ISSUE 207
September 24 - October 21

News

HEADLINE NEWS 10
Flying Scotsman’s first gala date;
Royal Scot steams on Severn Valley
Railway; Dartmoor National Park
Authority orders rethink over
Ashburton station; British-built US
civil war locomotive to be
auctioned; Ivatt 2MT booked for big
Barrow Hill LMS gala; second royal
visitor for Severn Valley 50; Forestry
Commission backing for Dean
Forest ’extension’ station plan,
and rare snakes take over the bay
platform at new Swanage Railway
destination.

NEWS 10
Last industrial steam locomotive in
South Africa may return to UK;
Prince Charles donates to vandal-hit
Royal Deeside Railway; Great Central
supporter pays £350K to repair key
bridge; Vatican City launches own
railtours with steam tip; gala action
from North Norfolk, Welshpool,
Ravenglass and Mangapps;
engineer in legal challenge to save
Liverpool & Manchester heritage;
focus on Kent & East Sussex LBSCR
‘Terriers’; Network South East 4CIG
EMU back after 11 years, and does
a steam locomotive lie buried with
Nazi gold?

ROYAL OPENING 6
HM The Queen opens the £294
million Borders Railway, riding with
the Duke of Edinburgh and
Scotland’ss first minister Nicola
Sturgeon behind A4 No. 60009
Union of South Africa from
Edinburgh to Tweedback, on the
day the Queen became the longest-
serving monarch in British history.
Full coverage of the occasion.

MAIN LINE NEWS 62
Steam Dreams scoops Flying
Scotsman for 12 tours in 2016 – full
details; how Union of South Africa
won the race to haul Borders Railway
royal opening train; Princess Elizabeth
to celebrate Queen’s 90th birthday
and Duke of Gloucester moved to
Tyseley Locomotive Works.

WITH FULL REGULATOR 62
Don Benn reports on Rood Ashton
Hall’s recent run along the Welsh
Marches.

Regulars

Centre spread 54
Union of South Africa heads the
Border Railway royal reopening
train, by Julie Rodgers.

Main Line Tours 66
Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

Railwayana 72
Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Platform 88
Where your views matter most.

Up & Running 92
Guide to railways running
this month.

The Month Ahead 106
Upcoming galas and events.

Feature

Welcome back Waverley
Is the opening of the £294 million Borders Railway the dawn of a new
railway age? As one of the biggest cuts of the Beeching era is reversed,
in a special report to mark its opening to the fare-paying public on
September 6, Robin Jones and Brian Sharpe look at the reborn section of
the route, hopes for the future and Waverley steam tours past and present.

72 Steam twilight at Watford Metropolitan
A dazzling display of steam and
professionalism by footplate crews,
combined with unpredicted late
summer sunshine, made this year’s
much-anticipated steam forays on
the London Underground another
magnificent success. However, the
Watford 90 weekend may have seen
the last steam specials to run into the
town’s Underground station.
Editor Robin Jones was there..

78 Nene Valley goes back to its roots
The Nene Valley Railway saw its first
visits by pre-Grouping locomotives
in the preservation era. Brian Sharpe
reports on a weekend when not just
one, but two appropriate engines
worked the line’s services.

80A decade of dockside delights
The current year sees the culmination
of a decade of public operation of the
Ribble Steam Railway.
Mark Smithers reports on
the anniversary celebrations.

86 Merry go Round  at Chasewater
Where does railway nostalgia end
and when is it just too recent? Is a
1960s-built locomotive on rail blue-
era wagons too modern to be
nostalgic? Martin Creese reports on
a popular event in Staffordshire.