Southwold Railway Trust’s (SRT) replica 3ft gauge Southwold Railway Sharp, Stewart 2-4-0T No. 3 Blyth pictured in steam for the first time on March 7. The loco was constructed by North Bay Railway Engineering Services and moved to a yard on the outskirts of Darlington where it could be steamed and tested on rollers. It was due to receive an official boiler test in mid-March before being moved to SRT’s SteamWorks site.
DAVID HUMHPREYS/NBRES
THE first dates pencilled in for events related to celebrating the 2023 centenary of the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) have been announced as July 30/31, with the operation of heritage trains between Dinas and Rhyd Ddu, (originally known as South Snowdon). This will mark the centenary of that section reopening as part of the WHR.
The main event to celebrate the WHR opening through to Porthmadog will be over June 23-25, 2023. This will be centred on the southern end of the WHR and involve Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri, together with the Welsh Highland Railway Heritage Group and featuring some of the original locomotives which operated on the line.