News
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Russell steams to Beddgelert
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THE WELSH Highland Heritage Railway’s (WHHR) Hunslet 2-6-2T Russell made an historic trip from its Gelert’s Farm base onto Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) metals to steam to Beddgelert on November 25. This was the first time Russell had steamed over the Porthmadog to Beddgelert section of WHR since 1937. Russell hauled replica North Wales Narrow…
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Downpatrick completes Bulleid ‘Park Royal’ restoration
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PASSENGERS are once again able to experience travelling in one of Córas Iompair Éireann’s (CIÉ) Park Royal carriages after the Downpatrick & County Down Railway (DCDR) completed the restoration of 1955-built Brake Standard Open No. 1944. The vehicle emerged from the DCDR’s workshops on November 24 for its first gauging runs over the line behind GM…
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Eustace Forth returns to North Yorkshire
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ROBERT Stephenson & Hawthorns 0-4-0ST No. 15 Eustace Forth (7063/1942) made a sort of homecoming to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) in late-November after being hired in for steam heating duties. The former CEGB loco was resident on the line for a short time from 1972. It arrived direct from hire at Locomotion in Shildon,…
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Busy winter scheduled for Middleton Railway workshop
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VOLUNTEERS at the Middleton Railway (MR) will be kept busy this coming winter as the Leeds line works to complete a number of mechanical and engineering projects during the pre-season ‘quiet’ spell. Top of the list is finishing the overhaul of ex-LNER Sentinel 4wVBT No. 8837 (BR No. 68153), which is now in the final stages at…
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No. 2874 centenary sees 2-8-0 become GWR memorial
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NOVEMBER marked the 100th anniversary since the completion of unrestored GWR ‘28XX’ 2-8-0 No. 2874 at Swindon. To mark the anniversary – and also the centenary of the end of the First World War – the 2874 Trust has dedicated the heavy freight loco to the GWR employees who lost their lives during the two world…
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No. 75069 testing underway at SVR
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THE Severn Valley Railway has started trial running of its newly overhauled BR ‘4MT’ No. 75069, ahead of the loco’s return to front line service. The double-chimney 4-6-0 steamed for the first time in more than 20 years on December 11, and passed its boiler exam two days later. The Riddles-designed loco then began a…
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Main line comeback for Thompson ‘B1’ Mayflower
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THOMPSON ‘B1’ No. 61306 Mayflower is back! Overhaul of David Buck’s 4-6-0 was completed at the West Coast Railways workshop at Carnforth in November, and on the 29th the loco underwent an engine-and-coach main line test run from Carnforth to Barrow-in-Furness and back. A loaded test run followed over the Carnforth-Hellifield-Preston circuit on December 6, during…
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‘Manor’ and ‘8F’ lined up for Great Central winter gala
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THE sound of a GWR ‘Manor’ will echo again over the Great Central Railway for the first time in four years when No. 7802 Bradley Manor visits for the January 25-27 Winter Steam Gala. The Erlestoke Manor Fund 4-6-0 has been confirmed as the star guest at the GCR’s curtain raiser, making the short journey across…
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Llangollen line launches ‘infill’ appeal
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A TARGETED appeal to infill a 150-yard gap in an embankment just east of the new Corwen Central station has been launched by the Llangollen Railway (LR). The section of embankment was originally bulldozed to provide an alternative access point to the neighbouring sewage farm, but was subsequently widened in 2013 by contractors for the…
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Great Steam Engineers of the Nineteenth Century: Part III
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The 1830s saw the railway building mania accelerate dramatically.