ISSUE 219

August 25 – September 21, 2016

News

Headline News 6
Flying Scotsman to visit Tyseley
Locomotive Works for September
open weekend before moving to
sell-out Severn Valley Pacific Power
event, British Transport Police issues
more trespass pictures and the North
Norfolk Railway's inaugural steam
dining train to Cromer ended up
carrying Bittern Line passengers.

News 10
Duchess of Sutherland becomes the
first of its class to enter Cornwall;
landslip maroons ‘Jacobite’ service
at Mallaig; tribute to popular
Bluebell Railway volunteer who
died in Gatwick Express incident;
‘surprise’ six-figure windfall for
Ecclesbourne Valley; Union Pacific
starts overhaul of ‘Big Boy’; The Who’s
Roger Daltrey opens new Romney,
Hythe & Dymchurch facilities; Mail
Rail on course to open in 2017;
ex-Port Talbot saddle tank No.
813 back on Severn Valley; Flying
Scotsman made from LEGO and solid
bronze miniature versions of the
controversial Sir Nigel Gresley statue
at King's Cross on sale for £4800 –
complete with mallard duck!

Main Line News 56
Dates and itinerary for ‘Great Britain
X’ announced by the Railway Touring
Company, No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth
returns on schedule, Bulleid Lord
Dowding aka Braunton hit by flats,
third time unlucky for Royal Scot and
Steam Dreams’ next Irish tour to visit
Isle of Man too!

With Full Regulator 64
Don Benn reports on performances by
Duchess of Sutherland.

Regulars

Railwayana 46
Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Centre 54
Leander storms towards Grayrigg by David Price.

Off the Shelf 88
Latest book and DVD releases.

Main Line Itinerary 62
Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

Platform 90
Where your views matter most.

Up & Running 94
Guide to railways running this month.

The Month Ahead 106

Features

The end of the A4 Pacifics – NOT!
September 5, 2016 celebrates half a century since the final workings
of the streamlined A4 Pacifics in BR service. Fred Kerr recalls the last
fortnight of their Scottish activities – and notes how the future proved
to be not as bad as many feared.

68 James Spooner: the Ffestiniog’s next double Fairlie
The history of the double Fairlies is
complicated. Allan George unravels
the story and explains why the
Ffestiniog Railway is building another
one at Boston Lodge.

76 The Haltwhistle to Alston Railway
Forty years ago the last surviving
rural passenger branch line in
Northumberland closed. This was
the Haltwhistle to Alston Railway
which although earmarked for
closure as part of the Beeching cuts
in 1963, miraculously survived up
until May 1, 1976. Trevor Gregg looks
back at the history of the railway and
its route through the beautiful valley
of the River South Tyne.

82 Twenty Years of the Elsecar Heritage Railway
The Elsecar Heritage Railway is one
of Britain’s smaller standard gauge
heritage lines but as Mark Smithers
reports, the only preserved railway
in South Yorkshire potentially has an
exciting future ahead of it