Sam Hewitt

FAIRBOURNE Railway has launched an appeal to finance the returning to steam of its 12¼in-gauge 0-6-4ST Beddgelert. The half-size loco was designed and built by David Curwen in 1979/80, and based on the long-scrapped North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway’s (NWNGR) Hunslet 0-6-4ST Beddgelert. It visited Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway’s June 22-24 Hunslet 125 gala…

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THE Talyllyn Railway marked the first occasion in many years that all of its steam and diesel locos were in working order with an Anything Goes event on June 16. Hughes 0-4-2ST No. 3 Sir Haydn is now back in service following overhaul, Kerr, Stuart 0-4-2ST No. 4 Edward Thomas is back in traffic following wheelset attention,…

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THE War Office Locomotive Trust’s ex-WDLR Hunslet 4-6-0T No. 303 (1215/1916) made its debut in steam at a private July 8 event at Statfold Barn Railway. The locomotive was bought in Australia in 2004 by The War Office Locomotive Society and returned to Britain in September 2005. Ownership was then transferred to the specially formed trust…

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THE Chasewater Railway’s Bagnall 0-4-0ST Dunlop No. 6 spent the weekend of June 30-July 1 at Hanson Cement’s works at Ketton, Rutland, to take part in the works’ annual open day on the 30th.With the help of tank side vinyls the Bagnall assumed the guise of Ketton Portland Cement Co Lt No. 3, pictured here during a…

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AGE finally caught up with the Stephenson Railway Museum’s (SRM) Kitson 0-6-0T A No. 5 (2509/1883) on July 6 when the veteran Consett Iron Company ‘long boiler’ loco was withdrawn for the foreseeable future. The locomotive is the only operational example of Robert Stephenson’s innovative ‘long boiler’ design, and returned to operation condition in 2013…

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THE return of steam to Cavan & Leitrim Railway (C&L) metals could be just a few months away after the Dromod line’s Avonside 0-6-0T Nancy was returned to the workshops of Alan Keef Ltd at Ross-on-Wye in early July for the completion of its restoration.The ex-Stanton Ironworks Company loco has been at Keef’s since 1999,…

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THE Republic of Ireland’s hottest June and July in more than 40 years brought its own share of problems for Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail, not least the suspension of services between Bray and Greystones on July 13 after a huge gorse fire on Bray Head. Yet for the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s (RPSI) Dublin operation…

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TYSELEY’S ‘Castle’ No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe will play no part in the immediate future of the new Vintage Trains train operating company after being withdrawn early. Visitors to the Tyseley Open Weekend on June 30-July 1 were surprised to find the popular 4-6-0 on static display, a result of the preliminary work to get…

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THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s stalwart ‘Black Five’ No. 4528 Eric Treacy has emerged from overhaul at the railway’s Grosmont works. The Stanier 4-6-0 had its vacuum ejector, dome cover and regulator handle fitted on July 2, after which it was posed for this photograph before being taken back into the running shed for a washout.On…

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