Making Tracks Railway Podcast
Engineer Alasdair Stewart and guests talk trains, technology and infrastructure at historic, minor and quirky railways from around the world...
The ‘Making Tracks’ podcast is a blatant excuse for railway enthusiast Alasdair to spend more time talking to other track and infrastructure experts and take a deep dive into Heritage Railway projects world-wide.
From Civil Engineering Manager for the Welsh Highland Railway reconstruction, completing the final twelve mile phase from Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog, to bridge construction on HS2, a theme park railway in South Korea and Mail Rail in London, Alasdair Stewart has built a reputation on having much more than a one track mind!
- Update frequency
- every 35 days
- Average duration
- 50 minutes
- Episodes
- 23
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, Hastings Diesels, 'Railway Children' performed at Keighley & Worth Valley, and Young Railway Enthusiast wins footplate experience at Rudyard Lake.
In this episode of Making Tracks with Alasdair Stewart, Sharon Gregory and Laura Raymond, we’ll be visiting Welshpool and Llanfair Railway a rural, narrow gauge light railway, built to …
Railway 200; 'Greatest Gathering', Sharon's Railway Rideouts to the Glyn Valley Tramway and TV Newsreader Nicholas Owen's Railway Enthusiasm.
In this episode of Making Tracks we’ll take you behind the scenes of the 'Greatest Gathering' in Derby, England for a prestigious piece of the UK's Railway 200 celebrations. Engineer Al…
A Children's Railway In Ukraine, A UK Loco In Transylvania, NEHRT, FEDECRAIL & UK Parliamentarians Lobby for Heritage Rail's Future plus Sharon Gregory visits a Garden Viaduct
Welcome aboard this episode of MAKING TRACKS RAILWAY PODCAST with Alasdair Stewart and Sharon Gregory – no tickets are required to travel with us and there is no fare to pay!
In this epi…
Childhood Memories from a Welsh Station House, Blackpool & Seaton Trams and Telford Steam Railway, plus Ffestiniog 70 years of Preservation
In this episode of Making Tracks with Alasdair Stewart, we hear cherished memories of growing up at a remote station house in rural north Wales from Lynette Tucker... daughter of John …
Heritage Railways Improve Visitor Appeal in North Wales and Sharon Gregory's Holiday Rideouts
In this Episode of Making Tracks, engineer and podcaster Alasdair Stewart learns about modern methods of marketing heritage railways with the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways' Os…
Hastings Railway History, Kent & East Sussex Line Celebrations & Llanberis Lake Railway
In this episode of Making Tracks Podcast I visit some of England's most charming, bucolic countryside to join in celebrations at the Kent and East Sussex Railway, as they mark 25 years…
Anglesey Line Revival, Talyllyn's Job Share GMs, Lithuanian Narrow Gauge & Bluebell Railway Volunteer's Heartfelt Fundraiser
In this episode our travels to uncover Railway stories take us to Anglesey to meet Walter Glynn Davis, the 81 year old chair of Lein Amlwch – Anglesey Central Railway Ltd, a group who a…
Pioneering Electric Railways: A Look at Liverpool's Overhead Railway & Brighton's Volk's Electric Railway
Two cities and two very different electric railway stories: one still thriving with its original Victorian vintage vehicles and the other, a fading memory, with just a few tangible rema…
#Railway200 Celebrations Underway and the Corris Railway Extension
Welcome to the first episode of making tracks of 2025 the start of a special year in the Railway calendar – Railway 200
Railway 200 is a cross sector, government backed, partner led cam…
Railway Modelling: Experts, Exhibitions and Enthusiasts! Featuring Pete Waterman
The UK winter is a good time for indoor hobbies, and like many others, my thoughts are turning to the model railway kits I have stockpiled but haven't got around to making!
Instead of g…
Out of Africa: 'Kalahari' NG15- 134 Back in Steam & Memories of Uganda , Railway Ride-outs in Wales
This episode focusses on engines from Africa. The first returned to steam after 20 years of restoration work and fundraising from dedicated volunteers – the NG 15 134. Alasdair talks to…
Advanvced Passenger Train & Crewe Heritage Centre, Avanti's Present Day Crewe & Railways by Bike
In this episode of Making Tracks we visit the Cheshire town of Crewe, once dubbed the ' Railway Capital of the World ' -and see how the the town's railway and industrial inheritance is …
Mail Rail:London's Underground Narrow Gauge, Biker Railway Ride-outs, Ffestiniog Gravity Train & Darjeeling Himalayan locomotive 19B
In this episode of Making Tracks, Alasdair Stewart goes over old ground, or rather underground, as he revisits the Post Office railway – or Mail Rail as it has become known in recent de…
Rother Valley Railway:Missing Link Restoration Underway & Tours of Boston Lodge, steam engine driving experience courses as Ffestiniog Railway Society Marks 70 Year Anniversary
This episode is a tale of two railways both celebrating milestones.
A new beginning of the final stretch the two mile missing link that will join Robertsbridge to Tenterden and the Ke…
Sussex: The Lavender Line, Rother Valley Update & Stephen Cranford, Tracing the Steyning Line Rails
This episode of Making Tracks finds us once again in Sussex visiting a gem of a Railway, The Lavender Line just outside Uckfield. It is then onward to Robertsbridge to talk over plans, …
Amberley Museum Narrow Gauge Visit & Volunteering Excellence
We visit Amberley Museum in West Sussex. Get off on the main line at Amberley and you are there, at this excellent showcase of rural, transport, industrial and communications history …
End of year roundup: Santa Trains, a descendant of Robert Fairlie, Updates From Sibiu Agnita Railway & 19B
This edition of Making Tracks is a Christmas Selection Box:
We talk Santa trains and seasonal specials with Eleri Mottram at the WHR , and Neil Dale from the Durango and Silverton steam …
Ryedale's 5" gauge mainline in miniature & 'Oil firing' on the North Yorkshire Moors railway; A Sustainable Way Ahead For Heritage Railways?
This episode takes us to Yorkshire at the invitation of the Ryedale Society of Model Engineers to visit their mainline in miniature on a steam day in November 2023.
The extensive dual …
Overseas Locos: Enthusiasts Going The Extra Mile For Railway History. Wales, India, China & South Africa...
In this episode we look at engines built for service overseas that are now running or will run, on railways in the UK. We ask why travel around the world to find a loco to restore when …
New Ffestiniog Fairlie 'James Spooner' and Network Rail's Barmouth Viaduct - Iconic Victorian Railway Engineering Re-imagined For The 21st Century
Episode 4 of Making Tracks looks at the new Double Fairlie Loco built at Boston Lodge and now in service on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway .
We also look at another Railway in…