News

TEN more coaches on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway will now be protected from the elements following the completion of a £37,000 new instant carriage shed. The 164ft long storage facility, which adjoins the line’s 20-year-old sheds, was designed and built by Spanlite UK Ltd in just 10 days from start to finish.…

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By Phil Marsh AS REPORTED in HR issue 231, the first stage of the so-called ‘redevelopment’ of Wolverton Works by property developer St Modwen commenced on July 3. This involved land clearance of a former workshop and traverser area revealing rail, hawsers and other related materials. Parts of the famous mile-long 10ft-high works brick wall…

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DIMINUTIVE 2ft gauge 1½ ton, four-wheel Lister petrol locomotive No. 6299 returned to operation on August 28 after 45 years of static display and storage. The R-type locomotive, powered by a 600cc JAP engine, re-entered service at the Westonzoyland Light Railway at Westonzoyland Pumping Station near Bridgwater in Somerset following an extensive overhaul by member…

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A NEW-build locomotive which had steamed only a handful of occasions since it was outshopped in 2006 has begun a new career as part of the Lappa Valley Steam Railway fleet in Cornwall. Built in 2006 by the Exmoor Steam Railway for a private 12¼in garden line, 0-4-2T Ellie was steamed on only a handful…

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By Hugh Dougherty IT MAY not have been on the scale of the Great Central Railway bridging the gap at Loughborough. However, railway history was made high in the Lowther Hills on Thursday, August 17, when volunteers swept away the fence that has prevented them from extending the 2ft-gauge Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway into Scotland’s…

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By Stuart Chapman Many of the world’s theme parks and zoos feature miniature or narrow gauge railways. Thousands of visitors each year will photograph and ride on these, but while extremely popular with the general public these railways get little attention from the enthusiast community or railway press. Yet in a quiet rural corner of…

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THE Talyllyn Railway is widely considered to be the first railway to be taken over and preserved by volunteers in the world. Now it has scored what is believed to be another world first, with a set of triplets passing out as assistant guards on the same day. Jake, Ross and Joe Waddington, all 16,…

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By Geoff Courtney Silver jubilee celebrations on the Derwent Valley Light Railway over the August 27-28 Bank Holiday weekend included the renaming of a 1962 diesel shunter, the unveiling of a restored pump trolley that had operated on the line before being abandoned in a ditch, and a welcome for a former platelayer on the…

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THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway lit up the skies above Powys as part of celebrations for a very special year. One of the highlights of the 2ft 6in-gauge line’s September 1-3 gala was the firework display on the Saturday night, laid on by Electrify Pyrotechnics. The final train of the day set off from…

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