Living life in the past lane

As 2025 draws to a conclusion, it’s time to look back at another varied year on Britain’s railways, and, as ever, there have been many developments, not all for the better, but plenty of good news as

Although born in Doncaster during the Second World War, Peter Fitton was brought up in the Fylde, hence his interest in the L&Y – his bedroom in St Annes overlooked the then main line to Blackpool Cen

BARRING ANY unforeseen changes, December 13 was the last day of HST operation on the Western Region after 49 years of use when Great Western Railway ended its use of its Castle Class 2+4 HSTs. The tra

Happy New Year and welcome to the latest Railways Illustrated. I hope you all had a great festive period. I assume when you look back at 2025, it was a good year; at least we didn’t have a pandemic, b

PRESERVED PEAK 45133’s Sulzer 12LDA28-B engine was started on December 11 for the first time in eight years, since the loco was stopped for overhaul in September 2017. The loco, owned by the Class 45/

When the first 10 British Railways Sulzer Type 4s appeared during 1959 and early 1960, they were named after English and Welsh mountains and hills, so unsurprisingly, they were soon referred to as Pea