SINGLE LINES
■ HAYLING Light Railway was unable to operate passenger trains on November 25-27 due to significant flooding. Parts of the Heatherslaw Light Railway’s track was under water on November 18 following several days of heavy rain, but the railway had closed following its main season and moved all rolling stock away from the danger zone in anticipation of flooding. Christmas trains were not expected to be affected.
■ DONATION of safety glass for the drop lights by local company Piper Windows has boosted Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway’s (LCLR) restoration of its ex-Ashover Railway carriage No. 1. The carriage, bought in 1961, ran at LCLR’s original Humberston line which closed in 1985 but has been out of service for 37 years, never having run at LCLR’s Skegness Water Leisure Park line. Extensive other work is required to return the carriage to traffic.
■ IN MID-November the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway commenced repainting its ‘Gladstone Car’ into overall red, as the carriage was when the Welsh Highland Railway opened in 1923. Latterly it has been cream above the waist line, red below. Before the repainting started a new roof covering was fitted.
■ ON November 11 Steeple Grange Light Railway (SGLR) completed relaying and ballasting the 185m length of main line damaged by a nearby burst water main in early 2022. This six-week project was a significant undertaking for the volunteer team at the 18in gauge line.
■ THE first two panels of (2ft 3ins gauge) track were laid at Chirk station by the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust on November 4 as the first step towards revival of the railway which closed in 1935.
■ THE boiler of West Lancashire Light Railway’s Kerr Stuart ‘Joffre’ 0-60T+WT Joffre (2405/1915), withdrawn in August 2021 on expiry of its boiler ticket, has been sent to Johnson’s of Banks for refurbishment.
■ THE boiler of Richmond Light Railway’s Hunslet 0-40ST Sybil was lifted in early November as the ex-Pen-yrOrsedd loco was stripped down for a 10-year overhaul.
■ LAPPA Valley (which centres on a 15in gauge railway) was named Large Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Cornwall Tourism Awards on November 17.