News

THE Bluebell Railway-based BR-liveried ‘Q’ class 0-6-0 No. 30541 ventured north to the Great Central Railway in late January to take part in the railway’s popular winter steam gala. Around 5,000 people turned out for the three-day event on January 27-29, an upturn of almost 5% compared to last year’s event. Undoubtedly, the debut of the…

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A LONG-HELD ambition to extend the running line of the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway finally got the go ahead at the end of January when Mid-Suffolk District Council planning committee formally approved the railway’s plans. The extension will more than double the MSLR’s current length to almost three-quarters of a mile and will follow the original…

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MORE than £1million has now been raised in the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Broadway: The Last Mile share offer, only 10 months after the appeal was formally launched. On February 1 the fund sat at £989,000, but a generous share application from Phillip Bowden took it past the £1m mark the next day. This now leaves…

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FORMER Cefnstylle Colliery Peckett 0-4-0ST Whitehead (1163/1908) has been confirmed as the visiting engine for the Ribble Steam Railway’s April 1-2 steam gala. The ‘M5’-type loco is no stranger to Lancashire, having once been resident at the Southport Railway Centre. Today, it is owned by Eugene and Marni Wheelwright and based at the Midland Railway–Butterley.…

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THE much-anticipated return to main line service of Great Western ‘King’ No. 6024 King Edward I may only be around 12 months away, according to 6024 Preservation Society chairman Richard Abbey. The four-cylinder 4-6-0, which is owned by the Royal Scot & General Locomotive Trust, but maintained and operated by the society, continues to be re-assembled…

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  THE visit of the National Railway Museum’s Gresley ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) this spring has prompted the 4¾-mile branch to make a temporary alteration to its rulebook in order to allow steam banking to take place. The KWVR will be turning out an eight-coach train to…

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THE Severn Valley Railway (SVR) has been buoyed by the news that Collett 4-6-0 No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor will be able to see out the remainder of the year in traffic and not be withdrawn in April, as originally anticipated. The news came following the locomotive’s annual cold exam and steam test on February 3 by…

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OWNERSHIP of Churchward ‘28XX’ No. 2874 has been transferred from Dinmore Manor Locomotives Ltd (DMLL) to the newly formed charitable 2874 Trust, which will now take on the overhaul of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway-based loco. The trust is under the leadership of former Glos–Warks chairman Malcolm Temple, and formally took custodianship of the 1918-built 2-8-0 on…

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A GRANT of £5,000 from the Hugh Fraser Foundation has enabled the Scottish Railway Preservation Society to meet the £122,000 purchase price to acquire ex-Turkish State Railways (TCDD) ‘8F’ 2-8-0 No. 45170 from owner John Oldcorn. The majority of the funding to buy the Glasgow-built locomotive has come through public donation, amounting to around £118,000, with…

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GB RAILFREIGHT has revealed that it is considering new high-speed, high-value parcels services using soon-to-be-redundant InterCity 125 sets. The short-formed sets, with three or four modified Mk3 trailers, would be used to tap into the rapidly increasing same-day and overnight premium delivery market for mail order parcels. Speaking to The RM, GBRf managing director John…

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