Not long ago it would seem unthinkable...the Midlands running out of coal. But that's exactly what's happening.
Heritage steam railways - which will attract thousands of visitors this May Bank Holiday - are now struggling to find suitable coal supplies in Britain.
To keep going, some are having to import coal from thousands of miles away in Russia
This is despite the fact that the Midlands sits on millions of tons of coal.
Steam railways need the right sort of coal. Locomotives can be damaged if the fuel burns at the wrong temperature, or has too much sulphur or ash content. Different fireboxes and boilers have different requirements.
Some railways had been using coal from the Daw Mill mine in Warwickshire, but that has closed following a serious underground fire. Others had used Scottish Coal, but their supplies have been hit by a financial crisis. The situation was made worse by extra demand caused by the very cold winter.
Nevertheless heritage railway operators say it's ironic that the Midlands has so much coal underground that is going unused.
Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham relied for years on Daw Mill and has switched to coal from Wales. Commenting on the possibility of importing coal from Russia, Bob Meanley from Tyseley says:
The whole thing is unbelievable really. When you think we are almost in what used to be Warwickshire we are sat on millions of tons of the stuff and we just can't get hold of it at the moment.
The Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, has topped up its supplies with Russian coal and has enough stockpiles to last through the Bank Holiday and beyond - when many families are to ride behind the line's historic steam engines.
We managed to secure about 150 tons of coal which will see us through the next fortnight. And we are hoping the (latest) Russian shipment will be in by then.
– IAN WALKER, WORKS MANAGER
Tags: coal crisis in the midlands, latest the avanti group news blog
