Trackside

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  • Tornado returns in ECML triumph – and plans a record run!

    Tornado returns in ECML triumph – and plans a record run!

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    Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado made its first main line passenger-carrying run for nearly 11 months on Sunday, March 3, hauling The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s ‘The Auld Reekie’ from Doncaster to Edinburgh. The A1 has been off the main line since its mishap while hauling the ‘Ebor Flyer’ from King’s Cross to York…

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  • BR locoman drives Aln Valley train 53 years on

    BR locoman drives Aln Valley train 53 years on

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    Nearly 53 years ago, in June 1966, BR fireman Kenny Middlemist from Alnmouth shed last worked on a steam locomotive over the Cawledge Viaduct on the Alnwick branch.  Alnmouth-allocated K1 2-6-0 No. 62011 hauled the branch passenger train set on the morning of the last day of steam-hauled passenger services on the line. His driver…

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  • New beginning for Blaenau & Trawsfynydd group

    New beginning for Blaenau & Trawsfynydd group

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    THE Blaenau Ffestiniog & Trawsfynydd Railway Society is set for a new dawn, after members came together to vote on a fresh beginning and a new approach to returning trains to the line between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Trawsfynydd Lake Halt. The outcome of their voting on Sunday, February 3 resulted in the creation of a…

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  • Summer season at Launceston for Darjeeling engine 10 years on

    Summer season at Launceston for Darjeeling engine 10 years on

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    DARJEELING Himalayan Railway Sharp Stewart 0-4-0STT No. 19B is to return to the Launceston Steam Railway after 10 years for a summer visit hauling passenger trains. The only DHR locomotive outside India, and owned by former Chiltern Railways chairman Adrian Shooter, No. 19B ran on the Cornish line in August and September 2009. At Launceston,…

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  • Caley Blue 419 adds Broadway to English tour

    Caley Blue 419 adds Broadway to English tour

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    Caledonian Railway 0-4-4T No. 419 has added the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Cotswold Festival of Steam to its biggest-ever tour of England. No. 419 will star in the May 25-27 festival alongside another blue guest, GWR 4-6-0 No. 6023 Edward II from Didcot Railway Centre. A third guest will be B1 4-6-0 No. 1260 from the…

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  • Terrier finale

    Terrier finale

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    By Martin Creese A SOUND synonymous with a little corner of England will fall silent for a while during March, as former LBSCR ‘Terrier’ No. 32678 is being withdrawn from traffic for its 10-yearly overhaul.  That corner of England is the Kent & East Sussex Railway, a line which has featured locomotives of the class…

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  • Two Barry locomotives return in one weekend!

    Two Barry locomotives return in one weekend!

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    PRESERVATION history was made over the weekend of March 2/3 when two steam locomotives that have been restored to working order from Barry scrapyard condition were officially launched into traffic. It took a total of 77 years for BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80097 and WR 4-6-0 Modified Hall No. 6989 Wightwick Hall to be…

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  • Whirlwind through Wensleydale

    Whirlwind through Wensleydale

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    February’s high-profile visit of Peppercorn A1 No. 60163 Tornado to the Wensleydale Railway not only brought in the crowds and saw sell-out-trains well out of the peak season, but also highlighted the still-to-be-unlocked full potential of this scenic route as a heritage line. Robin Jones reports. It seems that the dales had never seen anything…

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  • Brighton Belle on course for main line

    Brighton Belle on course for main line

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    Gordon Rushton, 5BEL trustee, tells the story of the project to re-create the famous Brighton Belle luxury dining train, from its inception to how it is bringing back 1930s Art Deco finery to the main line – and how the challenges of complying with current and future regulations have been overcome. Additional reporting by Gareth…

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  • Counting their blessings

    Counting their blessings

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    As the Churchward County Trust celebrates its first anniversary, project leader Gary Boyd-Hope explains more about the scheme to build GWR 4-4-0 No. 3840 County of Montgomery and the Trust’s successes of the past year. NOVEMBER 13, 2018 was a pretty ordinary day for the majority of the UK population. It was largely overcast everywhere,…

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