News
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60 years on, last day of Wye Valley line re-created in Leicestershire
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GWR pannier tank No. 6430 will make its final appearances during its current loan visit to the Battlefield Line during the February half-term period. The Llangollen Railway-based locomotive will run on February 16, 17, 20, 23 and 24 in the Battlefield Line’s first-ever February services. The line’s diesel railcar will also run on February 19…
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Restoration of Southern Railway paddle steamer Ryde sunk
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LAST November, Lisa-Marie Turner announced fundraising plans to find the estimated £5000 to pay for a detailed survey of the paddle steamer Ryde lying at Island Harbour Marina between Cowes and Newport. This was the second stage of her rescue plan for the historic vessel. The Southern Railway ordered PS Ryde in 1936 and it…
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Mansfield marks 200 years of England’s longest-running commercial line
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An EXHIBITION celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Mansfield & Pinxton Railway – claimed to be England’s oldest continuously running commercial railway – is being staged in Mansfield until March 2, with the help of a £90,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant. More than 200 years ago, plans were mooted to link Mansfield to the expanding…
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Aln Valley a third of the way to buying Richboro
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THE Aln Valley Railway has raised a third of the £75,000 needed to complete the purchase of the locomotive which forms the mainstay of its steam services. Last year, the line launched the Friends of Richboro appeal to buy 1917-built Hudswell, Clarke 0-6-0T Richboro from owner and AVR engineer Mick Fairnington. The appeal scheme sees…
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Slip-up sends former BTC Maid back into the loch
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A MUCH-PUBLICISED exercise to take PS Maid of the Loch out of Loch Lomond using Balloch’s steam-powered slipway cradle on Thursday, January 10, came to an abrupt halt at 1.35pm when a cable snapped and the 555-ton railway paddle steamer ran back into the loch out of control. Workers, who were fitting blocks under the…
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Island Line Tube stock stored at Ryde pending future disposal?
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THE modernisation of the 8½-mile Island Line between Ryde Pierhead and Shanklin should have commenced at the start of 2019 but the Department for Transport extended its own deadline until the end of March to determine what shape the modernisation will take. When South Western Railway was awarded the franchise it was mandated to propose…
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Class 88s visit Great Eastern Main Line
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DRS Class 88 Nos. 88007 Electra and 88008 Ariadne made a rare visit to the Great Eastern Main Line on January 18. The pair worked from Willesden Brent Sidings to Ipswich (East Suffolk Jct) having come south from Crewe Gresty Bridge the previous day. The visit was in connection with filming as part of the…
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Bombardier to fit ETCS kit on Heathrow Express ‘387s’
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PORTERBROOK has signed a contract with Bombardier Transportation to fit ETCS digital signalling equipment to Great Western Railway Class 387 EMUs, which are being converted for Heathrow Express services. The investment by Porterbrook is valued at £11million. GWR is having 12 Class 387s converted for the airport express work, with No. 387140 having already been…
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Late start for new trains puts ‘Pacer’ withdrawal months behind schedule
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PLANS to withdraw the first Northern Rail ‘Pacers’ at the end of September 2018 have missed their scheduled date by four months. The plan, published by the DfT, was for five two-car Class 144s to start the ball rolling on the withdrawal programme back in September, with all two-car sets out of traffic by January…
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Christmas disruptions caused by pantograph collapse
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Services across the city were maintained by the diversion of many services over the Second City Crossing via Exchange Square.
