Stimulated by the imminent return to steam of Flying Scotsman, we GWR types really cannot resist wondering how good this most expensively refurbed machine will be. It should be very good, especially in terms of the money spent etc etc… but my basic question is: is this latest incarnation of Gresley’s classic design as big […]
The Friends of Ashburton Station are ploughing on with huge determination in their attempts to both slow down and hopefully to reverse the Dartmoor National Park Authority decision to destroy the last remaining Brunel branch terminus for a few shops, housing and car parking. They have had another success in that they have been able […]
Heritage Railway magazine reports that the issues over the proposed station building at Broadway have been resolved so perhaps it is ok to poke my head above the parapet just once more and make a few general comments about what has happened from the point of view of the preservation movement as a whole. Some […]
The DNPA did what we asked! They deferred making a decision on what they call the ‘Chuley Road Masterplan’…but only until 7th July. This plan, that will save or kill, once and for all, the Brunel gem that is Ashburton station, is in their hands so we must keep up the pressure to help them […]
The Dartmoor National Park Authority has now ‘responded’ to its consultation process regarding the ‘Masterplan’ for Ashburton Station – if that is the word to describe keeping your plan pretty much as it was all along with a very minor and completely inadequate concession to supporters of railway heritage. The ‘Option 2′ that is being […]
How should Broadway station be rebuilt? The present plans, developed by the GWSR plc Board, contain a number of modern construction methods while opponents of the plans want to see the station built much closer to the original authentic GWR specification. Vote below and make your opinion known NOW! You may make up to 3 […]
I have been a bit reluctant to enter the debate about the pros and cons of the proposed design for the recreated Broadway station. But now that it has hit the columns of Steam railway magazine this month, I feel I can contribute to what is emerging as a pretty fierce fight between commercial expediency […]
This is a fascinating video of a lecture given to the Society of Antiquarians of London by William Filmer-Sankey, an architectural historian and archaeologist with Alan Baxter & Associates LLP, a multidisciplinary design consultancy. His company has been contracted to safeguard the heritage of Brunel’s railway as electrification takes place. The electrification of the Great […]
News that Pete Waterman is putting the million or so that he is getting from his auction of his collection of large scale models into overhauling 5224, 5553 and the ‘Super D’ probably makes good sense for him but it’s more bad news for 7027 Thornbury Castle. The two GWR tanks are very useful to […]
There are simpler railways to be involved in than the GWSR, otherwise known as the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway For a start it does not go to Warwickshire. In fact it will only just get out of Gloucestershire into Worcestershire when the rails reach Broadway, as they will in a year or so. In the […]