26 NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL: WHEN SHILDON CAME TO PICKERING! - When the much publicised Rail 2000 Millennium Cavalcade of Steam to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the opening of the world's first steam passenger-carrying railway, the Stockton & Darlington, was cancelled through abysmal ticket sales. Britain's most popular heritage line, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, sepped in to fill the breach and held its own Rail 175 gala as a replacement for the Shildon event during October 6-8, Robin Jones reports.

32 NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL: BODMIN TO OKEHAMPTON: A BULLEID BACK ON THE WITHERED ARM! - September 30 saw yet more fresh ground broken in preservation when rebuilt West Country 4-6-2 No. 34016 Bodmin became the first Bulleid Pacific to not only visit Okehampton since the end of Southern Region steam but also penetrate two miles further along the LSWR Withered Arm to Meldon Quarry. And apart from experiencing stunning performances from this superbly-restored engine, passengers on the Mid-Hants Railway's 'Green Train' were able to view the Dartmoor Railway, which now runs its own heritage trains, and has just bought the showpiece Okehampton station from its restorers. Robin Jones was on board for the historic journey.

56 NENE VALLEY RAILWAY: THE PHOTOGRAPHERS' GUIDE - Brian Sharpe dispels many misconceptions about a perceived shortage of photographic opportunities on the Nene Valley Railway with a plethora of stunning pictures of British main line steam in action at location along the line, and with the aid of an Ordnance Survey map shows how youu can get the best out of a trip to Wansford.

66 GREAT CENTRAL: IRONIES OF THE IRON HORSE - The Heritage Lottery Fund has just awarded the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) a grant for refurbishing a 'white elephant' coach built by BR to the continental loading gauge. Yet while the original Great Central was the only trunk route which was purpose-built to accommodate incoming traffic from the continent, it was allowed to wither and die as postwar plans for a Channel Tunnel were being drawn up. To mark the new release of a CMS video Productions film on the GC, Robin Jones looks back at the history of the trunk route and its surviving remnants in preservation, in an article illustrated with paintings by GCR aficionado Richard Piccaver.

72 WELCOME HOME! RUSSELL BACK ON ORIGINAL WELSH HIGHLAND - The reopening of the first rebuilt length of the original Welsh Highland Railway after 39 years of campaigning is a major milestone in railway preservation. It was quickly followed up by the visit of the original line's Hunslet 2-6-2T Russell, runnings its first passenger trains between Dinas and Waunfawr in 64 years. Barrie Hughes reports.

84 CARRIAGE & WAGON DEPARTMENT: DAY OF THE COACH RESTORER - Hugh Madgin attended the recent carriage restorer's convention organised by Stately Trains operator Stephen Middleton at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.