Birthday boys are back in business!
TWO ground-breaking lines which 60 years ago became the world's first standard gauge heritage railways are celebrating after restarting public services.
The Middleton Railway, which on June 20, 1960, became the first standard gauge line to be operated by unpaid volunteers, ran its first public train since the Covid-19 lockdown on Sunday, August 2. Its first train from Moor Road was hauled by Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No. 1544 of 1924 Slough Estates No. 3.
It was followed by the Bluebell Railway, the first section of the national network to be reopened as a heritage line, and which relaunched its service on Friday, August 7 - exactly 60 years to the day that its volunteers ran their first train.
