EATURES

30 NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL: SILVER JUBILEE FOR MIDLAND RED
The August Bank Holiday weekend will see a three-day gala celebrating 25 years of passenger trains on the Midland Railway-Butterley. In a special feature to mark the occasion, Robin Jones looks at the rags-to-riches story of the venue built on the site of open-cast mines and slagheaps, and its many opportunities for future expansion as a major visitor destination and centre of heritage railway engineering excellence.

38 THE CHANGEOVER YEARS: FOR FASTER TRAINS a€ RETURN TO STEAM!
Enthusiast folklore has it that Gresleya€ s streamlined A4 Pacifics replaced unreliable diesels and allowed the dramatic acceleration of Glasgow to Aberdeen expresses. Sixteen of the engines worked the route but by no means all at once; they never totally monopolised the services but they were undoubtedly the stars a€" until it all ended just 40 years ago.

46 STEAM BACKWATERS AND BYWAYS: THE EASTERN VIEW
The national network was not all about Kings, A4s and Duchesses: the Light Railways Act of 1896 pushed it to the limits, with lines that no major railwaya€ s accountants would ever sanction extending into rural and sparsely populated areas. Railway history is brimming with quaint and often eccentric backwaters and byways, but how far has the heritage sector been successful in recreating their unique a€~back of beyonda€ atmosphere? Sentimental Journeya€ s photo charter organiser Geoff Silcock outlines his exploits in the east of England over the past four decadesa€Ã