Sam Hewitt

SEVEN decades on from British Railways’ famous Locomotive Exchange Trials of 1948, the Great Central Railway celebrated the anniversary with a themed gala on October 4-7. No fewer than 10 locomotives were in action on the Saturday and Sunday, including two visitors, with the remainder from the home fleet, including a genuine ‘Exchanges’ participant. From…

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STANIER ‘5XP’ 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas was the undoubted star of Tyseley Locomotive Works (TLW) 50th anniversary Open Weekend on September 29-30, making its first public moves in steam for 21 years. The Bahamas Locomotive Society’s (BLS) flagship ‘Jubilee’ was officially unveiled on Friday 28th during a special event for invited guests and dignitaries. Performing the…

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WITHIN a little over two weeks after the West Somerset Railway (WSR) gala both Nos. 7820 Dinmore Manor and 7822 Foxcote Manor had left. No. 7820 returned to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway on October 3 and No. 7822 transferred to the Mid-Hants Railway on October 18 to take part in the line’s October 19-21 gala. However, ‘Foxcote’ will…

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THE autumn gala season is known for bringing out heart-warming examples of inter-railway co-operation, and the West Somerset Railway’s (WSR) September 27-30 event provided the perfect illustration. Just five days before the start of the gala, organiser Don Bishop received the news Swanage Railway-based ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No. 80104 would be unable to attend as it was…

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SINGLE-chimney Collett ‘King’ No. 6023 King Edward II returned to Didcot Railway Centre on October 15 following seven months away on hire to other heritage railways. After visits to the Severn Valley and Gloucestershire Warwickshire railways in the spring, the ‘King’ spent a highly successful four months on hire at the Dartmouth Steam Railway. It had…

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THE Great Western Society will unveil its newly completed Churchward ‘Saint’ 4-6-0 No. 2999 Lady of Legend to the public during a special weekend on November 17-18, but not as one might expect. The ‘Saint’, which will be turned out in early British Railways black livery, will not be appearing as Lady of Legend, but with…

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THE German firm of DB Meiningen has once again been employed by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust (A1SLT) – this time to undertake the £50,000 design work for the boiler of new Gresley ‘P2’ No. 2007 Prince of Wales. The new boiler is being designed to be interchangeable with the diagram of 118A boiler built by…

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