OLYMPIC TORCH TOURS HERITAGE RAILWAYS
Published at 04:25 on Wednesday 30th May 2012
Tags: London 2012, Olympic Flame, SVR, Steam
The Olympic Flame arrived at Kidderminster station on 24th May, greeted by thousands! Jack Boskett
The Olympic flame began its journey around Britain at Land's End on 19th May. While it passes within sight of the West Somerset Railway at Dunster Castle, the first heritage line to actually convey it (between Bewdley and Kidderminster) was the Severn Valley Railway on 24th May, while four days later it was the turn of the Ffestiniog Railway, to carry the flame between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog. followed the next day by a visit to the highest point in Wales courtesy of the Snowdon Mountain Railway.
The next appearance is on 2nd June, when both the Douglas Bay horse tramway and the Manx Electric Railway will play a part in carrying it around the island. After a long gap, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is the next to take up the mantle on 18th June when it takes the torch between Whitby and Pickering, followed by a brief spell on the main line in the hands of 'Rebuilt Scot' 4-6-0 No. 46115 Scots Guardsman, between York and Thirsk, on 20th June.
The flame takes a trip on a tram between the Lancashire resorts of Fleetwood and Blackpool on 22nd June, while on the opposite coastline, the 15" gauge Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway joins in on 26th June, after which the Great Central Railway is the next in line on 3rd July, for a journey from Leicester North to Quorn & Woodhouse. The same day, Riddles BR Standard Class 5 No. 73050 will be the final steam locomotive to haul a train carrying the torch as it is conveyed along the Nene Valley Railway.
Both the Leighton Buzzard Railway and Didcot Railway Centre narrowly missed out in hosting the olympic torch, having both submitted bids in the hope of doing so. The planned conveyance of the flame in the Great Western Society's recently restored Railmotor No. 93 would have been particularly poignant, as this very vehicle carried the torch for the 1908 games.
