The Annual Heritage Railway Association Awards is the largest of its kind in the world, with 2024’s shortlist now revealed, featuring an amazing round-up of contenders.

The long-standing awards celebrate the entire spectrum of the heritage rail sector from preservation to restoration projects, with a massive 11 categories set to recognise exciting, innovative and eye-catching projects in the UK.

2024 will see the esteemed Coiley Award for Steam Locomotive Engineering, which is sponsored by Hargreaves, see the following locomotives battle it out:

• The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust for the overhaul of ‘A4′ Class ‘Pacific’ No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley
• The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways for the construction of ‘Double Fairlie’ 0-4-4-0T James Spooner
• The Richmond Light Railway for the overhaul of 2ft gauge Bagnall 0-4-0ST Pixie

Shortlisted for the Diesel and Electric Locomotion Award sponsored by Give Life 365 are:

• The North Norfolk Railway’s restoration of Class 104 DMU driving trailer No. M56182
• Seaton Tramway’s upgrade of Tramcar No. 9 to improve accessibility
• The Severn Valley Railway’s events which celebrated 50 years of diesel preservation

The Railway of the Year category is always popular, and this year features a narrow gauge shortlist with the following railways vying for the prize:

• The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
• Seaton Tramway
• The Volks Electric Railway

The choice to create a narrow-gauge railway shortlist saw a thorough debate undertaken with a vote taken from a panel of experts and leading figures within the heritage rail sector, chaired by National Railway Museum Curator, Anthony Coulls.

The Morgan Award for Rolling Stock Preservation has been sponsored by Paintman Paints and includes:

• The Isle of Wight Steam Railway’s restoration of the line’s former Midland Railway six-wheel crane
• The Manx Electric Railway for the restoration of trailer No. 19
• The Severn Valley Railway for the restoration of LMS-designed corridor composite carriage No. 24617
• The National Wagon Preservation Group for their ‘Merry-Go-Round’ coal train project

The Award for Business and Customer Innovation, which is sponsored by PNP Events shortlist features:

• The Keith and Dufftown Railway’s ‘Dram Tram’ conversion of a redundant DMU carriage
• Seaton Tramway’s Natural Seaton Festival
• The Kent and East Sussex Railways’ Santa Specials ‘quiet day’

Celebrating all things green, the shortlist for the Award for Environmental Innovation, which is sponsored by Premier Park, includes:

• Seaton Tramway’s Natural Seaton Festival
• The Kent and East Sussex Railway’s ‘Looking Inwards and Outwards’ environmental initiative

A strong interest has been taken in the Lord Faulkner Young Volunteer Award, with the shortlist made up of:

• Daisy Shennan from the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
• Jonathan King from the Downpatrick and County Down Railway
• Jacob Short from Peak Rail
• Joseph Dean from the Avon Valley Railway

The newest award at the ceremony is the Infrastructure Award, sponsored by Ernest R. Shaw saw a great deal of support with impressive entries made. The shortlist was created using a voting process, narrowing entrants down to:

• The Rother Valley Railway’s Hither Green turntable installation
• The restoration of Bricket Wood Station building by Bricket Wood Station Heritage Trust
• The installation of a panel signal box at Medstead and Four Marks station on the Watercress Line
• The Corwen station project on the Llangollen Railway

The Marketing and Communications Award, which is sponsored by Fox and Edwards Events shortlist features:

• The Watercress Line for their ‘In the Loop’ series on YouTube
• The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway for their events marketing
• Toddington Standard Locomotive Ltd for their fundraising efforts towards Standard ‘4MT’ 2-6-0 No. 76077

The Rising Star Award, sponsored by Purple Lighting, is part of the awards ‘people-focused’ categories with the shortlist including:

• Sam Hall from the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland
• Chelsea Lamb from Peak Rail
• Osian Hughes from the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways

Also part of the people-focused categories is the Team of the Year Award, which is sponsored by Expian and includes the following groups:

• The Severn Valley Railway-based Class 50 Alliance
• The Talyllyn Railway’s ‘Tracksiders’ young volunteers team
• The Blythburgh station team from the Halesworth Southwold Narrow-Gauge Railway
• The Dublin fundraising team from the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland

Further to the 11 categories featured at the Heritage Railway Association Annual Awards, this year will also see a noteworthy and successful project from the last 12 months recognised with the coveted ‘Chairman’s Special Award’, which will be revealed during the evening.

This year’s awards are sponsored by Inspire Structures and will take place in Brighton on the 10th of February with tickets available to buy online. The prestigious event will include guest speakers and a three-course meal.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shortlist as rich and varied as this one. It really is representative of the whole spectrum of heritage rail in the UK. We’ve got tramways competing with 15in gauge steam railways and one of the world’s biggest narrow gauge achievements competing with a Gresley ‘Pacific’. It’s exactly what these awards are about.

“It’s also been perhaps the toughest to shortlist for. Some categories had half a dozen or more entries that were all potential winners. I think we’re in for a hugely exciting evening at our awards event in Brighton during February.”

Steve Oates, Heritage Railway Association Chief Executive