Latest news with #railway history
BBC News
7 days ago
- BBC News
Miniature railway installed in Glenfield tunnel
A miniature railway has been installed in a historic tunnel in Leicester, opening it up to passengers for the first time in almost 100 Railway Tunnel was one mile (1.6km) long when it opened in 1832 and was the longest in the was used to transport coal into the city, and, according to the Leicestershire Industrial History Society, passengers last rode through it in new experience offering a trip on the miniature railway will take place at weekends in July and September. When the railway closed in the 1960s, the tunnel was bought by Leicester City Council for £ Leicestershire Industrial History Society now offers guided tours at certain times of the year. Treasurer Roger Caunt came up with the idea of installing a miniature railway said: "We've already got a miniature railway at the Abbey Pumping Station, and the owner of the track there agreed that we could take track to the tunnel at Glenfield, install it, and leave it there for operation."The Leicestershire Industrial History Society hopes to extend the track, currently just shy of 165ft (50m), to about 250ft (76m).Mr Caunt said: "We want to give the passengers a proper experience of rattling along at a slow speed, which would have been the speed in the early days of the tunnel.""Those trains were not very fast at all, and going through the tunnel would have been a bit arduous for the driver."We understand that they had to, in some cases, have wet rags over their faces, because a mile long of smoke and steam is a lot to inhale."Tickets for the miniature railway experience are free, but visitors are asked to make a donation.
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'World's oldest' railway station in County Durham saved
Campaigners are celebrating after raising £300k to save what is believed to be the world's first railway back to 1826, Heighington Station, in County Durham, was part of the Stockton and Darlington railway line, which was the first passenger railway to use steam trains in the building has been shut since 2017 and efforts have been made over the years to revive the dilapidated of the Stockton and Darlington Railway said the "humble" building's future had been secured thanks to a "significant donation" from Hitachi Rail, as well as a crowdfunding effort. Niall Hammond, chair of friends group, said: "This relatively simple, humble building is the inspiration of all railway stations that came afterwards right across the world.''The building was ''effectively built as a prototype-railway station before the concept of the railway station had been fully developed", according to Historic England. In 2024, it was added to Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register but it can now be brought back into Evans, Hitachi's HR Director for UK and Ireland, said the company ''is immensely proud to help save Heighington, the world's first railway station and give back to the local community".Alan Strickland MP said: "Our area has long been a centre of rail innovation and I'm so pleased that this piece of history will be saved thanks to Hitachi's generous support."The friends group had been campaigning to save the Grade II listed site for five years, working with Durham County Council, The Railway Heritage Trust, Headley Trust and Historic England. It is hoped the station will attract tourists to the area. A nine-month festival is currently under way, marking 200 years since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first in the world to operate passenger and freight as the birth of the modern railway, the 26-mile (42km) journey between Shildon and Stockton via Darlington on 27 September 1825 transformed how the world traded, travelled and communicated. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
