VINTAGE TRAINS CELEBRATES HERITAGE ERA 70TH IN NEW ITINERARY
ISSUE 275
December 23 – January 21, 2021
CHRISTMAS TRAINS WE THOUGHT WE WOULD NEVER SEE
TOP AWARDS FOR TYWYN MUSEUM AND FFESTINIOG
■ WELSH LINES
GET £715K LIFELINE ■ SEVERN VALLEY GM HELEN SMITH
THE BLUE PULLMAN
£4.50
Q&A SESSION
■ WEST SOMERSET RUNS FIRST TRAIN OF 2020
■ BLUE PETER BACK IN 2021? ■ FAREWELL TO GWR AUTO TANK 1450
No. 275
IS BACK!
CONTENTS ISSUE 275
December 23, 2020 – January 21, 2021
News
8
Headline News
■ New Vintage Trains itinerary set to
6
mark 70 years of railway heritage ■ West Somerset Railway runs its first public trains of 2020 ■ Welsh Government £715k lifeline to heritage lines ‘may not be enough’ ■ Groundwork starts on Lynton & Barnstaple Railway extension ■ ‘Blue Pullman’ HST makes public passenger-carrying debut
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News
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■ Severn Valley says farewell to auto
tank No. 1450 as boiler ticket expires
■ Ffestiniog ladies celebrated in two
National Rail Heritage Awards ■ Piecing together the 76077 jigsaw of Toddington’s BR 4MT ■ Stephenson stone walling blocks now cap Falling Sands Viaduct ■ Kent & East Sussex mince pie dilemma saved by town council ■ 70 years on: Talyllyn celebrates last train before its first ■ Lottery £234k grant boosts Bo’ness engineering facility ■ HST power car joins Crewe Heritage Centre collection
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Main Line News
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■ Could Blue Peter return to the main
line in 2021? ■ Steam Dreams looks to the year ahead with confidence ■ SRPS refreshes its carriage fleet ahead of 2021 railtour resumption
With Full Regulator
Features
Subscribe Today Railwayana
30 48
Geoff Courtney’s regular column.
Centre
The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s BR 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41241 hauls an ‘Elf Express’.
50 Main Line Itinerary
66
Off the Shelf
80
Platform
84
Up & Running
92
Next Stop
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Steam and heritage diesel railtours. Latest book and DVD releases.
Where your views matter most.
62
Don Benn looks at the performances of Nos. 61306, 60016, 73152 and 45562 – plus DB 03 Pacifics in 1971.
4 Heritagerailway.co.uk
Regulars
Guide to railways running over Christmas and the New Year.
A lighter, quirkier look at events
The Christmas trains we thought we would never see
The heritage railway sector has again come into its own for Christmas, with a dazzling array of traditional and innovative festive trains. Against the background of Covid-19, 2020 has involved a Herculean task not only to run services which provide vital income to keep our lines running throughout the year, but to also ensure they are safe. Indeed, what has been achieved this December is a massive testament to triumph over adversity.
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CONTENTS: Piercing the darkness of the Dorset evening skies, Southern Railway U Class 2-6-0 No. 31806 heads a Steam and Lights test train between Norden and Corfe Castle on December 3. The Purbeck line’s inaugural season of dazzling festive illuminated trains proved a sell-out, with extra dates being added to cope with demand, while the regular Santa special programme was cancelled because of coronavirus constraints. The pre-booked one-hour nonstop round trip from Swanage to Norden aboard the six-coach train, with allocated socially-distanced seating and festively-decorated carriage interiors with music and running commentary, slowed to 5mph through Harman’s Cross and Corfe stations so passengers could appreciate the lineside lighting displays. ANDREW PM WRIGHT COVER: LMS Stanier 8F 2-8-0 No. 48305 emerges from the A6 overbridge with the 9.45am Loughborough to Quorn & Woodhouse empty coaching stock for the first post-lockdown Santa special on December 5. Despite being in Tier 3, the Great Central Railway was given the go-ahead to operate its Santa and Winter Wonderlights specials by Charnwood Borough Council, using the tried-and-tested Quorn-Leicester North return compartment-only service for social distancing. GRAHAM NUTTALL
Leading with positivity!
Helen Smith, general manager of the Severn Valley Railway talks to Nicola Fox about her approach and experiences of managing one of Britain’s premier league heritage lines, including staff, volunteers, infrastructure and operations during her first year in the role.
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Models
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74
New LNWR Precedent model for summer 2021 release; Rapido Trains to ‘fill the gaps’ with new 4mm and 2mm scale models; and Peco progresses OO9 range.
See page 30
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New P2: beating the pandemic
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s £5 million project to build P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales in Darlington, may have been slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic, but steady progress is being made while fundraising continues in earnest, report Mark Allatt and David Elliott.
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The glory of the GWR 76
88
A favourite with modellers for decades, Pete Kelly traces the development of Great Western Railway locomotives from the Churchward era onwards.
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THE BRIGHTER STEAM NEWS MAGAZINE
Carrying the distinctive bright maroon livery in which it hauled the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s reopening special on June 29, 1968, BR Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41241 climbs Oakworth bank with one of the line’s socially-distanced 2020 Christmas specials, the ‘Elf Express’ on December 5. ANDREW SOUTHWELL
ENDOFPREVI EW
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