Trackside

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  • ‘Hoover’ arrives at new Loughborough home

    ‘Hoover’ arrives at new Loughborough home

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    Class 50 No. 50017 Royal Oak – bought from Boden Rail by the Great Central Railway – has been delivered to the line and is set to make its debut at the April 13-14 spring diesel gala. The ‘Hoover’ was brought by road from Boden Rail Engineering’s new Nottingham Eastcroft site and is currently being…

  • New Grange approaches the finish line

    New Grange approaches the finish line

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    By Paul Appleton New-build No. 6880 Betton Grange has spent the winter at Tyseley Locomotive Works following the completion of boiler work there in order to finish off a number of other outstanding tasks prior to its return to Llangollen, where it should steam for the first time this summer. As is often the case…

  • Tornado returns in ECML triumph – and plans a record run!

    Tornado returns in ECML triumph – and plans a record run!

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    Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado made its first main line passenger-carrying run for nearly 11 months on Sunday, March 3, hauling The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s ‘The Auld Reekie’ from Doncaster to Edinburgh. The A1 has been off the main line since its mishap while hauling the ‘Ebor Flyer’ from King’s Cross to York…

  • BR locoman drives Aln Valley train 53 years on

    BR locoman drives Aln Valley train 53 years on

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    Nearly 53 years ago, in June 1966, BR fireman Kenny Middlemist from Alnmouth shed last worked on a steam locomotive over the Cawledge Viaduct on the Alnwick branch.  Alnmouth-allocated K1 2-6-0 No. 62011 hauled the branch passenger train set on the morning of the last day of steam-hauled passenger services on the line. His driver…

  • Drummond K10 ‘Small Hopper’ is on the way from OO Works

    Drummond K10 ‘Small Hopper’ is on the way from OO Works

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    Model manufacturer OO Works is following its production of the London & South Western Railway’s large Drummond D15 4-4-0 with a model of the same designer’s small K10 4-4-0s which were nicknamed ‘Small Hoppers’. A batch of 40 K10s was built at Elms Works between 1901 and 1902 for mixed traffic work, and because of…

  • Thinking about the great outdoors?

    Thinking about the great outdoors?

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    With spring in the air once again, some railway modellers might well be thinking about constructing a garden layout – but how many dare go a step further and consider the possibility of live steam? Perhaps last year’s TV mini-series The Biggest Little Railway in the World, which followed the progress of a dedicated team…

  • They just wave flags and blow whistles, don’t they?

    They just wave flags and blow whistles, don’t they?

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    Train guards have a vitally important role to play on any railway – real or imagined – but what exactly do they do? Ian Lamb discovers that it’s an awful lot more than many of us might imagine. An essential part of any model railway layout featuring a station is the provision of suitable train…

  • Model railways at the  Crewe Heritage Centre

    Model railways at the Crewe Heritage Centre

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    Pete Kelly pays an out-of-season visit to the Crewe Heritage Centre to see what remains of the massive junction of his youth, and is surprised to discover that the railway modeller will also find something of interest there. So rapid is the pace of change these days that it can be a terrible mistake to…

  • Calbourne and black ‘Radial’ for Bluebell’s branch gala

    Calbourne and black ‘Radial’ for Bluebell’s branch gala

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    The Isle of Wight Steam Railway’s ex-LSWR ‘O2’ No. W24 Calbourne will be returning to the UK mainland.

  • New beginning for Blaenau & Trawsfynydd group

    New beginning for Blaenau & Trawsfynydd group

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    THE Blaenau Ffestiniog & Trawsfynydd Railway Society is set for a new dawn, after members came together to vote on a fresh beginning and a new approach to returning trains to the line between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Trawsfynydd Lake Halt. The outcome of their voting on Sunday, February 3 resulted in the creation of a…

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