First steam runs take place at Wigan’s Haigh Hall for 29 years

STEAM returned to Haigh Hall Miniature Railway after an absence of 29 years on October 29/30. The special event weekend was arranged around a visit to the line by a 2-8-0 tender loco completed as LNER No. 6284, a quarterscale model of an ex-ROD 04 which first ran at the Cleethorpes Coast Miniature Railway following completion in March 2009. The guest loco provided 15-minute steam-hauled rides around the grounds of Haigh Country Park in Greater Manchester. The 15in gauge Haigh Hall line originally opened in July 1986. Following changes in operators, the one-mile circuit officially reopened on April 20, 2014, running over largely the original track layout. Operations are normally handled by resident 1992 Alan Keef-built steam outline 0-6-2DH Helen. The railway also has Bo-Bo Railcar KD-1, previously known as the Rapido Railcar, which was originally part of a four-car unit, the three other carriages having been deemed beyond repair and stripped of components to return KD-1 to operation as a locomotive.