Drawing the line

Richard Bentley, operations manager on the Mid Hants Railway, has been running regular security patrols along the 10-mile track of the Watercress Line in the South Downs National Park over the past seven weeks of lockdown using the 125-tonne Class 47 dieselelectric locomotive James Nightall GC. The railway, like the other 191 heritage lines across the UK, may not reopen for some time because of the current lockdown, giving rise to the risk of unwanted trackside visitors.