Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2017 i The Railway Magazine

TRAIN OF THOUGHT Editor’s Comment WHEN I wrote my comment at the end of March for the April-dated issue, which, by pure coincidence, contained a feature on whether the railways should be renationalised or not, little did we know that a general election was on the cards. The election will take place the day after this issue hits the bookstalls and the country will soon know what policies are in store for the next five years – and that could include the possibility of renationalising the railways. As a journalist who has reported during both the BR and Privatised eras for nearly 30 years, under privatisation there have been many success stories with record investment levels that have grown passenger numbers to new highs, so what has actually been achieved…

A CROYDON tram driver has been suspended after allegedly being filmed asleep in the cab of a tram. The footage was aired on social media. The incident comes six months after seven passengers were killed and 50 injured when a tram took a bend at more than three times the permitted speed. In the footage, the driver appeared to be asleep for around two minutes before being woken by passengers as the tram waited at traffic lights. Many concerned passengers decided to get off at the next stop. London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has demanded urgent answers from FirstGroup, which runs the tram concession. He said: “I am absolutely furious about this incident and I’m sure all Londoners will be as shocked as I am.” TfL has previously told First to…

THE malware attack by computer hackers using ransomware known as WannaCry, which brought chaos to many parts of the NHS last month, also infected computers across the globe, with railway operators in Germany and Russia affected. German national operator DB had to shut down its computer based station information systems at many locations as the ransomware had infected the PCs used to operate the system. At major stations such as Frankfurt am Main Hbf and Chemnitz Hbf, staff had to resort to using chalkboards to show where trains would depart from. DB is at least lucky that it has printed departure sheets at all stations which show platform details, unlike the equivalent ones used in some other countries. In Russia, state rail operator RZD reported several problems caused by the…

TRAIN builders from all over the world are lining up their bids to win the lucrative High Speed 2 train contract. Thought to be worth £2.5 billion, the deal for up to 60 high-speed, classic-compatible EMUs will be awarded after the winner of the new West Coast Partnership franchise is confirmed in late-2018. However, the major global train builders are already promoting their high-speed credentials and unveiling proposed UK versions of existing designs aimed at the HS2 contract. New designs Many of the proposed designs were on show at the Railtex trade show in Birmingham on May 9-11, including new designs from Talgo of Spain, Hitachi Rail Europe and Alstom. Bombardier was missing from the event as it seeks to sell its rail division, possibly to Siemens. Until more detailed…

MORE than 96% of respondents who support a proposal to reopen the Stratford-upon-Avon to Long Marston line want Warwickshire’s local authorities to play an active part in seeking a comprehensive (GRIP 4) study. Previous calls for the study have been rejected. Fraser Pithie, secretary of the Shakespeare Line Promotion Group, said that the response was ‘overwhelming’, and that the reopened line could provide a 45-minute direct journey time between the 6000 new homes planned to be built at Long Marston and Birmingham. Additionally, reopening the route would also enable GWR to run passenger services between Stratford, Oxford, Reading, Heathrow Airport and London Paddington by upgrading the 2½ miles of branch line between Long Marston and Honeybourne. A major rail industry exhibition takes place at Long Marston this month and organisers…

RAIL freight prides itself on being environmentally friendly, more especially if it can use electric traction – as is very common on the Continent. However, there are only a few routes where this can be used effectively and often, as in the case of the GW electrification, the loops and chords needed for freight are sometimes removed from the scope when the costs of electrification overrun. Electric traction also helps operators to get suitable paths on steeper gradients with heavier trailing loads, and operators design their traction, loads and timetables for maximum efficiencies, and to get a path between the higher speed passenger trains. This is the case with one heavy train which is double-headed with electric locos over Shap on the WCML. Network Rail has now indicated that two…

WITH commemorations of FirstWorld War events now in their fourth year, the Friends of the National Railway Museum have ensured that one of the lesser-known aspects of human conflict – ambulance trains–gains the recognition it deserves. The book follows a short feature article on the subject inTheRailway Magazine of July 2014 and reflects great interest shown in a recent ambulance train exhibition staged by the NRM. It begins with the crude arrangements made to transport wounded soldiers in the Crimean, Franco-Prussian and American Civil wars, majors on the First and Second global conflicts, and then brings the story up to date with modern-day British Army ambulance trains in Germany. The book even makes a claim for Britain’s first ‘ambulance train’being the one that carried the injured MPWilliam Huskisson after he…

ANDY Munro, the Great Central Railway’s CEO, has left the Loughborough railway after just 10 months in charge. Mr Munro joined the GCR last July, taking over the mantle from Bill Ford, and during his short time in the hot seat has overseen the architectural decisionmaking for the new £18 million museum at Leicester North, as well as the commencement of work on the bridge over the Midland Main Line. The announcement was made on May 16; the GCR board advising that Mr Munro was stepping down for family reasons effective immediately. The railway’s general manager, Richard Patching, has assumed the role of acting CEO while the search for Mr Munro’s replacement gets underway.…

THE P2 Steam Locomotive Company’s project to build the next member of Gresley’s powerful class of 2-8-2s – No. 2007 Prince of Wales – shows no signs of slowing down, having placed the order for the Mikado’s tender frames. The £142,500 order has gone to Ian Howitt (I D Howitt Ltd) of Crofton, West Yorkshire. Mr Howitt built the tender frames for ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado between 2005 and 2007 as well as the locomotive’s smokebox door assembly, and has also been contracted to start making brake parts for the ‘P2’, commencing with the brake hangers. Castings ordered As reported in the May issue of The RM, the remaining steel castings for the 2-8-2 have already been ordered from the William Cook Group, with delivery expected in July. Of the…

THE Welsh Government has awarded the Llangollen Railway Trust (LRT) a grant of £128,000 towards the building of the new Corwen Central station at the line’s western terminus. The grant has been made following a successful application by the LRT to the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is jointly funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government. It will enable the Corwen Central project team to continue work on the 160m island platform, which, when complete, will be able to accommodate an eight-coach train on one side and a smaller six-coach train on the other. Commenting on the award, project leader, Richard Dixon-Gough, said: “The availability of this funding from the Welsh Government ensures that work on the site can…

Have you got a story for us? Email: railway@mortons.co.uk THE first of two guest locomotives for the Churnet Valley Railway’s 25th Anniversary Gala on October 20-22 has been confirmed as Collett ‘Manor’ No. 7820 Dinmore Manor. The agreement has been reached with No. 7820’s owners, Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd, and the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway where it normally resides. The roving 4-6-0, which in early May was undergoing testing with its new Collett 3500-gallon tender, will thus be able to add another railway to its growing list of lines visited. Since it returned from overhaul in 2014, the ‘Manor’ has made appearances at the North Norfolk, West Somerset, Great Central, Epping Ongar, Battlefield Line, Dartmouth Steam, Severn Valley and Llangollen railways, with another summer spell booked at the West Somerset Railway…

THE Severn Valley Railway invited railwaymen of all ages to come together on May 3, and lay the first brick courses for the new refreshment room at Bridgnorth station. The invitees ranged from 16-year-old loco cleaner, Leo Roberts, to 90-year-old Barry Cook, but all shared one thing in common – they were all railwaymen with connections to the SVR both pre- and postpreservation. Mr Cook, a former driver at Kidderminster and Stourbridge, had the honour of laying the first brick of the new building, which is being built in a style to complement the existing 1862-built neo- Jacobean station building. Next came Phil Coutanche, a former British Railways’ engineer who can lay claim to having stopped contractors from lifting the line in 1965, paving the way for the embryonic Severn…

PECKETT ‘R4’ 0-4-0ST Lytham St Anne’s made a triumphant return to service at the Midland Railway-Butterley over the Bank Holiday weekend of April 29-May 1. The MR-B’s Vintage Weekend marked the culmination of a five-year contract overhaul of the Preston Gas Works locomotive (2111/1949), carried out by the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust (PRCLT) and Tyseley Locomotive Works. The work completed by the PRCLT at Swanwick Junction includes the stripping and painting of the frames, and a full overhaul, including bearings, new piston rings, piston rods and machining of the valve spindles. The cab and tank have been refurbished, a new lubrication system installed, along with work on the braking system. The boiler overhaul was carried out at Tyseley, where the Peckett received a new firebox wrapper, a new front…

Your reports and pictures are most welcome. Highly competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM. LMS-NCC ‘WT’ 2-6-4T No. 4 was the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s hero of the hour on its ‘Shannon & Suir Railtour’ in early May when the ‘Jeep’ ended up working the train virtually solo. The multi-day tour got underway as planned on May 4 when GNR(I) Compound 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin set out from Belfast Central with the Whitehead-based Mk2 set bound for Dublin. The positioning move featured some good running with driver Noel Playfair on the regulator as No. 85 thundered over its old stamping ground. However, all was not well, and the following day when the additional diesel-hauled ‘South Kerry Railtour’ left Dublin Connolly 45 minutes late behind a…

IARNRÓD Éireann-Irish Rail’s annual weed-killing train is currently touring the Republic’s railway network. Included in its itinerary are lesser-used lines such as the mothballed South Wexford line, which officially closed in 2010. On May 10 it was working over the former GNR(I) main line, heading north from Dundalk at 09.15 and spraying as far as the Northern Ireland border. However, the train, worked by Class 071 No. 077, continued onto NIR metals as far as Newry, where the loco ran round and headed south to Drogheda and the freight-only Navan line. It is seen (below) passing Meigh, around two miles north of the border.…

Your reports and pictures aremost welcome. Highly competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM. THE Electric Railway Museum (ERM), Coventry, has seen off two previous attempts to obliterate it, in 2009 and 2016, but the latest scheme appears to be an even more serious threat to its existence. The threat comes from a project by Jaguar Land Rover to expand its engine plant, which includes land on the opposite side of Rowley Road to the museum. The current lease expires in April 2019 by when all railway preservation activity at the site could end and the land cleared of all stock. Coventry City Council has agreed to a £40million contract for associated road works and although nothing definite has been decided as yet regarding the museum site,…

CLASS 52 No. D1062 Western Courier has hadamakeover to celebrate 50 years in preservation. TheWestern Locomotive Association bought No. D1062 Western Courier in October 1976 and following restoration the Class 52 re-entered service in preservation on the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) in May 1977. Marking this anniversary, the locohas been repainted inBR blue, replacing maroon for the first time in preservation. It nowdisplays its number –1062, as latterly on BR–with the‘D’paintedout. Western Courier passed its‘B’ and fitness-to-run exams and was inoperation on the SVR on April 30 with sister loco No. D1015 Western Champion. It had a test run on May 9, running on both engines, and is seen passing through Foley Park prior to its gala appearances on May 18-20.…

NORTH British Loco Co (NBL) 27414 0-4-0DH Tom is seen at Lawley Village station, Telford Steam Railway, on April 15 with the 11.00 from Spring Village. This was its first passenger working, with Tom carrying a fictitious BR black livery. It was built at Queen’s Park Works, Glasgow in 1954, but no longer has an NBL engine, being powered by an eight-cylinder Rolls-Royce engine. This was originally a standby generator at a hospital in Cork, Ireland. This train should have been two coaches long, but the railway suffered a vandalism attack mid-week, during the school holidays, in which 18 windows on various items of rolling stock were damaged, including DMUs, but luckily this coach was untouched. A crowdfunding appeal has been launched to cover the £5,000-plus costs of repairs.…

Your reports and pictures aremost welcome. Highly competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM. TRANSPORT for London has started the process to buy new trains for the Docklands Light Railway, which should be in service by 2022. The idea is to replace older stock while boosting capacity by nearly a third. Required on-board features include real-time information, air-conditioning and mobile device charging points Extra capacity is needed because the number of homes and businesses in the Docklands area is growing rapidly, plus there will be interchanges with new Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) services from 2018 – such as at Stratford, CanaryWharf and Custom House. Tender TfL has published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) seeking expressions of interest from the train manufacturing industry…

ANOTHER tram fast approaching its 80th anniversary is Glasgow Corporation ‘Coronation’ class No. 1245, now based at the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, near Coatbridge. Volunteers from the Summerlee Transport Group have set themselves a target of May 2019 to complete the tram’s restoration, enabling entry into service for its anniversary. The two decks of the tram have now been reunited in the workshops, and while not yet on its wheels, the bogies and motors have been overhauled ready for refitting. Fitting out the interior and re-panelling the exterior is now underway, and work on the overhaul of the control gear is being carried out. A new electrical system is being designed for the car, incorporating the original components.…

Your reports and pictures are most welcome. Highly competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM. EUROTUNNEL has bought three new 800-metre long freight shuttle trains to cater for the expected growth in lorry traffic over the next few years. The trains represent a 20% increase in capacity for freight through the tunnel. The trains have been designed and built by German company Waggonbau Niesky at a cost of €40 million. They feature three loading wagons and 32 lorry carriers (nine loaders and 96 flats total), and are Eurotunnel’s first new rolling stock since 1999. The order includes an option for two more sets, which look likely to be required as the Anglo-French company aims to carry two million lorries each year by 2020. International lorry traffic has…

Have you got a story for us? Email: railway@mortons.co.uk BRITAIN’S main political parties are offering voters very different visions for the rail industry in their manifestos for the general election on June 8. However, despite its importance to the daily lives of millions of voters, transport comes well down the list of priorities for most parties. The Labour party has reaffirmed its commitment to return passenger operators to government control as their franchises expire. The manifesto gives no indication of what would happen to the rolling stock owning companies (ROSCOs) or private freight operators, or what relationship a revived ‘British Rail’ would have with the Department for Transport. However, a YouGov opinion poll in May showed that 60% of UK citizens support renationalisation of the railways, while only 17% actively…

SIEMENS is cutting nearly 1700 jobs in Germany over the next few years, including 300 immediately at its Krefeld plant near Dusseldorf, which is currently building Thameslink Class 700s and South West Trains Class 707s. Siemens Mobility reported a 39% increase in profit to €213m (£183.5m) for its second quarter of 2017 on revenue of €2bn (£1.72bn), however, its Mainline Transport (MLT) and Urban Transport (UT) business units are said to be struggling from increasing competition from China, rising costs and the delay or cancellation of many public infrastructure projects owing to lack of finance. Siemens is refusing to comment on persistent rumours that it is in negotiations with Canada’s Bombardier over the merger of their rail businesses.…

TRACEY Parkinson has joined the East Lancashire Railway as its new general manager, taking over from Andy Morris who spent seven years in the role until stepping down earlier this year. Ms Parkinson joins the Burybased managerial team from the Talyllyn Railway, where she served as general manager for just over a year. Previous experience includes marketing officer at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, train services manager at the National Railway Museum as well as other roles with the Railway Touring Company and Hull Trains.…

A PUBLIC diesel-hauled train service will reconnect the Dorset resort of Swanage with the national network at Wareham on June 13, for the first time since 1972. The first departure leaves Swanage at 14.23 and marks a major milestone in the Swanage Railway’s long-held aim of returning a public service over the Purbeck Line, righting a wrong dating back 45 years when British Rail controversially closed the 10-mile line. The new trial service will run for a period of two years, operating on 60 days during this summer, with four trains a day in each direction linking Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage. For this year the service will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays until September 3 inclusive. Four coaches are being provided for the service by the…

THE way freight is moved around, by rail, road, water and air is fundamental to the success of our economy. Brexit will have a massive, but as yet unquantifiable, effect. However, elsewhere the growing concern about air pollution from road vehicles, road congestion and the demand for quicker deliveries means that there is a new potential for carrying freight by rail, hopefully to give some boost to the sector following the demise of most coal traffic. Small freight volumes on passenger trains are already happening with support from the Department for Transport, but a variable response from passenger operators. A folding-seat structure has been developed to provide space for such things as bikes and freight on passenger trains. More recently, interest has been shown in developing a sleeper service to…

THE class has understandably experienced many different liveries – with more than 25 different major variations, plus a host of minor changes There was BR green, later enhanced with small yellow panels, and then full yellow ends, followed by the transition to BR blue – a handful of which went on to have red solebars. There was ‘Red Stripe’ Railfreight, two-tone grey, Central Services and BRT grey in the BR sectors’ era. The privatised periods gave us Hunslet Barclay grey, RFS grey, DRS blue, DRS Compass, GB Railfreight. Industrial or private users of the fleet has seen CFD orange, Blue Circle Cement yellow & blue, Lafarge white & green, Corus yellow, Tata blue, Waterman Railways black, Metropolitan Railway maroon, HNRC orange & grey, Hope Construction white, London Transport red, London…

Your reports and pictures are most welcome. Highly competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM. THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is to expand its main line sphere of operation, having teamed up with the North Norfolk Railway (NNR) to work this summer’s Holt- Sheringham-Cromer dining trains commencing on July 5. Following the successful four-date trial last year when the trains were worked by West Coast Railways, the NNR approached the NYMR in an effort to capitalise on its experience of running regular steam between Grosmont and Whitby. Former NYMR general manager Philip Benham has been instrumental in facilitating the arrangement, and as a result the two railways have teamed up in an extraordinary act of goodwill that will see the ‘North Norfolkman’ services operated under the…

FLYING Scotsman will be making a three-day appearance at Didcot Railway Centre this summer once its season on the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Waverley’ tours from York to Carlisle comes to an end. The Gresley ‘A3’ will be present at the former GWR depot over the bank holiday on August 26-28. It last visited in 2005 shortly before being taken out of service for its lengthy overhaul. Admission to the centre will be by ticket only, which will need to be bought in advance via the Didcot website. There will be no pay on the day admissions. Further details of the visit and ticketing arrangements will be made available in due course. Roger Orchard of Didcot Railway Centre said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the National Railway Museum…

Transfer shed forTV award? THE broad gauge transfer shed at Didcot Railway Centre has been nominated for the Shed of the Year award by the Channel 4 programAmazing Spaces. The nomination is in the‘notashed’category, which relies on viewer/external votes for a nomination to progress and win. To register your vote visit www.readersheds.co.uk/index.cfm?type=notashed Work begins on ‘Dub-Dee’overhaul DE?TUBING of the boiler on ‘WD’2-10-0 No. 3672 Dame Vera Lynn got underway at the North YorkshireMoors Railway on May 13. Although still someway down the overhaul queue, ‘Vera’ is the subject of a £750,000 appeal by the Fight for Vera Fund launched in 2013, which has raised around £100,000 for the loco’s return to steamso far and allowed for stripping of the‘Dub-Dee’to get underway last year. ‘Jinty’ reached Ecclesbourne ROGER Hibbert’s LMS‘3F’ 0-6-0T…

THE only operational examples of RA Riddles’ eight- and 10-coupled War Department ‘Austerity’ locomotives will be seen together for the first time in preservation at the North Norfolk Railway this summer. Keighley & Worth Valley Railwaybased ‘WD’ 2-8-0 No. 90733 will be journeying to East Anglia for the September 1-3 event, where it will join the line’s newly overhauled 2-10-0 No. 90775. The two types have not been seen together since BR days, and with both locomotives carrying unlined BR black they will be certain to attract a lot of interest, even if their BR identities are purely fictitious. Not one of the 733 of the 2-8-0s that were taken into British Railways’ stock survived into preservation; a story that also applied to the 25 2-10-0s. The 2-8-0 now running…

THE Hollycombe Collection at Liphook, Hampshire, is appealing for anyone interested in rehoming its unrestored Great Western Railway six-wheel carriage body to come forward. The Dean-designed Luggage Composite was built to diagram number U21 in 1885 for the GWR’s broad gauge, being numbered 528. In 1892 it was converted to standard gauge and renumbered as 915, later becoming No. 6915 in 1907. Withdrawal came in September 1932 and the body was eventually grounded near Blissford, Hampshire, where it served as a dwelling until 1985. Two years later, after service as a wood shed, it was preserved and taken to a private site in Salisbury, and eventually donated to Hollycombe in June 2015. However, the now-fragile body has been deemed surplus to requirements, and Hollycombe would be interested to hear from…

Your reports and pictures are most welcome. Highly competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM. THE Foxfield Railway will be using the line’s own history as inspiration during its golden anniversary gala this summer when it resurrects two lost ‘Austerities’ from the National Coal Board days pre-1965. The special event will commemorate the 50th anniversary of both the formation of the Foxfield Light Railway Society and the running of its first train. It will be held over three days on July 14-16. Such a special occasion demands a very special celebration, and the railway is set to meet expectation by having no fewer than eight locomotives in steam. Key to the proposed ‘Austerity’ re-creations is the return to service of Hunslet No. 7 Wimblebury (3839/1956), which is…

‘U’ class tender reaches Whitehead A TENDER once paired with a GNR(I) ‘U’ class 4-4-0 has been moved to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s Whitehead base in County Antrim. The six-wheeled Type E 2,500-gallon tender – No. 43 of 1948 – was transported from long-term storage in Mullingar on May 11. The tender bears a superficial likeness to the Stanier tenders of the LMS and could be used as a basis for a new tender for the RPSI’s proposed NCC ‘W’ 2-6-0 new-build. Fatality halts Dublin to Belfast services IRISH Rail services for Drogheda and cross-border ‘Enterprise’ operations were halted on May 7 after a person was struck and fatally injured by a train at Skerries. The incident occurred at around 19.30 when the individual was hit by the…

IARNRÓD Éireann-Irish Rail is in the process of repainting another member of the ‘Big GM’ class to mark the 30th anniversary of the company this year. This follows the emergence of pioneer ‘Big GM’ No. 071 in CIE’s ‘Supertrain’ livery last year At the time of writing No. 073 was in the paintshop at Inchicore receiving the Irish Rail orange livery first applied to classmate No. 078 in April 1987. The livery is similar to CIE’s ‘Revised Supertrain’, but with white stripes separating orange and black areas, and with IR’s corporate ‘four tracks’ logo replacing the CIE roundel, as displayed on No. 071 in this scene at Bray on May 29, 1995.…

THE Southern Electric Group has relocated three of its five Southern Railway 4-COR ‘Nelson’ cars, including two from the East Kent Railway (EKR). TSK No. 11096 arrived at a private site in Sellindge on April 22 followed by TCK No. 11825 on the 28th, both from Shepherdswell, and finally, DMBSO No. 11201 from storage at Wishaw, Warwickshire on May 13. They have been sheeted over but restoration will continue, along with that of double-deck EMU No. S13003S parked nearby (RM January, p74). Driving cars DMBSOs Nos. 11161 and 11187 remain at the EKR for passenger use as hauled stock. The EKR has evictedmany of the EMU cars once thought to be safely housed there, but has accepted Class 423 4-VOP set No. 3905 from storage on the Dartmoor Railway, which…

‘CROMPTON’No. 33201, previously on the Swanage Railway (RM April, p86), will be based on the Spa Valley Railway for an initial period of five years. It is owned by the BRCWorkgroup and joins resident ‘Cromptons’ Nos. 33063 R. J. Mitchell and 33065 Sealion, owned by the South East Locomotive Group. This fills the gap left by the departure of Class 37 No. 37254, which has returned to the main line. Class 31 No. 31289, from the Rushden Transport Museum, is contracted to be on the line until late December.…

THE Isle of Wight Steam Railway (IWSR) received Permaquip 001 of 1985, 4wDH personnel carrier No. 68800 from the Chasewater Railway in January. It is in weather-worn yellow livery and the engine is seized, but will be restored for use on the railway. It joins No. 68809 (Permaquip 010 of 1986), known as ‘La-La’, which was restored in 2011 and finished in Network SouthEast livery. Another non-steam item has joined the IWSR collection, a Ryde pier electric tram built locally in 1911 by Pollard & Sons. It was withdrawn in 1927 and replaced by the Drewry petrol vehicle now being reconstructed (RM November p86). The tram body was rescued from a farm in 1978 and restored by a youth training scheme. It has been out of public view for many…

THE unique project by Railway Vehicle Preservations (RVP) to re-create a long-lost type of vehicle, a diesel brake tender, is nearing completion (RM January p74). No.B964122 has been constructed at Rothley and was moved to Swithland shed on April 12. All that is now needed is finishing in green top coat, an application of lettering and a thorough checkover. Its public debut is planned to be at the GCR’s September 9-10 diesel gala, which will be something not seen on UK railways for several decades.…

MIDLAND Metrohas announced it will close the line between Priestfield andWolverhampton St George’s on June 11 for track renewalwork. It is hoped the projectwill be completed in time forChristmas. Thepark and ride stop at Priestfield will remain open for passengers heading towards Birmingham, but those wanting TheRoyal andWolverhampton will have to use a replacement bus service. Thework, described by MidlandMetroasessential,will also include improving drainage and resurfacing the A41 Bilston Road that shares much of the double-track 0.85-mile route. It is in addition to the on-goingwork to extend the tramroute fromStGeorge’s to Wolverhampton railway station via Piper’s Row.…

Your reports and pictures are most welcome. Highly competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM. THE National Tramway Museum is just a year away from its projected completion of ex-London County Council (LCC) car No. 1. It has been almost five years since the London County Council Tramways Trust launched its appeal to fund No. 1’s restoration back to its LCC ‘Bluebird’ guise, and three years since it entered the workshop for work to begin. Restoration is expected to be the most comprehensive undertaken at Crich and, in spite of appearances, the project is now at an advanced stage of reassembly. No. 1 was cosmetically restored into London Transport livery in 1978, but this current restoration is throwing up several challenges. The tram’s ‘one-off’ nature has revealed…

FREIGHTLINER’S parent company Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) has acquired Southampton-based company Pentalver Transport. Pentalver operates off-dock container terminals at each of the four major UK seaports – Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway and Tilbury – as well as an inland terminal at Cannock in Staffordshire. In addition to providing storage for loaded and empty containers, Pentalver operates more than 150 lorries, providing daily service between the seaports of Felixstowe and Southampton and Cannock. It also provides container maintenance and repair services, and is one of the largest sellers of new and used containers in the UK. G&W expects the acquisition to enhance its UK services by providing combined rail and road solutions, storage options at the ports and inland, and create efficiencies from shared services and enhanced utilisation from Pentalver’s fleet…

GREAT Northern Railway (Ireland) ‘V’ class 4-4-0 Compound No. 85 Merlin will have broken new ground by the time this issue goes on sale, having had its route availability increased by Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail. Merlin has been in Dublin since its failure with a hot box on the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s ‘Shannon & Suir’ railtour (see Irish News, page 76), and the society’s Dublin operations team has undertaken repairs. With regular Dublin engine, NCC ‘WT’ 2-6-4T No. 4, is at Whitehead having stepped in for No. 85 to return the stock to Northern Ireland, permission was sought to use Merlin on a number of RPSI tours during later May and early June. Axle loading When it first returned to service in the care of the RPSI in 1985/86,…

ASSEMBLY work is underway on the first Intercity Express Programme (IEP) vehicles for Virgin Trains East Coast. Hitachi’s Kasado plant in Japan is building the aluminium bodyshells, which will be shipped to the UK for fitting out at Hitachi Rail Europe’s assembly facility in Newton Aycliffe; UK build work on the Virgin ‘Azuma’ trains will begin this summer. The fleet of 65 trains will replace InterCity 125 diesel and IC225 electric sets and provide an extra 12,200 seats, as well as direct routes to new destinations such as Middlesbrough and a big increase in through services from London to Bradford, Harrogate and Lincoln. David Horne, managing director of Virgin Trains East Coast, said: “We are very excited to be moving closer to the day when our fantastic new train comes…

Trespass warning for Harry Potter fans BRITISH Transport Police has issued a warning to Harry Potter fans not to trespass on Glenfinnan Viaduct after number of recent incidents that have seen a 16% rise in trespass in Scotland. BTP has asked ‘muggles’ (a nonmagical person) to stay away. Network Rail has enhanced the fencing as a deterrent. BTP Sgt Kevin Lawrence said: “Alarmingly, visitors often get off the train at Glenfinnan and walk back along the line to take photographs. This is extremely dangerous.” Highland main line enhancement study plan WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff has been commissioned by Transport Scotland to create a business case for shortened passenger journey times and enhanced freight capacity on the Highland Main Line. The £250m scheme would lead to some Inverness-Edinburgh journey times being cut…

RAILWAY photographer, Fred Kerr, has issued a warning to enthusiasts following an unprovoked attack that resulted in his jaw being broken in two places as well as the theft of his camera. The incident occurred in daylight at St Johns station, near Lewisham, on May 16 when he was photographing on the footbridge connecting the station to the town. The assault was both witnessed by a passenger from a distance and captured on CCTV, showing the assailant getting off a local train service, passing behind Fred then turning quickly to punch him in the face several times before grabbing his camera and lens, worth £2000, and running off. The image quality was sufficient for British Transport Police to make an arrest in the days after the incident. Mr Kerr needed…

I AM not sure that the Labour Party’s manifesto commitment to renationalise the railways is going to be the vote winner that they clearly expect. For a start, Network Rail is already nationalised and is suffering from Treasury micro-management on the sale of railway land (see Multiple Aspects last month). Now the Treasury is reported to be saying to Network Rail that it will have all the proceeds back to reduce the national debt, rather than allowing the money to be spent on enhancements. I smell sour grapes and a continuing vendetta against Network Rail, but how can any business, let alone one with such long lead times, plan ahead when Government plays these silly short-term games? Maybe they should get a grip of HS2’s costs and transfer some of…

Wires to Stalybridge ANDREW Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) asked the Secretary of State for Transport what the timetables are for works on the electrification of the line between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge. Transport Minister Paul Maynard replied: “The Network Rail Enhancement Delivery Plan sets out the outputs, scope and milestones for projects and ring-fenced funds that Network Rail is committed to deliver in the current investment period, 2014-2019. “According to the latest version of this plan, published in March 2017, electrification from Manchester to Stalybridge will be ready for entry into service from December 2017. “The Government has been clear about the affordability and deliverability challenges faced in the current investment programme. “In 2015, due to cost increases and schedule delay on important aspects of Network Rail’s investment programme, Sir…

1. D8036 visited Blaenau Ffestiniog on February 19, 1961, moving a 123-tonne transformer from Hollinwood (near Oldham). 2. D8069 was loaned to Cardiff Canton in June 1965 – for tests to evaluate the possibility of replacing the smaller hydraulics? 3. 14 years later, 20179/201 were also loaned to Cardiff Canton for slow-speed control trials in 1979. 4. Of the fleet of 228 locos, 68 have never been allocated to Scotland. 5. Just 25 locos were never allocated toToton. 6. D8000-127 were fitted with through steam pipes, but the hoses were removed by the 1970s, with 20052 retaining its pipes until 1978. 20045/085 had them refitted in 1983 to work the Glasgow to FortWilliam ‘sleeper’ in multiple with a Class 37/0. 7. Consideration was given to Class 20s moving to Cornwall…

Looking Back At Sulzer Locomotives Compiled by KevinDerrick IT’S sometimes hard to appreciate that the first Sulzer-engined locomotives began running on the BR network while steam locomotives were This softback book contains a wealth of interesting photos showing members of Classes 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 44, 45, 46 and 47 in various liveries, most of them in pre-Privatisation settings, bringing a strong sense of nostalgia. Among notable photos are a couple showing No. 47089 Amazon pushing a failed ‘Peak’ and nine coaches in addition to its own passenger train, plus several others with varying degrees of crash damage. Although the photos are not reproduced on glossy paper, the book contains some of the author’s hallmarks, such as reproductions of favourite annuals, periodicals and spotters’ booklets of the 1960s and…

100 YEARS AGO JUNE 1917 ANEWseries of 0-8-2 side tank shunting engines has recently been put into serviceon the London and NorthWestern Railway. They bear the numbers 24, 92, 714, 1291, 1331, 2105, 2294, 2341, 2348 and 2391. Ofanew series of four-cylinder passenger (“Claughton”class), the following will soon be running:- Nos. 37 G.R. Jebb, 154 Captain Fryatt, 155 I.T. Williams, 162, 186, 713, 1334 and 2042 (no names). Severalmore four-cylinder compound passenger engine arebeing converted to simple (“Renown”class), including No. 1925 Warrior. ALL three types of GreatWestern 4-4-0 locomotives – the 5ft 8in“Duke”and Bulldog classes, the“City”class, and the “County”class (both with 6ft 8in driving wheels)–are nowextensively used for goods traffic working on the Company’s system. CAREFUL consideration has been given by the BoardofTrade to the suggestion that the Government should…

DIMINUTIVE North Eastern Railway ‘H’ class 0-4-0T (LNER ‘Y7’) No. 1310 is in line for another reunion with its sister ‘Y7’ No. 985 when it visits the Mid- Suffolk Light Railway this August. The Worsdell-designed duo last met in 2012 when they both appeared at Beamish Museum’s Power of the Past event, as well as the Tanfield Railway gala. LNER-liveried No. 985 has been on hire to the ‘Middy’ since 2016, and will share duties with its Middleton Railway-based classmate during the line’s Bank Holiday Bash on August 27/28. The ‘H’ will then remain in Suffolk in order to take part in the railway’s steam gala on September 9/10, when it will again be joined by No. 985 as well as resident Bagnall 0-4-0ST No. 2565 and Cockerill 0-4-0VBT No.…

A £75,000 appeal by the Churnet Valley Railway to acquire and restore Cheddleton station has got off to a flying start, raising more than half of the total sum in just three weeks. The railway has been given the opportunity to buy the freehold of the station from Staffordshire County Council for £50,000, with a further £25,000 needed to cover essential repairs to the roof and guttering. An appeal was launched at the end of April with a three-month target to raise the total sum. TheVictorian building has been leased to the preservationists since 1974, but the chance to acquire it outright would mean Churnet Valley Railway plc would then own everything on the eightmile line between Leekbrook Junction and Oakamoor Sidings. The £50,000 sale price includes the station building…

UNDER overhaul Southern ‘Schools’ No. 926 Repton has been confirmed as attending the Severn Valley Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on September 21-24; one of four visiting locomotives lined up for the event. The Maunsell 4-4-0 is currently being reassembled at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s Grosmont works, where work on the bottom end is now well advanced and retubing of the boiler almost complete. After spending much of its time since repatriation from the USA in BR lined green, Repton is to be out-shopped in Southern Railway Olive Green, albeit retaining the extensions to the tender coal rails. The ‘Schools’ is no stranger to the Bridgnorth-Kidderminster line having last visited in 2004, whereas the second confirmed visitor will be making its debut on the line. This comes in the form…

Crank axle ordered for new ‘G5’… THE G5 Locomotive Company has placed the order for the crank axle for its new-build North Eastern Railway 'O' class (LNER ‘G5’) 0-4-4T No. 1759. Following consultation with rail engineering specialists Mott MacDonald and Ricardo Rail, the order has been placed with Lincoln Crankshafts & Machine; the axle being forged from molybdenum forging steel and featuring minor modifications to the original 1896 design. …as work begins on the new ‘P2’s’ too SOUTH Devon Railway Engineering at Buckfastleigh has commenced the assembly of the crank axle for new Gresley ‘P2’ 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales. As with the ‘G5’, Derby-based Mott MacDonald had been employed in preparing the design, using Finite Element Analysis to eliminate a weakness in the original design that was known…

MID Hants-based Bulleid ‘West Country’ No. 34007 Wadebridge is to visit Eastleigh in mid-July to help the railway town celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of Southern Region steam. The Brighton-built ‘Spam Can’ is to leave Ropley on July 14, for road transport to Eastleigh town centre, where it will be unloaded to form the centrepiece for a weekend of festivities on July 15/16. The event itself will also feature exhibitions relating to the town’s significant railway contributions, miniature steam displays, screenings of rare rail films, vintage buses, the Gordon Keeble owners’ club, to name a few.…

Illingworth joins Embsay fleet STEPHEN Middleton’s ex-Nidd Valley Light Railway Hudswell, Clarke 0-6-0ST Illingworth/ Mitchell (1208/1916) made its much-anticipated debut at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway’s Branch Line Weekend on May 27-29. The Walschaerts valve gear-fitted loco has never run in preservation, and has been the subject of an extensive restoration lasting more than two decades. Overhaul countdown for Colin McAndrew THE Chasewater Railway is on countdown to when it has to bid a temporary farewell to its stalwart Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Colin McAndrew (1223/1911) in July. The little loco has handled all of the railway’s steam services since Easter, but is now due its 10-yearly overhaul. It is planned to get the popular engine back in traffic as soon as possible. Beatrice heads to Shildon JOHN Beesley’s Hunslet…

THE Cornish Steam Locomotive Preservation Society’s Bagnall ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST No. 75178 (2766/1944) steamed for the first time in preservation at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway in late April. The former Maesteg Colliery locomotive has been the subject of a lengthy but extensive restoration, including major boiler rebuild, since arriving at Bodmin from the South Devon Railway in 1995. After a warming fire was lit on April 21 the ‘Austerity’ was taken up to pressure the following day and made a first move under its own power since 1976. Phil Hawke, who has overseen the restoration, said: “It’s been a long haul, but well worth it. We now look forward to 10 years of No. 2766 earning its keep, not just on the B&WR but also going out on hire to…

TWO passengers travelling on an early morning Luas run were taken to hospital on May 5 after the tram they were travelling in was in collision with a truck. The incident occurred sometime between 06.00 and 06.30 at the junction between Cheeverstown Road and Katherine Tynan Road in Tallaght. The tram was travelling from Belgard and Saggart on the Red Line when the Scania lorry struck it, ending up wedged between the tram and a central road crossing refuge. Five fire appliances from Dublin Fire Service attended the scene with two ambulances, and the two injured passengers were taken to Tallaght hospital for treatment to non-life threatening injuries. All Red Line services were suspended while the emergency services were in attendance, but normal service was resumed by around 09.30 that…

SAINTFIELD station on the old Belfast & County Down Railway (B&CDR) main line midway between Belfast and Newcastle has been put on the market, with an asking price of £750,000. The station closed in 1950 and dates from 1856. It was later expanded in 1890 with the construction of a signal cabin and the addition of a new ticket office. The signal cabin still survives, as does a semaphore on the platform, with the cabin reputedly being the last-surviving BCDR example. Although restored by two previous owners into a modern family home, the work has been tastefully done, with several period features having been retained, including the ticket office window in the booking hall, which forms the main entrance to the property. For more information visit the website of estate…

NETWORK SouthEast Railway Society (NSERS) is staging a public open weekend at the Finmere station site, Newton Purcell, inOxfordshire. The event takes place on August 12-13 and follows a similar successful weekend last year. The two-day showwill include the only complete and original Phase One 4-CIG EMU–No. 1753 –which will run on the short line, poweredby‘ED’No. 73130. Refreshments will be available from the BIG buffet car over the weekend. A donation-fee bus transfer will be available from Bicester North station on both days. It is an advance booked-only event with tickets limited to 150 each day. They are available now, at £12 for an adult and £6 for children, from NSERS Events, 41 Highfield Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 6DD, together with an A5 stamped addressed envelope. Cheques should be made…

‘Crompton’ celebrates Churnet Valley’s 25th anniversary THE Churnet Valley Railway plc celebrates its 25th anniversary with a gala on October 20-22. Class 33 No. 33102 Sophie will be in action on the 20th and on standby ‘Thunderbird’ duty for the weekend. Invergarry railway museum opened THE Invergarry & Fort Augustus Railway Museum opened at Invergarry station site on December 28 with a short length of track. Running days are the first Sunday each month, May to September, with 88DS type 4wD Ruston & Hornsby 236364 of 1946, acquired from the GCR (N), Ruddington. Indomitable visits Spa Valley PAUL Spracklen’s Class 50 No. 50026 Indomitable is due to arrive at the Spa Valley Railway in June for public running on the 24-25th, driver experiences on July 15-16, and the August 3-6…

LONDONUnderground has announced it will upgrade the Tube stock used on the Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly andWaterloo & City lines to improveaccessibility forpassengerswith reduced mobilityand visual impairments. Thework will be undertaken to meet the RailVehicle Accessibility Regulation legislation, which comes into force inJanuary 2020 – three years before the first of the replacementNewTube for London is due to enter serviceon these lines. The redesignwill include wheelchair and pushchair areas, new CCTV, improved passenger information systems, and new lighting and alarms. Thedesignwork has been awarded to SNC-Lavalin, with the physicalwork expectedtobe undertaken in-house by London Underground. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! FROM ONLY £20 SEE P28 FOR DETAILS…

Heaton Park's No. 623 off to Blackpool HEATON Park Tramway's Brush car No. 623 will return to its former Blackpool stamping ground this summer. No. 623 left the resort in 2010 when acquired by the Manchester Transport Museum Society, and has operated at Heaton Park since 2012. No. 623 will take part in Blackpool Heritage 'Brush Car 80' celebrations on July 15-16 and the anniversary weekend in September with sister car No. 621 (see below right). New owner for Blackpool 726 ENGLISH Electric ‘Balloon’ car No. 726 has had its ownership transferred from the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust to a private individual. The 1935-built vehicle will remain in the care of the trust at Wyre Dock, Fleetwood, where a complete restoration back to original condition is planned. Pioneer 'Jubilee' car…