ISSUE 225
February 10 – March 9, 2017
News
Headline News 6
Flying Scotsman, Tornado and
Rocket replica to star in Barrow Hill’s
big relaunch; royal visit honours
Mountsorrel Railway and heritage
centre; Aln Valley to lengthen after
grant aid boost and Douglas Bay
Horse Tramway will not be halved
after Tynwald U-turn, but protests
continue.

News 10
TV’s James May makes another
component for new Gresley P2;
passenger records broken on several
heritage railways; NYMR’s 10-year plan
aims for sustainable railway; national
award for Great Central DMU; four
Deltics in exclusive Bluebell gala;
former Swanage BR Standard tank set
for Easter return after major overhaul;
end of ‘Black Five’ dream for Duke of
Gloucester engineer; Foxcote Manor to
star at Kent & East Sussex; Aviva fund
boost for three lines; Llangollen to
mark two 50th anniversaries and
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
rebuilds Hayles Abbey Halt.

Main Line News 56
Flying Scotsman to head Settle and
Carlisle line reopening special on
March 31, but Bluebell visit hangs
on Network Rail plan; Vintage Trains
celebrates half centenary and Diesel
Traction Group appeal to keep
Western Champion on the main line.

With Full Regulator 62
Don Benn reports on steam
performances on the Great Central
route out of Marylebone.

Regulars
Railwayana 42
Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Centre 54
LSWR M7 0-4-4T No. 30053 at
Corfe Castle by Andrew PM Wright.
Main Line Itinerary 65
Steam and heritage diesel
railtours.

Platform 84
Where your views matter most.

Up & Running 94
Guide to railways running in
February and the coming months.

The Month Ahead 106

Features

Maunsell Q in GCR debut
The Bluebell Railway-based Maunsell Q 0-6-0 No. 30541 was the star
guest at the Great Central Railway’s January 27-29 winter steam gala,
making its first-ever appearance on Britain’s only double track heritage
main line, with nine other locomotives in steam, writes Robin Jones.

Photograph the Settle & Carlisle Line: 12 best locations
In a special feature to mark the
imminent reopening of the
much-loved Settle and Carlisle
route to through trains following
last February’s landslip and the
completion of Network Rail’s £23
million repair programme, Brian
Sharpe and Robin Jones look at
a dozen of the best locations to
capture the much-anticipated return
of steam action from the lineside.

Steamy Affairs at Bradford
“Towing a failed DMU” were words
which appeared regularly in the
railway press in the 1960s, but such
workings were rarely photographed.
Robert Anderson, who was in a
privileged position, remembers
many such workings.

Steam Miracle – Ecuador 76
It is remarkable that the small South
American country of Ecuador has
seen a government-funded railway
and steam locomotive rebuilding
program on an unprecedented
scale, including the setting up of a
workshop for the manufacture of
many new steam locomotive boilers.
Maurice Burns, who made this
discovery by chance, explains more.

Winter Chinnor 88 Pannier
The Chinnor branch has seen a
succession of visiting pannier tanks
from South Devon. Martin Creese
describes a photo charter in wintry
conditions in Oxfordshire.