Year 12 student, Nathan Lightowler, is amongst a group of young railway enthusiasts who have received the Best Wagon 2009 award for their work in restoring a Brake Van steam train which was originally built in 1945. The group, all members of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, voluntarily worked on the train at Whitehead, Co Antrim where they stripped the Brake Van back to its bare shell and reconstructed it precisely as it would have been when it first took to the tracks. The award, presented by the Heritage Railway Association of the UK and Ireland, was presented at the National Railway Museum in York on the 6th of February. The RPSI chairman, Johnny Glendinning, said that he was very proud of the work the youth team had done and that they justly deserved “this important recognition.” Well done Nathan!
