The history and the remarkable rebuilding of the former section of the Great Western Railway from Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse by the volunteer-led Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway has been well documented.
As a born and bred Prestonian, young David took the opportunity to go train spotting at Preston station, within sight and sound of the much-lamented Southport branch line.
1981 a rusty, beat-up locomotive was saved from Woodhams’ Scrapyard in Barry. The engine in question was the Great Western Railway Modified Hall Class No. 7903 Foremarke Hall.
When most people think about the birth of the steam locomotive, they think of Robert Stephenson’s famous Rocket – but that engine followed more than 20 years of development during the late Georgian era.
The life and work of an ingenious engineer, Colonel Stephens, who inspired Britain’s preserved railway sector is celebrated in a new publication written by Heritage Railway magazine editor Robin Jones.
