Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

Heritage sector must help save use

of coal in face of ‘green’legislation

ByRobin Jones

ANEW reportfromaparliamentary
group has called on the heritage sector
to help securethe futureofc oal.
Thereportfromthe All-Par ty
ParliamentaryGroup on HeritageRail,
titled‘SteamingAhead?’,identifies
concerns about the futureavailability
of coal,drawing heavily on evidence
and input from members of the
HeritageRailway Associ ation (HRA).
Thereportoffers asix-pointplan for
stepstowardsmaintainingcontinuity
of coal availability, andenvironmental
mitigation measures.Furthermore, it
identifies the HRAasakey playerin
implementing itsrecommendations.
Thereportstatesthatthe UK’s
heritagerailways areworth
£400 millionto the national economy,
attracting around 13 million visitors a
year,and provide full-time equivalent
employmentto4000 people.All
of these benefitsto the nation
arecurrently threatened by the
consequences,albei tunintended,of
environmental legislation,requiring
an effectiveend to the burning ofcoal.
‘SteamingAhead?’identifies steam
traction as being one of the biggest
draws forboth rail enthusiasts and
the general public alike.The risks
of scarcitydriving coal prices ever
higher and the potential ultimate
unavailabilityofitr epresents
perhaps the biggest threattos team
traction sinceBritish Railways’

AustrianZillertalbahnengineto

visitWelshpool fortwo years!

ByGareth Evans

ASTEAM locomotivefromAustria isto
go on hiretot heWelshpool&Llanfair
LightRailway(WLLR)forapproximately
twoyears.
TheZille rtalba hn’s newly
overhauled U-class 0-6-2T No.
Zillertalis expectedtostar in the mid
Wales 2ft6in gauge line’s August 30-
September1steam gala.The Krauss-
built locomotiveiss et to be paired
with the WLLR’s former Zillertalbahn
balconycarriagesto form the
‘AustrianTrain’.
The1900- built locomotivewas
expectedtoarrive in th eUKby
the end of July.The WLLR said that
following furthertesting,its hould
enterservic eonregularpassenger
trains laterint he summer.
Thehireofthe U-class will not only
provide anew and majorattraction
forpassengers but alsorelieve
pressureonthe home locomotive

fleet while several key engines are

underoverhaul.

TheWLLR’sown Austrian

locomotive, 0-8-0T No.699.01Sir

Drefaldwyn,built in 1944forthe

German militarybut which spentall

of its pre-preservation lifeinAustria,

is notexpectedback fromoverhaul

until the end of theyear.

Meanwhile,the overhaul of the

WLLR’s BeyerPeacock 0-6-0TThe

Earlis no wunderwayatt he Vale

of RheidolRailway’s Aberystwyth

works. The1902- built locomotive

is expectedback at Llanfair in the

middle of the 2020 season.

TheZille rhireperiod will also

cover aplannedoverhaul of the

WLLR’s popularformer Sierra Leone

Railway Hunslet 2-6-2T No.85, which

it is hoped will startass oon asSir

Drefaldwynis completed.

WLLR general manager Charles

Spencer,who led the hire

negotiations,said: “The WLLR

has alwaysvalue dthe historical

connection with the Zillertalbahn –

and it has beenapleasureworking

with them on preparations.Ithas

also been an ambitionto bring an

iconic U-classto the UK to haul

its former carriages up the steep

ModernisationPlan,

said thereport.

Withoutcoal,the

futureofheritagerail

in the UK–and all it

delivers intermsof

economic benefits,

employment,

education, social

cohesion and

entertainment–

would be ingrave

doubt,its tates.

TheHRA has welcomed‘Steaming

Ahead?’,its chiefexecutiveSteve

Oatessaying:“The APPGreport

highlights the factthatthe true scale

of Britain’s heritagerailway sector

simply isn’t full yappreciated.

Economic importance

“Our membersattrac tmorevisitors than

the UK’s topseven internationaltourist

attractionscombined–places like the

TowerofL ondon,Stonehenge,StP aul’s

Cathedral orWestminsterAbbey. HRA

members operate almost 600 miles of

track ,with 460 preserved andrestored

stations–morethandoublethe number

of NationalTrusthistoric buildingsopen

to the public.

“Itclearlywasn’t the i ntention

of zero-emissions targetsto harm

suchalarge andthriving sector,

and the APPG and the HRAare

working togetherto develop a

practical solution.”

In arecen tHouse ofLordsdebate,

Departmentfor

Digital,Culture,

Media &Sport

(DCMS) Under

SecretaryofState

Lord Ashtonsaid

his department

wasworking

carefullyto

consider how

to achieve a

balancebetween

environmental

and public health protection and

ensuring thatthe UK’s heritagevehicle

industrycontinuesto thriv e.

He confirmed thatDCMS officials

areholding meetings with the

Departmentfor Environment, Food

and RuralAffairs (DEFRA) to discuss

the topic,and reiter ated DEFRA’s

previousconfirmation thatproposals

on domesticcoal burningwould not

preventheritagerailwayscontinuing

to use the fuels they need.

Theparliamentarygroup’s

six-pointplan proposes thatthe

minister’s confirmation is written

into futurestrategy and any

subsequentlegislation.

It calls on therelevantGovernment

departments (DEFRA, DCMS and

Transport)to work with the HRA

and coal suppliers,toe xplo re ways

to co ntinue and fund the long-term

supply ofcoal.

Theplan tasks the HRAwith

encouraging best practiceon

locomotivemaintenanceand

management, in orderto minimise

CO2emissions,and proposes that

heritagerailways explorecarbon

offset strategies,such as solar power

forpremises,treeplanting,oragreen

levyonpassenger tickets.

It encourages pursuit of joint

purchasing and buyinggroup

opportunities facilitatedwith the help

of the HRA, and asks theGovernment

to expediteextension ofworkings

forexisting opencast mines,and to

includealonger transition fromcoal in

Governmentplans.

Perspective

Stev eadded:“It’s possibleto take a

doom and gloomapproach to the

futur eofc oal.The realit yist his: UK

industry, eventodayuses almost 12

milliontonnes ayear. UK heritagerail

only uses 26,000tonnes.

“Among users ofcoal,UKheritage

railways thereforeproduce only avery

smallamountofCO2.We have ways to

furtherreducethose emissions andto

offset those thatcan’t be reduced.

“Westminster andGovernment

understand the challenge that

faces us.The APPGreport’s

recommendations aregoodones.

By working together,wecan meet

thatchallenge.

“We’ve worked closely with APPGto

help shape the plan of action.They’ve

called onus foraction and help–and

that’swhatwe’re heretodo.”

gradients on our line.”

As in previousyears,every

operational steam locomotiveengine

will be in use during the gala.They

will be joinedby traction engines,

steam cars and lorries,amodel

railway exhibition and trade stands.

HeritageRailwayAssociationchief

executiveSteveOates.HRA

0-6-2TNo.2Zillertalis seenat theZillertalbahnduringtestingfollowing

overhaul.JOHNTRAVIS/WLLR

16 Heritagerailway.co.uk indusonwww.facebook.com/heritagerailway

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