Sam Hewitt

THE Severn Valley Railway (SVR) is celebrating a 25% increase in visitor figures to its Spring Steam Gala on March 17-19 – a rise of more than 1,000 compared to the same event last year. A total of 4,537 passengers were lured to the line for the 10-engine gala, a figure that does not include…

Continue reading »

THE three Pullman coaches that for three decades were a fixture of the Pullman Lodge Hotel on Seaburn seafront are to get a new lease of life in Kent. The three coaches – Padua, Rosalind and Sapphire – were moved from Seaburn on March 11-12 by Moveright International, bound for Barrow Hill for essential renovation…

Continue reading »

THE Knotty Coach Trust is hopeful that its North Staffordshire Railway four-wheel Brake Third could be ready for traffic as early as August next year. It was discovered near Rudyard Lake three years ago. The Foxfield Railway-based trust is currently awaiting the outcome of funding applications to have the body restored, but engineer Dave Donkin…

Continue reading »

THE boiler of ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35028 Clan Line passed its out-of-frames steam test on March 4. This development paves the way for the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society to begin main line testing sometime during April. The test took place at LNWR Heritage, Crewe, with preparations beginning as early as 04.30. Initially, the first…

Continue reading »

Huge share take-up means £1.25m target almost reached THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Broadway: The Last Mile share offer was just under £50,000 away from meeting its £1.25million target as this issue of The Railway Magazine closed for press. The share offer finishes at the end of April, and it appears that the imminent shut-off date…

Continue reading »

DAVID Smith’s Bulleid ‘Merchant Navy’ Pacific No. 35018 British India Line will make its main line and preservation return this spring in a non-prototypical gloss black livery. The rebuilt 4-6-2 is nearing the end of its first preservation- era restoration at West Coast Railway’s Carnforth headquarters (as exclusively revealed in our sister title Heritage Railway last…

Continue reading »

THE group overseeing the overhaul of ‘Hall’ No. 4930 Hagley Hall has set out its stall for the next three years with the aim of having the Severn Valley favourite back in traffic during 2020. Working in conjunction with Severn Valley Engineering Services and the loco’s owners – Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) – the Friends of…

Continue reading »

THE restoration of GWR ‘Hall’ No. 4979 Wootton Hall is continuing apace in the Furness Railway Trust’s shed at the Ribble Steam Railway, as the trust endeavours to make right the effects of half a century exposed to the elements. The Collett 4-6-0 moved to Preston from its previous base at Appleby in 2014, and since…

Continue reading »