Trackside
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Swindon & Cricklade launches appeal to refurbish Mk.1 disabled coach Laura
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THE Swindon & Cricklade Railway has launched an appeal for funds to renovate one of its most important and popular Mk.1 carriages. For many years, the line has run a modified 60ft carriage, built in Swindon Works, for disabled passengers and wheelchair users. It was named Laura at the request of the Hills Group, the…
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Mystery boiler dug up in Omagh could be from GNR(I) loco
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By Hugh Dougherty A STEAM locomotive boiler dug up by contractors working at the site of the former locomotive shed at Omagh, County Tyrone, on February 8, might have come from a Great Northern Railway of Ireland locomotive. However, a mystery now surrounds the find, for Omagh shed – which closed 54 years ago on…
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It’s safety first for Kent & East Sussex’s new board member
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By Geoff Courtney NEIL SIME, the founder and managing director of UK train operator Victa Railfreight, has been appointed safety director of the Kent & East Sussex Railway, the second senior post to be filled by the heritage line this year. The 57-year-old has been involved with the KESR as a volunteer since it ran…
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New chairman for the Great Western Society
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RICHARD Preston has been welcomed as the new chairman of the Great Western Society. At its board meeting on January 27, he replaced Richard Croucher, who retired as chairman and a director after 18 years. Richard Preston has been active in railway preservation since 1968 – both at Didcot Railway Centre, where he was locomotive…
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Boiler for new Southwold Blyth now taking shape
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RAPID progress on building a boiler for replica Southwold Railway 2-4-0T Blyth is now being made – and the locomotive could steam by the end of next year. As reported in issue 244, NBR Engineering Services, the engineering arm of Scarborough’s North Bay Railway, has been contracted to build the new version of 3ft gauge…
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Fresh appeal for cash and help for Boughton extension
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To help complete its long-awaited southern extension to a station alongside the A5199, the Northampton & Lamport Railway is appealing for funds of £18,000. Building work on the first 30-yard section of the new platform at Boughton is already underway, but more money is needed, along with new volunteers – especially anyone with bricklaying experience.…
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TV star Gresley teak on the market
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A GNR carriage that starred in the highly-acclaimed Channel 4 series Great Rail Restorations with Peter Snow is being offered for sale through Heritage Railway. Peter Lund, owner of Gresley BCK No. 4229, said that he is selling the teak coach because the Llangollen Railway where it is based has no operational use for it.…
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Lavender Line marks 50th anniversary of last train with ‘Thumper’ duet
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THE Lavender Line has held a special event to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of the LBSCR Lewes to Uckfield line on which it is built. The line’s two ‘Thumper’ DEMUs, Nos. 1118 and 1133, ran services invoking the memory of the last train on February 23, 1969, which comprised sister set No.…
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Severn Valley wagons on a roll!
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THE Severn Valley Railway’s demonstration freight train is set to be boosted by the addition of two restored wagons in the coming weeks, thanks to the efforts of the line’s Bewdley-based Wagon Department. SECR five-plank open goods wagon No. 12522 is on the home straight – only awaiting the application of lettering before it returns…
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‘Holly’ and ‘Ivy’ speed up Whiteball Tunnel repairs
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A THREE-WEEK closure of the West of England main line between Taunton and Exeter saw essential repairs made to two Victorian tunnels on the route.
