Features

MAIN LINE NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL: SHAP - THE CROWNING SUMMIT
“Last steam over Shap?” The question is now inevitably asked every time a high-profile charter takes the legendary stretch of the West Coast Main Line through the Cumbrian Fells, in view of the fact that it is now being upgraded to handle Virgin Trains’ Pendolinos at 125mph. However, Network Rail says that there will be no ban on steam on the route - provided locomotive owners and train operators keep their houses in order, as Robin Jones explains.

WHAT’S LEFT OF THE GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY?
The Great Central Railway is perhaps unique among Britain’s pre-Grouping railways in that such a large proportion of its main lines are now just abandoned trackbed or obliterated route mileage, making the preserved sections at Loughborough and Ruddington all the more historically important. Brian Sharpe looks into the heritage of Britain’s last trunk railway to be built before the new Channel Tunnel link.

CENTRE SPREAD
Trevor Law’s panorama of LNER K1 2-6-0 No 62005 in vivid autumn colours on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway takes centre stage.

INDUSTRIAL SCENE NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL: The rebirth of the Great Laxey Mines Tramway
The latest addition to our proud portfolio of heritage steam lines is one built to the very unusual 19in gauge - the Great Laxey Mines Railway in the Isle of Man. Not only that, it employs new-build versions of the line’s original Victorian locomotives, as David Lloyd-Jones and Mark Smithers explain.

THE CHANGEOVER YEARS: MASTER LOCO BUILDER... OR JOBBING ENGINEER WITH A STREAK OF GENIUS?
Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid - surely with a name that grand he really had to develop into someone important. That he did is not in doubt, but was he a really great locomotive engineer? Many thought so while equally as many thought not, but what is beyond doubt is that many enthusiasts considered the fruits of his labours important enough to preserve, writes Keith Langston, in an article illustrated by rare photographs from the final years of BR main line steam, and coinciding with the release of a brand-new Heritage Railway video showcasing the best of Bulleid Pacifics today.

STEAM SURVIVORS: AVONSIDE
Many of Britain’s locomotive builders are well-known today through the survival of many of their industrial designs. These engines do not always tell the full story, though, as Brian Sharpe investigates in the first of an occasional series, looking at Bristol’s Avonside Engine Company.

Regulars

HEADLINE NEWS
Fourteen injured in Duke of Gloucester crash on East Lancashire Railway: Royal Train earmarked for preservation: the A4 tender to ride behind a LMS Duchess; Jeremy Hosking buys Bulleid pair and Mid-Hants settles John Bunch High Court case out of court.

NEWS: THE WIDEST COVERAGE OF THE UK PRESERVATION SCENE BY FAR!
Big Crewe 2005 open weekend latest; Midsomer Norton to build ‘new’ S&D engine; Sheringham crossing costs cut to £1-million; new LNER Y8 tank to be built at Darlington; STEAM staff in fresh call for standard gauge running line; broad gauge turntable offered to good home; third bid to restreamline Duchess of Hamilton; Cheffins may enter railwayana market; Flying Scotsman gets its whistle back; Swanage Railway ‘blameless’ in tornado tragedy; two national museums head awards list; the real Duke of Gloucester visits Chasewater; Tony Blair opens Locomotion museum at Shildon; GCR Workington shed plan may bring GCR(N) link closer; prison railway to be auctioned; two ‘forgotten’ Jinties at Butterley may be rebuilt; first steam on Wensleydale Railway and new Swindon & Cricklade extension; Lakeside & Haverthwaite autumn charter special; Bodmin may get GWR 2-8-0T; ‘Thumpers’ arrive at heritage homes and plans to run an LNER teak train over the national network.

MAIN LINE NEWS compiled by Cedric Johns
Tyseley to build new steam depot at Stratford-upon-Avon; King Edward I in SPAD incident; double-headed steam to Cornwall back, ‘Green Train’ sold to Fragonset; Bodmin retires from network and Leander to tackle Shap.

MAIN LINE TOUR ITINERARY
Steam and modern traction tours.

YOUNGER VIEW
Gareth Evans takes part in Kidz Week on the Ffestiniog Railway.

PLATFORM
The pages where your letters matter the most.

NEW GENERATION LINES
Fresh impetus for GWR Amman Valley branch revival.

DAVID MORGAN MBE - the man you can’t ignore

OFF THE SHELF CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Latest books, videos, DVDs and other merchandise that make marvellous seasonal gifts!

UP AND RUNNING SEASONAL GUIDE
Brian Sharpe’s listing of operational standard, narrow and minimum gauge lines with dates of Santa and mince pie specials, details of driver training courses and locomotives in operation.

HERITAGE NET
Websurfer Roger Melton examines the improvement made by premier heritage lines regarding their internet offerings.