A second major landslip has hit the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway.
The embankment at the 'chicken curve' near Winchcombe station has collapsed, and intitial estimates put the cost of repairing it at around £500,000.
It comes after the railway suffered a £1 million embankment failure at Gotherington last year, sparking a £1m appeal lead by Pete Waterman.
GWSR Chairman, Malcolm Temple, says the railway's volunteer staff are devastated at this latest turn of events.
"Last year was the worst in the railway's 29-years of preservation history."
"Not only did we suffer the Gotherington collapse, which is subject to a £1 million emergency appeal, but several days of our busy Santa Specials were lost because of heavy snow and freezing conditions, costing us between £50,000 and £60,000 in lost revenue."
"Just when we thought we were putting a terrible year behind us, this happens."
A problem was identified early in January and trains were stopped from passing over the embankment as a precaution. Remedial work was carried out but the embankment failed completely. It is believed that a combination of water accumulating under the embankment and the recent freezing conditions led to fractures deep within the embankment.
Adds Malcolm Temple: "Unfortunately, our insurers, who are paying for part of the Gotherington collapse, will not be prepared to meet the cost of this latest disaster."
"Our financial reserves have been wiped out by both the Gotherington embankment failure and by loss of our Santa Special income. We are not running trains now because of the planned winter break so we have almost no income."
"Frankly, this has brought the railway to its knees."
"It is the biggest challenge our railway has ever faced and is certainly one of the worst disasters to affect any UK heritage railway."
The railway is organising an emergency meeting to decide on the way forward