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Marcus' Model Railway Journey

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8th February, 2026

New building at Welsh railway’s terminus is first in over 100 years​

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Train on the Brecon Mountain Railway


For the first time in over 100 years, a new building has been constructed at the station at Torpantau in Powys, on the narrow-gauge Brecon Mountain Railway.

The station was originally built for the standard gauge Brecon and Merthyr Railway, and was its highest station at 1,313 feet above sea level, but after the railway line between Brecon and Merthyr closed, the original structures disappeared in the 1970s.

In 2014, the Brecon Mountain Railway reopened Torpantau station as a terminus, but without any facilities or passenger shelter.

The railway’s headquarters and its main station is at Pant, near Merthyr Tydfil.

A passenger shelter at Torpantau station was clearly needed, both because of its elevation and because the weather at the site can often deteriorate rapidly.

Built from oak beams and traditional materials, a new shelter has been constructed and has been designed to blend in with its exposed mountain setting.

It now provides a welcome respite for passengers who use Torpantau as a stopping off point to explore the surrounding spectacular landscape of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, formerly the Brecon Beacons.

Since the shelter was built, the railway has needed to make a small modification by adding removable fence panels to prevent the local Welsh mountain sheep from claiming it for themselves.

Support towards provision of the shelter was provided by a Weatherproofing grant from Visit Wales.

Originally operating independently, the Brecon Mountain Railway is now operated by the Vale of Rheidol Railway.

The railway has several special events planned for 2026, starting with a Winter Diesel Week this month.
 
Monday 9 Feb 2026

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Passengers seeing improved satisfaction across Wales & Borders as train performance continues to rise​

Region & Route: Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

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Cardiff CIS boards


New figures show that punctuality and overall satisfaction has risen for passengers across Wales.

The data, released by independent watchdog Transport Focus, as part of its quarterly scorecard from October to December 2025, shows improved passenger satisfaction across the Wales and Borders route, reflecting ongoing efforts by Network Rail, Transport for Wales, and industry partners to deliver a more reliable and customer-focused railway.

Passenger satisfaction has risen from 82 per cent to 89 per cent for punctuality which is the biggest ever recorded quarter-on -quarter improvement.

And overall customer satisfaction increased from 88 per cent to an impressive 91 per cent compared with the previous quarter.

Nick Millington, Route Director at Network Rail Wales & Borders, said: "We’re thrilled with the recent report released from Transport Focus, which reflects our unwavering focus on improving the reliability of train services. We’ve been working hard over the last three years and we’re now seeing the best performance on the network since 2022.

"We recognise there are clearly parts of the network where more work needs to be done, however we are determined to conquer those challenges and continue to support Transport for Wales in operating the safest and most reliable services possible".

The improvement comes alongside consistently strong operational performance, delivery despite the challenges of storm season.

Multiple severe weather events have tested the network this winter, including Storm Claudia, which washed away part of the track near Abergavenny in November, and Storm Chandra in January, which brought Shrewsbury to a temporary halt. Impressively, during the four‑week reporting period in January 2026, trains ran ahead of target on 26 out of 28 days.

This is in addition to the everyday demands of running a busy operational railway; managing more than 1,500 daily services, around 600 freight trains each month, keeping the public safe at the 1,000+ level crossings Network Rail own and manage, and responding to an average of 65 trespass incidents every month.

All of this, while embedding significant safety improvements, to make the railway a safer place to work for teams out on the track.

Marie Daly, Chief Operating Officer for Transport for Wales said: “The latest Transport Focus survey results demonstrate how our investment into our rail services combined with our fantastic colleagues who are living our values every day, are positively impacting the customer experience.

“Brand-new trains across the network offer our customers better seating, improved information and general comfort, but they also provide us with more resilience allowing a more punctual and connected network.

“As always, we’re continuing to improve and are excited to deliver more changes this year.”

Travelling in the right direction

A number of key improvements in recent years are helping to deliver a better experience for passengers and communities.

In 2024, the Wales and Borders route added around 300,000 additional station stops to the timetable, with a further 100,000 added in 2025, increasing opportunities for people to travel by rail.

The December 2025 timetable change doubled the frequency of trains between Chester and Wrexham, alongside a series of interventions to strengthen the base timetable across the route.

In May 2026, train frequency along the North Wales Coast is set to increase by a further 50 per cent.

Closer collaboration has also been introduced through five ‘T-Network’ partnerships across the route, bringing track and train teams together with local stakeholders to focus on targeted performance improvements.

These active groups now cover:
  • Cambrian Line
    • Central and West Wales
    • Rheilffordd lleol Gogledd Cymru (North Wales T-Network)
    • The Marches
    • South Wales
This approach has also supported the local economy by boosting tourism, trade and ticket revenue, while delivering more than £2.3 million in efficiencies between 2024 and 2025 - through improved engineering planning and smarter ways of working.

Passengers are also benefiting from the rollout of new trains across the route now in service, and Transport for Wales recently reached a major milestone by completing 99% of planned electrification as part of the South Wales Metro - providing greener and more reliable services.

Looking ahead, in February 2026 Network Rail Wales and Borders jointly with Transport for Wales submitted their five-year performance improvement plan to the National Performance Board and look forward to driving further improvements and benefits for passengers.

Transport Focus historically collected data only on the passenger experience of the train operator.

However, the new Rail Customer Experience Survey launched last year provides the opportunity for Transport Focus to include Network Rail data in their scorecard to provide a valuable tool, providing both sides of the story to the customer. This is the second quarter for the new reporting system.

​

 
9th February, 2026

Lincolnshire railway to feature in BBC 1 TV programme​

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The LCLR's 1903-built steam locomotive, Jurassic, sets off from South Loop


The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway at Ingoldmells near Skegness in Lincolnshire is breaking new ground when it features in BBC 1’s Antiques Road Trip.

Road Trip regulars Izzie Balmer and Mark Hill star in the programme, and visited the railway last May to film episodes that are to be broadcast during the week commencing Monday, 23rd February 2026 at 4.30 pm.

The episodes at the railway were filmed by a crew from STV, which produces the series for the BBC.

The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, at the railway in the Skegness Water Leisure Park, was the world’s first heritage railway to be built by enthusiasts.

Among its collection are numerous vehicles from English narrow gauge railways, with many being used on the battlefields during World War I.


Antiques Road Trip features pairs of antiques experts who set off on a road trip around the UK to visit antique and second-hand shops to search for treasures to later sell at auction.

The experts choose five items to sell, and vie with each other to see who can make the most money, both at each auction and as overall winners of the week.

During their visit, Mark Hill interviewed Stuart Yates, a LCLR volunteer from Thorpe St. Peter, whilst travelling from Walls Lane station to the newly-built Seathorne Bank station behind the recently-overhauled vintage steam locomotive Jurassic. They travelled in a Class D bogie wagon, built in Lincoln in 1916 and used in World War I, which has been adapted as a disabled access carriage.

Inside the ticket office at Walls Lane station, Mark interviewed the Chairman of the LCLR’s Historic Vehicles Trust, Richard Shepherd.

The ticket office replicates Stretton station on the now-closed Ashover Light Railway; two carriages once used on the railway now run on the LCLR.


“The programme will help to make us much better known, as it is surprising how many people in the Skegness area and the wider county don’t know there is this unique part of our heritage running trains in Skegness. The crew were particularly interested in our preservation of the old Lincolnshire potato railways, as some of our locomotives, carriages and wagons were used on the largest of those systems, the 23 miles of the Nocton Estates Railway, from Nocton to Bardney. Our steam engine, Jurassic, is even older. It was built for a quarry in Warwickshire and was running three months before the first powered flight by man and nine years before the Titanic sank, it’s that old. We hope the programme will inspire more people to visit the Skegness area and to explore not only our railway heritage, but that of the wider county.”

Richard Shepherd
 
9th February, 2026

Steam locomotive 4144 to visit the Epping Ongar Railway​

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4144 on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway


The Epping Ongar Railway has announced that GWR Prairie No. 4144 will be visiting them for their upcoming steam gala.

4144 visits thanks to the Didcot Railway Centre and will be running alongside the previously announced visitor, GWR Hall No. 6989 Wightwick Hall.

Also at the gala will be 4953 Pitchford Hall and Hawthorn ‘Isabel’.

An intensive timetable will be in operation throughout the weekend, with services running late into the evening on Saturday.

Vintage London Buses will run to provide connections to Epping Underground and Shenfield National Rail stations.

More information can be found on the Epping Ongar Railway website.
 
This is a Midland Railway pegging block instrument.

These instruments were used in railway signal boxes as part of the absolute block signalling system to ensure only one train occupied a section of track at a time.

  • The instrument gives both signalmen a continuous indication of the track status.

  • The indicators are "Train on Line" (red), "Line Clear" (green), and "Line Blocked" (red).

  • It is a manual system where signalmen communicate with each other via telegraph.

  • This specific example features an enamel face and a wooden case.

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9th February, 2026

“Massive Leaps Forward” in restoration of steam locomotive 65033​

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Firebox progress for 65033


The Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust has released a short update on the restoration of J21 No. 65033.

The trust says that some massive leaps have been made in the work.

Locomotive Maintenance Services Ltd are working on the boiler and now has the last bits of riveting on the outer wrapper and crown sheet to finish.

Once this is complete, engineers can then start to drill all the stay holes into the side.

In 2023, a new backhead was fabricated, and this needs a bracket riveted on before the pads can be fitted.

Once this is finished, it can await the inner firebox.

The inner firebox tubeplate is now 90% complete and needs dressing and forming in on one corner.

Moving to the inner firebox wrapper, this is all marked out for the rivets, and around 80% of the holes have now been drilled.

The doorplate will soon be able to be offered in and then drilled for the rivets.
 
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