PASSENGERS USE HAYLES ABBEY FOR FIRST TIME IN NEARLY 60 YEARS

A GWR ‘14XX’ 0-4-2T and autocoach called at Hayles Abbey Halt for the first time in 57 years on June 5, as the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway officially opened preservation’s newest station. Completed in less than 12 months by a group of the railway’s volunteers, the new Hayles Abbey Halt is a faithful representation (albeit with a longer platform) of the original station, which closed in 1960. Glyn Cornish, chairman of the GWSR’s charitable trust, said: “It looks as if it has always been there because it closely follows the appearance of the original. It is complete with a corrugated iron waiting shelter identical to that which once stood on the site. It has a gravelled platform surface and even has oil lamp standards.” The project has been carried out thanks to a £12,000 grant from the trust, as well as a grant of £2,500 from the Cotswold Conservation Board. Passenger services on the GWSR called at the halt by request from June 6.

MALCOLM RANIERI One of the stars at the GWSR’s recent ‘Cotswold Festival of Steam’ gala, Collett ‘14XX’ No. 1450 hauls an authentic autotrain to the opening of the new Hayles Abbey Halt on June 5.