Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 566 i Steam Railway

A perk of editing Steam Railway is helping to judge in the Heritage Railway Association (HRA) awards – not least because we have our own award to present. It’s always a pleasure to look through the entrants with fellow HRA judges, as well as thinking up our own suggestions – at this point, let me stress it’s never an easy job: while it’s easy to be distracted by the big, bold and glossy, it’s often the case that the more deserving can get lost in the background. Most important to the whole process though is you, the reader. We need you to place your vote for your favourite entry if you haven’t already, not least because time is running out, with the closing date being just January 10. All you…

FLYING SCOTSMAN “is likely” to return to full operational duties “as early as February 2025”, after the National Railway Museum finally signed an agreement with the ‘A3’s’ new custodian, Northern Steam Operations Ltd (NSOL). The agreement comes over six months after the NRM announced NSOL as No. 60103’s new custodian, taking over from Riley & Son (E) Ltd, whose contract expired on December 31 2023 (SR559). The signed agreement between NSOL and the NRM sets out “future arrangements for the locomotive and how the two parties will work together in the future,” an NRM spokesman said, adding: “The agreement reflects the hard work that NSOL has put in over the past months to contract operating and promoter teams. NSOL has held productive conversations with various heritage railways, and Flying Scotsman…

A RECORD NUMBER of entries made the forthcoming 2025 Heritage Railway Association awards the biggest ever. A panel of judges – which included Steam Railway magazine – chaired by National Railway Museum senior curator Anthony Coulls, met at the NRM on December 5 to examine the nominations and whittle down the entries, up 25% on 2024, to a final shortlist. He said: “With such a strong field this year, it was an incredible task for the team to shortlist. In an ideal world, every one would be a winner. I’m very much looking forward to seeing who wins in each. So many achievements and such a high bar set for future years, a real cause for celebration in the heritage railway world, whoever takes the awards on the night.” Competing…

NEW-BUILD COLLETT ‘Grange’ No. 6880 Betton Grange is set to take up permanent residence at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway from February this year. Following a meeting between the GWSR and the 6880 Betton Grange Society on December 6, an agreement has been signed in which the 81st GWR ‘68XX’ will be based on the 14-mile Cheltenham-Broadway line “for the foreseeable future”. It will be a fitting return to the railway for Betton Grange, as the line was where the two-cylinder 4-6-0 – completed in April 2024 – finally made its operational debut, at the GWSR’s ‘Cotswold Festival of Steam’ in late May last year. Since then, No. 6880 has been variously based at the West Somerset and North Norfolk railways, and is currently on short-term loan to the Battlefield…

ZILLERTALBAHN ‘U’ 0‑6‑2T No. 2 ‘Zillertal’ has returned to its Austrian home following a five‑year spell on loan to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway. The 1900‑built locomotive, one of two ‘U’ class locomotives built for the opening of the 19.9‑mile Austrian line, departed the W&LLR on November 27. It had originally arrived at the W&LLR on an initial two-year loan in August 2019 to help provide motive power at a time when two resident Welshpool locomotives were undergoing overhaul – Beyer, Peacock 0‑6‑0T No. 822 The Earl and Société Franco-Belge 0‑8‑0T No. 699.01 ‘Sir Drefaldwyn’. The former returned to steam in July 2021, while the latter re‑entered service for the first time since 2000 in June 2023. During its time on loan to the W&LLR, ‘Zillertal’ was reunited with…

THE RAILWAY Preservation Society of Ireland’s inability to run steam on Northern Irish metals has meant newly overhauled ‘S’ class 4‑4‑0 No. 171 Slieve Gullion will undergo running‑in trials in the Republic instead. The ex‑Great Northern Railway (Ireland) locomotive was to move by low‑loader from Whitehead to Dublin early in the new year to start running‑in trials on Irish Rail metals. In normal times, the 53‑ton locomotive would have been run‑in on the NIR system, but the RPSI has not been able to operate in Northern Ireland since the sudden death of steam driver Noel Playfair in January 2023, meaning there are no qualified NIR steam drivers to operate the RPSI’s services. No. 171 was launched at Whitehead in September and has operated train rides within the society’s site, but…

TWO INDUSTRIAL locomotives with North East connections have joined the growing collection at the North Tyneside Steam Railway, where both are in line for long-awaited returns to steam. The most recent arrival is Hawthorn, Leslie 0-4-0ST Works No. 2918, which landed on November 26. Built in 1912 for the Blyth Harbour Commission (becoming BHC No. 2), it was sold in 1971 to what is now the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and renamed ‘Pony’. It later moved to the heritage centre at County School station in Norfolk – the planned terminus of the Mid-Norfolk Railway – and returned to steam there in 1994. In 1998, it returned to familiar surroundings when it was acquired by the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. Renamed ‘Achilles’, No. 2918 ran at Chatham until its…

WHEN I sit down to write this column I often think ‘am I being too hard?’ Or even ‘am I being too pessimistic?’ Anyone involved in running heritage railways knows that it’s really challenging out there at the moment. Sometimes it’s hard not to reflect that in my thoughts. But this time around I’ve got to say that I’m writing with plenty of optimism and certainty that heritage rail does have what it takes. Not just to survive in the face of continuously rising costs, national insurance increases, changing customer behaviours and whatever else is thrown at us. But to thrive. What’s prompted this new-found spring in my step? Quite simply, reading and judging the 92 entries received for the Heritage Railway Association Annual Awards 2025. Last month, I sat…

GWR & CONSTITUENTS 2807 For its duties as the South Devon Railway’s ‘Polar Express’ locomotive over the Christmas period, the ‘28XX’ (right) found itself temporarily renumbered with American-style figures as 1225 and also fitted with a chime whistle, headlamp, cow catcher and ‘Polar Express’ tender lettering. 4141 The side tanks were fitted to the ‘Large Prairie’ 2-6-2T at its Epping Ongar Railway home on December 9, as its ‘ten-year’ overhaul progresses. 4144 In the wake of ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34081 92 Squadron leaving its long-term home of the Nene Valley Railway for the East Lancashire Railway (see News), the NVR has announced that the Didcot Railway Centre’s ‘Large Prairie’ will transfer to the line from April to September. Other visiting engines are expected to be announced in due course.…

Crossword aficionado and railway enthusiast Alan Frost has come up with the perfect way to spend ten minutes (if you are quick) or a couple of hours (if research is required). The Steam Railway crossword is back – just for fun. No need to send in your answers – just test yourself and find the answers here next issue. ACROSS 1 Nature of character giving name to engine 73080 (6)4 Place of worship linked to Collett’s predecessor on the GWR (6)8 46243 number of Stanier ‘Coronation’ engine named after this City (9)10 1026 number of Hawksworth engine named after this County (5)11 ER A2 60529 needs to be a good one! (7)12 Premier League Football Club with name on Gresley B17/6 engine 61663 (7)16 Very annoyed with Stanier 4-6-0 No.…

A gleaming Garter blue ‘A4’ screaming down from Stoke Summit on the East Coast Main Line is probably many people’s idea of what the peak achievement of Britain’s pre-war railway looked like. It might even be the most popular choice for representing the very pinnacle of UK railway accomplishment. There is, however, an inconvenient truth; an almost parallel piece of railway history which, were it not for fate, should have meant that Nigel Gresley’s famous ‘A3’ and ‘A4’ class ‘Pacifics’ would never have even been built. One that in all probability would have sent steam locomotive, and railway, development in Britain along a completely different path. And a decision for which we’re all arguably still paying the price, even today in our daily interactions with the rail network. Our story…

For many, the centrepiece of the forthcoming Stockton & Darlington Railway bicentenary celebrations in 2025 will be the re‑creation of the inaugural train. Over three days on September 26‑28, the recently overhauled 1975‑built replica of George Stephenson’s Locomotion and newly built reproductions of S&DR chaldron waggons and the passenger coach Experiment will turn the clock back 200 years by recreating that pioneering, trail‑blazing journey over parts of the original route. But there’s a catch. Much of the S&DR is still part of the national network. Therefore, every vehicle needs to be built and designed to conform to modern‑day main line standards. So, just how do you go about taking 1820s rolling stock and update it for 2020s standards, all while honouring authenticity and historical accuracy? Fall and rise The job…

THE FFESTINIOG Railway was one of several heritage lines recognised at the 2024 National Rail Heritage Awards. At the awards ceremony held on December 4 at Merchant Taylors Hall in London, the Ffestiniog Railway Society was given the Network Rail Volunteers Award for its restoration of Penrhyn station. The wooden station building, which dates from around 1877, was “in need of major work,” said the FRS, whose volunteers installed new wooden cladding and windows in a traditional style. The FRS put £46,353 towards the project, which has allowed Penrhyn to resume its duties as volunteer hostel accommodation. Also shortlisted for the Network Rail award was a pair of North Yorkshire Moors Railway projects: the restoration of the Goathland station weighbridge office, and the restoration of Goathland’s rail motor hut. The…

CONSTRUCTION OF new-build Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway ‘Class 2’ No. 567 passed a major milestone in late November with the casting of its first driving wheels. Two of the 6ft 9in diameter driving wheels for the replica Thomas Parkerdesigned 4-4-0 were cast at Trefoil Steel Co. Ltd in Sheffield, only a matter of weeks after the order for all four wheels was placed with the firm by the GCR 567 Locomotive Group in mid-October. Group chairman Andrew Horrocks-Taylor described the milestone as “a hugely significant event, as these are some of the biggest wheels cast in preservation and mark out this Victorian new-build as a main line express, a greyhound from the 1890s when 567 was one of the fastest machines on earth.” The next steps will be to…

THE SEVERN Valley Railway is reaching out to its shareholders and members to seek approval for a ‘radical organisational restructure’ to bring together the three separate organisations that make up the SVR into a new ‘One Railway’ structure. Phase One of the plan would be to convert the Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) plc – the company that owns and operates the railway – into a Charitable Community Benefit Society (CCBS). SVR managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster said: “A CCBS will bring us many benefits. It should mean the SVR could claim Gift Aid on a large proportion of ticket sales. There’ll be significant savings in both compliance and administration costs. We’ll be able to avoid prospectus costs on any future share issues and potentially avoid having to pay business rates.…

TALYLLYN RAILWAY 2ft 3in gauge Andrew Barclay 0-4-0WT ‘Douglas’ was exhibited at the National Festival of Railway Modelling in Birmingham. The locomotive’s attendance at the event – held on November 23/24 at the National Exhibition Centre – formed part of 1918-built ‘Douglas’ return journey to the TR following its spell on display at The Engine House at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway, having arrived there in July (SR561). Withdrawn pending overhaul in January 2024, ‘Douglas’ has now returned to Pendre on the TR. Its overhaul is expected to get under way in early 2025, with the aim of having the former RAF Calshot locomotive back in steam in 2027. The National Festival of Modelling effectively replaced the Warley National Model Railway Show usually held at the same time of…

FOLLOWING HOT on the heels of the news that ‘J94’ No. 68078 is set to return to steam for the first time since 1978 (SR565), a second ‘Austerity’ 0‑6‑0ST has re‑entered traffic, having last steamed in the same year. Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns‑built Works No. 7289 Fred returned to steam in October at Tyseley Locomotive Works, where it has been undergoing overhaul and extensive rebuild since 2009. The 1945‑built ‘Austerity’ will make its public debut at the Battlefield Line’s ‘Winter Warmer’ steam gala on January 11/12, alongside new‑build ‘Grange’ No. 6880 Betton Grange and visiting Collett ‘1366’ 0‑6‑0PT No. 1369 and Churchward ‘28XX’ No. 2807, and is to take up residence at the Leicestershire line. Originally outshopped as War Department No. 71480, the ‘Austerity’ was initially sent to the Longmoor…

EX-NATIONAL COAL Board Hudswell, Clarke 0-6-0T Works No. 1884 ‘Cathryn’ will soon return to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway upon the expiry of its loan agreement with Peak Rail. The 1955-built locomotive is owned by the EVR Association, which carried out the majority of the engine’s restoration, which was completed in August 2023 at Peak Rail. Based on the Matlock-Rowsley line ever since, ‘Cathryn’ (NCB No. S.102) will return to the EVR this spring to join the Derbyshire line’s resident fleet, alongside recently overhauled Bagnall-built ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Works No. 2746 ‘The Duke’. The latter has recently been modified with chrome steel firebars and a bottom filler to the saddle tank to avoid the need for crews to climb up on top of the tank with the risks attached to working at…

January marks five years since the first Covid-19 cases in Europe. It’s been an unbelievably tough five-year period for heritage rail, with forced closures, battles for reopening, massively increased financial pressures, huge alterations in customer behaviours and big changes in our workforce… and the coal issue. It’s been incredibly painful, but it is also now history. The real challenge for us as a sector, and for the Heritage Railway Association particularly, is to work out how we learn from these last five years, but then park it and move on to the next five. What are the trends we can discern from everything going on around us? And how on earth do we focus on giving heritage rail as a whole, and railways individually, the best chance of coming out…

Any vehicle in which steam is the primary form of motive power could be described as a locomotive – from railway engines to traction engines (more widely categorised as road locomotives) and plenty more besides. But what about steam cranes? More specifically, steam cranes that run on rails. We’re not talking about the cranes built by the likes of Grafton, Cowans Sheldon, or Ransomes & Rapier and used by British railway companies for assisting with permanent way work or recovering derailed rolling stock. The cranes we’re talking about are much bigger, running on rails much wider than standard gauge. Yet, they have a boiler, which burns coal to turn water into steam, which is then passed into a cylinder from which reciprocal motion is converted into rotary motion, driving the…

Completed in January 1889, Heaton Mersey shed was – like Trafford Park – a joint venture between the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) and Midland Railway (MR), and from the start it was a substantial depot, being equipped with eight roads in a straight shed. It replaced the nearby Tiviot Dale shed and, when first opened, saw the MR use the four southern roads nearest to the River Mersey, with the CLC – later MS&LR – occupying the four northerly ones. Shared amenities included the coal stage and 50ft turntable, but as in Trafford Park’s layout, everything else, such as offices, was simply duplicated. Heaton Mersey was primarily a freight depot with a smattering of local passenger work, and the MR’s allocation at least included more freight engines than Trafford Park.…

REBUILT LMS ‘7P’ No. 46100 Royal Scot will move to the One:One Collection in Margate pending overhaul during the first quarter of 2025, taking the place of ‘A4’ No. 4464 Bittern. The Stanier 4‑6‑0 may have run for the final time during its current boiler ‘ticket’ on December 3, when it hauled the private ‘Chairman’s Train’ from London Victoria around Kent – before returning to its Locomotive Services Group base at Crewe the following day. Royal Scot Locomotive & General Trust trustee Peter Greenwood told Steam Railway that No. 46100 is now “effectively withdrawn from service” and that there are no more public railtours booked for it prior to the expiry of its boiler ‘ticket’ in March 2025. However, in response to rumours that Royal Scot would enjoy one final…

THE EAST Lancashire Railway is now home to two resident air-smoothed Bulleid ‘Light Pacifics’ following the arrival of ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34081 92 Squadron. The move of the Malachite green 4-6-2 from its long-time Nene Valley Railway home to Bury on December 10 follows the signing of an agreement between the ELR and the Battle of Britain Locomotive Society (BBLS) about the future care and operation of the 1948-built ‘Spam Can’. Owing to dwindling volunteer numbers and limited facilities at Wansford – where No. 34081 had been based since it was rescued from Barry scrapyard in November 1976 – the BBLS board has agreed to place 92 Squadron in the care of the ELR, which will oversee operational management of the locomotive. However, the BBLS will retain ownership. BBLS…

NEW-BUILD ‘GRANGE’ No. 6880 Betton Grange finally made its debut on the Battlefield Line in late 2024 – almost a year later than originally planned. The 81st Collett ‘68XX’, completed at Tyseley Locomotive Works in April 2024, arrived at Shackerstone in late November ahead of its first booked ‘Santa Special’ duties on November 30, having spent the last four months on loan to the North Norfolk Railway. Betton Grange had originally been planned to debut at the Battlefield Line in February 2024 following a scheduled launch at Tyseley in January that year (SR553), but owing to ongoing delays to the replica 4-6-0’s completion, No. 6880 eventually debuted at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway in May. Betton Grange will appear at the Battlefield Line’s ‘Winter Warmer’ gala on January 11/12, alongside…

THE SEVERN Valley Railway isn’t the only heritage line planning to restructure its organisation – days after the SVR unveiled its plans, the North Norfolk Railway unveiled its own proposed organisational shake-up. The ‘Poppy Line’ plans to bring the NNR plc and its supporting charity – the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society – closer together by giving the society 100% voting rights in relation to the plc while preserving existing travel benefits for shareholders. Formed in 1959, the society purchased the former M&GNJR line between Sheringham and Weybourne (later extended to Holt) and set up the North Norfolk Railway plc to hold the Light Railway Order to operate trains on the line. NNR chairman Steve Allen explained: “Our current structure, whilst expedient in the 1960s to enable the…

HERITAGE RAILWAYS across Britain bore the brunt of Storm Darragh over the weekend of December 7/8, with many forced to cancel services as high winds brought down trees and heavy rain caused flooding. Welsh heritage lines suffered particularly badly, especially the Vale of Rheidol Railway, which cancelled its ‘Polar Express’ services on December 7 owing to the extreme weather. While the line from Aberystwyth to Capel Bangor was relatively unscathed, enabling trains to run as planned on December 8, “between 80‑100 trees have fallen across the line” on the route up to Devil’s Bridge, the railway said. The VoR added that clearing the railway would be “a monumental challenge for our team. The areas affected can only be accessed by rail, and the hazardous nature of some locations adds to…

PECKETT 0‑6‑0ST Works No. 1940 Henbury will make a rare visit away from its Bristol Harbour Railway home when it attends the South Devon Railway’s Winter Steam Gala on January 3‑5. The 1937‑built locomotive usually only runs on the BHR’s half‑mile demonstration line from Princes Wharf to the SS Great Britain, so the gala will be the first chance Henbury has had to ‘stretch its legs’ for many years. It last visited another railway in December 2013, when it ran on the Somerset & Dorset Railway at Midsomer Norton. Also running will be ‘28XX’ No. 2807 from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, and residents ‘Small Prairie’ No. 5526 and ‘64XX’ No. 6412.…

UP AND down the country, managers and directors of heritage railways will be looking at their budgets for next year and wondering just how on earth they are going to make ends meet. One of the issues that the Heritage Railway Association is constantly dealing with is the unintended consequences of government actions and legislations. Quite often, through consultation and representation, problems are avoided. This alone makes their efforts worth every penny of the subscription each year. The new government’s autumn budget was, however, something altogether different and not a matter for consultation, its impact on the heritage railway movement is profound. The changes to National Insurance and minimum wage brings a massive extra financial burden in particular to larger railways that employ a good number of people. It is…

STAR LETTER Gloves are a ‘must-have’ for firemen I found the article ‘The Gloves are Off’ in SR565 interesting but also a little irritating in the things listed in the ‘Cons’ column. The wearing of gloves by the fireman can only make things better by reducing the risk of burns and injuries from knocks etc. Back in steam days, when I was a fireman at Bescot (3A), I always wore gloves and wasn’t on my own, but I dare say some of the older-hand firemen who didn’t probably thought we were ‘namby pamby’. Well, each to their own, I say! Gloves are good protection when firing and handling fire irons or accidentally touching a hot pipe, or knocking your hand on a piece of metal, and may save you having…

BR STANDARD ‘6MT’/‘CLAN’ 4‑6‑2 No. 72010 HENGIST Group: The Standard Steam Locomotive Company Formed: 1996 Estimated total cost: £4 million Raised to date: c.£858,000 (£3,142,000 left to raise) New-build British Railways ‘Clan’ No. 72010 Hengist is an object lesson in perseverance. It is one of the oldest of the current, active new-build groups – being established in 1996, nigh on 30 years ago – and while the early years of the project were marked by setbacks and slow progress, the scheme’s fortunes in recent years have enjoyed a wholesale turnaround, with the Riddles ‘6MT’ 4-6-2 taking strident steps towards eventual completion. But this improvement in circumstances has been the product of determination and hard work, proving that a project in the doldrums can change things for the better with a…

GET IN TOUCH Got an event you want to be included? email steam.railway@bauermedia.co.uk Welcome to your first instalment of Steam Railway’s events guide for 2025. From galas at railways as diverse as the Severn Valley or Leighton Buzzard to a model railway exhibition at the bucolic Corris Railway, there’s already a lot to get excited about for the New Year. And, of course, there’s going to be lots of Railway 200 action, plus the 300th anniversary of the Tanfield Railway and 160th anniversary of the Epping Ongar Railway. But with more and more railways moving to releasing their event details gradually, or later in the year, this time around our guide is just a taste of what’s still to come. We’ll come back to the theme soon when more railways…