Jubilation after despair!

This issue of Railways Illustrated profiles two heritage organisations that have effectively been reborn after traumatic periods in their respective histories. Last month I travelled to the Llangollen Railway in North Wales – the first time I had visited the heritage line for a number of years. One of my last visits there was when one of the huge ‘Steal, Steam & Stars’ events was taking place, with a mouth-watering selection of steam locomotives hauling services along the line throughout.

I also attended a couple of diesel events at Llangollen in the days when the railway boasted a large home fleet of locomotives, and those special events always seemed popular and well attended.

However, the Llangollen Railway of 2021 is a vastly different heritage railway to how it was back then. Physically, the railway is just as attractive as always, passing through an area of outstanding natural beauty. But following the much-publicised collapse of Llangollen Railway PLC into receivership earlier this year, the Llangollen Railway of today is a much slimmed down version of its former self. Thankfully, the railway has managed to emerge from the shadows and has now been reopened – under new management! We should be thankful for the determination of the volunteers who weren’t willing to give up and walk away when, arguably, that would have been the easiest thing to do. Had it not been for the efforts of the supporting Llangollen Railway Trust (LRT), this popular heritage line could have closed and been lost forever.

While it is clear that many mistakes were made in the running of the now-defunct PLC, green shoots have emerged from the scorched earth. Services have now begun again under the auspices of the LRT, and the Llangollen Railway has effectively been reborn. Many locomotives, coaches and items of plant have departed, but at least the line has survived. There are clearly lessons for other heritage lines to observe from the plight of the North Wales heritage railway, but I wish the LRT, its staff and its volunteers every success in rebuilding the reputation of this picturesque line. It would have been a tragedy had it been lost. Following on from the feature in the last issue of Railways Illustrated about the future use of the remaining HST fleet, in this issue we profile the history and work of the 125 Group, which has quickly established itself as one of our leading modern traction preservation groups. But, like Llangollen, it hasn’t always been plain sailing. Custodians of the National Railway Museum’s prototype HST power car, 41001, which the group restored to working order between 2011 and 2014, it was dealt a bitter blow almost exactly two years ago when it was announced that 41001 was being recalled to the NRM – effectively ending its association with the group that had returned it to operational condition.

Now back on display at Locomotion in Shildon and requiring engine repairs (that were being planned by the 125 Group but had not yet been carried out prior to it being recalled to the NRM), 41001 seems destined to remain a static museum exhibit rather than a roving operational representative of the National Collection.

However, the proactive nature of the 125 Group and the respect it has gained from within the rail industry saw leading railway leasing company Porterbrook respond to the NRM announcement by generously pledging to donate two Class 43 production HST power cars to the 125 Group when they were taken out of service with East Midlands Railway.

Two years on, the 125 Group is now the owner of four Class 43s and a fleet of 13 Mark 3 coaches, including nine HST trailers. The group is also preparing to operate its first railtour using its preserved HST, as all of its vehicles remain registered for running over Network Rail metals. The group has gained a reputation for its can-do attitude, and the speed it has built up its fleet is impressive. Visiting both the Midland Railway – Butterley and the Nottingham Heritage Railway to view their power cars and coaches and to speak to two of the groups’ trustees, it is clear that the 125 Group is a preservation group with a bright and exciting future. I suspect it will be making headlines in Railways Illustrated for many years to come, and the preservation of HST power cars and coaches is welcome, as the fleet has played an important part in the history of our railways. While the introduction of the HSTS wasn’t widely welcomed by many railway enthusiasts when they first entered service in 1976, time has seen attitudes towards them soften and many enthusiasts are now mourning the slow decline of the HST. Often replacing the more traditional locomotive-hauled services, the demise of the Deltics, Peaks and other classes saw many enthusiasts blame the HST for the loss of their favourite locomotive designs on the BR network. While the HST story is far from finished, I do wonder if future generations of railway enthusiasts will mourn the demise of the Hitachi Intercity Express Trains that have replaced them on some of our main Intercity routes in the same way, as their operating days draw to an end many years from now?

Elsewhere in this issue, we pay a visit to a small railway signalling museum that has been established at Lowdham, Nottinghamshire, where villagers have preserved the signalbox that has stood in their community since 1896 but which was closed by Network Rail in 2016. But all is not as it seems, as the signalbox is no longer in its original location and was moved to a new home alongside the privately-owned station building just a few yards from where it had stood for 124 years.

Lowdham Railway Heritage shows that even the smallest of preservation schemes are worthy of attention, and the standard of work done on this relic of 19th Century Midland Railway signalling in such a short time is truly impressive.

A well-known name in the railway photography community is Terry Eyres, who has been a regular at the lineside for many years. For the latest in our popular 10 Pictures feature, Terry presents ten of his favourite images from an extensive collection.

Since taking over as editor of Railways Illustrated three months ago, I have had the biggest reaction by far to 10 Pictures. It is clear that our regular photography-based feature has captured the imagination of many of our readers and we have now had a number of submissions to appear in future issues. To ensure it is fair to all contributors, we are allocating the submissions from the point at which they are received. They will appear in forthcoming issues of the magazine and I will endeavour to inform contributors as to when they can expect to see their selection in print. While the waiting list is growing longer, if you believe that you have 10 outstanding images with a bit of a back-story to them that you would like to showcase in the magazine, please contact me at rieditor@mortons.co.uk and we will try to make it happen in a future issue of the magazine.

As ever, I welcome your comments, contributions, news updates, feedback, suggestions and anything else that you feel may be of interest to other readers. Please do get in touch. I hope you enjoy this issue of Railways Illustrated – it’s certainly been a busy month on the railways – and welcome aboard.