ISSUE 242
June 1 – June 28, 2018

Headline News 6
Steam opens Mid-Norfolk’s latest
northern extension to Worthing;
stricken Tornado“back in July”;
another mile of trackbed for Lynton &
Barnstaple; Severn Valley to hold big
End of Steam 50th anniversary event
on August 4 and Swanage Railway’s
LSWR T3 dismantling begins at Flour
Mill workshops.

News 10
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
atmospheric railway reservoir
rediscovered beneath Starcross;
sunshine farewell for Sir William
McAlpine; £700k grant for Stockton&
Darlington route scheme; a tube train
back on Epping-Ongar; steam stars
again in Trevithick country;

Government to decide on Kent & East
Sussex-Rother Valley link; Island Line
to lose vintage Underground trains;
last railway nursery line marks 30th
anniversary; TarkaValley Railway
moves forward and management
quits after mass volunteer walkout at
miniature railway.

Main Line News 56
Swanage mogul makes main line
passenger debut; Class 33 runs on
Underground; A4 Bittern moves into
Hornby’s old Margate HQ; Vintage
Trains confident of hitting share issue
target for TOC launch and Sherwood
Forester hauls first Locomotive
Services tour.

With Full Regulator 64
Don Benn reports on‘Great Britain XI’
and Saphos Trains.

Regulars
SubscribeToday 30

Centre 54
No. 45212 departing from Bath by
Peter Foster.

Main Line Itinerary 68
Steam and heritage diesel
railtours.

Platform 74
Where your views matter most.

Railwayana 82
Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Up &Running 94
Guide to railways running in June.

The Month Ahead 106

Features
Seeking out steam’s last stands
The big anniversary this summer is the 50th anniversary of the end of
British Rail main line steam culminating in the legendary ‘Fifteen Guinea
Special’of August 11, 1968. Trevor Gregg recalls in words and pictures
his trips to North West of England to capture on film some of the steam
specials that ran during those last few months of BR standard gauge
steam operations after the rest of the UK had switched over to diesel
and electric traction.

Worth its weight in gold!
On June 29, 1968, the Keighley
&Worth Valley Railway started
public services, in doing so giving
an unprecedented boost to the
revivalist sector, in a summer in
which one door closed and another
opened, writes Robin Jones.

Katie debuts at Ravenglass
Fifteen inches was considered the
minimum practical gauge for a
full-size, as opposed to a miniature,
steam locomotive. Mark Smithers
recounts the story of a pioneering
engine of this gauge that barely
survived but has returned to steam.

Museum on the move
An unusual claim for any museum:
The origins, its collection and
the achievements of the Vintage
Carriages Trust over the last 50 years
are explored by Rodney Towers on a
visit to Ingrow, West Yorkshire.