News

OVER the last 20 years many little-used rural lines in South Africa have been closed and mothballed often due to poor track condition or the loss of what freight there was to road transport. However, the scenic line through Michell’s Pass, between Wolseley and Ceres, in the Western Cape region, has been the subject of…

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The Railway Magazine visits the North Norfolk Railway to see the many ‘live’ developments as it prepares to make main line history THE North Norfolk Railway (NNR) has truly reached maturity. Having attracted a record 165,000 passengers in 2015, the Poppy Line is hoping for even better this year, and the aim is to break…

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The East Coast has proved something of a ‘poisoned chalice’ to franchisees in the past, but Stagecoach/Virgin are determined to make a success of it despite open access threats and jitters caused by the recent ‘Brexit’ vote. Nick Pigott meets managing director David Horne to find out how the operator intends to meet the challenges.…

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Ian Riley is now ensconced in his fourth railway workshops as his engineering company celebrates 25 years in the business. Nick Brodrick paid a first visit to Riley & Son (E) Ltd’s new Heywood premises. WHAT do plastic bags and steam locomotives have in common? Answer? An industrial building near Rochdale that once served the big…

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It’s hard to believe that 16 years into the 21st century, Sweden has disbanded its final Strategic Reserve, steam locos that were kept on standby in the event of war in Europe. Bob Sweet witnessed the removal of the final two locos from storage. TRAVELLERS on Sweden’s rail network over the past 60 years can…

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The Perrygrove Railway is approaching its 20th anniversary. With an enthusiastic and experienced young family team at the regulator it looks set fair for the next couple of decades, as Cliff Thomas reports. THE 15in-gauge Perrygrove Railway, near Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, has always been a family-run operation with families at the forefront…

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John Heaton FCILT, rides Britain’s longest passenger journey, which runs from Aberdeen to Penzance – a distance of 776 miles. It is just before 08.00 as an insignificant Class 2 local train shuffles unassumingly into a bay platform at Aberdeen station. To the staff it is simply ‘2A01’ and, to its passengers, simply a humdrum…

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The term biomass will be familiar to many, but what is it, where does it come from, and how is it used? Chris Milner visits Drax power station, the first in the UK to switch to biomass consumption on a large scale, and finds out how rail plays a vital link in the supply chain.…

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It’s 40 years since a cash-strapped British Rail closed what was an alternative rail route between Birmingham and Cheltenham, avoiding the Lickey Incline. Fraser Pithie looks back over the origins of the line, its heyday, its chequered existence post a BR reorganisation, its closure, what happened afterwards, and why demands are now growing for the…

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