Steam
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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…
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Road transfer of iconic steam locomotive is music to preservationists’ ears
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By Geoff Courtney ONE of the United States’ most iconic preserved locomotives is to undergo a major restoration following its eagerly-awaited road transfer across the busy city of Nashville in an operation that cost £390,000, took two years to plan, and involved a self-propelled, electrically-driven, 24-wheeled trailer that was controlled and manoeuvred by just one…
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More cash needed for trains to reach heart of Corwen
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By George Jones RAPID progress is being made on the Llangollen Railway’s new Corwen Central station – but more money is needed to complete the project. As of the end of January, the island platform, now infilled around the western end, has the foundations and a base of beams and blocks completed, with the drainage…
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Latest Barry returnee gears up for Bury spring gala
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THE latest locomotive to be returned to steam after being rescued from Barry scrapyard will be launched into traffic during the East Lancashire Railway’s March 8-10 spring steam gala. BR Standard 2-6-4T No. 80097 moved under its own power on October 18 for the first time since July 1965 (HR 250), but was withdrawn again…
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Noel’s steam loco lined up for Westonzoyland
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THE 2ft-gauge line being developed at Westonzoyland pumping station will shortly have a resident steam loco. Noel Donnelly has donated the 0-4-0VBT, which he built (RM July 2018), to Westonzoyland Engine Trust. It will receive a boiler inspection and then be moved soon to Somerset from its current location at Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum,…
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RPSI outlines plans for first 2019 railtours
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THE Railway Preservation Society of Ireland has released details of its first two major railtours for the first half of 2019. First up is the ‘West Awake’ (a play on the well-known song The West’s Awake, by The Dubliners) diesel tour on Saturday, April 13, which, like the previous diesel-hauled railtours, is a fundraiser for…
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Foxfield making headway with ‘Ackton Hall’ restoration
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THE Foxfield Railway (FR) has set itself the target of completing the restoration of its unique Peckett ‘X2’ 0-6-0ST Ackton Hall No. 3 in time for the locomotive’s 100th anniversary in 2020. Identifying the amount of work required to return W/No. 1567 to steam has been ongoing since it arrived at Caverswall Road after its purchase from…
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Chasewater to commemorate closure of Littleton Colliery
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STAFFORDSHIRE’S long heritage of deep coal mining finally came to an end on December 3, 1993 when Littleton Colliery closed, the last mine in the Cannock Chase Coalfield. A little more than 25 years later, the Chasewater Railway (CR) will mark the anniversary with a Littleton-themed weekend on April 6-7. The commemorative event will tie…
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‘Manor’ in impressive form at GCR ‘spectacular’
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ERLESTOKE Manor Fund’s Collett 4-6-0 No. 7802 Bradley Manor showed audiences at the Great Central Railway’s Winter Steam Gala just why the type is held in such high regard, putting in some impressive turns at the January 25-27 event. The Severn Valley Railway-based locomotive took its turn at the head of passenger and freight and non-stop…
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2018 visitor numbers up as railways report another successful year
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LAST Easter’s opening of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s (Gloucs-Warks) extension to Broadway has seen all passenger records tumble for 2018, witnessing a passenger figure increase of more than 40%. Yet the Gloucs-Warks is not alone in reporting passenger growth, and the majority of the railways that responded to The RM’s enquiries prior to going to…
