News

A PIONEERING Class 125 charter from the Dartmoor Railway to London came to grief after slipping on the heritage line’s wet rails and being left with wheel flats. The ‘Royal Oke’ was advertised as the first direct train from Okehampton to Paddington in 50 years and had been organised by a group of volunteers in…

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THE Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway’s new museum will open in June following a two-year, Heritage Lottery Fund-backed redevelopment. Built at Ravenglass station, the new trainshed extension will double the previous museum’s footprint. The museum owns more than 6000 objects ranging from 15in gauge locomotives and rolling stock through to uniforms, photographs and historic engineering. The…

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By Phil Marsh West Coast Railways’ steam inspector John Daniel has retired for the second time in his railway career after becoming what is thought to be the UK’s longest serving member of railway staff. His first career lasted ‘just’ 51 years and after a break he joined West Coast Railways and completed another 11½…

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THE Moseley Railway Trust has booked two Wrens – one old and one new – for its Kerr Stuart-themed gala at the Apedale Valley Light Railway on May 13-14. Kerr Stuart Wren 0-4-0ST No. 3128, was built in 1918 for a factory in Avonmouth which supplied mustard gas to British forces fighting in the First…

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THREE Pullman coaches which formed part of a Sunderland hotel have been moved for restoration and a new life on the south coast. The three former ‘Orient Express’ Pullmans – Rosalind and Padua with six-wheel bogies and Sapphire with four-wheel bogies – are survivors of later use as holiday homes and mobile offices. As highlighted…

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Cambrian Heritage Railways has been granted a Transport and Work Act Order giving it statutory powers over the Gobowen to Oswestry and Llanyblodwel line that members have been busy reviving. The route is the surviving section of what in pre-Grouping and later GWR days was a busy railway hub. Passenger services to Welshpool and Whitchurch…

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PLANS to create a heritage railway at London’s Crossness Pumping Station have been given the green light. The idea of a light railway being built near Abbey Wood has been lurking around since 2011, when the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey loaned Avonside oil-fired 0-4-0T No. 1748 of 1916 Woolwich to the Crossness Engines…

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By Geoff Courtney IN a boost for two major London heritage railway projects, the revival of a line in the west of the capital that closed more than 70 years ago has taken a significant step forward, while another a few miles away near King’s Cross station is set to reopen within months. At the…

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By Brian Sharpe The annual spring gala on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway was a little later than usual this year but with the resident fleet bolstered by three popular mixed traffic visitors, the valley resounded to the usual procession of steam-hauled trains battling the 1-in-58 grades through Bronte country. The three-day event over…

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