PRESERVED railways across the country may still have their doors firmly closed to the public, but behind the scenes there have been teasing glimpses of steam at some of them as certain departments return to work. The Great Central Railway took its first tentative steps towards its eventual reopening with a series of test runs on May 22, involving recently repaired BR '2MT' Mogul No. 78018. Earlier that week 10 of the railway's paid staff returned from furlough to carry out essential functions and to prepare for eventual reopening, including workshop staff who completed valve repairs to No. 78018. Appropriate precautions were observed for the light engine and loaded trial runs, including the loco crew wearing appropriate face coverings. They were the first of a series of tests the GCR hoped to carry out over the following two weeks in order to test stock and infrastructure.
展开▼
