GWR
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Wrong IET set at Castle Cary for Glastonbury event founder naming
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Words: Peter Nicholson Castle Cary station, Somerset, on the GWR’s West of England Main Line, has new station signs reading ‘Castle Cary Station of the Glastonbury Festival‘. The signs were officially dedicated on the morning of April 9 by 83-year old Michael Eavis, the festival’s founder, who was included in a list of 100 Great…
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Clun Castle to perform for Ironbridge branch farewell
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Two more opportunities to ride behind Tyseley’s restored No. 7029 Clun Castle on June 9.
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‘Crompton’ performs well to ease Bodmin problems
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The week of April 1-5 was an operations manager’s nightmare at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway as the only serviceable steam loco failed with a hot axle box on March 31.
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Highs and lows at the West Somerset
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THE West Somerset Railway reopened on March 30 after a three-month winter closure. There was much celebration, but a lot of work is required and money spent to bring the railway back its former glory. Weight restrictions have been introduced, down-grading the line to a GWR Blue route (17.9T axle loading). This follows advice from…
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Practice & Performance: Diversionary Tactics
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The recent closure of Whiteball Tunnel for three weeks has given John Heaton FCILT an opportunity to compare performances of HSTs and IETs over less familiar routes from Exeter. THE former London & South Western Route to the west came into its own again for three weeks in February/March 2019. What do you do on…
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Wales, wind and the Western dominate SVR’s spring gala
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THE Severn Valley Railway’s (SVR)season-opening Spring Steam Gala took place over the three days of March 15-17 It brought together a variety of tank engines of predominantly, but not exclusively, GWR origin with links to Wales. It’s fair to say that after the snows of 2018 the SVR was hoping the weather would be kinder…
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There were other ‘Castle’ name changes
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THANK you for the supplement sent with the March 2019 issue. Item 24 states the name Penrice Castle was carried by three separate members of the same class. That is true, but it also applies to eight other ‘Castle’ names. Even more remarkably, the names Denbigh Castle and Ogmore Castle were each carried by four separate members of the class. The first…
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Severn Valley becomes Welsh Valleys!
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The three-day spring steam gala in brought in the crowds, reports Robin Jones and Gareth Evans.
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Great steam Engineers of the nineteenth century: Part 5 – the 1860s
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Steam locomotives grew larger, more powerful and faster during the 1860s. Brian Sharpe outlines how the jobs of the locomotive superintendents of the major railway companies also grew ever larger, in terms of their responsibilities and the huge workforces under their control. The 1860s was a time of expansion for the GWR. After the Gauge…
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Toplight next in line for WSR carriages project
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THE West Somerset Steam Railway Trust has reaffirmed its decision to restore GWR toplight TK No. 3639 as the next phase of its heritage carriages project. No. 3639 has a rich history as a passenger carriage, an ambulance coach and a camping coach prior to its acquisition by the trust. The 2016 decision to proceed…