Might be rationalisation of back office?

31 of 50 previously promised Access for All schemes to progress while others mothballed

Anonymous donor's £200,000 to restore famous loco

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The locomotive during filming of The Railway Children film which took place in various locations, including Haworth

An anonymous donor has given £200,000 towards the restoration of a famous locomotive that appeared in The Railway Children.

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) will rebuild steam engine No 5775 after receiving the financial gift.

It is best known for its appearance in the classic 1970 film, which starred Jenny Agutter, Bernard Cribbins and Lionel Jeffries. The locomotive was built in 1929 at the Great Western Railway's Swindon Works but has been out of service for around 25 years.

Fran Hartley, KWVR's co-leader of the restoration project, said the donation had transformed the timetable for the work. She said: "We are incredibly grateful for this generosity. It has allowed us to begin restoring a locomotive that means so much to the railway and to the public. Our volunteers are now making steady progress and bringing this remarkable engine back to life."

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Fran Hartley is co-leader of the KWVR restoration project

No 5775, a six-wheeled pannier tank engine, operated across south Wales on Great Western Railway routes before being withdrawn by British Railways in 1963.

It was sold to London Transport where it became L89 and worked on engineering and maintenance trains across the capital. In 1970 the engine was saved for preservation and moved to the KWVR.

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The No 5775 steam engine has not steamed since 1999 and is now in parts

It was repainted in the fictional livery of the Great Northern and Southern Railway for its film role. The locomotive was withdrawn from service in 1999 in need of a major overhaul and spent many years in storage before returning to the charity's Haworth base for assessment.

Earlier this week the first tranche of a £5m pot of government money to upgrade the KWVR was released by Bradford Council, which administers the funding. The original funding was announced as part of a £19.8m Levelling Up deal for Keighley in 2023.

The charity's chairman, Matt Stroh, said: "We've worked closely with the team at Bradford Council and this is a great way to start the new year. We are delighted to be moving forward with these transformative plans. It will serve as the foundation for securing further investment, driving tourism, creating local jobs, and enhancing community pride."

The £50,000 released will pay for a feasibility study, including the appointment of a project manager, covering infrastructure upgrades, signalling improvements, track restoration, and facility enhancements.

It was posted elsewhere last night by somebody inside GWR that Max 4 car trains can visit Paignton due to signalling constraints following the derailment.
Cross country only use 4 car to Paignton, that is why GWR Iet are the only ones that don’t use the north crossover. They’re the only booked trains longer than 4 car.

Thanks to this thread I discover I'm hazy about where the national rail system ends in that part of the world and where the heritage rail begins.

Also, not entirely convinced that the national rail system should reconcile to having Paignton as the terminus of that line - there should at the least be an appropriate scale park and ride at Churston. Oh, & shared use for the Brixham branch trackbed as far as the edge of Brixham deserves priority funds at a national level.

Mark

PS Ah, something stirs: https://brixhamrailwaytrail.org.uk/

It was posted elsewhere last night by somebody inside GWR that Max 4 car trains can visit Paignton due to signalling constraints following the derailment.
Cross country only use 4 car to Paignton, that is why GWR Iet are the only ones that don’t use the north crossover. They’re the only booked trains longer than 4 car.

175007 out in public use today on 2C49 12.42 Plymouth - Penzance and 2P24 15.15 Penzance - Plymouth

Thanks to this thread I discover I'm hazy about where the national rail system ends in that part of the world and where the heritage rail begins.

If it's south of Sands Road level crossing then it should not affect the length of train to four cars. Except for GWR IET's most trains including Cross Country use  a shunt move via the north crossover to get from platform 1 to 2.

If is a problem for 9 car trains they would probably be diverted to Plymouth to reverse or kept at Newton Abbot for a an hour and half. Been done before.

(TfL are blaming an OLHE problem, could quite conceivably be both I guess given the state of the infrastructure)

If it's south of Sands Road level crossing then it should not affect the length of train to four cars. Except for GWR IET's most trains including Cross Country use  a shunt move via the north crossover to get from platform 1 to 2.

If is a problem for 9 car trains they would probably be diverted to Plymouth to reverse or kept at Newton Abbot for a an hour and half. Been done before.

So long will it take to sort that out?

Nothing from Wolverton in the past two hours. Maybe they have gone to get some clear cello tape. Perhaps the tide is in at Dawlish when the train is due?

175001 (paired with 009), the only unit that can run in public traffic, was terminated on its training run at Liskeard as the windscreen spontaneously cracked in 2 places.