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Sam Hewitt

  • When spotters could climb over locos

    When spotters could climb over locos

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    A good friend of mine, railway photographer Peter Fitton, suggested I should send the attached photograph to you. While not one of my best, it was taken with a 7/6d (35p) plastic Kodak 127 camera. The date is uncertain but would be around 1959. The location is a Derby Works open day, and it was great fun…

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  • PRACTICE & PERFORMANCE: Battling for the Far North

    PRACTICE & PERFORMANCE: Battling for the Far North

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    The May Practice & Performance looked at the ‘Black Fives’ north of Inverness in the 1950s. Keith Farr now reviews the work of diesel locos and diesel multiple units over the heavily graded route to Wick and Thurso. BY 1962, the Highlands were almost steamless; yet one soon became used to the soporific ticking over…

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  • Power trip – Inside Drax

    Power trip – Inside Drax

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    The term biomass will be familiar to many, but what is it, where does it come from, and how is it used? Chris Milner visits Drax power station, the first in the UK to switch to biomass consumption on a large scale, and finds out how rail plays a vital link in the supply chain.…

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  • Final call for Barrow Hill’s grand reopening celebrations

    Final call for Barrow Hill’s grand reopening celebrations

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By Ben Jones BARROW Hill Roundhouse will reopen to the public later this month after a £1.2million restoration, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. A real coup for the Barrow Hill team will be the visit of Sir Peter Luff, chairman to the board of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF),…

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  • Brake failure scare for Snaefell passengers

    Brake failure scare for Snaefell passengers

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    SNAEFELL Mountain Railway (SMR) tram No. 2 ran a significant distance downhill, apparently out of control, following a brake failure, on the afternoon of August 4, writes Cliff Thomas. The tram failed to stop at Bungalow, the intermediate station, and crossed the Mountain Road before application of the manually operated Fell brake brought it to a…

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  • No more trains for Penrhyn Quarry Railway in ‘foreseeable future’

    No more trains for Penrhyn Quarry Railway in ‘foreseeable future’

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By Cliff Thomas THE Penrhyn Quarry Railway (PQR) in North Wales has ceased operating. There has been no official statement despite various rumours, but stock started to be dispersed to other heritage locations during July. Then a statement on the railway’s Facebook page provided a little more information. It read: “It is true that the…

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  • Eurostar power cars arrive at High Speed Colleges

    Eurostar power cars arrive at High Speed Colleges

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    THE two Eurostar power cars Alstom has donated to the National College for High Speed Rail have been delivered and placed on a section of track as gate guardians. Each of the two colleges – one in Aston, Birmingham, the other in Carolina Way, Doncaster – open to their first students in September, and will…

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  • Wensleydale membership divided over proposed Aysgarth sale

    Wensleydale membership divided over proposed Aysgarth sale

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    A PROPOSAL to sell off the Wensleydale Railway’s (WR) disconnected Aysgarth station (see map below) has caused division within the railway’s membership. The plans have been put forward as the railway’s board seeks to remedy a growing financial deficit. Aysgarth lies just short of three miles from the WR’s current Redmire terminus, but is not…

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  • Tornado for North York Moors line next March

    Tornado for North York Moors line next March

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    PEPPERCORN ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado will be making a return foray to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in March. It will work a seven-date stint as part of a now annual visit by a high-profile locomotive. The visit of the celebrity Pacific follows the precedent set by Flying Scotsman in March 2015, when the NYMR promoted…

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  • Six new stations announced

    Six new stations announced

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    A FURTHER six new stations will open in England and Wales over the next three years. Five of the stations will benefit from the second phase of the Government’s New Stations Fund scheme. Horden Peterlee in County Durham will receive £4.4million of DfT funding towards a scheme worth £10.55m and Warrington West in Cheshire gets…

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