlpine Bt that I was due to visit the headquarters of The Railway Heritage Trust of…

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  • ‘Tram Man’ gets museum rail vehicles back on track

    ‘Tram Man’ gets museum rail vehicles back on track

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    A major challenge faced by heritage railways, railways and transport museums across the country is how to bring to life displays of locomotives, carriages and trams. Hugh Dougherty meets a man who lets visitors know what they did, how they worked and what it was like to travel on them. Glasgow’s Riverside Museum faces just…

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  • Severn Valley beats the beast!

    Severn Valley beats the beast!

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    Some attractions closed their doors because of the second March freak wintry spell, but not so the Severn Valley Railway. When snow and ice covered much of the West Midlands during the third day of the line’s star-studded spring steam gala, staff and volunteers rolled up their sleeves and made sure that the trains ran,…

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  • Statfold’s museum in a million

    Statfold’s museum in a million

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    Old classic narrow gauge locomotives never die. Wherever in the world they extinguish their last fire, they are whisked away to the great steam hereafter… also known as the Statfold Barn Railway. Now a stunning new museum has been opened to showcase the magnificent fleet on this private line, and Robin Jones went along. For…

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  • Tougher penalties needed for bridge strike drivers

    Tougher penalties needed for bridge strike drivers

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    AS the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Ian Crowder pointed out in HR issue238 when referring to damage to the Station Road overbridge at Broadway, the widespread menace of bridge strikes needs to be tackled. Apart from the expense and disruption caused by bridge bashing, there is serious danger of a fatal accident occurring. A few years…

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  • Picture only fit for the bin?

    Picture only fit for the bin?

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    I was interested to see the picture in Platform, issue 238, of the Christmas card submitted by Heritage Railway reader Mike Sanderson, depicting D49 4-4-0 No. 246 Morayshire – but with a non-matching extra GWR tender! My little grandson had the misfortune to be given a jigsaw puzzle with the same picture. Although he is…

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  • ‘Brighton Belle’ set for September main line tests

    ‘Brighton Belle’ set for September main line tests

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    The 5BEL Trust – which has reached an advanced state of restoring a four-car ‘Brighton Belle’ luxury Pullman EMU – is aiming for its first test runs on the national network in early autumn – with its first public trains running next Easter. On March 27, a group of around 40 supporters of the project…

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  • Totem and poster keep Hall on its toes

    Totem and poster keep Hall on its toes

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    Nameplate Ketley Hall from GWR No. 4935 may have been overall champion at GW Railwayana’s March 17 sale at Pershore thanks to its £4000 realisation, but a couple of other items did their best to reach the top of the podium. They were Western Region totem sign Ashchurch for Tewkesbury, from a station on the…

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