Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 334 i Heritage Railway

WE are now fast approaching the dizzy heights of the Railway 200 year, with the major landmark events celebrating the bicentenary of the Stockton& Darlington Railway within grasp. However, The Greatest Gathering at Derby, the newlyannounced Titans of Steam at Hopetown Darlington, and the operation of the replica 1825 train over the S&DR main line – dazzling as all these events look set to be– will now all be pre-empted by the latest magnificent achievement of the heritage sector: the reopening of the landslip-hit Severn Valley Railway sooner than many observers anticipated, with none other than Flying Scotsman hauling that first public train on July 25, tickets having evaporated quicker than you could input your bank card details. A herculean effort on all fronts – administration, volunteers and contractors –…

LONDON Transport Museum chair Keith Ludeman has been awarded an OBE in the King's Birthday Honours list for services to transport. Joining the museum's board in 2014, Keith became its chair three years later. He had already enjoyed an extensive career in the UK transport sector, from London General and Go Ahead to Eversholt Rail Group, Luton Airport and High Speed 1. Working with the LTM teams, Keith has guided, supported and championed the museum's ambition to inspire young people to see the role they can play in shaping the future. Since then, London Transport Museum has welcomed more than 154,000 school students and teachers to its museum in Covent Garden and depot in Acton to learn about the capital's transport history and imagine what the London of tomorrow could…

THE Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway bid farewell to one of its resident 0-6-0s as it set off for pastures new on the back of a lorry – before promptly welcoming a new one to its roster. Barclay 0-6-0T No. 1245 of 1911 spent its working life in Scottish industrial settings, being delivered new to the Carron Iron Company at Falkirk before transferring to the National Coal Board in 1949, being withdrawn in 1972. Sent to Thomas Muir scrapyard in Kirkcaldy, in 2004 it was purchased by Alex Sharphouse and moved to the LHR where restoration was completed in just 19 months. It became a stalwart of the fleet and for a time was even dressed up to play the titular character for Day Out With Thomas events there. After 21…

FOLLOWING the departure of Tom Taylor, who joined the Llangollen Railway in 2021 to help re-establish it on sound footing as it recovered from administration, the heritage line is seeking to recruit a new LR Trust manager to be responsible for leading it into the next chapter of its now 50-year story. Since joining the railway, Tom has overseen several major changes in the railway's governance, as well as helping to steer it towards a more stable footing. His work has seen him spend countless hours in talks with all manner of differing external bodies, not least those which have culminated in grant funding, and while he will no longer be involved in an employed leadership capacity, he has promised to continue providing support and advice to the board and…

OIL firing will return to the Vale of Rheidol following announcements that 2-6-2T No. 9 Prince of Wales will be reverted to this condition at its upcoming overhaul, as the railway responds to changing weather patterns and varying coal quality. The news followed an precedented three-week suspension of steam services in May, during which only reduced capacity diesel services could operate. That withdrawal of steam came at a difficult time, affecting the railway's operations and revenue. Had the dry conditions continued, the financial impact could have been far more severe. To mitigate against future circumstances, Bagnall 0-6-0DM No. 3124 has moved to Aberystwyth from the late Peter Rampton's Collection X in Surrey and will be restored to provide a powerful locomotive capable of hauling a full train, ensuring that services…

THE National Railway Museum has paid tribute to long-serving helpers who have played vital roles in its 50-year history as part of the national June 2-8 Volunteers’ Week. Among them is Rob Tibbits, who recently received the museum's Sapphire Award in recognition of an extraordinary 50 years of volunteering. He started on the museum's opening day, September 27, 1975, as part of a small team invited to prepare for the grand opening. “I was asked to clean Flying Scotsman on the day the museum was officially opened by Prince Philip,” Rob said.“The Duke of Edinburgh only caught a glimpse of us as the Royal Train approached York station, but it was an unforgettable moment and the start of a lifetime of volunteering.” Rob was joined that day by fellow volunteer…

UNDERGROUND trips aboard a restored Art Deco-style burgundy 1938 train will mark Railway 200 and Transport for London's 25th anniversary. The Piccadilly Medley journeys will be run on July 11-13 aboard the four-car London Transport Museum unit. Passengers can choose from a selection of routes on the Piccadilly line. On Friday, July 11, journeys will start from Northfields for a Heathrow Loop round trip, on the Saturday from Acton Town station to Uxbridge (round trip), and on the Sunday from both Ealing Broadway, through central London, to Cockfosters (single trip) and from Cockfosters to Ealing Broadway (single trip). As passengers travel along the Piccadilly line, they can see the modernist architecture of Charles Holden, who designed many of the outer London tube stations as it was extended at both ends…

CONSTRUCTION of a replica of a unique Kerr Stuart locomotive design to fill a gap in the history of a waterworks railway has reached the stage where the frames are close to being assembled – but funding is needed before this next big step can be taken. Started in 2020, this new-build by Webb Locos will create the fourth member of the 0-4-2Ts that once served the Metropolitan Waterboard Railway from 1914 until the mid-1940s. Three were built and numbered accordingly, with the names Hampton, Kempton and Sunbury carried, and they were used to transport coal to the pumping engines at the waterworks in Kempton Park before ultimately being scrapped in full, with no components surviving the cutter's torch. As such, Webb Locos, led by Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway…

THE Downpatrick & County Down Railway has given a “cautious welcome” to the publication of the Department for Infrastructure's Downpatrick Flood Alleviation Scheme Feasibility Report – but has expressed fears that one of its stations would face a greater risk. The report, commissioned following the devastating Storm Ciarán floods of November 2023, as reported in Heritage Railway issue 313, recommends Option N as the preferred scheme, with permanent flood defences installed both within Downpatrick and along the River Quoile. The floods had a serious and prolonged impact on the volunteer-run railway, crowned the Northern Ireland Social Enterprise of the Year in 2024 and Team of the Year at the Heritage Railway Association Annual Awards on February 8. Substantial costs The site was underwater for seven days, affecting buildings, track, signalling…

A PLANNING application for a 425ft canopy at the former LMS 12B Carlisle Diesel Depot has been submitted to Cumberland Council by Crewe-based Locomotive Storage Ltd. The application states: “The Carlisle Upperby site holds significant historical importance as a key part of the city's railway infrastructure, with a rich legacy dating back to the age of steam. The 12B carriage shed formed part of the broader Upperby Depot complex, which historically served as a major maintenance, storage, and operational centre for steam locomotives and carriages operated by successive railway companies. “Locomotive Storage Limited has acquired this section of the site with the express purpose of returning it to a sympathetic and historically appropriate use – the storage and safeguarding of steam locomotives and heritage rolling stock.”…

A STUNNING statue of Thomas Brassey, the world's leading railway pioneer during the Victorian era, has been unveiled at his home town station of Chester. In front of a huge audience on the station forecourt that included several local dignitaries, the Duke of Gloucester revealed the statue that depicted Brassey studying a 19th century map of one of the lines he built, the Chester-Holyhead route. The unveiling on May 28 of the bronze statue, which cost £80,000 and was sculptured by Andy Edwards, was testimony to many years of dedicated planning and fundraising by the Thomas Brassey Society, several members of which were in the watching crowd. Everywhere around them were examples of Brassey's engineering and construction skills, including the station itself, which opened in 1848, is now Grade II*-listed,…

AN early BR trial of main line diesel traction made its mark on Great Central's flagship quarterly auction on June 7, when a worksplate from one of the locomotives involved sold for £14,500, nearly 12 times its middle estimate. The plate, which was featured in last month's column, was from No. 10000, an HG Ivatt-designed Co-Co built by the LMS at Derby Works in November 1947. After successful trials including regular service on the West Coast and Midland main lines, it was withdrawn in December 1963. Accompanying the plate, albeit sold separately, were the locomotive's set of LMS letters, which went for £1500, and air horns, which made £300. All went to the same bidder, thus ensuring these artefacts from a landmark diesel remain together. A second five-figure realisation was…

WHILE a BR(NE) Whitby Town totem led the way in Talisman Railwayana's May 17 auction, with a quartet of nameplates also jostling for position, as reported in last month's column, there was enough activity in other categories to keep visitors to the sale's Newark venue on their toes. In this respect, LNER locomotive memorabilia played its part, as illustrated by the smokebox numberplate from A4 No. 60031 Golden Plover achieving £4200, a 1925 Doncaster worksplate (works No. 1616) from another of that company's Pacific fleet, A3 No. 60061 Pretty Polly, making £3800, and a second Doncaster plate (works No. 2030) from LNER-designed, BR 1948-built A2 No. 60539 Bronzino (£3400). The same LNER/BR combo was also responsible for A1 class No. 60116 Hal o’ the Wynd, one of whose 1948 Doncaster…

Built in 1961, Class 55 No. 55009 Alycidon began its heritage era career on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway after being purchased by the Deltic Preservation Society in 1982. Having been bought fresh from withdrawal and still in operational condition, it was pressed into service there immediately and remained a regular performer on the line for eight years, before departing in November 1990 for overhaul at ICI Wilton. It was another eight years before Alycidon emerged once again, returning to the Moorsline on August 28, 1998. Its stay there this time was brief; with main line running in the sight of the DPS, No. 55009 departed again on December 8 for Barrow Hill, where work commenced to bring it up to the required standards, and it had not returned to…

THE sight – and sound – of preserved Deltic No. 55009 Alycidon at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway annual diesel gala in mid-June was a nostalgic reminder for even we dedicated steam era trainspotters of a long-gone teenage passion. I had logged the prototype, unnumbered but carrying the name Deltic, on the East Coast Main Line at Wood Green on September 15, 1960, on an Up Hull express and my first production examples at Hadley Wood on July 8 the following year, comprising D9001 on a Down Edinburgh express and D9004 on the Down ‘Aberdonian,’ both at that time unnamed but still incredibly impressive. Ten minutes after D9004 thundered through, I logged A3 Pacific No. 60063 Isinglass on the Up ‘White Rose,’ so providing trainspotters within a matter of minutes…

SIX locomotives will line up at the Titans of Steam Gala at the multiple award-winning Hopetown Darlington, announced as part of the Stockton & Darlington Railway 200 Festival. The free-to-enter event will run from Wednesday, September 20 until Sunday, October 5, and will also be partially held on a new track which is being laid to link The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust's new £4.5 million Darlington Locomotive Works. It will see the first homecoming by rail of Darlington-built A1 Peppercorn Pacific No. 60163 Tornado to the new works. Tornado will line up alongside LNER A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley and LNER K1 2-6-0 No. 62005, which will both be on static display at the works, with LNER Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395, LNER J27 0-6-0 No. 65894 and BR…

COMPLETION is within sight for the volunteers behind the restoration of Hunslet‘Fitzwilliam'0-6-0ST No. 1589 Newstead, which is set to make its heritage era debut on passenger trains at the North Norfolk Railway this summer. The previously-thought scrapped Newstead made headlines in 2016, when it was revealed to have survived hidden in a shed at a Hertfordshire convent, as reported in issue 215. It was purchased by Alex Alder, who first took it to the Nene Valley Railway where an initial assessment of the work required was conducted, before the locomotive then moved to the Spa Valley Railway where overhaul commenced in earnest. As reported in issue 330, as completion neared, the SpVR advised that with other contract commitments, it would be unable to offer Newstead sufficient work to see it…

TWO narrow-gauge locomotives will join the line-up for the Severn Valley Railway's Railway 200: Trains Through The Ages event on July 5/6. However, LMS 4-6-0 No. 46115 Scots Guardsman will replace the previously planned guest, new-build A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado, which now has main line commitments elsewhere. De Winton 0-4-0VBT Chaloner of 1877, from the Leighton Buzzard Railway, will appear alongside Hunslet 0-4-0ST No. 779 of 1902 Holy War, from the Bala Lake Railway. Both will run on specially installed temporary tracks at the Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley, offering footplate rides to visitors. Holy War was the last steam locomotive to work in any slate quarry in the UK and in 1969 ended nearly a century of association between steam traction and slate quarries. Chaloner was built…

THE GER Oulton Broad North signalbox from Norfolk and Suffolk's Wherry Lines has been lifted by crane and moved to a new home at the East Anglia Transport Museum in Carlton Colville. Made redundant by Network Rail's multi-million-pound scheme to modernise signalling along the Norwich to Lowestoft route, the landmark manually operated ‘box, which signalled trains and controlled level crossing gates at the northern entrance to Oulton Broad, and was one of 12 on the line, was gifted to the museum. Cut in half to facilitate the move in the early hours of Sunday, June 8, the 1905-built structure was lifted out by crane. Volunteers from Network Rail Anglia, the Lowestoft Central Project and Norfolk Railway Foundation stayed up throughout the night to help. Once secured down, the ‘box was…

A NINE-MILE hand-propelled pump trolley run will be staged on the Bala Lake Railway to raise the profile of its Golden Jubilee President's Appeal for funds to buy new signalling equipment for when the planned extension in the town opens. A group of four volunteers – BLR Society chairman Tim Williams, Joe Stevens, Peter Newhouse and Dave Rutt – will take the trolley all the way from Llanuwchllyn to Bala and back again, including half a mile at 1-in-70, on the evening of Sunday, July 20, after the final service train of the day arrives at Llanuwchllyn at 4.20pm. It will be no mean feat if the team achieves this goal, since the trolley has not previously travelled beyond Pant-yr-hen-felin, about two-thirds of the way along the line, and it…

ANNIVERSARY events are usually a sure-fire success when it comes to heritage railways, and that certainly proved the case on the weekend of June 7/8 when the Bure Valley Railway marked three-and-a-half decades of operations – with the two locomotives that worked the first services brought back for one weekend only! On July 10, 1990, the BVR commenced services between Aylsham and Wroxham, in Norfolk, traversing nine miles of what was once a standard gauge branch's trackbed and is today the county's second longest heritage line, coming in just behind the Mid-Norfolk Railway (which covers an impressive 17.5 miles). The route formed part of the former East Norfolk Railway which branched off of the Norwich-Cromer route at Wroxham. It survived under the Great Eastern, London North Eastern and British Railway…

THE Nene Valley Railway has opened its new charity shop to fund smaller projects on the heritage line – and its next goal is to finance the £25,000 overhaul of the Southern Railway Travelling Post Office currently located on Platform 4 at Wansford. The shop at Wansford station was officially opened to the public on May 28 following two months of determined efforts from the line's buildings team and shop manager Sarah Hudson-Mann. They were joined by Martin Randall, client manager of local construction firm RG Carter, which donated the shop unit, and his colleague, Jason Hinch. After presenting Sarah with a plaque for the shop, Martin cut the ribbon and pronounced the new charity shop open. Throughout the morning, groups were given the opportunity to visit the workshop to…

THE Commission for Rail Regulation in the Ireland's annual report for 2024 highlights the strict regime of safety inspections applied to the heritage sector by the national body. Annual inspections were carried out on the Cavan & Leitrim Railway, Irish Steam Preservation Society, Lartigue Monorail, Fintown Railway, the Difflin Lake Railway and Waterford & Suir Valley Railway. Advice and points for action included warning the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland to not let stewards hang out of windows during main line tours, as well as noting that a door was observed to be open on a generator van on the main line. The commission noted that the RPSI is subject to higher and more demanding standards than heritage lines as it operates trains on the national network. A minor derailment…

FORMER East Lancashire Railway resident Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46441, which carries a non-prototypical yet striking lined crimson livery, will return to Bury after being booked for the line's October 17-19 autumn steam gala. Currently based on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, No. 46441 was at on the ELR through the 1990s, during which time it also ran ‘Steam on the Met’ trips over part of the London Underground network, but it last steamed at Bury in 2002. Following expiration of its boiler ticket, it was later moved to the Ribble Steam Railway for static display. With a return to steam on the cards, it was moved in 2018 to the LHR, a route it once ran over in BR days and which was its intended destination when first preserved,…

THE end finally came for one of the Downpatrick & County Down Railway's CIÉ steam heating vans, No. 3189, when it was taken away by road to be scrapped. Bought from Iarnród Éireann, it arrived at Downpatrick in 2007 and was given a second life as a guard's van, generator vehicle and storage facility, before being retired at the end of the 2019 Lapland Express season. Spending years out of service during the Covid-19 pandemic, No. 3189 was one of the carriages damaged in the autumn 2023 flooding at the heritage line, and its condition had deteriorated significantly. An internal review found restoration economically unviable, with costs estimated at well in excess £100,000 to restore it even as a basic van – let alone convert it back for passenger use.…

Celebrations in the railway world come in many shapes and forms, from the simplicity of a specially chartered train right the way through to a full-scale gala which, in the case of the Ffestiniog Railway, contain quite literally all the bells and whistles – for 2025 marks 70 years since the very first trains run by preservationists departed Porthmadog on July 23, 1955. Since that initial journey of just about one mile across the Cob to a halt at Boston Lodge, the FR has expanded drastically, returning to Blaenau Ffestiniog and undertaking substantial engineering challenges to do so, such as the construction of a 2.5-mile diversionary line where the original trackbed was no longer passable. The three-day celebrations took place on June 20-22 and put out near enough every piece…

THE Scottish Railway Preservation Society is offering customers four opportunities during August to travel from Edinburgh Waverley behind LNER A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley over the Forth Bridge in a circular tour. On Thursday, August 14 and Monday, August 18, there are scheduled departures at 10am or 6pm. The tour is planned to take passengers from Edinburgh Waverley and not long afterwards cross the Forth Bridge to head for the Fife coast. Passing through Aberdour, Burntisland and Kirkcaldy on the Fife Circle Line, the tour will head inland to circle back to Dunfermline City for a water stop and a leg-stretch for passengers. Leaving Dunfermline, the train will take the freight line towards Kincardine and on to Culross to pick up the line to Stirling for another short…

July 5 ‘North Wales Coast Express’ Euston, Llandudno and return. Steamhauled between Crewe and Llandudno. Loco: TBA. RTC 5 ‘The Lakelander’ Hereford, Carlisle and return. Steamhauled throughout. Loco: 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley. ST 5 ‘Cathedrals Express’ Birmingham New Street, Swansea and return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: 45596 Bahamas. VT 6 ‘The Waverley’ York, Carlisle and return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: TBA. RTC 9 ‘The End of Southern Steam’ London Victoria, Yeovil and return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: TBA. RTC 9 ‘The White Rose’ Birmingham New Street, Scarborough and return. Steam-hauled throughout. Loco: 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe or 7029 Clun Castle. VT 10 Golden Age of Travel by Steam Circular tour from London Victoria. Loco: 35028 Clan Line. BEL 10 ‘Spirit of Summer’ Circular tour of Kent departing Paddington. Loco: 70000 Britannia. SD…

IN a blitz of main line steam locomotive nameplates that is surely unprecedented in the decades-long history of specialist railwayana auctions, Simon Turner unveiled in early June a list of 17 plates newly consigned to his GW Railwayana July 19 auction, bringing the total to 30. In days of yore, that may have been the total going under the hammer at various auctions throughout a whole year, but we now live in very different times for the hobby, due to a combination of circumstances that have been well aired in this column and by other observers. Suffice it to say that my use of the word ‘hobby’ might be a misnomer, for railwayana auctions are now firmly within the business category. However, my role today is to take readers through…

Attendance numbers at galas can rise and fall drastically, and often those with a strong theme to link everything will come out on top. This could not have been evidenced better than at the Spa Valley Railway on June 13-15, when gala planners hit the nail on the head in commemorating six decades since the closure of the Cuckoo Line. With a highly appealing locomotive line-up and a rare opportunity to walk a normally closed-off section of trackbed, the weekend resulted in the railway recording the highest attendance for an enthusiast event to date - surpassing the previous record-holder that was the Scottish steam spectacle of 2022 by some margin. One of the most ambitious events ever staged on this heritage line, the roster comprised no less than four steam…

It was the foresight of a former Leeds University lecturer and some of his students that led to the Middleton Railway becoming the first volunteer-run standard gauge heritage line. Had Fred Youell and others not had the commitment and tenacity to assemble the voluntary workforce – some of whom are still involved today – the Moor Road site in Leeds could have been repurposed and would most certainly look markedly different from its current form. Home to what is believed to be the oldest continuously running railway in the world, fittingly, it is also the resting place of Fred and his wife, Susan. Fred's ashes were scattered at the beginning of the line and Susan's at Park Halt, on what was a colliery and freight line before it began carrying…

SOUTH EAST Amberley Museum 2ft gauge, ¼ mile. Arundel, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 831370. Open: Weds-Sun. Bluebell Railway Standard gauge, 11 miles. Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. Running: Tues-Suns, bank hols, sch hols. Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway 2ft gauge, ½ mile. Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01622 884254. Running: Weds + Thurs & Fris (from July 24 + July 6, 12/13, Aug 3). Chatham Historic Dockyard Standard gauge, one mile. Chatham, Kent. Tel: 01634 820800. Open: Daily. East Kent Railway Standard gauge, two miles. Shepherdswell, Kent. Tel: 01304 832042. Running: Suns. Eastleigh Lakeside Railway 10¼in & 7¼in gauge, 1¼ miles. Running: W/Es, sch hols. Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway 12¼in gauge, 1½ miles. Exbury, Southampton. Tel: 023 8089 1203. Open: Daily. Hayling Light Railway 2ft gauge,…

IT will be a case of turning back the clock on August 8-10 as the Bluebell Railway prepares to celebrate its 65th anniversary with a mini gala starring its entire home fleet of locomotives, with the celebration culminating in a cavalcade of locomotives at Horsted Keynes as would once have been enjoyed at galas past. The anniversary gala will see the railway split into two sections, with three passenger sets travelling between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes, while further three will run between the latter and the railway's northern terminus at East Grinstead. These consists will see almost all of the available carriages pressed into service, including the iconic Metropolitan Chesham vehicles, a rake of restored four-wheelers from the LBSCR and SECR, and the LNWR observation saloon. A rake of…

GRAHAM Lee, who founded the Statfold Barn Railway with his wife Carol, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours list for services to heritage railway preservation and charity. A passionate advocate for preserving the UK's railway heritage, Graham, 81, has been instrumental in establishing Tamworth-based Statfold as one of the country's foremost centres for narrow gauge preservation. Chairman of the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust, under him it grew into a thriving hub for enthusiasts, families, and educational groups alike. The prestigious recognition is granted in acknowledgment of his exceptional commitment to the railway industry and his significant charitable work over many decades, and it coincides with the railway's 20th anniversary. Graham chaired the familyowned LH Group, with its…

SEVERN Valley Railway driver Tom Clarke saw an opportunity for the line's hugely popular 1940s double weekend to pay tribute to the work of British steam by temporarily redressinga locomotive. Tom, who has been involved with the events for 25 years, was asked by the organisers whether there was anything appropriate from the out-of-service fleet that could be displayed on June 7/8 and 14/15. “The choices were WR 2-6-0 No. 7325 again or do something with Folwer‘Jinty’3F No. 47383,”he said. “My first thought was a temporary relettering into LMS livery, although I had an inkling that some were exported to France for the war effort. “Some hefty research to dig out some photographs and words from online and in books was in order to make a good go at recreating…

GWR tank engines formed the central theme of the East Somerset Railway's spring gala, with one of them appearing fresh from overhaul and wearing a newly-applied unique transitional BR black. Taking place on the weekend of May 31/June 1, the ESR's annual event ran much later than usual this year, a break with tradition because it is normally held in the middle of March. The gala was a Great Western affair – apart from Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1719 of 1920 Lady Nan, which provided the usual footplate duties around Cranmore station, with driver experiences costing £10. However, the star of the show was the return to full working condition of Great Western 2-8-0T No. 4247, making its debut after its recent overhaul at Cranmore. Designed by George Churchward, it was…

A CRANE which started life transferring barrels of beer from a private industrial railway to the Somerset & Dorset main line has been resurrected at Shillingstone station on the North Dorset Railway. Binegar station in Somerset was the terminus of a 2ft 6in gauge railway which exclusively served a brewery in Oakhill two miles away. The line was built in 1904, when the brewery was producing between 2000 and 2500 barrels a week. Oakhill is a source of spring water from the Mendip aquifer, noted for its purity, having percolated through limestone for thousands of years, and in 1767 a brewery was founded to take advantage of this water supply. In its heyday, the brewery was a major producer and its most famous beer was its award-winning Invalid Stout, which…

CLASSIC Southern Region traction will star at the Kent & East Sussex Railway's July 18-20 diesel gala, with the booking of a classic DEMU to star providing the answer to the question ‘what if the line had remained open under British Railways?’ Opened in 1900, the light railway was closed in 1954 nearly a full decade before the Beeching Report decimated the UK railway network. With diesel traction in its infancy and the Modernisation Plan not yet published, the line therefore never saw a full diesel takeover before services were terminated, with steam remaining the choice of motive power until the final day. This year's diesel gala will once again bring together iconic motive power to show what might have been. Multiple units are seldom sought as gala guests owing…

TWO longstanding members of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway steam fleet were officially gifted to the heritage line by their owning group at a ceremony at Oxenhope on June 7. After 53 proud years of looking after BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75078 and Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78022, the Standard 4 Locomotive Preservation Society has decided to wind up and hand both locomotives to the KWVR, their home since the 1970s. “This transition marks the end of an era, but also the beginning of a new chapter – one that ensures these treasured locomotives will continue to steam through the Worth Valley for generations to come,” said a society statement. The society's origins date back to December 1969 when a small group set out to acquire BR Standard…

IN the wake of the success of its spring steam gala, as featured in Heritage Railway issue 333, the West Somerset Railway followed up with another big success, its June 5-8 Summer Diesel Festival, which recreated the days of the Western Region. The event witnessed the appearance of several visiting locomotives, and all performed well, including Class 25 No. 25185, courtesy of South Devon Diesel Traction; Class 45 ‘Peak’ No. 45108, courtesy of Peak Locomotive Limited; Class 50 No. 50015 Valiant, courtesy of Bury Valiant Group; and Class 52 D1015 Western Champion, from the Diesel Traction Group. The Class 45, 50 and 52 were brought to the event via a convoy hauled by Rail Adventure's High Speed Train power cars Nos. 43465 and 43484. The pair were placed on display…

POP mogul Pete Waterman OBE made a special visit to Pecorama to celebrate the 20th birthday of single Fairlie 2-4-4T No. 9 Claudine, built at Beer Works in 2005. Having first unveiled Claudine two decades ago, Pete returned on May 31 to lead a rededication ceremony and take the locomotive on a celebratory lap of honour. He spent the day with staff, volunteers and visitors at the Beer attraction. The event was made even more special by the presence of Claudine's original builder, Chief Mechanical Engineer John Macdougall, who joined a live interview with Michael Pritchard, chairman of PECO Model Railways and owner of Pecorama. Claudine is named in honour of Michael's mother, Claudine Pritchard. Pete, president of The Railway Benefit Fund (RBF), used the event to raise awareness for the…

LONDON Transport Museum's restoration of its 1930s Q stock unit continues apace at both Rampart Engineering's Chesterfield workshops and LTM's own base at Acton Depot, with a new appeal for help to complete the reupholstering of the seats throughout the full set. Introduced in 1924 after the London Passenger Transport Board took over operation of the District line from the District Railway in 1933, this three-car Q stock unit restoration has been ongoing since 2018, with vehicles being dispatched in turn to Rampart for work to be carried out on the underframes, bogies and wheelsets. Meanwhile, LTM volunteers and contractors in South London continue to work on the bodywork and passenger bays. The interiors of the cars are being restored to reflect different moments from the design's long history in…

STEPHEN Whelan, the son of West Clare Railway and Museum founder and owner Jackie Whelan, has said that the line is not up for permanent closure and wants to quash persistent rumours claiming that it is being disbanded and that its assets being offered for sale. Stephen, who is involved with the museum and the mile-long narrow gauge line at Moyasta Junction, said: “We are staying closed this year and are looking at options for the future, which could include reopening. The fact is that we're both too busy with our quarry business at present to be playing trains!” Stephen's statement comes in the wake of the decision taken last autumn by the Irish Traction Group to move its four stored non-operational diesels from the museum to the Downpatrick &…

REVIVALISTS of part of the Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley line have been donated a rare experimental railbus which will fit the restricted loading gauge of the Carmarthenshire line. Built in 1981 by British Rail Engineering Limited at Derby as one of four experimental lightweight railbuses designed to serve lightly used rural lines, No. RB3 was originally used in the Western Region, mainly around Bristol Temple Meads, for passenger services and then sold to Northern Ireland Railways. First used on the Coleraine-Portrush line, it was later displayed at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, before arriving the Downpatrick& County Down Railway in 2001. However, No. RB3 has now been donated to the Gwendraeth Valley Railway that perfectly suits its unique dimensions and capabilities. The revivalists face structural limitations such as…

THIRTY-FIVE volunteers from Govia Thameslink Railway's infrastructure department visited Strawberry Hill Depot on June 19 to help the Southern Electric Traction Group prepare 1967-built Southern Region 4VEP No. 3417 Gordon Pettitt for its visit to The Greatest Gathering. The volunteers included infrastructure director Keith Jipps, who is about to retire in July after 43 years on the railway. They assisted with cleaning the entire unit, named after the late Bluebell railway president Gordon Pettitt OBE, both inside and out and restoring seats. Several improvements to the depot were made, including sweeping the entire site and repainting the yellow lines and rail stops for both the pit roads in the SETG shed. Volunteer Matthew Teller said: “SETG was incredibly welcoming and put on a fantastic day for us. It is a…

ON June 19, Doncaster's elected mayor, Ros Jones CBE, unveiled a plaque at the entrance to Doncaster station to commemorate one of the country's greatest railway engineers, Sir Nigel Gresley, who was born on that date in 1876. The plaque and information board are situated close to an existing display and highlights the important role Sir Nigel played in the development of Doncaster as a major railway centre. He lived in Thorne Road from 1905, following his appointment as carriage and wagon superintendent and later locomotive engineer with the GNR. Although he moved to London in 1923 on becoming Chief Mechanical Engineer of the newly-formed LNER, the extensive workshops at Doncaster remained his responsibility. It was here, in the famous ‘Plant’ works, that his big Pacifics and many others were…

THE only main line certified ‘Peak’ Class 45 diesel was the subject of high-level military interest on May 30 when it was rededicated at Salisbury station in a ceremony led by the dean of the city's cathedral. Originally numbered D67 and subsequently No. 45118 under the TOPS system, the 1Co-Co1 was built at Crewe in May 1962 for operating on the Midland Main Line and in September 1965 was named The Royal Artilleryman. The name was removed in August 1986, and on the locomotive's withdrawal the following May, the diesel was saved for preservation, and in February 2018 it became part of the Crewebased Locomotive Services Ltd fleet. Now fully restored and proudly carrying its traditional name, No. 45118 was the centre of attention when it was rededicated by the…

STATION totem signs and diesel Class 37 English Electric worksplates caught the eye in the debut online auction held on June 2-8 by enthusiasts Steve Walker-Manuell and Edward Bird under the mantle of Main Line Railwayana, but before these two sectors could gain a foothold, a complete set of shelf instruments and the diagram from the WCML signalbox of Scout Green, between Shap and Tebay, set the bar at £2500. That proved a mite too high for the plates and totems, but both categories put on strong shows, with the latter achieving £1800 for BR(W) Kensington Olympia, £1700 for BR(E) Tilbury Town, £1200 for a second Western Region representative, Avonmouth Dock, and £1000 each for BR(E) Brampton and BR(M) Deganwy. Top of the Class 37 worksplates’ roll of honour was…

WITH the release of super-spec Black Label A4s expected imminently, model retailer Rails of Sheffield and manufacturer Dapol have teamed up once again to offer OO scale modellers the SR Battle of Britain and West Country classes as the next highly-detailed locomotives. Revealed to be at the engineering sample stage, the models of these incredibly popular Bulleid 4-6-2s will cover the as-built examples with air-smoothed casing fitted. The Black Label range is championed for its high-level detail, and that is not set to change, with a largely diecast metal body and separately fitted details that range from fine handrails to etched metal ladders. With minute details such as lamp irons and pipework covered, this is a substantial upgrade on models of the class in OO scale which have been about…

THE year 1923 was one to celebrate for Bolton Wanderers fans, having beat West Ham United in the ‘White Horse’ FA Cup Final at Wembley. Breakthroughs in technology were made with the first electric shaver, the invention of frozen food, and the imagination was captured by Dr Le Forest's public demonstration of Phonofilm – the combination of sound and motion pictures on the same stock. In the world of railways, Britain had just grouped 120 independent railway companies into the Big Four. The Great Western and London & North Eastern railways built the first of its Castle 4-6-0ss and Gresley A1 Pacifics respectively, with the two going head-to-head in a battle of prestige and efficiency the following year. Meanwhile, in Leeds, the Hunslet Engine Company produced the first of an…

The Brecon Mountain Railway is the southernmost of the 12 Great Little Trains of Wales. Like the others, it runs through stunning scenery, climbing into the Brecon Beacons National Park, yet it is still one of the least-known Welsh narrow gauge railways. Its trackbed was part of the standard gauge Brecon & Merthyr Railway, which opened between Brecon and Dowlais Top in 1863. The line was notable for its fierce gradients and having the highest standard gauge tunnel in the UK at Torpantau, 1313 feet above sea level and 666 yards long. In 1923 the line became part of the GWR and then BR in 1948. Passenger trains ceased in 1962 and then freight ended in 1964, when the line was abandoned and the track lifted. The route laid dormant…