Trains of Thought

'Merchant Navy' Pacifics away from the Southern Region - After taking a look at the unrebuilt Bulleid Light Pacifics working away from Southern metals in the November 2003 issue of this magazine, Andrew Wilson now features the heavier 'Merchant Navy' Pacifics that worked on other Regions' lines, many of these on railtours.

The Brecon & Merthyr Railway - Stanley Jenkins provides a brief history of an important Welsh Valleys railway, taking readers over the Brecon & Merthyr lines from south to north, and describes the train services and motive power used during the steam era.

Lineside Lens -  Inverness to Elgin (HR) - Compiled by David Anderson

Railways in the Leen Valley - Gerald Siviour describes an area of the East Midlands between Nottingham and Mansfield that was of particular interest as Midland Railway, GNR, and OCR lines ran alongside one another, each carrying a vast amount of freight and passenger traffic in the days of steam.

Great Northern Steam Railmotors in North Lincolnshire - A. J. Ludlam looks at the use of the GNR steam railmotors that were in service from 1905 to 1926 and frequented the lines of North Lincolnshire on some of the area's passenger services, and their eventual use as converted passenger coaching stock in the area until the late 1950s.

Tail Lamp

Readers' Letters

Cover: This month we take a pictorial trip along the former Highland Railway line from Inverness to Elgin, and the most important Junction on that line was at Forres, from where the line went south to Dava and Aviemore to join the Highland main line to Perth. The preserved Highland 'Jones Goods' 4-6-0, No 103, is pictured at Forres on 23 August 1965, shunting the Caledonian preserved coaches from the South to East Junctions at this location. More details of the workings performed by the 'Jones Goods' in August 1965 can be found in the caption on Page 364 of this magazine.