News

PATHFINDER Tours is running two steam-hauled specials to the Settle-Carlisle Line on August 11 and 15. They will mark the 50th anniversary of BR’s last steam train in August 1968 and the 10th birthday of new-build ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado. The ‘Settle & Carlisle Golden Express I’ on August 11 starts with diesel haulage at Bristol…

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CHARTER operators once again headed for Lincoln’s enormously popular Christmas Market in December, bringing several special trains and hundreds of visitors to the city. December 8 saw West Coast Railways operate a long-distance train from Linlithgow for the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS), with Nos. 47237 and a Class 57 topping-and-tailing the society’s BR maroon Mk1…

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‘BRITANNIA’ No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell will see out the last few weeks of its main line ticket with a diverse series of tours for Steam Dreams. The ‘15 Guinea Special’ locomotive will not be able to take part in the 50th anniversary celebrations in August as its main line certification expires in March, but four ‘Cathedrals…

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THE 7¼in/5in-gauge Bath & West Railway is now primarily a narrow gauge-style railway. The line is operated by the East Somerset Society of Model & Experimental Engineers (ESSMEE) at the Royal Bath & West Showground, Prestleigh near Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Public running only occurs a few days a year, but the large number of passengers…

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An interesting steam loco entered service at the 7¼in- gauge Conwy Valley Railway (CVR), Betws-y-Coed, last summer. This is Geirionydd, a 2-4-4T single Fairlie built by William Hughes in the railway’s workshops. The requirement was for a powerful loco and, like the Bath & West’s Mendip, is based on modified ‘Thomas II’ running gear and…

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NEXUS, the public body that owns the Tyne and Wear Metro, is building an £8.4million railway skills centre in South Shields. The Metro Maintenance and Renewals Skills Centre will cover infrastructure and operational training, becoming the main training base for the Metro’s 1,000 employees. The project is being funded by a £7m Government grant, with…

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THE start of December saw London Underground (LU) successfully complete a key test stage of the new computer-based signalling and control system that will be rolled out across the sub-surface lines. Testing took place on a section of the Circle and Hammersmith & City line between Hammersmith and Edgware Road, which will be the first…

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TRANSPORT for West Midlands (TfWM) has announced it will auction off the stored fleet of AnsaldoBreda ‘T69’ trams. The ‘T69s’ were the original vehicles used by the Midland Metro when it opened in May 1999, but were withdrawn when replaced by the current CAF-built ‘Urbos 3’ trams in 2014/15. Nos. 01-15 were sent for storage at…

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RAVENGLASS & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society’s 15in-gauge 1929-built Krauss 4-6-2 Whillan Beck is pictured at Old Hall Engineering in Bouth, South Lakeland, following application of Caledonian Railway blue livery to the loco and newly completed tender. Other work completed at Old Hall Engineering includes fitting sanders, re-machining the cylinder bores and improvements to the wheel…

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LYNTON & Barnstaple Railway (L&BR)-based ex-Tongaat Sugar Co Bagnall 4-4-0T Charles Wytock (2819/1946) is up for sale. It was restored by Graeme Walton-Binns and was bought, with a full hydraulic test certificate, by L&BR volunteer John Heys in April 2014. Charles Wytock appeared in light steam at Woody Bay during L&BR’s September 2014 gala, and…

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