The Railway Magazine – July 2019

July 2019 •The Railway Magazine•83

July

6-7Evesham Vale Light

Railway, summer gala

7 Bredgar & Wormshill Light

Railway, enthusiasts’gala

13 Lincolnshire Coast Light

Railway, 10th anniversary

13-14Amberley Museum,

rail gala

20 RHDR, engineering day

21 Hampshire NGRT,

Bursledon Brickworks railway

event

24-28Manx Heritage

Transport Festival

August

7 Statfold Barn Railway,

enthusiasts’day

3 Abbey Pumping Station,

Leicester, railway gala

4 Great Bush Railway, East

Sussex running day

9-11Talyllyn Railway, young

members’gala

15-16Launceston Steam

Railway, Darjeeling gala

17 Richmond Light Railway,

Kent steam fair

26 Westonzoyland Pumping

Station, railway gala

30-Sept 1Welshpool &

Llanfair Light Railway, steam

gala

Mannincould return to DIARY

steam for 2022 celebrations

ISLE of ManTransport is seriously

considering returning Beyer,

Peacock 2-4-0T (6296/1926)

No. 16Manninto operation as

a centrepiece attraction for the

steam line’s 150thanniversary

celebrations in 2022.

Manninwas the last steam loco

supplied to the original Isle of

Man Railway, and was bigger and

more powerful than the previous

Manx Beyer, Peacock 2-4-0Ts.

It was last steamed in 1964, and

exhibited in Port Erin Museum,

and being non-standard

with the rest of the steam fleet it

was not viewed as a restoration

candidate.

The Douglas to Port Erin steam

line opened the 2019 season

with 2-4-0Ts No. 8Fenella,No.12

Hutchinson,No.13Kissackand

Dübs 0-6-0T No. 15Caledonia

available for service.

Work continues on overhauling

2-4-0Ts No. 11Maitlandand

No. 4Loch(the boiler for which

was steam tested at SevernValley

Railway in mid-May), which are

both likely to return in 2020.

Following reassembly,

diesel-electric locomotive

No. 21, namedVignoles(after

British railway engineer Charles

BlackerVignoles 1793–1875),

is considered available for use,

although minor commissioning

issues are still being resolved.

THE Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway
Preservation Society’s resurrected
1896-built Heywood 0-4-0T
Katiewas the star of Fairbourne
Railway’s May 25-27 Steam Gala,
returning to the line where it last
steamed in 1926.
Katieand 0-4-0T+TMountaineer,
owned by Austin Moss and visiting
fromWindmill Farm Railway, ran
on Fairbourne’s 15in-gauge (dual
gauge) section from Fairbourne
towards the sea.
They worked stock provided by
Austin Moss, comprising a 1948
FairbourneWilkins and Mitchell

coach, a Fairbourne P/way wagon

and restored ex-Romney, Hythe

and Dymchurch Railway

four-wheel coach.

Operational on the 12¼in-gauge

main Fairbourne line were 4wDE

Albert, visiting from Littlehampton

Railway, and resident locos

0-4-0STTSherpa, 2-6-2TYeoand

Hunslet 9354/1994Gwril.

Fairbourne’s 2-6-4TRussell

missed the event, its boiler still

being at NorthYorkshire Moors

Railway being fitted with a new

inner firebox.Russellshould return

to service for the peak season.

Katierevisits Fairbourne

Two gauges at Fairbourne station showing visiting 15in-gauge

Heywood 0-4-0TKatieand rolling stock preparing for a departure,

while Fairbourne’s own 12¼in-gauge 2-6-2TYeowaits its next turn.

GRAHAM BILLINGTON

Track-laying for the new

2ft-gauge Royal Arsenal Narrow

Gauge Railway is progressing

rapidly, as illustrated by this

April 30 image.RANG

Bazalgettelaunches

newRoyalArsenalline

THE Royal Arsenal Narrow Gauge

Railway (RANG) launched the

first section of its new 2ft-gauge

railway at Crossness Pumping

Station in South London on

March 28.

At the event, newly restored

1986-built Severn-Lamb steam-

outline 4wDH, bought in late

2017 (RMJan 2018) and known

asBusy Basilwhen acquired, was

re-namedBazalgetteby Sir Peter

Bazalgette, chairman of ITV and

President of Crossness Engines

Trust.

He is the great-great grandson

of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the chief

engineer of London’s Metropolitan

Board ofWorks, who created a

central London sewer network,

which included construction of the

pumping station at Crossness.

The first of the carriages acquired

with the loco was also ready for

Resident steam loco leaves

Purbeck for Westonzoyland

THE 2ft-gauge vertical boiler

steam loco constructed by

Noel Donnelly (RMJuly 2018)

and subsequently donated to

Westonzoyland EngineTrust

(RMFeb) arrived at the Somerset

site on May 10 from its previous

Purbeck Mineral & Mining

Museum base.

Initially described as an

0-4-0VBT, it has a chain drive and

is thus a 4wVBT. It requires some

boiler work before a certificate

can be obtained to enable it to

enter service on Westonzoyland’s

demonstration line.

Westonzoyland Pumping

Station Museum has been

granted planning permission

to construct a steel framed

two-road locomotive and stock

shed for the railway (RMMay).

The 4wVBT constructed by Noel Donnelly pictured following its

arrival at Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum.

PETER NICHOLSON

Restoration of Statfold’s

‘Tamar’ Hunslet starts

THE frame and wheels of Statfold
Barn RailwayTrust’s Hunslet-built
‘Tamar’class 0-4-2T W/No. 3756
of 1952 arrived at the private
‘Workshop X’site in North
Derbyshire on May 28.
The volunteer team currently
restoringMartyn Ashworth’s
Avonside 0-4-0TOgwenat the
site will undertake a bottom-end
overhaul and return a completed
chassis to Statfold Barn by the
end of the year.

A newly overhauled boiler

and new platework will be

fitted at Statfold with the aim of

launching the loco back in steam

at Statfold during 2020.

The600mm-gauge former

Cameroon Development

Corporationloco was unveiled at

Statfold’sMarch 25 2017 Open

Day (RMMay 2017) following

importation with another of

the type which is located at a

different private site.

ADRIAN Shooter’s

Darjeeling Himalayan

Railway Sharp, Stewart

B-Class 0-4-0STT

(3518/1888) No. 19

pictured on May 18 during

the final running day at

Beeches Light Railway.

The loco will spend the

summer at Launceston

Steam Railway pending

construction of

Mr Shooter’s new railway

at a different site (RM

March, Headline News).

JAMES HAMILTON

Glyn Valley

volunteers

‘spring clean’

Chirk station

GLYN ValleyTramwayTrust

volunteers have removed

80 years of tree growth from

the site of the old GlynValley

Tramway station alongside

the national network station

at Chirk.

Clearance has uncovered

part of the platform

edge and lower courses

of brickwork for the old

booking office and waiting

room, which will form the

foundations for reinstated

structures to the original

design.

Finds from the demolished

buildings include the

booking office floor and

glazed fireplace tiles.

When the site is fully

cleared track can be laid on

the trackbed, which last had

rails in the mid-1930s.

Queen’s Award honour for WLLR

THE Queen’s Award forVoluntary

Service has been awarded to

Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway

(WLLR).The citation statesWLLR is

honoured for“Operating an eight-

mile steam railway to demonstrate

how it served its rural Mid-Wales

community from Edwardian times”.

TheWLLR is primarily run by 290

volunteers supporting five salaried

staff, and draws 26,000 visitors to

the area annually.The award will

be presented byTia C Jones, Lord

Lieutenant of Powys, later this year.

The Queen’s Award is the highest

accolade for volunteer groups

in Britain, and considered the

equivalent of an individual MBE.

service. RANG’s crowd-funding

appeal (RMFeb) enabled

acquisition of 28 tonnes of ex-MoD

Eastriggs rail which was delivered

on April 9.The initial railway is

about 190 metres long, running

from the depot to a temporary

platform.Track should be

extended to the line’s lower station

by January 2020.

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