OPINION - Robin Jones' monthly slot:
At last - we're in the money! I'm not just referring to the month-by-month increasing sales of Heritage Railway as it approaches its fifth anniversary issue, but the appearance of the locomotive that started it all - Richard Trevithick's Penydarren engine - on the new £2 coin.

HEADLINE NEWS -

Car dealer invites bids for Flying Scotsman
City of Truro reboilered; National Collection Class 101 DMV set for East Lancashire and boom year for heritage railways.

120+ News Items this months makes Heirtage Railway the BEST BY FAR FOR NEWS!

THE CHANGEOVER YEARS: Railway Roundabout: We’re on the air!
Pop Idol presenter Pete Waterman has filmed a new series for Channel 4 - but the only music you’ll hear on it will be steam locomotive whistles. The appearance of a programme dedicated to steam railways is today a rarity to be much welcomed - yet it will be following in the footsteps of one made in the early years of both popular daytime TV and preservation itself. Michael Whitehouse, chairman of Birmingham Railway Museum, recalls those heady pioneering days, when the show was compiled by his late father Pat and John Adams.

THE INDUSTRIAL SCENE: The last beasts of man
As a follow-up to our feature on the last steam locomotives in industrial service in Britain last month, photo charter organiser Geoff Silcock tells how he cut his teeth on colliery lines of South Wales, and of the lasting impression of the aftermath of a snowstorm 25 years ago.

NEW GENERATION LINES NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL: Anglesey: a lease at last!
The Isle of Anglesey has just been hit by the closure of a sizeable employer in the form of a chemical plant. However, the closure has apparently opened the door for a major breakthrough in a 13-year campaign by revivalists to reopen the mothballed Amlwch branch, with a 99-year lease on offer, as Keith Langston exclusively reports.

PLUS IN THE MAGAZINE:
NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL: Can steam help save the rural railway?
Britain’s most popular heritage line, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, has for long been looking northwards to its ‘sister’ line, Network Rail’s Esk Valley line, and the prospect of rich pickings from the Whitby tourist market. Meanwhile, the branch is now the subject of a groundbreaking initiative to turn lossmaking rural rail routes into prized community railways. Robin Jones asks how far can the scheme accommodate the NYMR’s ‘expansion’ desires and how big a part can heritage traction play in saving this line and others like it?

FOUR SEASONS SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE 2004
with Railfest 2004 and the bicentenary of steam, heritage railways everywhere will be taking centre stage this year. So don’t miss our indispensable 16-age pull-out guide to all the top events at preserved railways and museum venues so you can plan your action-packed year ahead!

1804: TRUE DAWN OF THE MODERN AGE?
This year we celebrated the return to steam of City of Truro to mark the centenary of its legendary but unofficial 100mph record-breaking feat. Ironically, No. 3440 was named after the county town of Cornwall, the homeland of the man who invented the steam locomotive 100 years before - but who has never been given the popular accolade that his achievement merits. Robin Jones revisits the chain of events that led to Richard Trevithick unleashing the invention that changed the world forever...eventually.

LOST ENGINES OF THE KEIGHLEY & WORTH VALLEY RAILWAY
Britain’s second standard gauge heritage line was home to some of the country’s best-known engines in its early days. As a prelude to its big February 21/22 Enthusiasts’ Weekend, Brian Sharpe examines the stock books over the years to trace what has happened to them since moving on from Bronte country.

PLUS REGULARS IN THE MAGAZINE:

NEWS
Richard Gibbon awarded OBE in New Year’s honours list; KESR plans to tunnel under bypass; unique Wickham DMU now running at Llangollen; Sheringham supermarket approval ‘may jeopardise’ North Norfolk main line link; Manchester bus museum plans East Lancashire Railway move; West Somerset leads race to buy Odney Manor; GWR duo back in steam at Buckfastleigh and Llangollen; new initiative to preserve Exmoor mineral railway; donations pour in for fresh GCR 45mph running bid; Southall group has just five weeks left to fight Armitt edict; Lottery asked to fund new Severn Valley diesel depot; first train movement on Royal Deeside Railway; bid to keep military Wagon-lits Coach in Britain; focus on Foxfield Colliery nightshoot and...did a L&Y Atlantic beat City of Truro to 100mph by five years?

CARRIAGE & WAGON NEWS
GCR defends decision to sell six Mk.1 coaches and two prison railway carriages rediscovered in Scotland

SHOWCASE sponsored by London Camera Exchange
Stunning contributions from Britain’s leading lineside photographers.

MAIN LINE NEWS compiled by Cedric Johns
Duke of Gloucester and Princess Elizabeth to tackle Shap in May Day weekend charity jaunts; sudden death of steam driver Brian Dudley-Ward; ‘No. 9’ stranded inside Merehead Quarry; Class 101s bow out with northern tour and Taw Valley may quit main line are among the headline sin our definitive round-up.

MAIN LINE TOUR ITINERARY
Brian Sharpe’s guide to steam and diesel tours.

YOUNGER VIEW: The FR Gigabash!
Gareth Evans spent a weekend volunteering on the Ffestiniog Railway, in which supporters of all ages carried out tasks essential to the smooth operation of the line.

OFF THE SHELF
Latest book and DVD/video releases.

UP AND RUNNING
Brian Sharpe’s listing of operational standard, narrow and minimum gauge lines with dates of special events, details of driver training courses and locomotives in operation.

PLATFORM
The pages where your views matter the most!

DAVID MORGAN MBE - the man you can’t ignore
We need more people like Richard Gibbon to inspire others to follow into preservation, writes the HRA chairman.

HERITAGE NET
Roger Melton looks at rail revival on the internet.