into Summer with a Sigh of Relief

shanty’ called ‘Beardman’ using suitable lyrics sung by local Mid Devon community choir ‘Voiceworx’. Dick Wood’s regular Turkish Barber, Sultan Burak, who owns the ‘Golden Scissor’ hairdressing salon in Bampton Street, Tiverton, came down especially to carry out the full beard shave and hair trim.

Whilst the SDR’s SOS appeal and grants from local councils and the Government have raised an impressive £1,326,147 to date, the SDR has lost £2 million in revenue so far and is, therefore, still in desperate need of funds to keep the wheels rolling in the railway’s 149th year, and which celebrates its 150th birthday in 2022.

PNP Events which has the one of the UK franchises to operate Polar Express ™ trains have announced on social media and other channels that tickets for this December’s operation on the SDR will go on sale on Monday 7 June. The SDR, and they, are expecting big demand for tickets given that 17,000 people booked to go on our Polar Express ™ trains for the first year of operation last year, but the whole programme had to be cancelled late on due to another Covid Lockdown intervening

Over the weekend of the 8th/9th May, the SDR enjoyed viral interest on social media following posting of Emma Massingale’s delightful ‘Pony Express’ video last Friday (7 May) featuring two pony mares visiting Dartmoor Otters and Totnes Rare Breeds, plus SDR steam trains which had been viewed almost 900,000 times by Sunday afternoon! By the beginning f the week, the figure had reached around 2million! Do go and have a look – it is a wonderful video that all the family will enjoy - Ed

See: https:// fb.watch/5mhWHkNSpF/ and https://youtu.be/Mn4-bLjw1KU

The All-Party Parliamentary

Group on Heritage Rail has welcomed the anniversary of the first train to be run by volunteers in preservation – on the 14 May, 1951 on the Talyllyn Railway in Gwynedd. The narrow gauge railway dates from 1865, and was built to serve slate quarries above Abergynolwyn.

‘Without the plucky pioneers, it would never have happened,’ says the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Rail which has hailed the seventieth anniversary of the first train to be run by volunteers on a heritage railway as the first step for a movement that has done so much to develop the culture of volunteering and respect for Britain’s unique railway heritage.

With the support of members of the Group, Chair, Rt Hon Liz Saville Roberts MP has tabled an Early Day Motion to draw attention to this milestone anniversary. She said: “This first small step by the volunteers of the Talyllyn Railway, in my Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency, ignited the enthusiasm of people around the country which led to the amazing heritage railway movement which has done so much to support rural communities and the wellbeing of so many people who are railway volunteers. I am very proud that the Talyllyn is one of seven heritage railways in my constituency, and one of the eleven Great Little Trains of Wales, and wish them well for the next 70 years.”

Lord Faulkner is Vice Chairman of the Group and also President of the Heritage Railway Association said: “The heritage railway movement is a remarkable success story involving some 22,000 volunteers across the country with huge benefits for wellbeing in this difficult period. Skills training and teamwork have brought encouragement and a sense of purpose to many young volunteers, recognised by an annual HRA award. The scale of the success would have been unimaginable to the Talyllyn pioneers seventy years ago, but without their courage and tenacity, it would not have happened.”

The text of the Early Day Motion is: “TALYLLYN HERITAGE

RAILWAY ANNIVERSARY

That this House warmly congratulates Talyllyn Railway, Tywyn on its seventieth anniversary of running a public train service with volunteers, preserving its unique heritage for thousands of visitors to enjoy; notes that the railway dates from 1865, and was built to serve slate quarries above Abergynolwyn; further notes that Talyllyn Railway was the first heritage railway to be run by volunteers in preservation, igniting the enthusiasm of people across the UK leading to the development of the heritage railway movement; regrets the 18 months of loss of income suffered by heritage railways due to the Covid pandemic; and wishes them well as they start to welcome visitors again.”

The joint administrators of Llangollen Railway have sold the business and certain assets to Llangollen Railway Trust Limited for an undisclosed amount ensuring a new future for one of North Wales’s most popular leisure attractions.

Alan Coleman, one of the joint administrators, together with

Jason Elliot at Cowgills, said: “The sale has secured the future of this superb heritage railway which is a key attraction to the local area and has provided the best outcome for creditors.

“We always try and achieve the best outcome financially for the business and to preserve as many jobs as possible and we are extremely pleased to be able to ensure the future of this much loved local attraction.”

The sale excluded the rolling stock, plant and machinery and those assets will be auctioned by Lambert Smith Hampton in May.

Llangollen Railway PLC, which operated the historic railway, was not legally able to continue to trade with the company insolvent to the extent of £350,000 with £250,000 relating to engineering contract disputes. Cowgills was instructed by the board to try and find a buyer for the line which is estimated to be worth around £8-10m a year to the local economy in North East Wales.

Welshpool and Llanfair Light

Railway chiefs have been overwhelmed by interest from the public ahead of the new season.

A spokesman said: "We’re well on our way to another recordbreaking day of ticket sales in the lead-up to this season. As an independent charity who do most of our work thanks to tickets, this means a huge amount. Just two bookings for our Breakfast Train would do it."

Departures, which started on May 4, will see passengers enjoy a one hour steam train trip through mid Wales.

Meanwhile Fish & Chip Trains are also back and will be operating on Saturdays 1st, 15th and 29th of May with limited capacity.

A spokesman said: "Our trains previously have sold out very quickly, and we have very limited space on these services in 2021 Every booking helps us to preserve steam in our part of rolling Powys."

Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd

(DMLL) based at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway has received a grant of £12,800 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation continue it’s place in the heritage sector supply chain.

Nearly £400 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including DMLL in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.

DMLL supplies working steam locomotives to help Heritage Railways provide their services as living museums. The company is operated by volunteers, supported by a number of specialist contractors and helps ensure the heritage mechanical skills so vital to the sector are developed and passed on to future generations. This grant will allow DMLL to support our suppliers with contract work until the regular cash flow from locomotive hire earnings come on stream with the reopening of our customer railways.

Plans have been submitted for a massive restoration and development of the Buckley Wells locomotive and carriage works site, home of the East Lancashire Light

Railway.

The East Lancashire Light Railway Company and the ELR Trust have set out their vision for the site in plans lodged with Bury Council.

The intend a comprehensive programme of restoration and repair to the grade II listed Buckley Wells Locomotive Works and carriage shed building, just south of Bury town centre, which currently houses the locomotive engineering restoration and maintenance for the ELR.

They also plan a new locomotive running shed and heavy maintenance workshop on the site of the original Buckley Wells engine shed which was demolished by British Rail in the 1970s.

Other developments include a new green energy carriage shed, an amended track layout for rail access to the proposed new buildings, new vehicle access routes and designated parking areas for full time staff and volunteers.

A design and access statement with the plans prepared by Equilibrium Architects Ltd sets out the importance of the railway to Bury and the region.

It said: “The East Lancashire Railway is the award-winning premier visitor and heritage attraction in the borough of Bury and the wider Irwell Valley in Rossendale, attracting more than 200,000 visitors a year, and has its main workshop facilities located within Bury at Buckley Wells.

“The Buckley Wells locomotive and carriage works houses over 250 heritage locos, carriages and wagons, and forms the essential locomotive and carriage operational, maintenance and restoration facilities necessary to successfully operate the rail services and events on the heritage railway.

Volunteers are continuing to work to restore a heritage line in Shropshire while the Government assesses a bid for funding to reopen a short section as a light railway.

The Cambrian Heritage

Railways organisation in Oswestry is hoping to win money in the third and final round of the funding to bring back some of the lines closed in the Beeching cuts.

Working on the Cambrian railway line are volunteers, Nick Culliford, Joanne Knight, Anne Boden, and Norman Knight

It wants to reopen a mile-long stretch of line from the mainline at Gobowen Railway Station to the former Park Hall halt, just a few hundred yards from the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.

It would mean that patients, staff and visitors could travel from across Britain to the specialist hospital by rail. The halt was used for both the hospital and the Park Hall Army Camp before the line was axed by Dr Beeching in the 1960s.

Both Oswestry Town and Shropshire Council have backed the bid for funding and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has urged transport minister, Grant Shapps to allow the line to reopen.

Volunteers have organised Covid secure work on the line, which is still intact, with just some sleepers under the rails needing replacing.

Roger Date from the Cambrian Railways said: "The project is all ready to go. The track is there and over the past few years the railway has secured all the land and the buildings including the goods yard at Gobowen. There is a need for a feasibility study to develop our aspirations and create a business case. "We are not talking about great distances, about 0.8 of a mile to the Park Hall halt and then 2.4 miles to Oswestry station. For the first phase it is simply upgrading the track and doing some work to the Whittington Road bridge."

Full trains and a good head of steam marked a successful ‘return ticket’ for the Gloucestershire

Warwickshire Steam Railway

(GWSR) which, from Tuesday 13th April, has resumed services over its 14-mile line through the Cotswolds. But, at a time when Covid restrictions remain, the railway – which this year celebrates its 40th Anniversary – is operating prebookable round-trip trains only, from its Toddington station. The service runs south to Cheltenham Racecourse before retracing its route via Toddington to Broadway, then returning to Toddington – a full 28-mile journey behind steam. Richard Winstanley, the voluntary Finance Director of GWSR Plc, commented: “I am delighted with the way that our volunteers, the public and our supporters have responded to the railway’s resumption of services, following the first stage in the Government’s roadmap to lifting of Covid restrictions.

Fireman John Pedley and driver Chris Irving were in charge of the first train of the 2021 season (Ian Crowder)

“It’s wonderful to see our beautifully-restored locomotives steaming through the glorious Cotswold countryside after so many months of lockdown, which has brought real financial difficulties: not just for us, but every other cultural and historic organisation.” The railway has however, benefited from two life-line funding grants from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. These could amount to nearly £390,000 and are designed to help meet essential maintenance and overhead operational costs.

At Didcot Railway Centre Spring Steam Days operate at Weekends and Wednesdays from 19 May - 20 June. We will be using a train of vintage carriages with individual compartments so every group can have their own exclusive space for the ride on our demonstration line. All tickets will be backed by our Lockdown Guarantee so you can book with confidence. At weekends and selected other days, a second historic train will be offering rides on the Branch Line - see the Locomotive Roster to check which engine(s) are due to be in action on the day of your visit. Bank Holiday Steam Up - 29, 30 & 31 May

Volunteers at East Somerset Railway have an exciting new project for 2020 with the arrival of Ex GWR Large Prairie 4110 2-6-2T which arrived at the Cranmore site after being transported from the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

The East Somerset Railway has begun three years of restoration work followed by a three year period when the ESR will be able to use the loco to haul their passenger trains. 4110 was built at Swindon Works in 1936 and withdrawn from service in 1965. After languishing at Barry scrapyard until 1979 it was sold to the West Somerset Railway in 2015, until February last year when, due to lack of funding for the restoration work, it was sold to the Dartmouth Steam Railway.