October 2017

Bridgnorth Station on the Severn Valley Railway
Bridgnorth share offer reaches £2.3million on last day
Author/Source:
Editorial
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 - 11:18

Proceeds from the share offer will support ambitious plans to deliver much-improved visitor facilities whilst at the same time conserving and enhancing the line's main destination station. A last ditch plea has been made to try and gather the remaining funds before the end of the day (31st October).

The offer has now raised over £2,328,000 with applications pouring in at their fastest rate since the campaign began. This late surge also included a share sale of £38,000 on Sunday.

... read the full story
North Yorkshire Moors Railway (Newbridge level crossing)
Yorkshire's Magnificient Journey appeal at NYMR
Author/Source:
Editorial
Friday, October 27, 2017 - 12:40

Earlier this year, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded NYMR £4.6M as part of the £9.2M Sustainability Project, NYMR's Yorkshire's Magnificent Journey Appeal. To deliver the investment programme, the NYMR must raise approx. £2.5M from members, passengers and the public over the next five years.
 
Keeping 18 miles of railway with more than thirty bridges through the difficult countryside of the North York Moors in top-notch condition is a continuing challenge for the NYMR... read the full story

Bere Alston Station, Devon
Campaigners fight for lost rail lines axed by Beeching
Author/Source:
Editorial
Thursday, October 26, 2017 - 15:29

The 'Campaign for Better Transport' organisation has written to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling MP urging him to introduce a new fund to pay for the opening of additional railway lines and stations across the country to help reverse some of Dr Beeching’s infamous cuts.

Campaigners argue a Network Development Fund could pay for the development and implementation of new or reopened lines and stations to give communities better access to employment and education; reduce pressure on... read the full story

LMS Ivatt Class No. 41313
Isle of Wight Steam Railway welcomes back iconic Ivatt loco
Author/Source:
Editorial
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 - 12:32

The IW Steam Railway contracted the East Somerset Railway to overhaul the loco on a commercial basis at its Cranmore workshops. This two year contract was completed and on 24 June the locomotive was launched into service on the ESR for tests and trials. It has now returned to the island to join the sister Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T No.41298 at Havenstreet.

To celebrate the successful restoration, the IW Railway has announced an Ivatt gala event from 26th to 28th May... read the full story

LSWR T3 563 Corfe Castle station May 2017
T3 engine takes step towards possible full restoration
Author/Source:
Editorial
Tuesday, October 24, 2017 - 14:42

Built in February, 1893, London and South Western Railway, T3 class 4-4-0 wheel arrangement locomotive No. 563 is on display at the Swanage Railway’s Corfe Castle station after being donated to the Swanage Railway Trust, a registered charity, by the National Railway Museum in May, 2017.

No. 563 will be taken to the Flour Mill locomotive workshops – at Bream, near Lydney in Gloucestershire – during November, 2017, to be stripped down and fully examined to establish if restoring the T3... read the full story

Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway 'Bridging the Gap' Progress
Author/Source:
Editorial
Friday, October 20, 2017 - 12:14

Once completed, the project will reconnect the two halves of the Great Central Railway for the first time in more than 50 years. Part of a chain of infrastructure, the project aims to carry the railway over the Midland Main Line, creating an 18-mile heritage line between Leicester and Nottingham. 

Progress has already been made, with a brand new bridge currently being installed to cross over the Midland Main Line. The bridge recently had its main beams put in... read the full story

Bala Lake Railway
Bala Lake Railway celebrates record year
Author/Source:
Editorial
Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 14:58

As well as this great news, BLR has also recently secured land from the local rugby club to help with their extension plans. The team have had a busy year with numerous pieces of land being purchased to make way for the extension into Bala town, along with a brand new station terminus.
Now that the recent land has been purchased from the rugby club, plans are in motion to demolish what is currently where the station will be built, and landscaping hopes to be finished before Christmas... read the full story

Loco No.1 At Tywyn - Talyllyn Railway
Talyllyn Railway launches new fundraising appeal
Author/Source:
Editorial
Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - 14:03

The popular narrow-gauge railway in North Wales, which takes thousands of passengers a year from the seaside town of Towyn into the Fathew Valley, launched the appeal in order to build four new carriages which will increase its capacity and also double its capacity to accommodate wheelchair users. 

The appeal was launched at a recent railway society meeting where a special collection raised more than £1100 and got the fundraising wheels in motion. The society... read the full story

Glenfinnan Viaduct
Jacobite service rescues family in Scottish Highlands
Author/Source:
Editorial
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 - 14:43

The family who were on a canoeing trip in Lochaber were staying in a Bothy, a small Scottish cottage used as mountain refuge, when they woke to find their canoe had been swept away by a swollen river.

Facing a 3-mile walk back to their car through marshlands and with 4 young children, the parents decided they best call the mountain rescue. As luck would have it, the rescue service arranged for a West Highland Railway steam service to pick them up, which happened to be the next train... read the full story

Leighton Buzzard's double event weekender
Author/Source:
Editorial
Monday, October 16, 2017 - 11:21

On Saturday 28th, the railway's ‘Steam Glow’ event at Stonehenge will provide an opportunity to photograph up to five 0-4-0T locomotives in steam in this historic and unique sand-industry setting. The locomotives will be positioned to take full advantage of the Leighton Buzzard Railway’s extensive collection of wagons and sand industry equipment, including the RB-10 excavator.

A special train hauled by the newly restored Andrew Barclay 0-6-0T ‘Doll’ will leave Pages Park station at 18... read the full story

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