News

THE completion of the construction stage of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s showpiece railway museum was marked with an official ‘handing over’ ceremony at Whitehead in September. Building contractor MSM Contracts of Portadown formally handed the new sheds and other buildings over to the RPSI on September 1 after a 12-month construction programme. This…

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THE North Wilts Model Engineering Society (NWMES) honoured member and model builder Tony Newberry at Coate Water Miniature Railway (CWMR), Swindon on August 13-14. The Tony Newberry Locomotive Gathering brought together as many examples as possible of the 7¼in-gauge scale model GWR locos that Tony has built. This included those owned by NWMES members, invited…

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THE sole-surviving Class 504 EMU – No. 504451 – which had languished at Bury until a group was formed to secure its future, has satisfied the railway management as to its competence to carry the project forward. Two members of the Class 504 Preservation Society met East Lancs Railway (ELR) officers on September 15, who inspected…

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  THE majestic 49-arch Whalley viaduct that carries the Blackburn to Clitheroe line over the River Calder floodplain to the south of Whalley station will benefit from a £1.6million investment by Network Rail. Strengthening of the 1850-built North West Junction Railway structure started during the first week of October and is expected to last until…

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THE Helston Railway at Prospidnick, Cornwall, welcomed its first resident steam locomotive on September 29, with the arrival of Peckett ‘R4’ 0-4-0ST William Murdoch. Plans to have the 1949-built Peckett based in Cornwall have been on the table for several years, but the waiting finally came to an end in August when it was announced…

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THE Severn Valley Railway (SVR) is appealing for £2.5million to finance the major redevelopment of Bridgnorth station. A new station building, turntable and car park form the three key elements of the £5m scheme, which launched on November 1. It is being backed by the hoped-for success of a fresh £2.5m share offer, with each…

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THE Keighley & Worth Valley Railway has finally staged a meaningful enthusiasts’ gala following the cessation of a year-long road block – but the October event was not without its own drama. Guest Bulleid Pacific No. 34053 Sir Keith Park struggled in damp conditions on October 7 as it battled against loss of adhesion on the…

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THE withdrawal of Kinlet Hall on the final day of the West Somerset Railway’s October gala was a poignant footnote to an event full of Western flavour. Jon Jones-Pratt’s No. 4936 ran with GWR-style reporting letters that spelled ‘BYE’, in a statement that left few visitors to the line on October 9 in any doubt that…

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THE builders of ‘A1’ Tornado and ‘P2’ Prince of Wales have confirmed that their next locomotive construction projects will be a Gresley ‘V4’ and ‘V3’. The A1 Trust’s subsidiary – P2 Steam Locomotive Company – is sufficiently advanced with the assembly of ‘Mikado’ No. 2007 that it will instigate design work on the ‘V4’ 2-6-2 within…

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  ARCHITECTS Wilkinson Eyre has won the contract to design the new £18million railway museum at the Great Central Railway’s Leicester North station. The London-based company has previously designed Stratford station and the major infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1). A total of 72 expressions of interest were received to create a fully…

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