Whittingham Hospital Railway Book - Available Now

David Hindle, author of a number of local history books, including the excellent All Stations to Longridge: A History of the Preston to Longridge Branch Line and Associated Railways, has turned his attention to the famous Whittingham Hospital Railway.

David's book takes a detailed look at this railway curiosity, in the context of Victorian Preston, looking at the conditions which led to the rise of the Workhouses and the Mental Hospital which were the last resort for those at the fringes of society. Also included, are lots of photographs, many of which have not previously been published.

Victorian Preston & the Whittingham Hospital Railway is available from Amazon and local book retailers now. Look out for a full review here soon.

Preston and South

Irwell Vale Railway Meetings : A talk and slide show by Mike Taylor
Saturday 17th November 2012

A black and white digital presentation from the camera of the late Peter Ditchfield featuring the steamscene at Preston during the period late 1964 to the end of steam in 1968

7.30pm start, at the Church at Irwell Vale; entrance at the tea rooms is £3.00 and an extra £2.00 for pie, peas and a cup of tea at our half time interval. The doors open a good half hour beforehand for a free tea or coffee and plenty of time for a good natter before the show starts.

More information on the Lostock Hall MPD website.

RSR Steam Gala

Don't forget the Ribble Steam Railway's Steam Gala is this weekend. In addition to "John Howe" and "Walkden", the newly overhauled Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway No.1300 will be in use.

Poulton & Wyre Railway - Update Report Talk

The Railway Transport & Industrial Archaeology Section has announced their programme of events for the 2012/13 season.

First up on 17th September is a talk by the Poulton & Wyre Railway Society, who will report on progress to re-open the mothballed line between Poulton and Fleetwood.

Meetings are held on the third Monday of each month, at the BAe Lightning Club at Warton and cost £2 for non-members.

Virgin fights on as Greening goes

As you may have seen in the mainstream media, Richard Branson and Virgin Trains have launched a legal challenge against the decision to award the West Coast Main Line franchise to First Group. The government have signaled their intention to fight the challenge, despite Virgin's ePetition gaining over 160,000 signatures.

Virgin, along with a number of railway insiders point to the fact that the First deal sees payments back to the treasury start very low, but ramp up dramatically towards the end of the franchise period, by which time a failure of the franchise (which seems inevitable given the sums of money involved), would likely be another government's problem.

Virgin may be quietly pleased though to see Justine Greening, the Transport Minister who over-saw the selection of First Group, ousted from her post in yesterday's Cabinet "re-shuffle". Patrick McLoughlin will replace Ms Greening. The move has been widely seen as a step towards the possibility of expansion of Heathrow Airport, but it may also make a U-turn on the WCML deal just a little less politically embarrassing.