Retired civil servant from Magheramorne in running for UK heritage ‘Rising Star’ award

Gill Lewis (70) has been recognised in the ‘Rising Star’ category of the Heritage Railway Association’s (HRA) annual awards.

The Whitehead Railway Museum volunteer single-handedly transformed the footplate of historic steam locomotive No. 461.

Gill, who described the No. 461 project as “a labour of love”, said she was delighted her work has enabled visitors to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) attraction to step onto the footplate and visualise what life would have been like for the crew.

She added: “I only joined the RPSI at Whitehead earlier in 2022 and I have been made very welcome. I offered to volunteer and was looking for a job which I could get my teeth stuck into. It was a big challenge but the end result makes it all worthwhile.

“The museum is a great place to visit and I’m delighted that No. 461, which was built in 1922, is now available for the public to see up close.”

Gill, who hails from Yorkshire, retired to Northern Ireland several years ago and has always enjoyed train travel, so volunteering at Whitehead was “just the ticket”.

Awards Ceremony

Dr Joan Smyth, RPSI president, said: “We are delighted that Gill’s work has been recognised by the HRA and we hope that she will be a winner at the awards ceremony in Birmingham on March 11.

“The faceplate and cab fittings were caked in decades of smoke, grease and dirt but Gill set to and after four months’ toil, everything is now sparkling.

“Using elbow grease, detergent and scrapers, Gill chipped away at the dirt on the faceplate, which in some cases was an inch thick. She took the smaller objects home and cleaned them on her kitchen table.

“She also shone up all the brass parts, including a water tap on the tender. To complete the job, the faceplate has been repainted in matt black while the regulator and whistle lever are resplendent in red. The end result is that the footplate looks marvellous.”

In November, a 100th birthday party was held for No. 461 at the museum. The Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Alderman Noel Williams, joined Gill and Dr Smyth to cut a birthday cake to mark the occasion.

The award-winning Whitehead Railway Museum is open every week from Thursday to Saturday (10am to 4pm, last admission 2.15pm) and there are five galleries to explore. For further information, check out the RPSI website at www.steamtrainsireland.com