Letters

Last days of the East Kent Railway

by

Sam Hewitt

–

9th April 2019

I was at boarding school at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate in 1951. As a railway enthusiast I was delighted to be in a house whose housemaster had a full bound set of The Railway Magazine in his study, which he lent me one by one. Somehow, I learned that the East Kent Railway was going…
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Our steam odyssey in 1967

by

Sam Hewitt

–

9th April 2019

I was interested to read the article by Trevor Gregg about his 1967 camping coach holiday, in issue 251. A friend and I purchased a week’s railrover ticket for the princely sum of £18 and set off from Kent in May 1967, to visit as many of the remaining steam locomotive depots as we could…
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Don’t ruin wonderful Midsomer Norton station

by

Sam Hewitt

–

9th April 2019

I had to look twice at the date of the latest issue of Heritage Railway (No. 250 – congratulations), as I thought the article on page 35, about Midsomer Norton must have been an April Fool. As anyone who has been to this station knows, it is a classic small town station, complete with goods…
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Allan ‘did not design Crewe-type’ engines: there’s more to the story

by

Sam Hewitt

–

11th March 2019

I enjoyed reading issue 250 of Heritage Railway and was delighted to find an interesting article by Brian Sharpe regarding 1840s locomotive engineers. As a professional railway historian studying and writing about the period 1830-50, it is always nice to see something – anything – from the earlier 19th century. However, I feel I need…
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Steam at St Margarets in the Fifties

by

Sam Hewitt

–

11th March 2019

In issue 249, I enjoyed Gavin Morrison’s retro look at Holbeck shed’s last years of service in the 1960s. My memories of this atmospheric Midland Railway ‘Cathedral of Steam’ are from a decade or so earlier when steam ruled the rails and ex-Midland and LMS locomotives dominated. In my school days when I had rare…
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Searching for lost NER network tile maps

by

Sam Hewitt

–

11th March 2019

I have been conducting research regarding lost NER network tile maps, which are basically of three types, and am trying to ascertain whether readers of Heritage Railway are aware of the existence of an updated version of the map in any country house which they have visited or even own. The updated versions show, among…
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Stop riveting boilers and run steam on vegetable oils

by

Sam Hewitt

–

11th March 2019

AS we look forward to the future of our railway, yet another year has gone by. I feel there are challenges looming on the horizon for us all, as the public, local authorities and politicians are now much more informed on the issues of the environment we live in – global warming is now a…
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Reasons why The Great Bear failed

by

Sam Hewitt

–

13th February 2019

I note the plaintive appeal from D Martin in Platform, issue 248, for the reincarnation of The Great Bear. This is not the first time this sentiment has been aired in the pages of Heritage Railway. The fact of the matter is the designer G J Churchward, the world’s foremost designer of his age, saw…
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Norman Preedy: – a real character and a local legend

by

Sam Hewitt

–

13th February 2019

With reference to Geoff Courtney’s obituary of Norman Preedy in the last issue, may I add my thoughts on someone who was a great friend and a superb and enthusiastic railway photographer. Norman was a real character and quite a local legend held in the highest esteem. Having been born in Newton Abbot in the…
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Can we also save Midland Railway steam railmotor?

by

Sam Hewitt

–

14th January 2019

I have been reading, with interest, the article in Heritage Railway issue 248, about the restoration of the NER petrol-railcar at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. It reminded me of the sad state that a similar vehicle is in – No. 2234. The pictures show a general view of the vehicle in question,…
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