A narrow gauge steam locomotive from Austria is to go on hire to the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway (WLLR) for two years. The Zillertalbahn’s newly overhauled U-class 0-6-2T No. 2 Zillertal is expected to star in the mid Wales 2ft 6in gauge line’s August 30-September 1 steam gala. The

DORSET’S Swanage Railway has launched a £350,000 appeal to return London & South Western Railway (LSWR) ‘T3’ 4-4-0 No. 563 to full working order. The 563 Locomotive Group, under the umbrella of the Swanage Railway Trust, hopes to raise the money in a suitable time window to allow the 1893-built former

THE Railway Preservation Society of Ireland has launched a £120,000 appeal to complete the restoration of its semi-overhauled flagship Great Northern Railway (Ireland) ‘S’ class No. 171 Slieve Gullion. The popular 4-4-0 last steamed in July 2002, and in early 2014 it crossed the Irish Sea to undergo a contract overhaul

PLANT: The first four of 10 Trac Rail Transposer rail handling machines have been delivered to McCulloch Rail by Unipart Rail, seven months after the order. The TRT was developed by McCulloch Rail and manufactured by Unipart Rail in Crewe. It is designed to significantly reduce the time taken to handle

A FOURTEEN-coach train hauled by a pair of Collett ‘Manor’ 4-6-0s was the undoubted highlight of the West Somerset Railway’s 40th Anniversary gala on June 8-9. The event celebrated four decades since the ‘Wizzer’ returned steam to Bishops Lydeard on June 9, 1979, and was a strong illustration that the

THE Great Western Society’s re-creation of a Churchward ‘Saint’ 4-6-0 – No. 2999 Lady of Legend – is officially complete. The milestone has been achieved 45 years after donor locomotive No. 4942 Maindy Hall was acquired from Barry Scrapyard in 1974. The ‘Saint’ made its public debut at Didcot, albeit cold and

Running through some of the best scenery North Yorkshire offers, the Wensleydale Railway is a relative newcomer to the heritage and tourist railway sector. Graeme Pickering finds out more about its growth and expansion plans. A train ride is undoubtedly the main highlight of a trip to a heritage line,

KAZAKHSTAN: In co-operation with national railway KTZ, the KazElektroPrivod equally-owned joint venture of Alstom and SOP Trade has completed a six-month test of a P80 point machine on a turnout designed by Prommashkomplekt and installed at Shiderty station. The locally-manufactured P80 has a design life of 20 years and is suitable

RUSSIA: United Wagon Co’s TikhvinChemMash plant is supplying fertiliser producer PhosAgro’s Apatit business with 87 chemical wagons with stainless steel tanks. The Type 15-6900-01 design has 25 tonne axleload bogies and a capacity of 54·5 m3 or 76·5 tonnes, up to 8·5 tonnes more than older designs. The stainless steel tanks

SWITZERLAND: A pre-series batch of five Alstom Prima H4 shunting locomotives has now been delivered to SBB for a year of in-service trials.Designated Aem940 by SBB, the locomotives will be used mainly at marshalling yards and for engineering possessions. In line with SBB’s fleet rationalisation efforts, the four-axle loco is