Category: News

Latest ON TRUST issued December 2025

Issue number 45 for Winter 2025 has now been posted to members (with membership reminders) and supporters, with the usual mix of news and articles.

To view details on our ON TRUST page click here (opens in new window)

Use of our stock in 2026

We are now finding that preserved railways are giving more advance notice of events than has previously been the case, so below is a list of events which are likelt to involve use of our stock. It has been compiled from the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) Facebook page and the Worth Valley (WVR) website.

The list is updated to 19th October 2025

ELR Open House Event 24th-25th January 2026
ELR Small Engines Gala 21st-22nd Februaty 2026
ELR Legends of Steam III 10th to 12th April 2026
WVR Steam Gala 19th to 22nd April 2026
WVR ’40s weekend 16th-17th May 2026
ELR Autumn Steam Gala 16th to 18th October 2026

The ELR will announce soon the dates of Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway themed running days for 2026, these will be included in the above list when known.

IMPORTANT – access to our stock at Worth Valley in 2025 – updated October 2025

Our 4 carriages and Pug 51218 at the Worth Valley Railway are normally on public display in the Exhibition Shed at Oxenhope when out of use.

The Railway Children production, an event connected with the Bradford 2025 City of Culture, took place in the Exhibition Shed from July to September 2025. From late May onwards and for a period in September the Shed was not open to the public before and after the production run. In mid-September it appears that Pug 51218 will be restored to public display in the Exhibition Shed but due to other events taking place for the remainder of 2025 our carriages are most likely to be unavailable for public display or access, if the situation changes this page will be further updated.

Elsewhere on our website you may see that 3 of our carriages were used during the production, but access to them was restricted to ticket holders for the production. Our First Class 6-wheel 279 was hopefully to undergo repairs to remove ‘flats’ from one of the wheelsets but due to various obstacles found with organising the project the work has may have to be deferred. It may be that 279 is accessible to public view but it should be assumed that this will not be the case.

Expected use of our locos at the East Lancashire Railway in 2025 – updated October 2025

Our working locomotives at the East Lancashire Railway (ELR), Pug 19 as LMS 11243, and Saddletank 752 as LMS 11456 will be in use in events in 2025, so far we know about the following events but the extent of their use may not be known at the time of initial publication (April 2025) – but this post will be updated as information becomes available.

Remaining for 2025 is the final ‘LANCASHIRE & YORKSHIRE RUNNING DAYS’, on 1st November, there is a web page on the East Lancashire Railway website click here (opens in new window). For the previous events there are links to various videos on our Video online page and still photos on our Photos – stock in use page.

17th to 19th October – Autumn Steam Gala, both locos featured, there are links to various videos on our Video online page and still photos on our Photos – stock in use page.

12th to 14th September – Railway 200 Celebration Weekend, our locos 752 and 19 saw extensive use throughout the event, there are links to various videos on our Video online page and still photos on our Photos – stock in use page.

August 2025 – full timetable included our Saddletank 752 as LMS 11456 operating all weekend on a 4-coach set with buffet car. In addition, our Pug 19 as LMS 11243 carried out shunting demonstrations around Bury.

10th May, 14th June, 9th August, 27th September, 1st November –
Both Saddletank 752 as LMS 11456 and Pug 19 as LMS 11243 will be operating, 11456 with Andy Booth’s ‘A’ Class 52322 on service trains and 11243 on Driver Experience for a supplementary fare at Bury Bolton Street, these running days have been named ‘LANCASHIRE & YORKSHIRE RUNNING DAYS’ and there is now a web page on the East Lancashire Railway website click here (opens in new window).

14th to 16th March – Legends of Steam, extent of use of our locos were inititially unclear, due to late alterations only Saddletank 752 as LMS 11456 was used and only on Friday 14th March

January 18th – Railway 200 ‘Open-House’ Day featured 11243 in ‘Taster Driver Experience’ sessions and work shuttle service between Bury and Summerseat, details were given on the ELR website, there is a further event in September.

Expected use of our stock on Worth Valley in 2025 last updated September 2025

At the time of initial publication (January 2025) there were no definite dates for use of our stock, this is possibly because they are organising various special events as a result of Bradford being the UK City of Culture 2025. SEE BELOW for details of known use of our carriages in 2025

Links to videos of their use can be found on our Video online page and still photos on our Photos – stock in use page.

20th to 23rd March – The Steam Gala, for operational reasons our carriages were NOT in use during the March 2025 Gala

Early May Bank Holiday weekend 3rd, 4th and 5th May featured Vintage Trains using our carriages as well as two other sets of carriages running with 3 vintage locos all weekend.

There was a 1940s Weekend on 17th and 18th May 2025 which featured our bogie coaches at short notice, and there may be a further vintage event later in the year, this page will be updated as details become available.

July and August would normally feature our carriages in use on Vintage Trains Weekends but it has now been confirmed that they will not be run in 2025 as the much-travelled ‘Railway Children’ theatrical production ran between July 16th and September 7th at Oxenhope.
HOWEVER our carriages were in use, but not on public services, Third Class 6-wheeler 1507 and Club Carriage 47 were used in the theatrical production at Oxenhope, running in the shed with no passengers.
Brake Third 1474 was used on a special connecting service between Keighley and Oxenhope exclusively for the use of ticket-holders of the production, and provided accomodation for people with accessibility needs.

You will see that there is no mention of First 6-wheel 279, this is because it has developed serious ‘flats’ on one of the wheelsets which will require the wheelsets to be removed from the carriage for turning down the tyre depth to remove the flats. 279 was the first choice for use in the Railway Children production but the noise made by the flats on the wheels would have interfered with the ambience of the production. The trustees are currently investigating the best way of resolving the problem.

752 – further visits to the south in 2025

Saddletank 752 still operating as LMS 11456 made two further visits on hire to preserved railways in the South of England.

Firstly to the Mid Hants Railway (the Watercress Line) to operate in their Spring Steam Gala on 25th, 26th and 27th April 2025. Here it operated with Andy Booth’s ‘A’ class 0-6-0 52322. Full details were available on their website, click here (opens in new window). Videos of the event can be found on our Video Online page and still photos on our Photos -stock in use page.

Secondly moving across to the West Somerset Railway to operate in their Spring Steam Spectacular on 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th May 2025 with a total of 10 locos including ‘Terrier’ 72 Fenchurch and ‘Jubilee’ 45596 Bahamas. Videos of the event can be found on our Video Online page and still photos on our Photos -stock in use page.