Tales from the Tracks

28/02/2025

Rail 200 & International Women’s Day Special tour. Spend ½ an hour traversing the female side of Ashford’s railway history. This is a once only whistle stop tour through over a century of history.
Grab your ticket at: www.talesfromthetracks.com

25/02/2025

I’ll mention this now as next month, as is our tradition, we will be highlighting women’s roles in railway industry history. 2025 seems well chosen as a celebration of railways as so many heritage lines are vying to celebrate their landmark anniversaries. It's no coincidence either that the now infamous “Beeching report” was published 62 years ago next month, which, together with the end of steam services, created the heritage railway market. The Mid Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust marks its 30th anniversary on the 23rd of March (exactly 32 years, to the day, after the Beeching report hit the shelves) a move which finally secured the future of East Anglia’s longest standard gauge preserved line. Or that its neighbour, the North Norfolk "Poppy Line" marks its 1/2 century this year. It's quite a while since I've been to either, must be time for a revisit.

https://www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/visit https://nnrailway.co.uk/

The Mid-Norfolk Railway is the longest standard gauge heritage railway in East Anglia and runs through the Heart of Norfolk from Dereham to Wymondham. The railway has its headquarters in Dereham and runs frequent trains south towards Wymondham across the year. The line is currently being restored to...

20/02/2025

Kent Community Rail Partnerships have some really interesting projects and here's your oppotunity to get involved.

At Kent CRP we are always looking for new volunteers to get involved with projects and activities along our three lines.

There are lots of ways that you can support our work and we'd love to hear about your own ideas too.



https://kentcrp.org/get-involved/

19/02/2025

After such a huge start to the Rail 200 year it seems somewhat incongruous to mention the fleeting appearance the prospect of this national celebration of one of the country's greatest developments makes in parliamentary records. Search and all you’ll find is a single 2022 exchange, initiated by Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, in which Stephen Crabb, MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, urges, the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of Transport, Wendy Morton, to use the celebration to formulate a means to expedite funding access for station upgrades at smaller stations. Morton changed role within weeks of this exchange, Crabb lost his seat last year whilst Maskell retained hers, but whether that funding route has been smoothed I am not in a position to confirm or deny.
If you know, please get in touch.

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-02-03/debates/4191B45B-F9EC-47E7-83A9-D04CB0CD7F95/ModernRailway200ThAnniversary

12/02/2025

2025 seems set to be a record-breaking year for railways with noon on January 1st, 2025, likely to enter the record books as the date on which the greatest number of locomotives participated in a single event. Across the UK over 200 locomotives, from 50 railways kicked Rail 200 off in the traditional manner, blowing whistles and horns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W61HVcGuaLI

https://railway200.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rail-director-january-2025.pdf

09/02/2025

Join Us for a Double Celebration!
Celebrate International Women’s Day and Rail200 with our exciting Whistle-Stop Walking Tour through Ashford’s railway history.
In just 30 minutes, you’ll discover women's role in shaping the South Eastern Railway, how Ashford became a leader in female employment, and the remarkable stories of those who lived and worked in the railway village.
Book your tickets now for this inspiring journey into the past at:
www.talesfromthetracks.com
Don’t miss out—let’s walk through history together!

29/01/2025

January 1995 saw the creation of the Thalys train service - in reality, the main component of their offerings had already been in operation for a hundred years. That express service between Paris and Brussels was viewed as a would-be catalyst for a truly international high-speed service operating between destinations across mainland Europe. Although the desire was there the political reality took some time to negotiate. Operational for over a decade, in March 2022 the European Commission approved the merger of Thalys and Eurostar with the rebranding of Thalys holdings beginning in the following year, making Eurostar the only operator to serve France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, together with the UK on a high-speed network.

image: By Vicdsc - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49640470

28/01/2025

As many of you will know I'm very involved with this project. Run entirely by volunteers, it's creating an invaluable archive, all without funding. So these flyers are a fantastic way to spread the word and a great contribution to the work. Thank you AW Group.

22/01/2025

Here's a little brain teaser - Where in the world is this? It’s sited on a structure which underwent remodelling on repeated occasions, including after the area was bombed during World War 2 and serves a very different purpose today.

21/01/2025

This is our second event of the "Railway 200 at Aston University" series.

15/01/2025

Fancy a delve into railway history for free?
Happening tomorrow, online, just register asap to gain access (a quick tip, if the booking form won't go through without the Organisation box being completed just fill it in with "Private individual").
I'll be talking about my study of the provision of education by the South Eastern Railway at Ashford, Kent.
Peter Capon will present his research and
William Ramsden's presentation will be on - Joint Railways - how organisations cooperate - This presentation illustrates the different means by which companies cooperated in the development of joint railways and uses the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway as a case study to demonstrate how such relationships developed.
whilst
Andrew Sage's presentation will address - Britain’s energy crisis - a missed opportunity for British Rail’s Motorail? -Was Britain’s 1973-5 energy crisis an opportunity for British Rail’s Motorail to increase its relevance or did it become a victim of industrial action?

In January 2025 the final students will graduate from the University of York's Masters Degree in Railway Studies. Over the programme's life, those who studied produced around 60 original research dissertations. They covered a diverse range of subjects, encompassing social, economic, business, cultur...

01/01/2025

Happy New Year! If anyone in the country ends this year without becoming at least a little more aware of the UK's prominence within the history of railways, I'll be amazed. Rail200 officially launches at midday with heritage railways across the land being encouraged to mark the occasion by firing up and setting off their whistles and horns - Here’s to a rail-filled year!🥂

In 2025 Railway 200 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. Nationwide celebrations are planned.

25/12/2024

I’m never going to beat spotting Father Christmas as he travelled between Eastbourne and Ashford International last year - so here's the photo again -
Happy Christmas to you all

11/12/2024

And the Tales from the Tracks: Best Dressed Christmas Station 2024 award goes to .....
Battle -
St Pancras may have its huge corporate tree but that's nothing compared to the sheer joy and exuberance shining through these Sussex gothic windows. From the "yarn bombed" panto characters welcoming you outside to the beautiful tree (not to mention THE MAN HIMSELF!), Battle really has gone the extra festive mile.
Why not treat yourself to a visit, especially next Wednesday when they will host Carol Singers from 6-7pm.