HRA Annual Awards

Do we know this year’s winners from the HRA awards ceremony held recently?

 

Taken from their Facebook posts on the night:

The Manisty Award for Excellence
Winner - anniversary train, headed by the replica Locomotion, which spearheaded the Stockton and Darlington Railway’s 200th celebrations.

Rising Star Award
Winner - Downpatrick and County Down Railway’s 26-year-old compliance officer Christopher McCausland.

Infrastructure Award
Winner - the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway’s ‘predict and prevent’ asset management strategy

Event of the Year Award
Winner - the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway’s ‘Railway Children Theatre Show’

Innovation of the Year Award
Winner - Middleton Railway - their almoner role helps former volunteers who are no longer able to be active on the railway for a variety of reasons, still feel part of the Middleton Railway family.

Team of the Year Award
Winner - the small team at Southern Electric Traction Group that has restored ‘4VEP’ Electric Multiple Unit No. 3417 Gordon Pettitt.

Diesel or Electric Locomotion Award
Winner - the small team that has restored Network South East Class 03 No. 03179 Clive for use at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

Rolling Stock Preservation Award
Winner - Hastings line brake carriage No. 3687. The 1931-built brake third was painstakingly revived by a volunteer-led team at the Bluebell Railway.

Station of the Year Award
Winner - Oswestry station on the Cambrian Heritage Railways

Lord Faulkner Award for Young Volunteers
Winner(s) - for the first time, the award has joint winners. Massive congratulations to Jamie Taylor from the Fife Heritage Railway and Ben Wilson from the Tanfield Railway.

Steam Locomotive Award
Winner - Watercress Line-based Bulleid’ ‘Merchant Navy’ Class ‘Pacific’ No. 35005 Canadian Pacific

Achievement of the Year Award
Winner - the Vale of Rheidol Railway and the amazing ‘Collection X’ project.

Railway of the Year Award
Winner - the Tanfield Railway

The Chairman’s Special Award
Winner - the Severn Valley Railway for overcoming adversity after the devastating landslip at Mor Brook

The Railway 200 Award
Winner - the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways for their 200 Wheels on the Cob event.

 

Thank you.
I’m slightly surprised that the NG15 didn’t scoop the Steam Loco award.

 

I wanted the fireless to win

 

I would like to see a category for the most reliable mainline locomotive. Given the mileage they do covering the West Coast programme and being knocked to bits on the Mallaig road currently the winner would have to be one of Riley's Black 5s.

 

They’ve always interested me, but they’re not easy to operate unless you’ve a convenient source of high pressure hot water available.
However, it guess it could be possible to in this day and age to fit electrical immersion heaters and ‘charge’ them up overnight on cheap electricity?

 

I was surprised that a 9F with a relatively light overhaul beat an S15 that had had half the frames replaced by volunteers. It is opaque to me how the decisions get made.

 

I thought CanPac won?

 

It did this time. 506 was up for an award a year or three back.