Railway 200, the year-long celebration to mark the 200th anniversary of modern railways, was launched by around 100 heritage railway volunteers coming together at the Severn Valley Railway on Sunday, 5th January for a Railway 200 Get Together.

The launch followed the global ‘whistle up’ at noon on New Year’s Day when representatives from 15 UK heritage lines and locomotive-owning groups assembled at the Severn Valley Railway’s Engine House at Highley.

They were there to view the recently overhauled Stanier Mogul No 13268 passing shortly before 3 pm whistling loudly and proudly adorned with a Railway 200 headboard specially commissioned for the celebrations.

As well as the event at Highley, it was the second day of the Severn Valley Railway’s Winter Steam Gala which meant the whole railway was busy as it was operating to an intensive timetable.

The Railway 200 Get Together event was coordinated by the Heritage Railway Association, and among the crowds cheering on 13268 was Heritage Railway Association president Lord Faulkner of Worcester.

Also present were representatives from the Bala Lake Railway, Bluebell Railway, Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway, East Lancashire Railway, Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, Moseley Railway Trust, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Rhyl Miniature Railway, Severn Valley Railway, Stanier 8F Society, Talyllyn Railway, Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum, Wensleydale Railway and West Somerset Railway.

As part of the Railway 200 events, an appeal has been launched to find the UK’s longest-serving railway family.

“Although we all naturally focus on the trains, it’s people that really make heritage railways what they are. So, it’s great that so many heritage railway people braved the awful weather to come together at the Severn Valley Railway. I’d like to thank the team at the Severn Valley for hosting the Get Together at their excellent Winter Gala. The personal stories are also what’s going to make Railway 200 special; it’s not all about the engineering and the ‘firsts’. Railway 200 is about the ways that railways transformed the lives of everyone. From standardised time and commuting to holidays and travelling football fans, it was the railways that made them all possible and much, much more.”

Steve Oates, Heritage Railway Association chief executive