News

AN IMPROMPTU double-header by the Chasewater Railway’s two resident 14in Bagnall 0-4-0STs provided one of the highlights for the line’s annual New Year’s Day gala. Traditionally the running of a double-header is reserved for the last train of the day, with this working supposedly being worked by the red ex-Kent Electric Power Company No. 2 (2842/1946)…

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BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Railway Centre welcomed a new addition to its steam fleet on January 5 with the arrival of former Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers (APCM) Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST No. 4 from Barrow Hill Roundhouse. The 1928-built locomotive (W/No. 3718), one of a batch of five built for use at APCM’s Swanscombe Works in Kent, has come to Quainton…

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END-of-Steam ‘Black Five’ No. 44806 retired from North Yorkshire Moors Railway traffic on January 1 at the end of its current 10-year boiler ticket. For its final day the Stanier 4-6-0 carried Magpie nameplates, as worn during the 1970s when the ‘5MT’ was based at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway and Steamport, Southport. The nameplates…

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MORE than £10,000 was pledged in seven days to the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) at the start of the year to rectify damage caused by vandals over Christmas. Volunteers arrived at Kidderminster on Boxing Day morning to discover that 1922-built GNR Gresley Corridor Composite No. 2701 and 1938-built GWR Collett Corridor Third No. 1146 had…

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THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) began a new chapter in its history on December 23 when the first train since March 7, 1960 rolled into the platform at Broadway station. The seminal moment came shortly after volunteers laid the last rail lengths to connect the re-created station to the rest of the GWSR. The…

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THE Kent & East Sussex Railway will continue to provide a home for the Terrier Trust’s two former LBSCR ‘A1X’ 0-6-0Ts. This follows a new agreement that will keep the ‘Terriers’ on the line for at least the next 20 years. The agreement helps secure the long-term future of Nos. 3 Bodiam and 32678 Knowle, ensuring…

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A NUMBER of the nation’s preserved railways have been reporting on their successes in 2017, with initial visitor figures pointing to a healthy but steady market. One of the lines that has surpassed previous records is the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, which carried 100,619 passengers in 2017. This figure just beat 2016’s record of 100,020.…

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PRESERVATION history was made on December 28 when the Aln Valley Railway (AVR) succeeded in returning revenue-earning steam-hauled passenger trains to the Alnwick to Alnmouth branch after an absence of more than 50 years. When BR’s last steam-worked train ran on June 18, 1966 it was in the hands of ‘9F’ 2-10-0 No. 92099 – a…

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SOMERSET & Dorset ‘7F’ 2-8-0 No. 53809 has left the West Somerset Railway after a 22-month residency and moved to a new home at the North Norfolk Railway (NNR). Agreement has been reached between the NNR and the ‘7F’s’ owner John Moorhouse and the 13809 Preservation Society, that will see the loco remain in Norfolk for…

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PEPPERCORN ‘A2’ Pacific No. 60532 Blue Peter has cleared one of the major hurdles on its road to a return to steam with the casting of a new middle cylinder. Blue Peter last ran in 2002 when still owned by the Drury family and under the custodianship of the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group. After more…

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