The Aln Valley Railway welcomes its first three-coach steam train in more than 50 years

The historic event took place on the Aln Valley Railway between the Lionheart Station in Alnwick and Greenrigg Halt so civil engineers could check the track, platform and run round loop was set correctly. The railway eventually hopes to run services between Lionheart and Alnmouth.

A busy schedule of events helped the railway attract more than 4,000 visitors over the school summer holidays. The railway offered extended opening days to include weekday running on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while it also hosted a summer fair, Teddy Bears picnic and another successful model railway weekend.

It eventually hopes to run services between its base at the Lionheart Enterprise Park and Alnmouth.In its monthly newsletter, editor Samantha Hurlbutt, said: “This summer, we saw almost a 10% increase in visitor numbers – amounting to over 4000 visitors. This will help us with our goal to reach Alnmouth.”

She also reported that progress towards Alnmouth is surging ahead with the Permanent Way gang making amazing progress at the Greenrigg Halt. A landmark day took place on September 3 when the final section of rail at Greenrigg was secured with a Golden Pandrol Clip, bringing it ever closer to running passenger services to Greenrigg Halt in 2020.

The first indoor talk of the season takes place at Barter Books tonight at 7.15pm, with Tom Lloyd speaking on Robert Stephenson.