Trackside
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Last Fowler diesel loco in UK industry still operational
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PLASMOR Ltd continues to use a smart and well-maintained Fowler Class 422 0-4-0DH (4220038 of 1966) at its Heck Works, Great Heck, North Yorkshire. This is believed to be the last remaining Fowler-built diesel loco in industrial service in the UK. Fowlers were once very numerous in industry, right across the UK, and could be…
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Mangapps expands its collectionwith former Network Rail Class 31s
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THE Mangapps Railway, Essex has acquired two former Network Rail Class 31s – Nos. 31105 (D5523) and 31233 (D5660). The privately owned railway has lost all of its big diesels of Classes 31, 33 and 47 in recent times, after being transferred to new homes with longer operating lines. The Class 31s are in good condition,…
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North Yorks Moors’Drewry shunter restored
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CLASS 04 No. D2207 (originally No. 11108) has received an extensive overhaul at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, including the fitting of a replacement engine. It was built by Vulcan Foundry (D208 of 1953/Drewry No. 2482), and withdrawn by BR in December 1967, passing to Hemel Hempstead Lightweight Concrete, Hertfordshire. It entered preservation in September 1973 when acquired…
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Footbridge of the future?
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A JOINT entry by Danish and Czech designers beat more than 120 designs from 19 countries to triumph in a competition to create a new generation of passenger footbridges for British stations. Gottlieb Paludan Architects, of Denmark, and Strasky, Husty and Partners, of the Czech Republic, presented a bridge which was judged to have “convincingly…
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Light at the end of the tunnel in Sevenoaks
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A TWO-YEAR, £21million programme of repairs and improvements to Sevenoaks Tunnel in Kent is almost complete. The 150-year-old tunnel is one of the longest in southern England and has long been a source of delays because of its poor condition and flooding, caused by inadequate drainage. However, Network Rail has installed new drainage systems since…
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Talyllyn buys prime land next to Tywyn’s Pendre Works
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THE Talyllyn Railway (TR) has bought a key piece of land alongside its Pendre Works, comprising two cottages on Frankwell Street and land opposite the West Shed at Pendre known as ‘The Orchard’. General manager Stuart Williams said: “The price being asked for both cottages and the land was deemed to be reasonable, and so…
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From Tate Gallery exec to heritage line train driver
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By Geoff Courtney Laura Wright, chief executive of the award-winning Mail Rail visitor attraction in central London, became a train driver for the day on January 18, when she swapped her role for hands-on training at the controls of one of the line’s trains. Laura joined The Postal Museum, which incorporates Mail Rail, last June…
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Aberdeen tram returns north after donation to Grampian museum
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An Aberdeen tram has returned to Scotland after six years at Dundee Museum of Transport.
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King’s Cross to go narrow gauge for spring half-term
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TWO narrow gauge locomotives that once worked on slate mines in Snowdonia are to take pride of place at King’s Cross station. The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways will be bringing Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST Velinheli and de Winton vertical-boilered locomotive Chaloner for display at the station’s ticket hall from February 16-24. The railway has previously…
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Welshpool given £95K grant for enhanced visitor facilities
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WHEN the first trains ran on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway on April 4, 1903, motor cars were still a rarity – now an £89,000 Welsh Government grant for a series of improvements to the line will include the provision of charging points for electric vehicles, which are seen by some as the future…
