Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 459 i Steam Railway

You’ll have your own views on whether the £6.8 million of taxpayers’ money spent since Flying Scotsman became the ‘people’s engine’ (I detest the phrase) is decent value. It cannot be challenged that No. 60103’s staged return has been one of the greatest phenomena in steam preservation, with crowds guaranteed for every public appearance, sell-out railtours, and worldwide media interest. However, after the initial purchase price of £2.31m back in 2003 (fair enough), how it can it possibly cost twice as much again - £4.5m - to put it back on the main line? Do we sit back and accept that the bill for ‘Scotsman’ is just a consequence of the ongoing rethink of the role of the National Railway Museum, and its Science Museum Group parent? Since the 4-6-2…

LMS ‘Princess Royal’ No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth made history on September 17 by becoming the first of the class to venture into Cornwall. Hauling the outbound ‘Cathedrals Express’ from London Victoria to Penzance, ‘Lizzie’ followed in the footsteps of Stanier cousin ‘Princess Coronation’ No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland, which similarly became the first ‘Duchess’ to visit the county on August 7 with the ‘Royal Duchy’ to Par. Coincidentally, the event marked 60 years since ‘Lizzies’ and ‘Duchesses’ were lent to the Western Region in February 1956 to stand in for GWR ‘Kings’, which had temporarily been withdrawn at Old Oak Common with bogie frame problems. The two ‘Princess Royals’ that took over the ‘Kings’ duties were Nos. 46207/10 Princess Arthur of Connaught and Lady Patricia; the ‘Princess Coronations’ were Nos.…

IN SEVEN days during March this year, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway received 10,000 visitors and made an estimated £½ million, when it hosted ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman on March 12-18. And the railway is hoping to replicate that success by bringing in doyen of the ‘Royal Scot’ class, No. 46100 Royal Scot , for its start-of-the-season event on the 18-mile line next March. No formal announcement has been made regarding the Stanier 4-6-0’s forthcoming visit to the Pickering-Grosmont line, but NYMR General Manager Chris Price confirmed exclusively to Steam Railway that an agreement had been made with the locomotive’s owner, Jeremy Hosking, for Royal Scot to visit the railway during the last week of March 2017. The visit is Royal Scot’s…

THE HISTORIC first meeting of arguably the world’s two most famous steam locomotives drew nearly 45,000 people to the Severn Valley Railway’s ‘Pacific Power’ event on September 22-26 - making it the most successful event in the line’s history. Fifteen thousand people bought tickets to travel behind Peppercorn ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado and Gresley ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman - the stars of the SVR’s ‘Pacific Power’ event. On top of that, an estimated 30,000 spectators came to witness the first time these celebrity locomotives had met. The latter was making its first appearance on the 16-mile line since it was returned to steam following a £4.5 million overhaul earlier this year (see page 6). Tickets for the event were sold out well in advance and in a bid to…

The Dean Forest Railway is to get its own Great Western branch line train, with the donation of a 1941-built Collett coach to the owners of its two GWR-design locomotives. Bill Parker, owner of the nearby Flour Mill steam repair business, has given the coach - Brake Corridor Composite No. 7362 - to the Dean Forest Locomotive Group, a charity formed last year by merging the Forest Prairie and Forest Pannier Funds. The group owns ‘8750’ 0-6-0PT No. 9681 and ‘Small Prairie’ No. 5541, the latter being used to haul No. 7362 to Norchard in an after-dark movement on September 14. The coach had arrived at Lydney Junction by road from the Swindon & Cricklade Railway the previous evening. A rare survivor described by the Vintage Carriage Trust as “a…

BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-0 No. 76084 is now firmly a main line engine after putting in 600 miles of “trouble free steaming”. Hot from its success on the inaugural North Norfolk Railway dining trains to Cromer (SR458), the Riddles ‘Mogul’ completed light and loaded trials on the ‘Carnforth circuit’ before moving to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on September 21, and has already been to Whitby. It will return to the NNR in time for its 2017 spring gala. Moving to the ‘Moors’ has also brought the ‘Mogul’ into contact with fellow Sutton Oak and Wigan Springs Branch ‘Pocket Rocket’ classmate No. 76079, an engine that moved together with No. 76084 to Barry in September 1968. One ambition is for No. 76084 to haul a train marking six decades since it…

A BIG push to complete the ‘81st Grange’ has been triggered by the startling news that the 6880 Betton Grange Society has raised more than two thirds of the £225,000 it needs to repair the donor boiler, just 18 months after its boiler appeal was launched. With almost £154,000 in the kitty since the appeal was rolled out at the Society’s big ‘Steel, Steam & Stars IV’ gala at the Llangollen Railway in March last year, the tapes have now gone up on the overhaul of the boiler from ‘Barry Ten’ ‘Modified Hall’ No. 7927 Willington Hall, which has been ‘mothballed’ since the engine was officially scrapped at Llangollen, nine years ago. The ‘No. 1’ boiler with three-row superheater - one of the last built at Swindon in 1960 and…

THE TRACK layout of the Rother Valley Railway’s new station at Robertsbridge Junction is almost complete, in readiness for the first trains over an extended Kent & East Sussex Railway - thanks to continued support from Network Rail. Following last year’s installation of the turnout to link the RVR to the national network, NR completed the job in September with the re-laying of the track in the former KESR bay platform. The original 91¼lb rail with wooden sleepers and keys, dating back to the days of the original Colonel Stephens light railway, has been replaced with concretesleepered track, with ballasting and tamping also completed. During its construction, the RVR has provided the ideal ground for NR apprentices to be trained in the use of on-track plant, and has also accommodated…

PASSENGERS WHO paid up to £200 for seats on the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Buxton Spa Express’ on Saturday September 17 have accused Network Rail of treating them like second-class citizens after rostered LMS ‘Jubilee’ No. 45690 Leander was dropped from the working at just 20 minutes notice. West Coast Railway Company diesels Nos. 57313 and 47245 took over the Preston-Buxton main line charter, following the eleventh-hour discovery that the popular Stanier 4-6-0, though fully tested and approved for the trip following its 12-monthly exam at Carnforth, had not been re-registered on NR’s TOPS system, which lists rolling stock authorised to run on the main line. Without any record of Leander being approved, NR Control ruled that the ‘Jubilee’ - all fired up with 220lbs showing on…

A BARCLAY 0-4-0ST that has spent almost a quarter of a century on display in a Cheshire garden centre has been moved to a new home at the Churnet Valley Railway. Former ICI Dyestuffs employee W/No. 2226 of 1946 arrived at Cheddleton in early September. Known as ‘Katie’ in its garden centre home, the Barclay was previously one of the earliest residents at the newly formed Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, arriving there on April 11 1968. It had been bought new to work at ICI Dyestuffs Division’s Dalton Works and Turnbridge Works in Huddersfield. Here, it was apparently known simply by its works number, and it shunted the extensive sidings, which were not far from Kirkheaton Station, off the London and North Western Railway Kirkburton branch. It was one…

IT IS 65 years since schoolboy Leonard Heath Humprys attracted an audience of 12 to hear his scheme to revive the defunct Ffestiniog Railway. Timed to the precise minute, a blue plaque commemorating that first meeting in Bristol was unveiled by Sir William McAlpine on September 8. The first gathering took place in a basement room occupied by the Bristol Railway Circle in a building in Tyndalls Park Road, now occupied by Bristol University. The unveiling was attended by Monika Humphrys, Leonard’s widow, and the two survivors of those who attended the meeting, John Bate, retired chief engineer of the Talyllyn Railway, and Vic Mitchell, founder of Middleton Press and a founder director of the FR Society. The FR history group’s online account of that first encounter recalls Leonard’s handwritten…

It was 1936 all over again at the Welsh Highland Railway on September 9-11, as the ‘Little & Large III’ event commemorated the 80th anniversary of the final trains to run before the system’s closure. It was a year of uncertainty because it was not known that the line would not re-open at the end of the season. The WHR’s event timetable included workings of vintage trains hauled by the England 0-4-0STTs Prince and Palmerston, re-creating the time when trains terminated at Beddgelert, with passengers having to change to make a through trip. Locomotives also took water at the reinstated old-style water tank. Also featured at Dinas were Hunslet 0-4-0STs Lilla, Hugh Napier, Velinheli and Britomart. A visitor from the Statfold Barn Railway, Consolidated Sugar Refinery Hudswell, Clarke 0-4-0ST No.…

Arriving just a few days before, Exmoor Steam Railway 0-6-2T Anne made its first public appearance at the Perrygrove gala on September 17/18. Built for the Longleat Light Railway in 2004 and named John Hayton, it was made redundant by diesel traction, and sold to a Perrygrove Railway volunteer in February 2015, via the ESR for an overhaul and repaint. While it is similar to Perrygrove’s resident ESR 0-6-0T Spirit of Adventure, a trailing truck ensures a much smoother ride. Joining Anne (which is named after the owner’s mother) and Spirit of Adventure at the event were Sir Jeremy Sullivan’s 0-6-0T Sandy, Steve Bell’s Evesham Vale Light Railway-based 0-4-0 St Egwin and the EVLR’s own 0-4-2T Monty (originally Markeaton Lady). Drivers enjoyed the challenge of pitting their steeds against Perrygrove’s…

Gresley ‘A4s’ and Peppercorn ‘A2’ No. 60532 Blue Peter are a step closer to using the turntable at Aberdeen Ferryhill once again, thanks to grants totalling over £46,000. The project to restore the 70-foot turntable, built by Ransomes & Rapier in 1907 and Grade A listed, took a major step forward on September 8 when it was lifted from its pit to be restored by contractor Eblast of Kintore. The Ferryhill Railway Heritage Trust has had grants of £15,615 from the Railway Heritage Trust, the same from Historic Environment Scotland, and £15,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund - but may need £100,000 to restore the ’table. This sum is the “worst-case scenario” says FHRT publicity spokesman Phil Brown, but: “It’s looking like it could cost that much - the pit…

Preserved railways looking to tidy up their running lines can now turn to the Rother Valley Railway, which has entered the contract weed spraying business. A supporter of the Robertsbridge line - which is rebuilding the western section of the former Kent & East Sussex Railway to link up with Bodiam - has donated an Isuzu truck converted for road/rail operation. Fitted with flanged wheels that are hydraulically lowered for rail use, it has extra nozzles for controlling brambles and scrub tree growth on embankments, which can be controlled by the application of selective herbicide so that grass is not harmed. Its first external contract was at the Bluebell Railway, which was sprayed in early July. The RVR can be contacted on 01580 881833 or at www.rvr.org.uk Managing the contract…

“It caused a bit of a stir. We tolerated it - but aesthetically, it looked dreadful”Standard 4 Locomotive Preservation Society Secretary ROGER FRANCE After the Standard 4 Locomotive Preservation Society rescued its ‘4MT’ No. 75078 from Barry scrapyard in June 1972, it was able to return the Riddles 4-6-0 to steam on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in just five years, for a remarkably modest £10,000. Nearly three decades later, the locomotive began its third stint of preservation service in 2015 - but only after its latest overhaul had soaked up just under £250,000. Unfazed, the group has now turned to the other BR Standard in its care, which also looks set to be an object lesson in the ever-rising costs of keeping steam in operation. When ‘2MT’ 2-6-0…

FIVE ‘CASTLES’ could be taking turns to haul ‘Shakespeare Express’ tours at the end of the decade, if Birmingham Railway Museum’s ambitious £1 million appeal to restore its long-silent 4-6-0 No. 5080 Defiant gains public support. And, with the support of other owning groups, an open day featuring SEVEN of the eight survivors is also on the cards, Chairman Michael Whitehouse has revealed to Steam Railway. First of all, Tyseley wants to promise a large GWRdesign four-cylinder 4-6-0 for every ‘Shakespeare’ turn to Stratford-upon-Avon by 2020, as well as Vintage Trains dining excursions to places such as Oxford, Hereford, Chester, York and Llandudno. It needs all three ‘Castles’ it owns to do this. No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe is already available, and the assembly of…

‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34081 92 Squadron made its first public appearance at the Nene Valley Railway’s Steam Gala on September 10/11 - but as it was not ready for service, a smaller guest had to take its place on the roster. The replacement was Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-0 No. 46521, calling in on its way back to its Great Central Railway base from the North Norfolk Railway’s gala the previous weekend. It joined Maunsell ‘Q’ 0-6-0 No. 30541 from the Bluebell Railway - originally procured to give the event a Southern theme alongside 92 Squadron - together with resident Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T Thomas and on-loan Hunslet ‘Austerity’ Swiftsure. Kingsley Harris, Engineering Volunteer Manager for the Battle of Britain Locomotive Society, said that the refitting of 92 Squadron’s air-smoothed casing was…

THE GREAT Western Society, under fire from a section of its own membership for devoting too much of its resources to new-build locomotive projects and not enough to its existing steam fleet, has agreed to hand over construction of the proposed new £½ million Churchward ‘County’ 4-4-0 to an independent group. Proposals to build the new locomotive - not at the society’s Didcot HQ but at the Severn Valley Railway, without recourse to either GWS funding or volunteer labour - are to be formally announced in the next few weeks by a group of hands-on enthusiasts now being recruited by railway journalist and former Steam Railway editor Gary Boyd-Hope, who will be the project manager. The Severn Valley Railway itself will have no financial input to the project either, but…

IT’S NOW three years since the project to build new ‘P2’ No. 2007 Prince of Wales was officially launched in September 2013, and the occasion was celebrated in style - by re-creating the front end of a Gresley ‘Mikado’ for the first time in almost 80 years. Not since September 1937 - when class pioneer No. 2001 Cock O’ The North was rebuilt with the streamlined ‘A4’-style nose used on the last four ‘P2s’ - has this unique shape been seen ‘in the metal’. The second member of the class, No. 2002 Earl Marischal, had already received the ‘A4’ outline during its first heavy repair at Doncaster in October 1936. But on October 1, supporters at the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s annual convention, at Darlington Hopetown…

The Great Western Society is all set to begin constructing the boiler for its replica ‘County’ No. 1014 County of Glamorgan, with insurance approval received for the design of the all-new barrel. This milestone allows the GWS to place the order in the coming weeks for the rolling of the tapered barrel, which is to be produced by West Midlands firm Barnshaws with an estimated delivery date two to three months hence. An entirely new barrel is needed because, although the firebox from the donor locomotive - ‘Barry Ten’ Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0 No. 48518 - is almost identical to that of the Swindon No. 15 boiler, the LMS locomotives had a barrel consisting of one tapered and one parallel section, while the Hawksworth 4-6-0s had a fully-tapered design. Meanwhile, re-staying…

 IN A 26-HOUR ‘gricing’ marathon on September 3/4 1966, enthusiast James Savage, along with Ian McGill, David Guiver and John Spencer - the so-called ‘Great Central Four’ - set out to travel on as many as possible of the last trains over the GCR’s ‘London Extension’, starting out from Marylebone on the 3.40am newspaper train behind ‘Black Five’ No. 44936, and arriving back at the London terminus at 5.19am on the Sunday morning behind a Type 2 diesel. “The camaraderie among the Annesley men was brilliant” JOHN HILDRED 50 years later to the day, this time with his wife Pamela, Ian McGill’s widow Linda, and (for part of the trip) John Spencer, he set forth once again to retrace those same journeys between Marylebone and Nottingham. Times change, and with…

A “HIGH level of operational issues” suffered by the Isle of Man Steam Railway has forced the line to run a reduced service for the remainder of the 2016 season. With only one operational steam locomotive, Beyer Peacock 2-4-0T No. 8 Fenella, the IoMSR has launched a revised timetable effective from September 22 to November 6. The new schedule features only one departure from Port Erin per day on most operating days, with two truncated return services between Douglas and Castletown. The Isle of Man Steam Railway’s director of Transport Services, Ian Longworth, said: “Isle of Man Railways appreciates that many passengers will be disappointed with the reduced level of steam services, and we apologise for any inconvenience. “We operate Victorian locomotives and we have experienced a high level of…

the installation of a 60ft turntable (SR458) along with a signal cabin, new sheds and the improvement of the existing engineering and staff facilities. Funding has been provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Tourism Northern Ireland (part financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for NI), with additional support from Mid and East Antrim Council and Ulster Garden Villages. A ceremony has been held at RPSI Whitehead to mark the completion of the construction phase of its new £3.1 million railway museum. MSM Contracts from Portadown finished the £2m, 12-month job at the start of September and officially handed the new buildings over to the RPSI. The next stage will be to fit out the museum with educational facilities and a café, with…

Garratts, and an Atlantic Rail excursion from Cape Town. A further option is to book the holiday in conjunction with the Sandstone Estates ‘Stars of Sandstone’ vintage transport festival, starting on March 30. During the visit to Kimberley Transport Museum and Steamnet 2000 on April 12, No. 3437 will make its first moves under its own steam in preservation, having been lit up for the first time in October 2015 (SR447). Cost is £2,850 (not including flights) with a single room supplement of £550. To book, contact Adrian Palmer on 07774 859871 or email akpalmer@talktalk.net The first public steaming of newly restored ‘25NC’ 4-8-4 No. 3437 will be one of the highlights in a tour of South Africa offered by the Locomotive Club of Great Britain in 2017. Motive power…

to reopen the next section to Gas Works Bridge in time for the ‘Santa Specials’. The railway hopes to have a two-mile operation by 2018, terminating at Weston Wharf on the south-western outskirts of Oswestry - home to an original Cambrian Railways goods shed, which is in CHR ownership. Work to clear vegetation on this next section began on September 24/25, and will continue over the winter, with restoration of the track to commence in the spring. Its eventual goals are a main line connection at Gobowen, and to link up with the other CHR site at Lynclys. The late August bank holiday weekend was a double celebration for the Cambrian Heritage Railways at Oswestry, as its new resident steam locomotive hauled the first trains over its latest extension. Barclay…

We put a fist of searching questions to the NRM to find out why - and received the following answer. You can make up your own mind whether the museum’s response is acceptable. “De-accessioning is done in an open and transparent manner and full explanations for disposals are presented within the recommendations made to the Science Museum Group’s Board of Survey, which then pass through the Railway Heritage Advisory Board for approval, before final agreement by the Science Museum Group’s Board of Trustees. “Our communications strategy with regards to this is to work with the organisations receiving the items on press release/ announcements to celebrate their new acquisitions. With regards to the Foxfield Railway, we worked with them on their announcement and supplied a quote. “In 2015, the NRM accessioned…

The rapidly developing Epping Ongar Railway has taken the latest step to prepare for its future development, with a new footbridge at its halfway station of North Weald. Cutting the ribbon at the opening ceremony on September 16 was local resident Frank Messenger, who match-funded donations towards the £11,500 cost of reinstating the Great Eastern Railway structure. Previously spanning the Central Line at Churchfields in South Woodford, the bridge replaces a demolished concrete structure erected in London Underground days, and allows passengers to change platforms at the EOR’s passing point without a long walk over the level crossing. EOR Managing Director Roger Wright said: “As passenger numbers increase we need to be ready for them. The bridge is very much a part of this and demonstrates that the railway is…

Large and small GWR ‘Prairies’ are expected to be the next locomotives to enter the West Somerset Railway’s workshops, with the appointment of David Horton as the WSR plc’s new head of mechanical engineering. Current Chief Mechanical Engineer Andy Forster is retiring at the end of October, having been a volunteer since 1979 and CME for 27 years, including overseeing the heavy overhauls of ‘7F’ 2-8-0 No. 53808 and ‘Manor’ 4-6-0 No. 7828 Odney Manor, as well as the conversion of ‘Large Prairie’ No. 5193 into the GWR’s proposed ‘Mogul’ No. 9351. Due to take up the baton at the WSR from November, David is currently working for Bombardier at Derby on the Class 222 ‘Meridian’ fleet of 125mph diesel-electric trains. He has previously been volunteer operations manager for the…

of 75mph was an aim of No. 60163’s builders even before it was completed in August 2008, but the trust had to concede the mantle of the first engine officially allowed to work at 90mph to ‘A4’ No. 4464 Bittern in 2013 (SR414 et al). However, that was achieved through temporary paperwork for the ‘A4’ that allowed it three trips to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mallard’s world steam speed record. But the ambition for the ‘A1’ is something quite different: not a temporary, limited exception, but official, regular, 90mph status. Peppercorn ‘Pacific’ No. 60163 Tornado could be regularly hauling public trains at 90mph by the end of 2017. That, at least, is the ambition of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, which is now moving towards the final stages of…

Tyseley could have three operational ‘Castles’ as early as 2020, but it needs an estimated £1 million to do it. After Nos. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and 7029 Clun Castle, its dormant No. 5080 Defiant is needed to ensure that a large Great Western-design 4-6-0 can be promised for every ‘Shakespeare Express’, and Vintage Trains dining excursions to places such as Oxford, Hereford , Chester, York and Llandudno. Raising the cash is at the centre of the grand plan, which is where Tyseley is hoping you can help; it aims to raise the money through an appeal that had its public launch at its September 16-18 open weekend. Chairman Michael Whitehouse wants to be a big part of the City of Birmingham’s drive to increase tourism - which he…

THE NATIONAL Railway Museum has announced that the cost of buying Gresley ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman for the nation and returning it to the main line has cost taxpayers and supporters £6.8 million so far. The Gresley ‘Pacific’ is possibly the UK’s biggest-ever railway crowd-puller - 45,000 people turned out to see it at the Severn Valley Railway last month. It’s overhaul has cost £4,537,892 since it was started in 2004. This sum has to be added to the £2.31 million purchase price. The comparisons are painful. The 4-6-2’s repair bill came to a staggering £1.5m more than it cost to build the mechanically similar ‘A1’ 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado from scratch, and also not far short of the estimated construction cost of the new-build ‘P2’ 2-8-2…

The overhaul of unique NER ‘J21’ 0-6-0 No. 65033 is expected to commence next year, as the Heritage Lottery-funded bid to return it to steam on the Stainmore Route gathers pace. An initial inspection of the Worsdell 0-6-0 has confirmed that the condition of its boiler is not as bad as had been feared, and that the worst-case scenario - a complete replacement - will not be required. It remains possible that an entirely new copper inner firebox may be needed, but this will not be confirmed until the engine has been stripped down. Awarded a Stage One pass in early 2015, the Locomotive Conservation & Learning Trust’s ‘Stainmore Survivor’ project will involve No. 65033 being based at Kirkby Stephen East station, on its former stamping ground of the Darlington-Tebay…

One of the exotic ‘antelope’ names carried by a ‘B1’ 4-6-0 is to reappear on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway next year, with No. 61264 masquerading as No. 61028 Umseke. The re-creation will use the original smokebox numberplate from No. 61028, handed down through two generations of a railway family. Saved from Darlington North Road in 1962 by Colin Buckley and John Fernihough, it passed to John’s brother Desmond, a fireman at Thornaby (51L). When Desmond died in August 2007, he left the ’plate to his son Christopher, a fireman at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway, who arranged with Mark O’Brien of Grosmont MPD for a trial-fitting on August 30. It is planned to carry out a full transformation with temporary cabside numbers and replica nameplates next year, on dates…

Trustees at Suffolk’s only standard gauge steam railway have been left “bewildered” after parish councillors backtracked on a decision to support its latest planning application. The Mid-Suffolk Light Railway (MSLR) operates around 400 yards of demonstration line at its Brockford station base in Wetheringsett, but wants to extend eastwards on the original ‘Middy’ trackbed. Documents submitted to Mid Suffolk District Council show a halt at the end of its line, which would be just over double its current length, with one small building and a grounded van body on the platform, no run-round facilities, and a sand drag to protect properties beyond the railhead. But despite previously voicing its approval of the plans, subjected to the additional information, and recommends refusal”. It cited loss of amenity at a nearby property,…

The Bodmin & Wenford Railway’s steam gala of September 10/11 attracted “an exceptional number of visitors” keen to see Beattie 2-4-0 well tanks Nos. 30585 and 30587 in action together for the last time. National Collection example No. 30587 remains in traffic at Bodmin with seven years remaining on its boiler certificate, but it was the last hurrah for the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre’s No. 30585, whose ticket has now expired. Andrew Bratton, vice-president of the Quainton Railway Society, said that no decision has yet been taken as to the locomotive’s future.…

LESS THAN a year since Duke of Gloucester arrived at Tyseley Locomotive Works, the overhaul of the unique BR ‘8P’ 4-6-2 is already approaching a turning point - with the dismantling stage almost complete, and reassembly set to begin in 2017. Moved to Tyseley from Crewe on October 12/13 2015, No. 71000 was last seen in one piece at the works’ open weekend on October 24/25 - but presented a very different appearance at this year’s event on September 16-18. With its bogie and trailing truck removed, the Riddles ‘Pacific’ is now an ’0-6-0’ - and once the driving wheels have been removed for attention, says BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust Chairman Trevor Tuckley: “We’ll have virtually finished taking it apart - and then the plan is…

The Spirit of Sandringham nameplates for ‘B17’ No. 61673 made a most appropriate journey on September 20 - to Norfolk’s former Royal station of Wolferton. The privately owned station on the King’s Lynn-Hunstanton line - which, until its closure in 1969, served the Sandringham Estate - was the venue for the launch of a new painting by Malcolm Root. Titled ‘Sandringham at Home’, it depicts class pioneer No. 61600 at the station with a King’s Lynn-bound train in the mid-1950s. Signed prints are available at £70 each (including postage and packing) with proceeds going towards No. 61673. To order, contact Trust Chairman Brian Hall on 07527 670436, or email brian.e.hall.b17@gmail.com The locomotive’s frame plates have been joined at the Llangollen Railway by the rear dragbox, produced by North View Engineering…

AS DOUBLE-HEADED BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts Nos. 80041 and 80043 emerged from Devonshire Tunnel on the night of March 5 1966, whistles screaming all the way down the bank into Bath Green Park station in a final salute to the Somerset & Dorset, they were an hour behind schedule - if the assembled crowds, mourning the loss of this most revered railway, cared any longer about timekeeping. That last northbound service train over the S&D, the 6.46pm Bournemouth-Bath, also marked the end for No. 80041, which was withdrawn on arrival at Green Park shed - No. 80043 following it into the scrap line at the end of the next day. But over two weekends in September, both locomotives were seen again on S&D metals after 50 years - albeit, just as…

The vehicle that arrived at Maud Railway Museum on September 1 looks like a cattle wagon, but is, in fact, a passenger coach…whose occupants were serving hard labour sentences. It is a survivor from the Peterhead Prison Railway, which supplied the Royal Navy’s ‘Harbour of Refuge’ project between 1915 and 1957. The line transported inmates from the prison to Stirling Hill Quarry, where they dug out the granite for two breakwaters across Peterhead Bay, creating a deep-water shelter for shipping. The carriage is one of four supplied in 1915, all of which survived as grounded bodies. Discovered on a croft at Crimond, it has been restored by Stanegate Restorations & Replicas of Haltwhistle with the assistance of a £43,000 Heritage Lottery grant, and placed on an LNER tank wagon underframe…

A repeat of the Northampton & Lamport Railway’s Branch Line Weekend gala will take place in 2017, despite a loss of £5,000 this year. During the three-day gala, which took place on August 27-29, the line hosted three locomotives in steam. Alongside resident Peckett 0-4-0ST W/No. 2104 was Hunslet 0-6-0ST Ring Haw and Barclay 0-4-0ST W/No. 2168 Edmundsons. According to NLR Operations Director Adam Giles: “The big problem was the transport. The trip here and back for the two engines added £5,000 to the bill alone. Saturday’s weather didn’t help. Visitor numbers were below expectations. To cover operating costs, the NLR estimated it would need to sell 400 adult tickets per day but, in the event, the line only attracted 877 over the three days. Mr Giles said: “We might…

A decision has yet to be made as to where LNER ‘A4’ No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley’s boiler will be sent for overhaul. Eight invitations to tender were sent out by the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust, and some responded saying, according to CME Darrin Crone, that No. 60007’s boiler “would have to wait for up to two years” before work could proceed. Mr Crone went on to say: “The trouble we have is finding a boiler shop that has the capacity. There are a lot of boilers out there chasing not a lot of boilersmiths. “We need to make a decision soon. If we wait, say, another two months, it might be that our boiler is even further down their overhaul queue, or they no longer want the work.”…

THE RPSI’S LMS-NCC ‘WT’ 2-6-4T No. 4 is set to return to the main line at the end of October, following repairs to a damaged coupling rod bearing. The locomotive is set to operate the morning Hallowe’en trips between Dublin and Maynooth on Sunday October 30, with 2-6-0 No. 461 rostered for the afternoon turns. No. 4 triggered a hot box detector on the Dublin-Cork line on August 21 (SR458), and the problem was traced to an overheated coupling rod bearing. Peter Scott, the RPSI locomotive officer, said: “We were fortunate that the problem was detected at such an early stage in the journey to Kilkenny. “Our examination showed that there was just slight damage to the whitemetal in the bearing. “The rod was taken back to Whitehead, where the…

IT’S BEEN a while since Schwallungen’s furniture factory finished any dining chairs. Half-finished pieces lie around, and the Henschel stationary engine that powered the plant is silent. Truly ‘stationary’. If any ghosts walk these floors, then in September they would have witnessed a different type of steam engine - 2-10-0s and an ‘01’ 4-6-2 that rattled the windows. They were not stationary. Schwallungen is on eastern Germany’s Werrabahn and, once again, the venue for one of the 21st century’s great steam spectacles: Plandampf. From September 15-17, the group known as the IGE Werrabahn put on three days of steam on a mixture of moving real freight, and trains added just for fun. In keeping with an emerging tradition, the heartland of the event was again the 38 miles of single-track…

Berlin’s massive InnoTrans rail trade show in September may have shown off the latest products from around the globe, including the new Class 88 electro-diesel for Britain - but a corner was found for more ancient machinery as well. Little Hanomag (1925) four-coupler ‘Emma’ once again found its way to the world-leading show to offer visitors a light break from the halls with around 2,950 exhibitors. Nor was Salzwedelbased ‘Emma’ the only steam locomotive at InnoTrans: main line ‘ticketed’ 2-8-2T No. 86.333 (built 1939) paid a visit to haul a special evening train from the showground. InnoTrans is held every two years.…

Little and large Barclay 0-4-0ST sisters Rosyth No. 1 and Colin McAndrew stole the show at the Chasewater Railway’s gala weekend on September 3/4. Both turned out in variations of the famous Scottish builder’s works livery, the duo were brought together for the first time at the event. Rosyth No. 1 is currently on loan to the Midlands line from the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, and was making its first gala appearance away from Wales since restoration was completed. Although only a 14in-cylindered locomotive, Rosyth No. 1 dwarfed 10in-cylindered sister Colin McAndrew, which is based on the line. As well as passenger runs on each day, the pair worked mixed goods trains, including a variety of restored vehicles. The steam line-up for the event was completed by another little and…

In an unusual move, the Alan Keef locomotive business is constructing a rail connection to deliver materials to a new home being built on its Ross-on-Wye works. After investigations showed that the ground surface was inadequate to take the weight of delivery vehicles, it was decided to install a short siding off the factory’s demonstration line. Visitors to the open day on September 17 saw how it will all come together. During the event, trains were hauled by Patrick Keef’s Bagnall 0-4-0ST Woto and Graham Morris’ Kerr, Stuart ‘Wren’ 0-4-0ST Peter Pan. Those who had noticed the long-standing leaks from the latter’s 94-year-old saddle tank learned that its owner has started work on constructing a replacement. On show in the works was the rolling chassis of the Lynton & Barnstaple…

“This last surviving North Staffordshire Railway engine has been something of a spare part - a hobo without a ‘proper’ home” In April this year, the National Railway Museum ‘gifted’ North Staffordshire Railway 0-6-2T No. 2 to the Foxfield Railway - but made no announcement about the giveaway. Five months on, it is still listed by York as part of the National Collection. Over the last decade, the appointed keepers of our railway inheritance have disposed of, or ‘de-accessioned’, almost 500 items, including many historically important examples of rolling stock. Is the NRM, under ever-increasing budgetary pressures, playing fast and loose with our railway heritage, and ‘shrinking’ the compendium by stealth in order to cope with the growing financial demands of its management? The revelation that ‘New L’ Class No.…

In the North East, there was something particularly special about the final days of steam. Maybe it was the feeling of continuity from the days of the railway pioneers. Or, perhaps, it was because many of the locally surviving steam locomotives had themselves been part of the scene for so long - most of them were more than 50 years old. Sir Vincent Raven’s ‘J27’ 0-6-0s and ‘Q6’ 0-8-0s were the oldest engines still at work on BR, still providing the unglamorous yet essential service for which they had been designed so many years before. Among the enthusiasts who gathered at the lineside in those final months of North East steam operation were some who felt that it was worth trying to save something of this part of our industrial…

Today’s steam lines cover a pretty wide spectrum, from multi-million pound attractions employing lots of full-time staff right down to tiny all-volunteer railways with only a few hundred yards of track and a couple of engines and coaches. But almost all of them began with the same objective: to preserve or re-create something that otherwise would have been lost. Most, although not all, had the primary goal of providing somewhere where steam traction could be exhibited, and where old locomotives could be put through their paces. The bulk of them had been created by the end of the 1980s, 20 years after the end of BR main line steam, and most were started by people who are now either pensioners or have, unfortunately, departed from this world. Years ago, starting…

Chairman of Network Rail Sir Peter Hendy has cut the first ceremonial sod of the Helston Railway’s extension. The Helston Railway, Britain’s most southerly mainland preserved line, has experienced problems with residents concerned about disturbing their peace, but still wants to extend its line by 300 yards to Trevarno Farm, where it is planned to build a new platform, sidings and 60-space car park. This will make the embryonic railway 1¼ miles long. The sod was cut using the same engraved silver spade used at a similar ceremony in 1882, when the then mayor of Helston inaugurated the work to construct the line between Helston and Gwinear Road. Also in attendance at the event were the current Mayor of Helston, Councillor Gillian Geer, and Mrs Elizabeth Bolitho, and the sod…