Telford Steam Railway
The Telford Steam Railway is a small industrial railway which runs in a “Y” formation from its base at Spring Village. Although formed in 1976, the railway is still under a mile in length, and offers short passenger rides.
However the railway has ambitious proposals to extend and run through to Ironbridge, a distence of several miles.
In 1999 the railway became home to a Class 104 2-car set which operated many services. Two further 104 vehicles joined in 2000 & 2001 but were only ever stored.
In 2004 the line also made use of experimental 2nd generation Railbus RB004, which was introuced into service and replaced the Class 104, which was then used as hauled coaching stock instead.
After RB004 moved on in 2011, its place was taken by a Class 108 2-car set. This was part of a wider strategy which saw the railway improve its facilities and rolling stock collection considerably, with a desire to attract more ex-BR stock into the collection. The combination of the 108 becoming available and the arrival of more coaching stock allowed the deteriorating Class 104 to be withdrawn fully from service.
In 2020, second generation traction returned to the line in the form of a Class 144 set, obtained for future Ironbridge services once the line extends. This was further bolstered the following year by two other arrivals, 142004 & 142058. In less than a year the line's fleet of operational units had quadrupled.
As time passed more use was made of the second generation stock and less of the first, and in 2023 the last of the stored Class 104's moved on and theClass 108 also left the line on a hire deal following lack of running days.
This left the line as a wholly second generation operation.
| 142004 Class 142 |
| 142058 Class 142 |
| 144013 Class 144 |