East Lancashire Railway Preservation Society

04/10/2026

01/10/2026

Well done to our volunteers who have been honoured with the Roch Valley Radio Community Hero award!

These awards are a celebration of the people, groups, charities and businesses who go the extra mile to support others and strengthen our communities. They are an acknowledgement of the incredible people and organisations making a real impact every day.

Collecting the award was a diverse group of volunteers reflecting several departments across the breadth of the railway, from the operational side with train drivers, the head of the signalling department and the head of the guards department, as well as a representative of the dining train team and station café.

Well done again!



Roch Valley Radio

30/09/2026

🚂 EVENT, CATERING & RETAIL VOLUNTEER OPEN DAY ❤️

Thinking about volunteering at the ELR? Come along to our Volunteer Open Day and find out more! 🙌

From helping bring Thomas to life 🚂 to giving visitors a fright on our Halloween trains 👻 and helping create Christmas magic with Santa 🎅 there are lots of ways to get involved!

MONDAY 12TH OCTOBER | 10AM–3PM

📍 The Trackside Bar, Bury Bolton Street Station

✨ No previous experience needed
✨ Full training provided
✨ Meet the team and discover the roles available

Come along and see where volunteering could take you! ❤️

Find out more here: https://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/events-activities/event-catering-retail-volunteer-open-day/

09/09/2026

Steam Services Running Today! 🚂🚂

As a midweek treat for today on Wednesday 9th September, our three trains between Bury and Rawtenstall will be hauled by LMS 11456!

Originally built in 1881 as a tender locomotive, 11456 is our oldest member of the fleet. It then had a rebuild into a saddle tank loco at Horwich Works in 1896!

🎟️🎟️ Tickets can be purchased throughout the day, for timetables and to plan your day out with us, visit our website: www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/plan-your-day-out/

📸📸 Colin Smith

(Locomotives subject to availability)

07/09/2026

Congratulations Steph on becoming the East Lancashire Railway first female steam loco driver! To find out how to start your volunteering journey visit https://www.elrps.co.uk/volunteering

Steph Elwood hopes her success will inspire other women 'that the railway really is a place for them'.

29/08/2026

Tickets are now on sale for our Autumn Steam Gala 2026! 🎟️💨🍂

This is definitely not one to miss, with a confirmed lineup of 8 steam locomotives including our 3 special guests: S15 30506, GWR Pannier 7714 & SECR O1 No. 65!

You can now purchase advanced discount rover tickets online, as well as tickets for some exciting additional experiences that are happening over the event including…

🛤️ Brake Van rides, including a much anticipated nighttime goods train with O1 No. 65 to start the evening, before a night with S15 30506!
💨 Footplate rides (extremely limited availability) where you can travel on the locomotive for a round trip, the best seat in the house!
🐟 The ‘Irwell Valley Fryer’ makes a welcome return on Friday 16th October, with Pannier 7714 heading a round trip with Fish & Chips served to your seat on the train!
🫖 Ride in the oppulance of our Lancashire & Yorkshire Rly observation saloon with a cream tea, and enjoy panoramic views from the large windows and see the Autumn colours of the Irwell Valley in comfort.

🎟️🎟️ To view more details and purchase your gala tickets and additional experiences listed above, please visit our website here: www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/events-activities/autumn-steam-gala/

(Locomotives subject to availability, T&C’s apply)

22/08/2026

Ride the Southern Night Goods at the Autumn Steam Gala!

Autumn Steam Gala 2026 - Ride The Goods, By Night! 🍂🌅🌙

On Saturday 17th October we are very excited to be running our period 1960’s Goods train late into the evening, watch the sunset over the Irwell Valley, before seeing sparks fly and steam fill the night sky…

Better still, we are offering the best seats in the house by riding on the two Brake vans in the train, these tickets will be a supplement fare and will go on sale with the general release of tickets next week but will be very limited places! The current itinerary for the brake vans is as follows:

17.15 Bury – Rawtenstall Bay Platform with O1 No. 65
18.40 Rawtenstall Bay Platform – Heywood with S15 30506
19.43 Heywood – Ramsbottom with S15 30506
20.20 Ramsbottom – Bury with S15 30506

There will also be another service running even later, so it’ll be a night to remember!

🎟️🎟️ Full details and ticket release for the gala coming next week, keep an eye on social media and our website: www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/events-activities/autumn-steam-gala/

19/08/2026

The latest issue of the East Lancashire Railway Review is starting to arrive through letterboxes and available digitally now from the members section of the ELRPS website.

Thank you to all contributors for your articles and photographs. Highlights include:
- Reports from Bury Transport Museum, PWay, S&T and Carriage & Wagon Departments
- Feature on the return to traffic of Class 25 25279
- Loco Group Reports from Class 15 Preservation Society, 92 Squadron Update, Bury Standard 4 Group and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust
- Events Review featuring Legends of Steam III, Day out with Thomas, Vintage Vibes, Flying Scotsman and Summer Diesel Gala

Visit www.elrps.co.uk to sign up for membership today

📸 Cover Photo: Tom McAtee.

11/08/2026

The ELRPS are delighted to be part sponsoring the movement of SECR 65 to the East Lancashire Railway for the 2026 Autumn Steam Gala.

This is the furthest north the soon to be out of traffic locomotive has travelled and a chance to compare Victorian six coupled motive power from the north and south, along with three generations of southern motive power with 65 joined by S15 30506 and West Country 34092 City of Wells.

Time to announce our third guest locomotive for this year’s Autumn Steam Gala! 💨🍂

SECR O1 No. 65 is venturing further North than it has ever done before, starring at our event! 🤩

No. 65 will be joining two other wonderful guest locomotives, S15 30506, GWR Pannier Tank 7714, and of course our fleet of home locomotives. Pairing the O1 with fellow Victorian L&Y ‘A Class’ will be quite a sight! 👀

A massive thank you to our friends at the Bluebell Railway for the loan of such a well-looked after locomotive, it’s always shining and we can’t wait to see it at the ELR!

🎟️🎟️ Our gala team are already working on some exciting timetables and plans for this event, tickets will be on sale very soon, keep an eye on social media and our website for further updates: www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/events-activities/autumn-steam-gala/