News
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Doncaster’s £14m iPort terminal opens for rail traffic
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SEPTEMBER 18 saw the first revenue-earning freight service arrive at the £14million iPort terminal at Rossington, near Doncaster. GB Railfreight’s No. 66752 The Hoosier State hauled the inaugural 05.07 Southampton Western Docks-Doncaster iPort intermodal train and 18.04 return. The train is booked to run five days per week and is currently the only train scheduled to…
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Railfreight rises by 3% – but still at record low levels
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The total amount of freight lifted rose by 2% to 19.1 million tonnes compared to 2017/18.
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‘071s’ take RPSI to the south-west for latest No. 134 fundraiser
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HUNDREDS of passengers braved inclement conditions to join the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s (RPSI) ‘South Western Railtour’ from Dublin to Cork and Limerick on October 13. This was the latest of the society’s fundraising tours for the overhaul of Class 121 No. 134. The eight-coach set, featuring seven Cravens and a BR Mk1 ‘Gen Van’,…
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Nancy in the spotlight at Alan Keef Open Day
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FORMER Eastwell Iron Ore Quarries 3ft-gauge Avonside 1547/1908 0-6-0T Nancy was the centrepiece project displayed at the annual Alan Keef Ltd’s Open Day on September 22. Nancy wasn’t quite ready to be steamed (RM July), but Avonside Nancy Restoration Group (ANRG) has now raised sufficient finance for Keef’s to complete the restoration. A steam test…
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Grant, Ritchie return makes four in steam at Ribble gala
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THE return of home-based Grant, Ritchie 0-4-0ST No. 21 (272/1894) from summer hire at the Telford Steam Railway enabled the Ribble Steam Railway (RSR) to turn out four steam locomotives for its annual autumn gala on September 29-30. While it was good to have the ex-Kinglassie Colliery loco back on home metals, the undoubted star of…
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Middleton celebrates its colliery heritage
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TWO long-lost locomotives that once worked in the Yorkshire coalfields were re-created during the Middleton Railway’s Last Coals to Leeds gala over the weekend of September 29-30. The event marked the 50th anniversary of the closure of Middleton Broom Colliery, with ex-Middleton Broom Hudswell, Clarke 0-6-0ST No. 3 Nineteen Fifty Three (in reality Slough Estates…
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‘Duchess’ makes Swanage Railway gala debut
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No. 6233 Duchess of Sutherland was in deepest Dorset making its preservation debut on Swanage Railway metals – just a week prior to the East Lancashire Railway gala. The LMS 4-6-2 was one of three Pacifics in action at the October 12-14 event which, like the Great Central Railway gala, was loosely themed around the…
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Great Western pairing in East Lancashire
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DUCHESS of Sutherland’s seasonal tour of heritage lines concluded with a star turn at the East Lancashire Railway’s October 19-21 gala. The Class 7 Pacific (‘8P’ under BR) was fresh from its appearance at the Swanage Railway gala the previous weekend, and was in traffic each day, as were visiting Churchward ‘28XX’ 2-8-0 No. 2857 and…
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2018 Autumn steam gala round-up: Mid-Hants goes BR black for season-ending spectacular…
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THE quote often attributed to Henry Ford about “a car painted any colour so long as it’s black” had a certain resonance on the final day of the Mid-Hants Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala, with perhaps a little editing to say “a locomotive painted any colour so long as it’s BR black”. Whether by coincidence or…