News

THE National Railway Museum’s LNWR 2-2-2 No. 3020 Cornwall formally took up residence in the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre’s Oxford Rewley Road station building on June 12. The 1851 building, which is known as a sister to the Crystal Palace, served as a terminus for the LNWR in Oxford until absorption by the LMS, so provides a…

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THE third and final member of the former Ivatt Trust trio of ‘2MTs’ donated to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway (IoWSR) steamed on June 3, more than 50 years after its withdrawal by British Railways. On the day in question 2-6-2T No. 41313 made its first tentative moves in the East Somerset Railway’s (ESR) yard…

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PRESERVATION’S newest station was opened with due ceremony amid high winds and driving rain at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway on June 5, all under the watchful eye of Collett ‘14XX’ 0-4-2T No. 1450. The opening of Hayles Abbey Halt was overseen by Lord Neidpath, the Earl of Wemyss and March from nearby Stanway House, who along…

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THE sight of a Peppercorn Pacific on a quintessential GWR branch line may have been an incongruous one, but the visit of No. 60163 Tornado to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway between May 31 and June 4 was the Cornish line’s most successful event to date. Tornado was confined to the Bodmin General-Bodmin Parkway section owing…

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CONSTRUCTION of one of the most significant aspects of the Llangollen Railway’s Corwen Central station got underway in early June when excavations began on the foundations for the new signalbox. Following last month’s news (RM June) that the station project had been boosted by a Welsh Government grant of £128,000, work on the construction of…

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THE age-old adage that says ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ has proved to be particularly relevant to the Locomotive Conservation & Learning Trust (LCLT). The group has finally secured almost £1million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the restoration of North Eastern Railway ‘J21’ 0-6-0 No. 65033. The grant of £954,900…

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THE much-anticipated return of the National Railway Museum’s ‘Britannia’ Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell to Network Rail metals draws ever closer following the locomotive’s re-entry to traffic at the Great Central Railway. Custodians the 5305 Locomotive Association recently completed a retube and the fitting of 40 new superheater elements to the Riddles Pacific at Loughborough,…

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THE ‘Alps’ are set to echo to the sound of a BR ‘Standard 4’ tank in early July, when newly overhauled No. 80078 visits the Mid Hants Railway for its Summer Steam Gala, marking the 50th anniversary of the end of Southern steam. The Brighton-built 2-6-4T has recently undergone a full 10-yearly overhaul at the…

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THE return to regular action of ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35028 Clan Line in July sees the popular main line performer back where it belongs. However, its comeback also marks the end of an era for Crewe’s LNWR Heritage, as the Bulleid Pacific represents the last full contract overhaul that the company will carry out. The…

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