From the archive

Chris Milner concludes his interview with 100-year-old photographer Ron Buckley, who returned from wartime military service to a railway preparing for Nationalisation. AFTER leaving England in 1940 and serving with the Worcestershire Regiment, Ron returned home after demobilisation in 1945 after four-and-a-half years away – and to a very different railway. The ‘Big Four’ had…

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With new and refurbished trains on the way, a rolling programme of electrification, and a devolved Government committed to further expansion, Scotland is showing other regions of the UK how to deliver a better railway. Ben Jones met ScotRail Alliance MD Alex Hynes to find out what is in store for 2018 and beyond. New…

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Alan Barnes is a regular visitor to the North East. Here, he takes a look at the history of the Aln Valley Railway and its progress in extending one of Britain’s newest heritage lines, a project which has not had the easiest of starts. VERY little evidence remains of the railway lines which once served…

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Dave Richardson recalls more than 40 years of connecting railways with beer festivals and brewery visits, organised by former Salisbury area BR manager Gerald Daniels. REAL ale and rail travel somehow go together, especially with heritage railways, which often hold beer festivals at stations or on board trains. Both interests appeal to people who love…

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Richard Hardy, who died on February 18 2018, aged 94, was one of the last remaining professional links with the ‘Big Four’ and a railwayman who commanded as much respect in the preservation era as he did during his illustrious career with the LNER and British Railways. Known affectionately in his autumn years as ‘the…

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Our occasional series of then and now ‘views’ normally show where the railway has been closed, and in many cases the trackbed returned to nature. The pairing of images on this occasion shows the transformation of a rundown railway to a busy local rail and tram operation.  Read more News and Features at https://www.therailwayhub.co.uk/ and…

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Following the recent announcement of the Government’s intention to remove diesel trains from the network by 2040, KEITH FENDER looks at how Alstom has developed a hydrogen-powered train that will lead to a trial in the UK within two years. In early November, Alstom and the government of the German state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony)…

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