Steam
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Remembering hero driver John Axon
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THE Bahamas Locomotive Society organised a civic reception at Stockport town hall to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1958 BBC broadcast of the Ballad of John Axon. The broadcast was an iconic production, way ahead of its time, written by folk singer and writer Ewan MacColl and arranged by his partner Peggy Seeger. John…
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Pioneering WSR Bagnall steams again on Tyneside
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A LOCOMOTIVE which worked on the West Somerset Railway in its early years has returned to steam after 11 years. Bagnall New Standard 18 class 0-6-0ST No. 2994 Vulcan, more recently known as No. 401 Thomas Burt MP, is now based at the North Tyneside Steam Railway, and was steamed on January 17 for the…
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Meenglass return boosts Derry railway revival hopes
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County Donegal Railway 2-6-4T No. 4 Meenglas returned to Derry during snowfall after a £45,000 year-long cosmetic facelift at the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland workshops at Whitehead. It will now be displayed again outside the Foyle Valley Railway Museum at a new, more prominent location beside Letterkenny Road, in an attempt to attract visitors.…
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60 years on, last day of Wye Valley line re-created in Leicestershire
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GWR pannier tank No. 6430 will make its final appearances during its current loan visit to the Battlefield Line during the February half-term period. The Llangollen Railway-based locomotive will run on February 16, 17, 20, 23 and 24 in the Battlefield Line’s first-ever February services. The line’s diesel railcar will also run on February 19…
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Restoration of Southern Railway paddle steamer Ryde sunk
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LAST November, Lisa-Marie Turner announced fundraising plans to find the estimated £5000 to pay for a detailed survey of the paddle steamer Ryde lying at Island Harbour Marina between Cowes and Newport. This was the second stage of her rescue plan for the historic vessel. The Southern Railway ordered PS Ryde in 1936 and it…
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Mansfield marks 200 years of England’s longest-running commercial line
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An EXHIBITION celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Mansfield & Pinxton Railway – claimed to be England’s oldest continuously running commercial railway – is being staged in Mansfield until March 2, with the help of a £90,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant. More than 200 years ago, plans were mooted to link Mansfield to the expanding…
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Aln Valley a third of the way to buying Richboro
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THE Aln Valley Railway has raised a third of the £75,000 needed to complete the purchase of the locomotive which forms the mainstay of its steam services. Last year, the line launched the Friends of Richboro appeal to buy 1917-built Hudswell, Clarke 0-6-0T Richboro from owner and AVR engineer Mick Fairnington. The appeal scheme sees…
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Slip-up sends former BTC Maid back into the loch
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A MUCH-PUBLICISED exercise to take PS Maid of the Loch out of Loch Lomond using Balloch’s steam-powered slipway cradle on Thursday, January 10, came to an abrupt halt at 1.35pm when a cable snapped and the 555-ton railway paddle steamer ran back into the loch out of control. Workers, who were fitting blocks under the…
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Product Review: KPF Zeller rolling road for O gauge
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How do we test large-scale locomotives submitted for review such as the Heljan 43XX Class locomotive? With a workbench rolling road, of course! Large-scale models are collected by a lot of modellers who don’t have a layout on which to operate them, and that sometimes applies to the compilation of reviews here in the studio.…
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What’s in the Shops: A wonderful Holmes J36 from Hornby
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Nigel Burkin is suitably impressed by a superbly well-detailed OO-scale model of a much-loved North British Railway locomotive design. There is something very attractive about small tender engines to modellers, and Hornby’s new LNER J36 0-6-0 is already proving popular. Designed under the auspices of North British Railway locomotive superintendent Matthew Holmes, the J36s were…
