Left: SVR managing director and co-founder of the Fifty Fund Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster (right) receives his Lifetime Achievement Award from Railway Magazine editor Paul Bickerdyke.
PHOTOS BY JACK BOSKETT/HRA
SIX out of 15 prizes went to narrow gauge lines in this year’s Heritage Railway Association Awards, while the Severn Valley Railway picked up three others – including two of those sponsored by the railway press.
This year’s ceremony was held at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton on February 10, making it a home win for the Volk’s Electric Railway as it picked up the prestigious Railway of the Year award. HRA chief executive Steve Oates said: “To see unique railways like the Volks Electric triumph over far bigger and more famous lines is proof that the heritage rail world is flourishing in all manner of different ways, despite the adversity we so often face.” (See also the following pages for more on the VER.)