Heritage Railway

Editor Robin Jones rjones@mortons.co.uk Deputy editor Toby Jennings tjennings@mortons.co.uk Senior Contributors Geoff Courtney, Cedric Johns Contributors Hugh Dougherty, Pete Kelly, Roger Melton, Brian Sharpe, John Titlow Designer Tim Pipes Productio

WORK to overhaul the tender ofWD 2-10-0No. 3672 DameVera Lynn is underwayat the NorthYorkshire Moors Railway. As this issue went to press, the tender of the 1944-built North British locomotivewas being prepared at Grosmont shed for haulage by rail to

ACONSIGNMENTof 5000 tonnes of Russian coal has been shipped intothe UKforuse by steamrailways. Imported and distributed by Roy Hatfield Ltd of Rotherham, the lump coal arrived at Hull Docks in early June following successful trials of an earlier 300-

TWOsteamlocomotives thathavebeenat the BuckinghamshireRailwayCentre formorethan50years aremoving to the Cholsey&WallingfordRailwayfor testingandevaluationonthe 21/2-mile line. With the impending infrastructure works for HS2 due to block off access to

THEWensleydaleRailway has launchedapublic appeal to cover the costs of bringing itsTyne& Wear PassengerTransportExecutiveClass 143 ‘Pacer’DMUNo.143623to the line. Plans to fund themove by runningarailtourwere preventedby thepandemicandsomerouterestri

NEWGWRGrange 4-6-0No. 6880 Betton Grange is set tosteamthisautumn afterTyseley LocomotiveWorkswas commissioned to finish thework. Newcabside sheets have been made and work will focus on the running plates and splashers, plus painting the boiler and f

ADEDICATEDRail Safety&Standards Boardfor preservedlines being setup bytheHeritageRailway Associationis expectedtobeactivenextyear. The preservation trade body is planning to createawholly owned subsidiary company to take on the roles of producing a c

THERail TrolleyTrust has obtainedasecondhome for its growing collection. It has signed an agreement with the TanatValley Light Railway at Nantmawr, Oswestry, and will move part of its stock thereover the coming months. The items therewill be referred

BRSTANDARD4MT2-6-0No.76077 has beenre-wheeledinthelatestmilestone of its restorationfromBarry scrapyard condition for theGloucestershire WarwickshireRailway. The locomotive’s 5ft 3in-diameter driving wheels and the front pony truck were placed back u

AMAJORlandmark inthe building ofnewCorrisRailway Falcon 0-4-2ST No. 10was reached in late June when its wheels andmotionmoved for the first time, using compressed air and some temporary pipework fittings at theworkshopsof Alan Keef Ltdnear Ross-on-Wy

THE Association for Industrial Archaeology has made a £20,000 grant towards the restoration of Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No. 1539 of 1924 Derek Crouch at the Nene Valley Railway. As detailed last issue, the locomotive is being restored by the Small Loc

THEWest Somerset Railway has launched an SOS appeal to its shareholders, stakeholders and supporters for£1million to see it through toMay2022. It follows the WSR’s two appeals against the rejection of its £432,200 second round bid to the Government’s

THE Swanage RailwayTrust has offered tomatchpound-for-pound donations for a £240,000 carriage shed at Herston. The trust issued a challenge whereby itwouldmatch up to £9210 in the 10 days prior to June 30, aswe closed for press, or sooner if the £65,

THE NorthYorkshireMoors Railway has appointedTim Bruceas itsnew infrastructure manager. Tim joins the NYMR post-retirement from infrastructure and engineering specialists Amey, and has more than 40 years’experience of working on main line railways, t

THE former chief executiveof the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust has been awardedaCBE for services to heritage in theQueen’s Birthday Honours2021. Bill Ferris OBE, DL, held the position for almost 20 years before retiring in August 2020. He said: “Th

CHRIS Dickerson–acareer railwayman whowas a leadinglight inthe country’s vibrant railwayana auction scene and in recent yearsaboardmember of the NorthYorkshireMoors RailwayTrust – died unexpectedly onJune6at the age of 69. Aproud Essex lad, Chris was

THE Swindon&CrickladeRailway is to hold a gala on September 12 to commemorate 60 years sincethe closureof the Midland&SouthWestern Junction Railway, partofwhich is nowoccupied by the heritage line. The railway’sVintageWeekend is back on August 7/8 wi

WITH serious questions being asked about the future of coal supplies in an ever-increasingly environmentallyconsciousUKand the desire for a carbon-freeworld, theBureValley Railway held themost extensivetrials of bio-coal onaheritage steamline in the

THErisk of tracksidefires indry,hot spells has always presentedachallengetorailway operators using steamlocomotives. However, theaward-winning DartmouthSteamRailway tackles the problemwith afire train of itsown! At about4pmon June 8, a fireengulfedab

ARETURNto steamwithin two years is expectedforBR4MT 4-6-0No. 75078 at the Keighley& WorthValleyRailway. As reported last issue, the locomotive’sboiler was lifted fromthe frames on April 24 to undergo a full overhaul for a new 10-year boiler certifica

WORK to designanewboiler foruniquesurviving LBSCRE1No.B110has commencedat the Isle of WightSteamRailway. The1877-built Stroudley0-6-0T received a Bagnall-built boiler after the Southern Railway sold it to the Cannock&RugeleyColliery Company in 1927.

THE closureof the National Railway Museum and Locomotionat Shildon to thepublicduring January toMarch’s pandemic lockdownperiod allowed staff and specialist contactors to tackle asbestos in 27 locomotives and items of rolling stock. “All museums have

THE SevernValley Railway is celebrating the completion of the latest stage of its Harrier Hydroshunterproject, with the removal of the original diesel engine fromaClass 08 donor shunter. As reported in issue 280, the railway is working in partnership

BRENAMELsigns fromtheColneValley line have returnedto the preserved sectionof therouteafter being foundon anallotment. An Eastern Region blue runningin board fromSible andCastle Hedingham station has gone on display in the Lottery-funded museum at th

THEWensleydale Railway has been givencustody ofaNational Railway Museumphotographic archiveand will use it asaunique resource forhistorians and enthusiasts. More than 3000 pictures will be coupled with the heritage line’s own collection to form the b

ACONTROVERSIAL plan to bulldoze part of a 190-year-old public house standing alongside the trackbed of the Stockton&Darlington Railway to makeway for a Sainsbury’s convenience store has been approved by members of Darlington Borough Council’s plannin

THEA1SteamLocomotiveTrust has launchedTheInjectors Club–the latest in its highly successful series ofnational fundraising initiatives to build Britain’s mostpowerful steamlocomotive, Gresley P22-8-2No.2007PrinceofWales. No. 2007 will require both a l

THE owner of Class 73 No. 73129–numbered E6036 when outshopped by Vulcan Foundry in1966–has relocated it to Cambrian Heritage Railways. Withdrawnby EWS in 2003, the locomotive, which carried the name CityofWinchester, was restored at the Gloucestersh

POPimpresario legendandtransport enthusiast PeteWatermanformally launched the firstHeatonParktram back intooperation in frontofdelighted guestsandmembersatareopening ceremonyonSaturday, June5. At the same time the tramway society celebrated being awa

ACOUNCIL has questionedmovesby HighwaysEngland to infill a roadbridge overadisusedtrackbedthatcouldone daybeused to connect theEdenValley Railway inCumbria to theStainmore Railway at KirkbyStephenEast. Eden Valley District Council in Cumbria said Hig

YOUNGvolunteerswhoundertake projects at theTalyllynRailwayhave returned to action afterayear’s absencethroughlockdown. Tracksiders, the pioneer heritage railway’s club for juniormembers and their families, held the annual activitiesweekduring the spr

RUGBYRotaryClubhaswonanational awardfor givingafacelift toastretchof the former GreatCentralRailwaymain line in the town. As reported inissue 278, panels of double track have been laidunder HillmortonRoadbridge as part of a three-quarters-of-a mile r

TRAMbuffers and old signs have been donatedbyNottinghamTrams Limited, the operator of Nottingham Express Transit (NET), to Crich TramwayVillage, hometo the National TramwayMuseum. Nottingham Trams operations manager Trevor Stocker said that passing o

THEworld’s largest operational steamlocomotive,Union Pacific’sarticulated4-8-8-4‘Big Boy’No. 4014, is to head its second nationwide tour since it returned to steam. In May 2019, No. 4014 made its first excursion run amid the celebrations marking 150

While planning this picture on the Severn Valley Railway, taken on May 30, I had been looking at Hampton Loade station departures for some time and, living locally, studied if the sun coincided with the train timings. A window between 3.30pm and 5pm

BIG changes are afoot at Pathfinder Tours, with general manager Peter Watts declaring that he is preparing to take a step back from management – with a view to ultimate retirement when a new man is appointed to take charge. Peter will be difficult to

AS WE reported last issue, the Railway Touring Company experienced a much-needed demand for seats when its first four day trips this year, booked to run on June 5, 12 and two trains on the 19th, were – much to the promoter’s delight – fully booked wh

THE Tyseley-based Vintage Trains Charitable Trust has boosted its board of trustee directors with the appointment of two newnonexecutives, having wide-ranging experience in the transport industry and change management. Arabella Nairne and Audrey Ezek

THE extension of the Government’s remaining lockdown restrictions until July 19 has led to VintageTrains postponing the start of its summer‘Shakespeare Express' trains from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon. This year’s series was, scheduled to start

THE fact that the up-market Northern Belle Waterloo-Bournemouth 90th anniversary trip was booked for haulage by nothing more than an LMS‘Black Five’raised quite a few eyebrows considering ticket prices of more than £300 per head. However, the message

GARSDALE’S 111-year-old Grade II* listed signalbox on the Settle and Carlisle line is being upgraded as part of a £500,000 Great North Rail Project investment. Starting on June 14, work is underway to upgrade the structural timbers and outside claddi

The Great Western Society was an organisation waiting to happen. Someone, somewhere, was bound to have the idea sooner or later. In many ways it’s surprising that it took until the 1960s before anyone did. However, the decade was quite possibly the l

BR’S Scottish Region was the winner in Great Central’s live online‘Bloxham’ auction on May 29, when a totem sign from Craigendoran realised £780. The station, east of Helensburgh, was opened by the North British Railway in May 1882 and is still open

SHEDPLATES, cast iron‘Beware,’ ‘Propping up’and‘Trespass’signs, posters, and a North British Loco Co worksplate are among the main line memorabilia on offer in theTransport Auctions of London sale on July 31, supported by London Underground enamelwar