News

THE 10¼in-gauge Poole Park Railway reopened on July 22 under new management, the Friends of Poole Park (FPP). Professional advice and assistance has been provided to the FPP by Dan Radcliffe of RVM, Hastings. The line is in regular operation, daily when possible, for which more volunteers are required. RVM has also supplied a loco…

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THE Tyne & Wear Metro was closed between South Gosforth and Four Lane Ends from July 31 to August 12 to allow the replacement of an historic bridge over Killingworth Road in Gosforth. This was said to be the first time an entire bridge has been replaced on Metro’s infrastructure. The bridge dates back to…

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  LONDON’S Docklands Light Railway notched up three decades of service at the end of August. Public services began on August 31, 1987 and to mark the occasion, Transport for London issued a new network map with colour-coded routes, and produced a ‘things to do by DLR’ travel guide. The service is credited with kick-starting…

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TWO recent railtours operated by GB Railfreight (GBRf) have raised more than £26,500 for three charities. July 15’s ‘The Charitable Chibble’ from Ipswich and last month’s ‘The Absent Shunter’ from Newcastle to Eastleigh (pictured) benefited The British Heart Foundation, Woking Homes and The Ripple Project. The tours were designed to make use of coaches used…

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THE Railway Touring Co (RTC) has unveiled the route for its 11th grand tour of Britain in April 2018. The nine-day steam extravaganza departs from London King’s Cross on April 19 behind No. 60103 Flying Scotsman (pictured), running north via Cambridge, Peterborough, Lincoln and York to Scarborough. Day 2 sees the train take the scenic route…

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ADAM Barber’s 0-4-0VBT Iorwerth has relocated to Brymbo Heritage Centre, near Wrexham. It provided steam-hauled rides on July 29 – an operation to be repeated on October 21 – and is the prelude to developing a new 2ft-gauge railway at the Brymbo site. Iorwerth was previously based at the Oswestry & District Narrow Gauge Railway…

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THRELKELD Quarry Railway’s July 29-30 annual gala featured visits by Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Trust’s Hunslet 0-4-0ST Cloister, West Lancashire Light Railway’s Hunslet 0-4-0ST Irish Mail and three Statfold Barn Railway locos: Hunslet 0-4-0STs Statfold and Jack Lane and Hudswell, Clarke 0-4-0ST Lautoka Mill No. 19. They joined resident Bagnall 0-4-0ST Sir Tom. The event…

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THE South Tynedale Railway’s (STR) Lintley to Slaggyford extension was officially opened in a private ceremony on July 24, reports Dave Hewitt. The event marked the completion of the Heritage Lottery Fund-backed project. STR Thomas Green & Company 0-6-2ST Barber (back in service following work at Statfold Barn) led a set of the line’s ‘new’…

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A SHORTAGE of CrossCountry power cars because of failures saw both an East Midlands and Virgin East Coast power car visit the South West on August 11. Power car No. 43303 should have worked 1V44, the 06.00 Leeds-Plymouth with 43207, but with the latter having failed before the train started, East Midland trains 43043 was hired in…

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HITACHI’S Class 800 IET train has been successfully tested at an advanced level of European Train Control System (ETCS) digital signalling, meaning a big step forward towards the introduction of the fleet on the Great Western and East Coast Main Line. Class 800 No. 800002 was tested on the ETCS national integration facility test track on…

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