Preserved 7MT 70013 Oliver Cromwell approaching Weybourne on the North Norfolk Railway on 11 March 2010
Heritage Railway Association (HRA) is an umbrella organisation representing the majority of the heritage and tourist railways, railway museums, steam centres and railway preservation groups in the UK and Ireland.
Groups and individuals involved with the preservation of stations and other railway buildings, and private individuals are also welcomed to join as Friends of the Association.
The HRA organises several annual awards and competitions to further railway preservation in the UK, and also maintains various databases, such as that of preserved locomotives — currently numbering over 2500 items — and others holding the details of every known heritage carriage and wagon.
Although the HRA is not a registered charity, many of its 250 member organisations are.
Mission statement
The aims and objectives of the HRA are set out in eight items:[1]
# To represent its members' interests to Government and other bodies.
To maintain high standards by requiring members to conform to the HRA Code of Practice.
To provide professional advice, a full information service and other such help and assistance as may be appropriate.
To provide a forum for sharing information and experience by organising open meetings and seminars.
To help members to develop their business.
To encourage and assist members to develop education policies and practices.
To encourage excellence by organising awards and competitions.
To encourage and advise members on the heritage aspects of their activities, including establishing and maintaining rational collecting, interpretation and archiving policies.
Member services
The HRA provides a number of services to its members, including FEDECRAIL (European Federation of Museum & Tourist Railways) Representation, Overseas and Tourist Board Liaison, information on suppliers, and a regular newsletter.
The HRA also offers advice and guidance on a wide range of topics, such as Catering, Education, Engineering, Funding, Legal matters, Operating Railways and Safety.
The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a 5+1⁄4-mile (8.4 km) heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limited company, originally called Central Norfolk Enterprises Limited. The railway is listed as exempt from the UK Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2000.
A heritage railway or heritage railroad is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period in the history of rail transport.
The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for 7+1⁄4 miles (12 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant railway vehicles such as Mallard, Stirling Single, Duchess of Hamilton and a Japanese bullet train. In addition, the National Railway Museum holds a diverse collection of other objects from a household recipe book used in George Stephenson's house to film showing a "never-stop railway" developed for the British Empire Exhibition. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001.
Railway preservation in New Zealand is the preservation of historically significant facets of New Zealand's rail transport history. The earliest recorded preservation attempt took place in 1925, although the movement itself did not start properly until 1960.
The Puffing Billy Railway is a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge heritage railway in the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne, Australia. The primary starting point, operations and administration centre, main refreshment room and ticket purchasing are located at Belgrave station. Journeys may also be commenced at out-stations of which some have limited facilities for the purchase of tickets, refreshments and souvenirs. Tickets may also be purchased from the conductor before boarding the train.
A railfan, rail buff or train buff, railway enthusiast or railway buff, trainspotter or ferroequinologist is a person interested, especially recreationally, in rail transport.
The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is a 17+1⁄2 miles (28.2 km) preserved standard gauge heritage railway, one of the longest in Great Britain. Preservation efforts began in 1974, but the line re-opened to passengers only in the mid-1990s as part of the "new generation" of heritage railways. The MNR owns and operates most of the former Wymondham-Fakenham branch line of the Norfolk Railway. The branch opened in 1847, was closed to passengers in stages from 1964 to 1969 as part of the Beeching cuts, and was finally fully closed to goods traffic in 1989.
The Hotham Valley Tourist Railway is a tourist and heritage railway in the Peel region of Western Australia.
The NSW Rail Museum is the main railway museum in New South Wales, Australia. A division of Transport Heritage NSW, it was previously known as the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM) and Trainworks.
The HeritageRail Alliance is an organization for promoting the interests of and sharing information among railway preservation groups and tourist railroads.
The Scottish Railway Preservation Society is a charity, whose principal objective is the preservation and advancement of railway heritage in Scotland. The society was formed in 1961, and it has been actively collecting and displaying railway artifacts of Scottish significance ever since. The society's headquarters is at Bo'ness, in central Scotland.
The Seymour Railway Heritage Centre (SRHC) is a railway preservation group based in Seymour, Victoria, Australia. The volunteer non-profit incorporated association was established in 1983 as the Seymour Loco Steam Preservation Group to restore and preserve locomotives and rolling stock as used on the railways of Victoria.
The Wairarapa Railway Restoration Society is a railway heritage and preservation community group in the town of Carterton, in the Carterton District of Wairarapa on New Zealand's lower North Island. The society has leased the Carterton railway station building through the Carterton District Council, though it is owned by the New Zealand Railways Corporation.
The Diesel Traction Group (DTG) is the Christchurch-based operator of a fleet of ex-New Zealand Railways Department diesel-electric locomotives. The fleet represents a full collection of New Zealand locomotive classes built by the English Electric Company and is a historically significant collection of early New Zealand diesel traction. All of the DTG's locomotives are owned by individual members through the sale of shareholdings.
National Preservation is the trading name for Nat Pres Ltd, a British-based online company that specialises in retail and discussion among railway enthusiasts. The company was created on 25 June 2008 as an extension of the original National Preservation forum, which began on 10 March 2005, and has since moved to its own server. Nat Pres Ltd soon expanded beyond the original forum by running RailTours-Live that is now no longer operational. However, its popular 'What's Going On' section continues to provide useful links to other sites where Rail Tour information is published including commentaries on extant tours plus links to national train information such as Real Time Trains.
The National Transport Trust is a British registered charity founded in 1965 as the Transport Trust, the name was changed to reflect the national remit and coverage of its activities. The Trust acts as a hub for the transport preservation movement, providing advice and assistance, organizing public events and working to secure suitable accommodation and maintenance facilities for historic items.
The Canberra Railway Museum is located at Kingston in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), next to Canberra railway station on the Bombala railway line. Since May 2018, Canberra Railway Museum has been the trading name of a not-for-profit company, Capital Region Heritage Rail Limited, established to run the museum, while ACT Heritage Rail Holdings Limited is the company responsible for safeguarding the heritage assets of the museum.
The Oral History Society promotes the collection, preservation and use of recorded memories of the past.
The Tourist and Heritage Railways Act 2010 is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia and is the prime statute regulating the activities of tourist and heritage rail operators in the State. The Act covers the bulk of Victoria's operational tourist and heritage railways including many heavy and light rail operations and tramways, predominantly in regional areas of Victoria.
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