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Friends of The West Highland Lines Journal – ‘West Highland News Plus’ The featured image for this article shows the Jacobite arriving at Mallaig Railway Station, © Mary & Angus Hogg and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [18] In the bookshop at Wemyss Bay Railway Station in May 2026, I picked up the Spring 2026 issue of West Highland News Plus which is the magazine of the friends of The West Highland Lines. It reminded me that 2026 is the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Mallaig Extension on 1st April 1901. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/26/friends-of-the-west-highland-lines-journal-west-highland-news-plus/

Corrour Station is near Loch Ossian on the Corrour Estate. It is the highest mainline railway station in the United Kingdom at an elevation of 1,340 feet (410 m) above sea level. It is located between Rannoch and Tulloch, and is sited 71 miles 54 chains (115.3 km) from Craigendoran Junction, near Helensburgh. In the 21st century, ScotRail manages the station and provides the most services, along with Caledonian Sleeper. [2] The featured image for this article is from a video of steam at work on Rannoch Moor not far from Corrour. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/26/corrour-railway-station/

The Edaville Railroad, South Carver, Massachusetts, again. … The featured image for this article is Monson Railroad No. 4 on an Edaville Railroad works train in 1950, © Public Domain. [2: p93] In January 2026, I was reading an early copy of The Railway Magazine and wrote an article about the Edaville Railroad which can be found above. [1] In January 2026, I had not really cottoned-on to the significance of the Edaville Railroad as a pioneer in the field of preservation. We all recognise the Talyllyn Railway as the first railway in the world to be preserved. But the Edaville Railroad predates the date in 1951 when volunteers began running the Talyllyn. The Edaville Railroad opened in 1947. It was not a ‘preserved’ railway, but it still has a claim to being the first heritage railway. It was a 2ft-gauge railway, built by an enthusiast on a green field site to run historic stock. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/18/the-edaville-railroad-south-carver-massachusetts-again/

Ronachan Point, Kintyre – Limestone Tramway Ronachan Point, located on the Kintyre peninsula, features remnants of a very short industrial limestone quarry and a 19th-century tramway used to transport materials to a nearby slipway. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/17/ronachan-point-kintyre-limestone-tramway/

The Guardian Lifestyle Travel – 23rd May 2026 – Part 5 – Over Land & Sea: Magical Views and Sea-Hugging Routes on Europe’s Best Coastal Train Lines – Part A – Scotland, Ireland and Germany The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the fifth part of a look at those pages. The featured image for this article is a view looking Southeast towards the buffers at Kyle of Lochalsh Railway Station and across the Kyle to Skye in 1939, the ferry to Kyleakin is off scene to the right. A train is leaving for Dingwall and Inverness, managed by an ex-Highland 4-6-0 locomotive, © Walter Dendy and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [14] Nicky Gardner, lead co-author of the guidebook ‘Europe by Rail’, has championed slow travel across the continent’s most scenic routes. Her writings highlight sea-hugging railways where travellers can take in spectacular coastal panoramas, deep fjords, and dramatic cliffs right from the carriage window. The short Guardian article featuring a few such routes was written by her and is directly quoted here. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/10/the-guardian-lifestyle-travel-23rd-may-2026-part-5-over-land-sea-magical-views-and-sea-hugging-routes-on-europes-best-coastal-train-lines/

I saw the featured image in the article in a photo book compiled by Alton Douglas for Beacon Radio in 1987, ‘Memories of the Wrekin and Beyond’. It shows Lilleshall Estate’s 2ft-gauge railway in action in 1933. [1: p47] The Lilleshall Estate in Shropshire featured a historic 2-foot gauge miniature railway that operated from 1928 until the onset of World War II. Built to entertain tourists, the line used unique petrol-powered, steam-outline locomotives manufactured by E.E. Baguley Ltd. Opened in 1928 and closed in 1939. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/14/lilleshall-abbey-woodland-railway/

Locomotives of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) – 1920 I have just been given a small pamphlet style paperback book compiled and published in June 1920 by W.G. Tilling. The featured image for this article comes from the frontispiece of Tilling’s book. It is a picture of the Class L 4-6-4T superheated large tank locomotive ‘Charles C. Macrae’. [1] Tilling’s forward to the book states: “For many years particulars of the locomotives running on our railway lines were difficult to obtain, but the Great Western Railway Company a year or two back broke through the usual official reticence by publishing a list of all their named engines. This was doubtless done to interest the general public in that railway, and I believe has proved a successful advertisement. “Unofficial lists have also been published of the engines of the London and North Western Railway and a few of the smaller lines. Following these examples, I am prompted to deal with the locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway." http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/13/locomotives-of-the-london-brighton-south-coast-railway-lbscr-1920/

Railways of Tanzania – Part 7 – The Central Line – An Introductory History and the Length of Line from Dar-es-Salaam to Mikese The featured image for this article is a photograph of East African Railways (EAR) Class 30 steam locomotive No. 3019 ‘Nyamwezi’ at Tabora depot on the Central Line, Tanzania in 1968. Class 30 locomotives were oil-burning 2-8-4 steam locomotives. Built in the 1950s by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow, the 26 engines in the Class were named after indigenous tribes across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika (now Tanzania). They were known as the ‘Tribal Class’ of locomotives, (c) Basil Roberts and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [44] The line from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma. was known during the German Protectorate as the Mittelland Bahn. Under British colonial control it was the Central Line. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/04/railways-of-tanzania-part-7-the-central-line-an-introductory-history-and-the-length-of-line-from-dar-es-salaam-to/

The Railways of West Cumberland – Part 2 The featured image for this article is a photograph taken by Walter Dendy of a football excursion returning from Egremont to Carlisle passing through Distington Railway Station behind ex-LMS Class ‘4F’ Locomotive No. 44461 in 1951. The line to the left is to Rowrah and Kelton Fell line, © W. Dendy and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [6] This article is based around the potted history of West Cumberland’s railways written by C. A. Knight and included in his article in The Railway Magazine of November 1954. [1] Knight explains that the growing importance of Carlisle as a railway centre, sitting as it did on the natural route between England and Scotland and already the terminus of existing and proposed railways. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/31/the-railways-of-west-cumberland-part-2/

The Guardian Lifestyle Travel – Saturday 23rd May 2026 – Part 4 – Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys – Part B The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the fourth part of a look at those pages and includes more reader’s recommendations of journeys by train. It includes a few more uploaded by the Guardian online. The featured image for this article is a photograph of Le Petit Train Jaune which runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour de Carol/Enveitg in the Pyrenees, © A1AA1A and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [33] 4. Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys – Part B F. Vintage Locomotives in Tuscany. G. Alpine beauty on the Montreux to Interlaken line. H. Slow travel at its best: Belgrade to Bar. I. Through Italy’s Apennines to Rome from the Adriatic. J. Best way to See the Pyrenees? On a Little Yellow Train! http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/28/the-guardian-lifestyle-travel-saturday-23rd-may-2026-part-4-readers-favourite-railway-journeys-part-b/

The Guardian Lifestyle Travel – Saturday 23rd May 2026 – Part 3 – Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys – Part A The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the third part of a look at those pages and focuses on some reader’s recommendations of journeys by train. It includes a few more uploaded by the Guardian online. The featured image for this article is a Flexity Outlook Eurotram at Trindade station in Porto, Portugal, © Cornelius Kibelka and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [3] 3. Readers’ Favourite Railway Journeys A. A Dramatic Metro Line in Porto B. Fjords and Waterfalls in Norway C. An Electric Gem in Germany D. The Swiss Watchmakers’ Line E. Charmed by the Vienna to Zagreb train http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/27/the-guardian-lifestyle-travel-saturday-23rd-may-2026-part-3-readers-favourite-railway-journeys-part-a/

The Guardian Lifestyle Travel - Saturday 23rd May 2026 Part 2 – Nice to Tende The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the second part of a look at those pages. … The featured image for this article is the Train des Merveilles (Train of Wonders), a scenic tourist train that runs between Nicye, France, and Tende, France. Services also run on to Cuneo. The train travels through the Roya Valley, through rugged gorges, picturesque villages, and numerous tunnels. The line is a feat of engineering, featuring hundreds of bridges and tunnels to traverse the steep terrain of Les Alpes Maritime. The viaduct shown in the featured image is the Viaduc de l’Erbossiera, a unique structure designed to run longitudinally through a river gorge having a singular upturned ‘U’-shaped pier (just off the left of the photograph), © Monaco Tribune, (although used on a significant number of different webpages). [14] 2. France’s Wonder Train My wife and I stay regularly in Nice or in Les Alpes Maritime and have often travelled on the line between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Le Train des Merveilles. A particular favourite location to stay has been the perched village of Saorge which overlooks a section of the line. In recent years, the valley of La Roya has experienced devastating flooding. In October 2023, Storm Alex hit the valleys of the Royal and the Vesubie causing catastrophic damage. The Institut Géographique National published excellent interactive maps showing the Roya and Vésubie valleys before and after Alex. These can be found here. [2] http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/24/the-guardian-lifestyle-travel-saturday-23rd-may-2026-part-2-nice-to-tende/

[b]Part 1 – Naples[/b] The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). The featured image for this short article is a photograph of a EAV (Ente Autonomo Volturno)-owned Circumvesuviana train at Napoli Garibaldi station, © Falk2 and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [b]1. Time Travel on the Naples Line[/b] The first of the articles, written by Sophia Seymour picks up on a new film about the region around Naples which “reveals rarely visited villas, seismic landscapes and a ‘civilisation buried mid-sentence’ – all accessible by train.” [1: p72] http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/24/the-guardian-lifestyle-travel-saturday-23rd-may-2026-part-1-naples/

The Modern Tramway – December 1951 – The Bratislava Tramways The featured image for this article is a vintage postcard featuring a tram crossing Hurbanovo námestie in Bratislava, © Public Domain. [7] The Modern Tramway carried a short article by Gerald Druce about Bratislava’s Tramways as he encountered them at the beginning of the 1950s. [1] This series of photographs appear on a single page in the journal and are of relatively low definition. [1: p264] http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/23/the-modern-tramway-december-1951-the-bratislava-tramways/

The Modern Tramway – June 1951 – Reinstatement of a Street Tramway Route in Helsinki The featured image for this article is the pikkuruotsalainen (“Little Swede”) tram, built by ASEA in Sweden. Together with its open summer trailer, they became a beloved pair on city tracks. The breezy trailers were especially popular on hot days, so much so that passengers sometimes clung to the running boards or jumped off before the tram had fully stopped. Though open trailers were meant only for summer use, wartime shortages forced them into winter service under tarpaulins. Their final flourish came during the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, when crowds crammed aboard one last time before the trailers disappeared from daily traffic, © Helsinki City Museum, Public Domain. [19] A short letter from Kaj Arnold Larsen, Engineer of Helsinki Tramways was published in The Modern Tramway in June 1951. [1] It seems that the editors of The Modern Tramway were delighted when examples that bucked the seemingly overwhelming trend of closures could be cited. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/22/the-modern-tramway-june-1951-reinstatement-of-a-street-tramway-route-in-helsinki/

The Modern Tramway May 1952 – Metrovick Electrical Equipment This short article follows on from an earlier article about the adverts placed in the 1951 issues of The Modern Tramway. The featured image for this article shows Allan Tram No. 107 at work on the streets of Rotterdam, © Voogd075 and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [6] Metropolitan-Vickers, – Metrovick – was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, electronics and railway traction equipment. Metrovick holds a place in history as the builders of the first commercial transistor computer, the Metrovick 950, and the first British axial-flow jet engine, the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2. Its factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, was for most of the 20th century one of the biggest and most important heavy engineering facilities in Britain and the world. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/21/the-modern-tramway-may-1952-metrovick-electrical-equipment/

[b]The Modern Tramway 1951 – Some Advertising[/b] This short article shows a number of intriguing advertisements from The Modern Tramway magazine in 1951. There were only a few different UK companies in the early 1950s who took out advertisements in The Modern Tramway. These advertisements are of interest for the wider perspective on the industry that they provide. … http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/20/the-modern-tramway-1951-some-advertising/

The Modern Tramway – December 1951 – The New German Standard Tramcar The featured image for this article shows the prototype Standard Tramcar on the streets of Hanover, © Streek en Stadsvervoer, Public Domain. [1: p280] During the 1950s, German trams transitioned from older, war-damaged wooden vehicles to new, streamlined standard designs that supported the postwar Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle). Standard designs emerged in both East and West Germany, heavily influencing urban transit. In West Germany, operators sought to replace aging fleets with standardized models to streamline manufacturing and repairs http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/20/the-modern-tramway-december-1951-the-new-german-standard-tramcar/

The Modern Tramway – July 1951 – Pittsburgh: An American Tramway Stronghold The Modern Tramway of July 1951 included an article by A. A. Jackson about the tramways of Pittsburgh. The featured image for this article is a vintage Presidents’ Conference Committee (P.C.C.) tramcar- No. 1604. It is from the 1600 series of P.C.C. cars, operated by Pittsburgh Railways and is pictured on Line 49 bound for Beltzhoover. This photograph was taken during the 1970s, © Voogd075 and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). Pittsburgh is situated at the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers converge to become the River Ohio, historically it is the most important Iron and Steel Centre in the United States. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/19/the-modern-tramway-july-1951-pittsburgh-an-american-tramway-stronghold/

The Modern Tramway – February 1951 – The Modernisation of Amsterdam Tram No. 12 In 1939, Amsterdam acquired twelve 2-axle motor cars from the closing electric city tram network in Utrecht (Gemeentetram Utrecht – GTU). These trams, built by Werkspoor in 1927, were introduced to the Amsterdam network and later renumbered, serving as the only secondhand motor cars purchased by the Amsterdam city transport service. These twelve cars (originally numbered 67-78 in Utrecht) were subsequently renumbered 1–12 in Amsterdam. The purchase helped Amsterdam boost its fleet for expansion, particularly as new tracks were being laid in Amsterdam-Oost and around the new Amstel station (opened in Oct 1939). http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/18/the-modern-tramway-february-1951-the-modernisation-of-amsterdam-tram-no-12/

The Modern Tramway – July 1951 – The Tramways of Clermont-Ferrand The Modern Tramway of July 1951 included an article by Peter J. Jacques about the tramways of Clermont-Ferrand. The featured image for this article is a photograph of one of Clermont-Ferrand’s modern trams. The initial fleet was 26 trains, but in September 2019, the fleet was expanded to 30 trains. Every STE 4 model consists of 4 cars, for a length of 32 metres (105 ft), © William Crochot and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/18/the-modern-tramway-july-1951-the-tramways-of-clermont-ferrand/

The Modern Tramway – May 1951 – A Tram-Bus Experiment in Switzerland The featured image for this article is a Forchbahn Bt: 104 + Be 4/4 in service in 1982. These tramcars were built in the 1950s after the experiment described below, © Spoorjan and licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). One of the points regularly made by the editors of The Modern Tramway is that given a proper chance to shine modern electric trams are better than internal combustion engined buses. So it must have come as something of a relief to hear, in 1951, that testing had taken place in Switzerland which seems to have supported the argument that the closure of tramway networks would ultimately prove to be a false economy. … http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/16/the-modern-tramway-may-1951-a-tram-bus-experiment-in-switzerland/

The Modern Tramway – May 1951 – The Tramways of Udine, Italy – Part 1 The Modern Tramway of May 1951 included a short article by Peter J. Jacques about the Tramways of Udine and District. [1] The featured image for this article is a photograph of Sante Gerussi probably dating from the early 1920s. The tram is No. 21 serving on the Udine-Tricesimo-Tarcento line. Originally these trams were painted white but were repainted when the management was transferred from the Società friulana di Elettricità to the Società anonima Tranvie del Friuli. The bus in the image may be the one that connected Tricesimo with Buja, © Public Domain. http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/16/the-modern-tramway-may-1951-the-tramways-of-udine-italy-part-1/

The Modern Tramway – April 1951 – The Tramways of Auckland The April 1951 issue of The Modern Tramway featured an article about the Tramways of Auckland, New Zealand. The featured image for this article shows a series of older trams on Lower Queen Street, Auckland. [1: p85] http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/15/the-modern-tramway-april-1951-the-tramways-of-auckland/

The Modern Tramway – March 1951 – Tramways in Valencia Among other items of international news in the March 1951 issue of The Modern Tramway, was a short series of notes culled from the Spanish magazine, ‘Ferrocarriles y Tranvias’ The featured image for this article shows two different trams operating on the modern Tramway network in Valencia: a Series 3800 on the right and a Series 4200 on the left. The Modern Tramway reported: “A recent issue of the Spanish monthly ‘Ferrocarriles y Tranvias’ contains interesting news from the town of Valencia. The Compañia de Tranvias y Ferrocarriles de Valencia [CTFV], which operates about 50 route miles of metre gauge tramways and some electric railways, has recently acquired certain Italian patents relating to articulated tramcars, and a start has been made in rebuilding the medium-age 4-wheel tramcars to articulated units with a suspended central unit, as in Rome and Milan. The two 4-wheel cars and the central section form a unit capable of transporting 120 who enter by the rear platform and leave by the centre or front: all entrances/exits are provided with power-operated folding doors, worked by the driver and conductor from their respective seats. These unidirectional articulated sets are numbered from 501 upwards, and are intended for service on certain town routes such as the recently extended Ruzafa-Mislata line, where the curves and restricted clearances in the city centre prevent the use of the modern 400-class bogie cars. These also deserve mention: they have been constructed locally, some of them since 1946, and are single-ended, with doors on one side only: some, however, have the doors on the left, ie. off-side, and others on the right, as usual on the Continent. The explanation is that the former batch of cars are used on Valencia’s circular route No. 5, which is provided throughout with central loading islands placed between the tracks. We believe this is the only case of its kind; Brussels has some centre islands, as did Manchester at one point, but in these cases the cars are (or were) running on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, against the traffic whereas the Valencia cars are on their correct side of the road.” [1: p66-67] http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/14/the-modern-tramway-march-1951-tramways-in-valencia/