Features

  • So you want to improve your photography?

    So you want to improve your photography?

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    How to take better railway photographs – Pip Dunn explains Do you ever look at a picture in a magazine and think: “I wish I could take an image that good”? Here are a few basic tips on equipment, technique and approach to help you get that bit better at railway photography. Photography has come…

  • Archive 1987: South Tynedale Railway volunteers prepare for a new season

    Archive 1987: South Tynedale Railway volunteers prepare for a new season

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    From a 1987 issue of The Railway Magazine, this archive extract records activity by South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society volunteers. It covers work at Alston, Gilderdale, locomotives, passenger figures, events and plans for the 1988 season. Volunteers and a turning point YEAR 1987 will be remembered by its regular volunteers as the most momentous in…

  • Archive: Cornwall’s industrial steam survivors in 1975

    Archive: Cornwall’s industrial steam survivors in 1975

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    From the March 1975 issue of The Railway Magazine, this archive extract looks at industrial steam locomotives still present in Cornwall after the main-line railways of the county were fully dieselised in 1964. The article covers locations including Par Harbour, Falmouth Docks and Penlee Quarries. Cornwall after dieselisation WHEN the main-line railways of Cornwall were…

  • Postman’s Pride returns to Parcels red at Lydney

    Postman’s Pride returns to Parcels red at Lydney

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    FRESH from its hire period with RSS, No. 08888 has received attention at Lydney, this culminating with a repaint out of BR green and back into Parcels red, recreating its early-1990s look while based on Tyneside. The loco has also had its corresponding Postman’s Pride nameplates reapplied to complete the new look. Unveiled on March…

  • From The Railway Magazine, December 1979: Bodmin returns to service on the Mid-Hants “Watercress” Line

    From The Railway Magazine, December 1979: Bodmin returns to service on the Mid-Hants “Watercress” Line

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    This verbatim article is taken from an old issue of The Railway Magazine and reports on a September 22 ceremony at Alresford Station. The extract covers the restored ex-Southern Railway express locomotive BR No. 34016, Bodmin, its renaming, return to service, and restoration background. Renaming at Alresford Station ON Saturday, September 22 (as reported on…

  • From the archive: Strengthening Brunel’s Last Masterpiece

    From the archive: Strengthening Brunel’s Last Masterpiece

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    An archive feature from June 1968 detailing strengthening work on Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, including structural testing, engineering analysis, and modifications to accommodate increased axle loads. INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION of 100-ton bogie tank wagons on specified routes of British Railways has led to the examination of structures on those where use of these wagons would affect…

  • Helston Railway buys historic viaduct key to extension plan

    Helston Railway buys historic viaduct key to extension plan

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    THE Helston Railway Preservation Society has added the Cober Viaduct, also known as Lowertown Viaduct, to its land portfolio. Robin Jones reports… The six-arch curved stone structure has always been seen as a key objective and the jewel in the crown in the strategy to extend the railway as far towards Helston as possible. Often…

  • Sustainable HydroShunter unveiled at Kidderminster

    Sustainable HydroShunter unveiled at Kidderminster

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    By John Titlow THE Severn Valley Railway and West Midlands-based Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions marked a major milestone in railway decarbonisation with the official launch and unveiling of the UK’s first hydrogen-powered shunter at Kidderminster Town station on February 26. Developed in the SVR’s workshops from the body of disused Class 08 D3802, the HydroShunter…

  • Historic station for sale for £1!

    Historic station for sale for £1!

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    GLASGOW’S C-listed semi-derelict Possil station, built by the Caledonian Railway in 1897, can now be bought for just £1 as it has been officially declared ownerless. This move is thanks to it passing into Crown ownership under the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer scheme, meaning it could be purchased by a community group and restored…

  • British Railways Trials Microfilm System for Maintenance Records at Ashford in 1953

    British Railways Trials Microfilm System for Maintenance Records at Ashford in 1953

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    A 1953 report outlines a British Railways Southern Region trial using microfilm to store and retrieve maintenance information at Chart Leacon Repair Shops and Inspection Shed, Ashford, Kent. The trial includes Reader/Printer machinery and multiple Mercury Readers for use across repair shops and inspection depots. Have a read of the report, as it appeared in…


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