Gary Boyd Hope
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Something ‘Wightwick’ this way comes as Bosworth line celebrates 50 golden years
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“OVERWHELMED” and “speechless” were just two of the words used by Battlefield Line director Adrian Lock to describe the success of the Leicestershire line’s 50th anniversary gala on October 18-20. The Shackerstone Railway Society had wanted to mark its five decades of operations at Shackerstone with something special, and this it achieved by securing ‘Modified…
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Pitchford Hall creates Collett preservation ‘first’ after overhaul brings new livery
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Epping Ongar Railway-based GWR ‘Hall’ No. 4953 Pitchford Hall is back in steam after overhaul, and carrying a livery never before seen on one of the Collett 4-6-0s in the preservation era.
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Military might: Looking back at Longmoor
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October 31 marks 50 years since the closure of the Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire. The army training line, known for its eye-catching blue-liveried locomotives and stock, came within a whisker of becoming a preservation hub for the south, but alas it was not to be. Gary Boyd-Hope pays a pictorial tribute to one of…
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Quiet progress has ‘Grange’ on coursefor 2020 debut
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PROGRESS on the project to construct the 81st Collett ‘Grange’ – No. 6880 Betton Grange – continues at Tyseley and Llangollen, with a view to having the 4-6-0 in traffic next year. Work on the loco at Tyseley Locomotive Works is running slightly behind the original schedule, but the rebuild of the ‘Swindon No. 1’ boiler…
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Didcot formally launches ‘Saint’ Lady of Legend
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THE Great Western Society (GWS) marked the completion of its re-created Churchward ‘Saint’ in early April with a series of special commemorative events at Didcot Railway Centre. Supporters of the project were invited to a preview day on April 3 to see No. 2999 Lady of Legend in steam, with the opportunity to become among…
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Building on the Broadway
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The 12 months since the opening of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s extension to Broadway have seen numerous records broken, with the line continuing to reap the benefits of its connection with the picturesque Cotswolds village. Gary Boyd-Hope went along to find out how the railway has risen to the challenge, and what lessons have been…
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Restoration of former Barry Prairie continuing at Barry
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The project originally began at Llangollen, but the loco moved with Mr Pearce when he relocated to South Wales.
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Back from the brink
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The West Somerset Railway (WSR) held a frank and honest briefing for members and shareholders on March 2, at which it laid out the problems it faces, and discussed the ways in which the WSR hopes to overcome them. Gary Boyd-Hope reports. YOU could be forgiven for thinking the title of this article is a…
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Counting their blessings
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As the Churchward County Trust celebrates its first anniversary, project leader Gary Boyd-Hope explains more about the scheme to build GWR 4-4-0 No. 3840 County of Montgomery and the Trust’s successes of the past year. NOVEMBER 13, 2018 was a pretty ordinary day for the majority of the UK population. It was largely overcast everywhere,…
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Lazarus Lines: Maam Cross – Ireland’s ‘quiet’ railway revival
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Gary Boyd-Hope talks to Jim Deegan, the man behind the Connemara Railway Project, to find out more about his ambitious plans to return 5ft 3in-gauge steam to the wilds of County Galway by 2020. THE sight of a Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR)-designed ‘K’ class 2-4-0 hauling a rake of restored MGWR six-wheelers through the…
