News

IT IS one of the shortest main line charter itineraries since steam returned to the main line in 1971, but its significance outweighed any potential sleights about mileage deficiencies. The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) ran its first timetabled train to Cromer on August 10 in a blaze of glory and sunshine as Standard ‘4MT’ No. 76084…

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A STANDARD ‘4MT’ tank will finally reappear at Midsomer Norton South – 50 years after the closure of the Somerset & Dorset route, and after multiple failed preservationist attempts. Llangollen Railway-based No. 80072 will be the star turn of the S&D Heritage Railway Trust’s September 10-11, 17-18 steam weekends in a reprise of the dying embers…

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THE recent arrival of a new saddle tank for the Worcester Locomotive Society’s Kitson 0-6-0ST No. 47 Carnarvon (5474/1934), currently being restored at the South Devon Railway, has raised the question as to which of the current crop of ex-Stewarts & Lloyds locomotives under restoration will steam first. Work on the bottom end of Carnarvon is…

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THE first completed Class 345 Crossrail ‘Elizabeth Line’ EMU has been moved to the Rail Innovation and Development Centre (RIDC) at Old Dalby, Melton Mowbray, for further testing. It is the first train for the UK on Bombardier’s ‘Aventra’ platform. On July 29, The RM was given its first preview of the new train –…

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NETWORK Rail will be tackling one of the biggest challenges of the Great Western Main Line electrification programme from September 12 when it takes full possession of the Severn Tunnel for a full six weeks until October 21. This will allow engineers to work ‘24/7’ in order to make the 130-year-old tunnel fit for a…

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COMMUTERS using London Bridge station were able to make use of the first two-thirds of the all-new concourse from August 29 after the newly built platforms 7 to 15 came into use together with the associated new retail units and station exits. The new concourse, when it opens in 2018, will be the largest in…

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STEAM tours into Cornwall are feasible again with the revival of fortunes of the turntable at St Blazey, Par. The 65ft table has been in and out of use over the past couple of years, but a Railway Heritage Trust and Railway Touring Company-funded initiative enabled it to be repaired by Cambrian Transport and volunteers…

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ORENSTEIN & Koppel 90hp 0-6-0WT Pedemoura (OK10808/1924) entered Leighton Buzzard Railway (LBR) service on July 17 – the first time it had hauled fare-paying passengers. Pedemoura arrived new at Minas de Peãjo, Portugal in February 1924, its name deriving from Pedorido coal mine in the Douro Valley. Repatriated in 1972, it initially went to Pleasurerail’s…

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A COLLECTION of industrial narrow gauge and monorail equipment, amassed over 40 years by Rich Morris at Blaenau Ffestiniog, started its relocation to a site near Oswestry in late July, writes Peter Nicholson. The equipment, sited on land adjoining Mr Morris’s former home, was subject to an eviction notice, giving only weeks for its removal.…

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THE most northern US State Alaska has two rail systems operated by separate companies on different gauges – and both are experiencing a boom in passenger numbers. The systems offer stunning scenery and run multiple passenger trains daily in summer, catering mainly for passengers on cruise ships, which call at the ports of Skagway and…

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