ISSUE 236
December 15, 2017 – January 11, 2018

Headline News 6
Swanage T3 return to steam appeal
raises £43K in just six weeks; Vintage
Trains launches first publicly-owned
railway company in a century to raise
£3 million and bids for Train Operating
Company status, and Metropolitan
Railway E class No. 1 will head the last
London Underground steam in the
city centre tunnels in July.

News 10
Top national awards for Wensleydale,
Bluebell, North Yorkshire Moors and
Kirkby Stephen East; last single chimneyed
9F on way back as boiler
passes steam tests; official silence over
new owner of Australian Beyer-
Garratt; £475K appeal for funds to
restore Great Central canal bridge in
Loughborough; Dartmoor Railway
route could lead to new round of
Beeching reversals; new trolley
museum at Chasewater; back to the
future at Vale of Rheidol; big engines
steal limelight atWarleymodel show,
and armed police corner terrorists at
Chinnor station.

Main Line News 56
Two Deltics bought by Jeremy
Hosking’s company; A4 Union of
South Africa back in action after
mishap; Northern Belle sold; late night
repair for Flying Scotsman and
newly-red Duchess of Sutherland to
run mainly in the south.
Regulars

SubscribeToday 30

Railwayana 46
Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Centre 54
Jubilee No. 45699 Galatea on
a rare visit to Halifax by Dave
Rodgers.

Main Line Itinerary 68
Steam and heritage diesel
railtours.

Platform 86
Where your views matter most.

Off the Shelf 90
Latest book and DVD releases.

Up & Running 94
Guide to railways running in the
festive season and early 2018.

TheMonth Ahead 106

Features
Britannia Pacific finale
Fifty years ago, the last
Britannia Pacifics were
concentrated at Carlisle
Kingmoor, due for closure
on December 31, 1967.
Once the pride of Norwich
and elsewhere, the Britannias
were now filthy, had been
stripped of nameplate and
numberplates, but were still
doing a day’s work. Maurice
Burns recalls the Britannias at
work over the Northern Fells
and the efforts of enthusiasts
to see them go out with some
pride as their days came to
an end.
48

With Full Regulator 64
Don Benn reports on Clan Line’s
November 18‘Wessex Explorer’.
RPSI blazes new trail
withWhitehead Railway Museum
The Railway Preservation Society
of Ireland has been in business a
long time. Hugh Dougherty visits its
railway museum on the Antrimcoast
which has been more than 50 years
in the making.

God’sWonderful Railway
TV dramas are not always noted for
their historical accuracy, but one
children’s series in the 1980s was
very different in this respect. Avril
Rowlands who wrote the stories,
recounts the efforts made to achieve
authenticity while filming on the
Severn Valley Railway

Alexander Macdonald:
From scrap to Swallows and Amazons.
 The 43924 story
It is nearly 50 years since the first
steam locomotivewas rescued from
Barry scrapyard for preservation.
Fiona Kennaugh tells the story of
howher father was instrumental in
saving this locomotivewhich was to
open the door for a further 212 steam
engines to leave the famous yard.