The Heritage Railway Association (HRA) has included the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways for two of its 2024 awards:

• New double Fairlie, James Spooner has been shortlisted for the Coiley Award for Steam Locomotive Engineering; and
• Marketing Lead, Osian Hughes has been shortlisted for the HRA Award for Rising Stars.

HRA gives the Coiley Award for Steam Locomotive Engineering to a member organisation which has completed an outstanding engineering project, in the overhaul, restoration, or preservation of a steam locomotive or self-propelled vehicle.

‘James Spooner’ is the newest 0f the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway‘s newest double Fairlie, and the fifth new build loco built by Boston Lodge works since 1979. After lighting its first fire in August last year, the Railway officially launched the loco on Friday 20 October 2023 in a ceremony at Blaenau Ffestiniog station. A RailAdvent video shows the loco in action on its naming day.

The Railway announced the building of the loco in 2016, and since then, staff and volunteers at Boson Lodge workshops have worked tirelessly on the project, funded by significant financial contributions from supporters. The Railway sees the building of ‘James Spooner’ as one of its most significant engineering achievements in recent times.

The loco pays homage to the original ‘James Spooner’ of 1872. Several Victorian-era features of the early double Fairlies are incorporated in the design, including the boiler-mounted bells, stovepipe chimneys, square sand boxes and an open cab.

Osian Hughes has been shortlisted in the Rising Star category. He has been with the Railway since 2020, and has impressed with what the Railway calls “his positive attitude and problem solving ability which has greatly aided the railway over the past three years as it has changed its business model”. The Railway acknowledges that he has worked hard to learn about the company and the railway world. He has taken an active role in Great Little Trains of Wales (GLTW) and with Wales on Rails, which connects GLTW with community rail partnerships in Wales in order to encourage leisure rail travel.

Osian is a fluent Welsh speaker, and has worked with the Welsh Language Commission to create a Welsh Language Development Plan for the company. He recently organised a loco and carriages exhibit at the National Eisteddfod, staffed mainly by Welsh-speaking staff and volunteers, to highlight the importance of the Welsh language to the Railway.

The HRA will announce the winners at its Awards event in Brighton on the evening of Saturday 10 February.