HUNSLET 0-4-0ST Maid Marian briefly visited the Ffestiniog Railway from its Bala Lake Railway base, to participate in working a special train on May 20 with Hunslet 0-4-0ST Britomart (carrying a ‘Happy birthday Paul’ headboard) and 2-4-0STT Blanche to celebrate Paul Towers’ 90th birthday.
Paul Towers is a well known railway modeller, at one time being editor of Model Railway News magazine, and a long-time Maid Marian Fund shareholder. The visit, birthday and special train coincided with a May 20/21 Model Railway Workshop event in the Gweithdy at Minffordd station.
RESTORED FOWLER SURPRISE: The star attraction of Statfold Barn Railway’s June 10/11 Summer Spectacle of Steam weekend was a visit by privately owned Fowler 0-4-2T 15513/1920 which was appearing in public for the first time in Britain. This loco was built for the Sena Sugar Estates in Mozambique to 50cm gauge for the Mopeia mill. It was later converted to 2ft gauge when moved to the Morromeu and then Luabo mills. Owned by Jonathan Whitehead, the loco was one of the sizeable batch brought to the UK from Mozambique in 2000.
PETER JOHNSON