Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i The Railway Magazine

Shockwaves following Croydon derailment THE seven fatalities resulting from the derailment of a Croydon tram has sent shockwaves through the public transport industry. The incident happened on a sharp bend with the tram travelling at three times the permitted speed. It is the worst rail or tram accident on the UK network since the Ufton Nervet level crossing crash in November 2004. Although modern trams are fitted with a myriad of safety equipment, including a ‘deadmans’ device, they do not have a system like TPWS to detect overspeed on the approach to bends or junctions, leading to the application of brakes, because trams are driven on line of sight. Such rules could now be under scrutiny, especially if the driver suffers a medical or other event. Even though footage has…

CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement has committed more than £550million to railway projects. The largest share is £450m, to be spent on trialling digital signalling, aimed at increasing capacity and improving reliability, and stepping away from the Victorian era. Funding will be spread over several years with £30m in 2017/8 rising to £285m in 2020/21. For the East-West rail link project between Oxford and Cambridge, £100m has been allocated by the Chancellor to rebuild the line to Bletchley. An extra £10m has been given for development funding. Mr Hammond has also earmarked £5m to provide a ‘Midlands Rail Hub’evaluation study, which could lead to 10 additional trains each hour around Birmingham. The hub programme is overseen by Midlands Connect, a consortium of 28 local authorities, 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships, Network…

A MEETING of the Heritage Railway Association’s awards committee on November 21, which includes several magazine editors, has produced a shortlist of nominations. The actual ballot papers will not be opened until the morning of the awards event, and the Peter Manisty award for excellence is subject to final ratification by the HRA board, with the winner being announced on the evening. The nominations are: Large groups: North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group, North Norfolk Railway Small groups: Bredgar & Wormshill Railway, Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway, Headhunters Barber shop & railway museum Special meritorious award: Gresley Society, Vintage Trains, St Albans signalling project and NRM for Flying Scotsman John Coiley award for loco preservation: Darlington Railway Preservation Society (for restoring No. 78018), 76084 Locomotive Company Limited, North Bay…

A STEAM locomotive from Swiss rack railway Brienz-Rothorn Bahn (BRB) could appear on Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR) in 2017. The possibility of such an unprecedented visit became public when a regional paper published a story detailing the ‘Switzerland to Snowdon’ concept as being spearheaded by steam enthusiast Mike Ellis. Mr Ellis is described as being resident in Switzerland for the last 30 years after originally hailing from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, and working part-time for Brienz-Rothorn Bahn. The SMR was not prepared to comment officially, with a spokesperson telling The RM the BRB had yet to sign off on the visiting arrangements. The plans are for 1891-built BRB No. 2 to arrive in Britain at the beginning of next August and be displayed in London, possibly outside the transport museum in…

MAIN line ‘Santa Specials’ will operate this year using ‘Black Five’ No. 45407 – the first time this has happened in a number of years. West Coast Railways (WCR) will run a morning and afternoon trip from Fort William to Glenfinnan on December 20-23, the morning trip departing at 10.15 and the afternoon train at 13.00. Adult and children fares are £19.50; under 12s, £9.50; under six months, free. Adults will be given mulled wine and mince pies, and there will be gifts for all children. After Christmas, on December 27-29, WCR will run the ‘Jacobite Christmas Express’from Fort William (dep 10.15) to Mallaig (arr 12.25). Returning from Mallaig at 14.00, passengers are back in Fort William at 16.00. Fares are £35 adult; children under 12, £20; under six months,…

A BALLOT by rail union ASLEF over the driver-only operation (DOO) dispute on Southern has resulted in strike action being planned for December 13-14, December 16-21, and from January 9 to 14. In a statement, ASLEF called the DfT the “ventriloquist”and Southern the“ventroliquist’s dummy”. RMT staff are also striking on December 6-7, December 22-24 and December 31-January 2 as the bitter dispute rolls on with no signs of a resolution. RMT union leader Mick Cash told the Transport Select Committee on November 28: “We need to come up with a set of solutions for DOO that takes account of the wide range of safety factors. One size does not fit all.”…

CREWE-BASED Locomotive Services Ltd (LSL) has bought Statesman Rail outright. The move comes following LSL’s purchase of the well-respected ‘Fellsman’ operator’s Mk2 set earlier in the year. The addition of Statesman Rail to Jeremy Hosking’s empire allows LSL to further expand its field of operations, and provides more fuel to the long-rumoured suggestion that the company is looking for eventual independence. Statesman comes with a great deal of goodwill, a large contacts list and a loyal client base, which combined with Crewe’s facilities sets LSL on the right track for a possible application for its own operating licence. However, for 2017, it will almost be a case of ‘business as usual’ as Statesman Rail prepares for the reopening of the Settle & Carlisle line, and the reinstatement of the popular…

Delay Repay compensation payments top £74million LORD Moonie asked the Government in a House of Lords question how much compensation was paid to passengers for delays and cancellations by train operating companies during the last year, for which figures are available. Transport Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said:“The compensation figures for all train operating companies operating Delay Repay covering the years 2009/10 to 2014/15 are published on the GOV.UK website. “Figures for the 2015/16 financial year for all train operating companies are expected to be published on the GOV.UK website later this year.” Lord Ahmad then gave overall figures for previous years: Amounts in £ (000s) 2014/15 - 25,623 2013/14 - 22,608 2012/13 - 12,603 2011/12 - 8,021 2010/11 - 3,256 2009/10 - 2,981 Lord Moonie further asked what proposals…

CHRISTMAS mornings in our house would have been exciting enough even without presents, but the thought of one special gift always set my pulse racing. It first arrived as a surprise on December 25, 1959 and I vividly remember the thrill I felt when setting eyes on its magnificent cover – a splendid colour portrait of a ‘Castle’ storming Sapperton bank. The title of this most welcome intruder into my life was Locospotters’ Annual. Until then, I’d only ever had softback train books bought to keep me quiet during wet afternoons and had been blissfully unaware that such things as hardback railway annuals even existed. However, from that moment onwards I was hooked and resolved that all future Yuletide ‘wants’ lists would include a request for such a book. This…

YEARS AGO DECEMBER 1916 DURING the night of October 11th serious damage was done to Scottish mountain lines as the result of a rainstorm which swept over Lochaber. Fort William was entirely isolated, so far as railway communication was concerned, as numerous wash-outs had taken place on the West Highland, the Mallaig, and the Invergarry and Fort Augustus sections of the North British Railway. It was officially intimated that in consequence of the damage to the line the train services north of Rannoch station would be suspended for the time being. PASSENGERS on the London and South Western Railway between Salisbury and Southampton encounter a sinister and somewhat unusual reminder of the great war. In the sidings at the Netley passenger station are generally to be seen several newly-painted box…

Winter signals major progress in Ribble workshops THE ‘Santa Special’ season may be the traditional end-of-year curtain call for the Ribble Steam Railway, but there will be no rest for the line’s workshop team during the January-February closure as further restorations and overhauls continue. Two of the railway’s resident Pecketts have been the subject of a considerable amount of work, particularly on the restoration of ‘R4’ 0-4-0ST North Western Gas Board (1999/1941). The cab and tanks have now been trial-fitted to ensure alignment, and the loco is back on its wheels following the completion of the axleboxes. The piston rods have been ground pending re-fitting, and over the winter the loco’s lubrication system will be upgraded. Nearby, former Black Park Colliery 0-4-0ST Hornet (1935/1937) has had all its boiler tubes…

Hercules joins Class 50 Alliance fleet SEVERN Valley Railway-based Class 50 Alliance (C50A) has bought No. 50007 Hercules from Neil Boden. The purchase was made possible by means of a loan from Phil Swallow and a small number of shareholders, and has to be repaid over the next two years. Hercules is a main line operational loco currently based at Washwood Heath, but will soon join C50A’s fleet, which comprises Nos. 50031 Hood, 50035 Ark Royal, 50044 Exeter and 50049 Defiance. From 1984, No. 50007 received lined-green livery to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the GWR, and was named Sir Edward Elgar. It retained this guise until 2013 when returned to its original identity and BR blue livery when bought from the Class 40 Appeal at the Midland Railway-Butterley by…

Irish charter takes ‘071s’ coast to coast THE Railway Preservation Society of Ireland will once again be calling upon Irish Rail’s ‘071’ fleet on April 8 to work its ‘Marble Tribesman’ tour to Galway and Kilkenny. The tour will depart from Dublin at 08.15 and head to the west coast at Galway for an hour’s break before the train returns east via Athlone to Kildare. A change of loco here is followed by a run back to Cherryville Junction and a southbound jog to Kilkenny for another loco swap. Once the new ‘071’ is set the train will head back to Dublin, arriving at around 20.30. However, it is hoped that several photo stops will be made along the route during the day. All proceeds from the tour will be…

A REVISED route for the second phase of the construction of the high-speed line HS2 from the West Midlands to Leeds and Manchester has been revealed by the Department for Transport. This preferred route follows consultations over the original line and further refinements as a result of public feedback. The DfT has also reiterated the need for HS2, with figures for Virgin West Coast services showing a rise of 24% from 2011 to 35.7million, and London Midland catering for 69.6m annual passenger journeys. Since 1994, the number of London to Manchester services has risen from 17 to 48, and the DfT claim if nothing is done, overcrowding would become a serious concern by 2033. There are seven refinements, four on the eastern leg to Leeds, three on the western route…

LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that pay-as-you-go (PAYG) fares on Transport for London services will be frozen for the next four years. Individual Tube and Overground fares would remain the same, but the cost of some travelcards is expected to rise as these include National Rail fares that are outside TfL control. However, Mr Khan has demanded that the Government also freeze these fares, too. He said passengers on many suburban rail routes had been hit by unacceptable delays, cancellations and overcrowding. “It’s simply not right that London’s rail passengers face another fares’ hike caused by the Government next year,” he added. Mr Khan has set out plans for more London suburban services to be transferred to TfL from 2018.…

THE US Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is urging all US railroads to screen train drivers for sleep apnoea. The move comes after the buffer stop collision at Hoboken station, New Jersey, on September 29, which killed one person and injured 114. It transpired that the driver involved suffered from undiagnosed sleep apnoea. Moments before impact he opened the throttle, increasing speed from 8 to 21mph. The FRA also wants railroads to install in-cab cameras to record driver actions and aid investigations. Sleep apnoea was also a factor in the Metro-North railroad crash at Spuyten Duyvil, in the Bronx, New York City, on December 1, 2013, when the driver took a 30mph curve at 82mph, killing four passengers. A screening programme for the railroad found that one-in-nine of its drivers suffered…

THE prototype Vivarail Class 230 DMU No. 230001 has left the Quinton Rail Technology Centre, Long Marston, and moved by road to Tyseley Locomotive Works, from where it began night-time mainline testing to Leamington Spa on November 28. The converted London Underground D78 train will complete its final commissioning tests as a two-car unit, while also accumulating mileage, before being handed over to London Midland for crew training, ahead of entering service between Coventry and Nuneaton. A centre trailer car will be added to the set, which has been designed to showcase a variety of interior layouts, including a Universal Access Toilet, with different seating styles. The other two cars will retain their original ‘crowd-busting’ layout. Adrian Shooter, CEO of Vivarail, said:“What we are providing is a brand new, state-of-the-art…

SOARING costs and lengthy delays mean that the Great Western Main Line electrification project will be scaled back. And plans to energise Bristol, Bath and Oxford, plus the two Thames valley branch lines to Windsor and Henley-on-Thames, have also been put on hold. The cost of the Great Western electrification has almost tripled in just three years. In 2013 it was estimated at £2.1billion, but has now rocketed to £5.6bn. Delays in the timescales have added between 18 and 36 months to the project. The National Audit Office (NAO) has laid the blame firmly at the door of the DfT for its poor planning. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “Before 2015, the Department of Transport did not plan and manage all the projects which now make up the…

TYSELEY-based railtour operator Vintage Trains (VT) is looking to end its reliance on third-party Train Operating Companies running its charters by applying for a passenger licence of its own. The charitable trust currently works with West Coast Railways to work its railtours and popular seasonal ‘Shakespeare Express’ operation, and is continuing to plan and promote future tours with the Carnforth company. However, in conjunction with plans to redevelop the Tyseley site and expand its operation, VT has applied to the Office of Rail and Road for its own licence to operate charter trains. “As a charity, we consider we have a duty to prepare for the long term to ensure heritage steam locomotives continue to operate trains on the national network,” explained VT chairman Michael Whitehouse. “Our charitable objectives require…

A COMPETITION is giving the opportunity for the winner to ‘Drive a Class 185’ on the TransPennine Express simulator at York. It is being run by the RCTS in conjunction with First TransPennine Express. The competition is open to all enthusiasts over the age of 17, no society membership being needed. To enter all that is required is to answer a simple question concerning named HST cars. More details are available on the society’s website at: www.rcts.org.uk The competition runs until January 2, 2017.…

OF THE four men who edited Trains Annual and Locospotters’ Annual, three have passed on, but Geoffrey Kichenside is happily still with us. Aged 84 and living in retirement with wife Paula in Devon, he is widely credited as the man who pushed back the frontiers of creativity while editing Railway World magazine in the 1960s. He also has more than 40 railway books and travel guides to his name. Born into a railway family at Harrow in 1932, Geoff developed an early interest in signalling and joined the Western Region of BR, but a spell of ill health saw him leave the railway and join the Ian Allan organisation in 1955. His early duties there included compiling the ABC numbers books and running the Locospotters’ Club as its general…

READER Christopher Clark (RM Nov) should be grateful that he has Class 170s on his services. These trains are far superior to ‘Voyagers’ that cover most of CrossCountry’s (XC) services to the West Country. These ‘apologies for trains’ leave the back of your legs aching from their uncomfortable seats after just 10 minutes. They are also cramped and harsh riding. A few services are covered by HSTs, the undoubted best, if oldest, trains in XCs fleet. Will XC snap-up some of the HSTs made redundant from GWR and VTEC? Somehow I doubt it. The real problem is that they simply do not have sufficient vehicles in their fleet at present. The popularity of the Mk3 remains high as sister company Chiltern Trains has shown. Maybe, one day, our designers will…

MUCH of my time these days is taken up trying to resolve disputes between railway groups, often pursuing the same objectives, who are at war with each other. I can understand that railway preservation can arouse strong passions, but the intolerance sometimes displayed often horrifies me and saddens me. The bullying and/or hectoring can be so strong that I have known cases where those at the receiving end won’t go into the same room as the bully. I read a report recently of a director of the Great Western Society who was criticised so strongly at a society meeting for implementing the society’s board policy that he felt he had no option but to resign. I do not know the particulars of the case or whether there was any justification…

£46m upgrade plan: Castlerock semaphores signal final train NOVEMBER 2 marked the end of an era for Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) when at 21.00 the signal cabins at Derry/ Londonderry and Castlerock were switched out for the last time. The switch off is part of a £46million signalling upgrade, with the line in future being controlled from a new signalling centre within the station building at Coleraine. The centre was due to come on line in November 2016 following an 18-day closure of the line between Coleraine and Derry/Londonderry. The closure of Castlerock was particularly significant, it being the last lever-framed operational ’box on the NIR network. The Babcock International Group has been commissioned to complete the upgrade work, including the removal of the Castlerock passing loop, which will be…

Mass transit plan for Luton LONDON Luton Airport has announced a revised scheme to connect the airport with Luton Parkway station via a Mass Passenger Transit (MPT) system. The news comes as the airport recorded a year-on-year passenger growth for October of more than 18% to 1.3million. The MPT idea is being developed to encourage passengers to travel to and from the airport via a more sustainable and efficient means of transport. It will be a fully automated and driverless system, about 1.3 miles (2.2km) in length, and would operate 24 hours each day, with journeys taking around five minutes. £200million scheme The projected route (see map) lies mostly on land within the Luton Borough Council area, with a small section controlled by Central Bedfordshire Council. A planning application will…

COMPILED BY ASHLEY BUTLIN LOCOMOTIVES Allocations 08632 CE/WSRC-WQ/WQAA 37099 COLS-COTS 50007 WH/BREL-KR/CFOL 56096 COLS-COFS 66037 WBAE-WBAR 66098 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAB 66125 WBAT-WBAE 66142 WBAE-WBAR 66181 WBAT-WBAE 66183 WBAT-WBAE 66250 TO/WBAE-WQ/WQAB 67009 CE/WABC-WQ/WQAA 86259 MBEL-GROG 92013 WQ/WQBA-PD/WGEE Now in France 66193, 66201/04/13/32 Liveries DRS revised: 66302 First blue: 43148 RSS grey: 08460 Welsh Dragon logos: 43187/88 Named 08630 Celsa Endeavour 43061 The Fearless Foxes 57002 Rail Express 66418 Patriot – In memory of fallen railway employees 66614 1916 Poppy 2016 For Sale 20057 Stored/stopped locations  Barrow Hill: 08865 Crewe ETD: 67009 Hope: 08685, 08714 Mossend: 08632 Toton: 60063, 66098, 66250 Operational 37099, 56096, 92013 Disposals C F Booth, Rotherham: Arrival date: October 27 – 37682. Cut date: November 4 – 37682, 86902 MULTIPLE UNITS Allocations 319424/27/34/50/52/58 BF/E THQ -HQ/SBXH 345001-88 newly registered HQ/MBCS…

A1SLT – A1 Steam Locomotive Trust 01438 715050 (UK Railtours is agent) BBP – Belmond British Pullman 0845 077 2222 BGH – Belmond Grand Hibernian 0845 077 2222 BNB – Belmond Northern Belle 0845 077 2222 BRS – Belmond Royal Scotsman 0845 077 2222 CR – Charity Railtours 07518 045077 GBRf – GB Railfreight info@gbrfcharityrailtours.co.uk HR – Hertfordshire Railtours 01438 715050 NT – Nenta Traintours 01692 406152 PMRT – PMR Tours 01773 743986 PRU – Papyrus Rail UK 01908 410450 PT – Pathfinder Tours 01453 835414 RPSI – Railway Preservation Society of Ireland 00 353 1 480 0553 (Dublin tours) or 028 9337 3968 RTC – Railway Touring Company 01553 661500 SD – Steam Dreams 01483 209888 SR – Statesman Rail 0345 310 2458 SRPS – Scottish Railway Preservation Society…

Railhead Treatment Trains THE Railhead Treatment season is well underway with a variety of reports received from around the country. Observed on October 14, DRS Class 66 Nos. 66423 and 66429 arrived into Carlisle from the south around 11.20 then reversed down the Maryport and Carlisle railway. On October 17 the same pair was again seen, this time northbound at Lancaster at 11.30. ON THE south coast, Littlehampton has been visited by a variety of Class 73s. On October 12 it was Nos. 73107+73109 seen visiting the station; on October 15, Nos. 73212+73109; October 17, Nos. 73128+73107; October 22, Nos. 73213+73119; and on October 23, Nos. 73212+73141. Observed at Horsham on October 31 was Nos. 73212+73213. THE Midland Main Line south RHTT season began on October 18 when DBC Class…

THE next operator of the InterCity West Coast franchise will also run the first services on HS2. The new ‘West Coast Partnership’ franchisee will be responsible for services on both the West Coast Main Line from April 1, 2019 and designing and running the initial high-speed services from 2026. Currently, the franchise term is unconfirmed, but the DfT says it will cover the first three to five years of operation on HS2. The DfT is hoping to attract a world-class bidding group to develop and enhance the service for West Coast passengers. Transport minister Andrew Jones said: “We are embarking on a new chapter in our modernisation of the railways and we need world-class expertise to deliver it. “HS2 will be the backbone of Britain’s railways, creating more seats for…

RAILWAY workers who lost their lives in two world wars and other conflicts have been remembered at a series of poignant ceremonies around the country. Two minutes’ silence was held at most major stations at 11.00 on November 11, where thousands of staff and passengers joined in the act of remembrance. Poppy wreaths were laid at Paddington, King’s Cross, Victoria and several other stations that have war memorials to railway workers. King’s Cross featured a large poppy on its curved roof supports. At Victoria, representatives from the Western Front Association, Network Rail, Southern, the Association of Jewish ex-Servicemen and Women, and Sea Cadets Corps paid tribute to the Unknown Warrior. On Armistice Day, Class 66 No. 66418 was named Patriot in honour of railway workers who lost their lives in…

THE sale of Brunel Camping Coach Park at Dawlish Warren, in Devon, on November 3, ended up in a bidding war, with the site and carriages sold for £261,000. The park closed at the end of the summer season. The eight-carriage site had been expected to sell for between £125,000 and £175,000, with auctioneer Scott Gray, from property auctioneers Clive Emson, surprised at the “tremendous interest in this iconic former holiday park”. Whether the carriages are refurbished or something new replaces them is not certain.…

Driver in intensive care after Hungarian Class 56 crash ONE cab of Class 56 No. 56115 has been substantially damaged after the loco hauling a gas oil tanker train hit a lorry carrying sand on a level crossing near Győr, in Hungary. Both crew were injured in the incident on November 28, with the driver having to be treated in intensive care. The loco – numbered 0659-002-3 – is operated by Hungarian freight operator Floyd and has been in the country since 2012. 150 not out for RM Metro man THIS December issue marks the 150th being involved with The RM for Metro columnist Paul Bickerdyke, who first began work on the magazine as a designer back in June 2004. Paul is also editor of our sister title Rail Express.…

DERBY-based Rail Operations Group (ROG) has secured a key international contract from Siemens for the delivery of the new Class 707 EMUs for South West Trains. ROG will be responsible for the move to the UK of each of the 30 five-car units being built at Krefeld and tested at Wildenrath. The ROG part of the move will be for a pair of units from Aachen (Germany) to Clapham via the Channel Tunnel, with SNCB Loglistics sub-contracted for the movements in Europe. The first units are due for delivery in December. In a separate deal, ROG has won a contract from Arriva Rail North to move Northern DMU/ EMU Classes 150, 153, 155, 158, 319 and 321 from various depots to works in Kilmarnock or Glasgow for refurbishment. ROG has…

THE National Railway Museum’s celebrity ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman will grace three more preserved railways during 2017. This follows its hugely successful visits in 2016 to the East Lancashire, Severn Valley and North Yorkshire Moors railways. The decision on which lines No. 60103 would visit during 2017 was made jointly by the NRM and the loco’s custodians Riley & Son (E) Ltd, a choice that the museum’s director Paul Kirkman described as “tough”. As with the three lines visited in 2016, all are main line connected, with the first being the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. The Gresley Pacific’s appearance between April 1 and April 9 will be the ‘cherry on the cake’ for the West Yorkshire branch as it celebrates not only the 150th anniversary of the line,…

I make no apology for concentrating on one issue this month – cost! The NAO Report on the Great Western electrification makes grim reading for ministers and officials in the DfT, for the board and senior management (past and present) at Network Rail and for the Office of Rail and Road. The problems? A lack of leadership, frequent changes of mind, programme and priorities, a serious failure not only of an ability to understand what is needed to electrify a main line, and also an inability to prepare credible cost estimates. Maybe this was not surprising in the early years of Network Rail’s GW work, when it appeared to operate on the basis of having an unlimited credit card called the Regulatory Asset Base, which it could top up only…

MANY supporters of railway Privatisation were under the impression that it would foster greater competition, but the vested interests of franchises, regulatory constraints and unpredicted congestion have all conspired to limit the opportunities to a handful of examples. One of these is the London to Birmingham axis. It is not really a ‘corridor’, like King’s Cross to Doncaster, where three operators tout for business with express trains, because the three main contenders for London to Birmingham traffic use two different routes (plus a slight deviation via Northampton) and offer a different product in terms of stopping patterns and therefore journey times. My first trip was a London to Devon detour via Birmingham to catch the 14.07 Manchester-Paignton through train home to Dawlish using a plan that involved Virgin West Coast’s…

ON January 5 this year I bought an off-peak return ticket with a senior railcard from Redditch to Burton-upon-Trent, returning two days later, costing £12.85. Then last month I went to buy a similar ticket only to find that returns are no longer available for this journey. Instead I was quoted for two single tickets, costing £11.30 each way. After some discussion with the staff, I was sold an off-peak open return from Birmingham New Street to Burton-upon-Trent, £9.90, plus single tickets for the Redditch to New Street legs of my journey at £3.55 each, this appearing to be the best split-ticket arrangement for my particular journey. The fare for this journey has increased by about 80% because of the withdrawal of open returns, and even using split ticketing has…

‘Red’ livery first up for ‘Patriot’ 2018 roll out LMS Crimson Lake will be worn by the new-build ‘Patriot’ when it is rolled out in 2018. The livery will be the first to be applied to No. 5551 The Unknown Warrior after the LMS-Patriot Project gave its donors the opportunity to select the scheme by way of a four-choice vote. ‘Red’ won over its three rivals: LMS post-war black, British Railways lined black and lined green; the latter was the second choice. The decision goes against traditional form for livery polls, which generally favour 1950s BR condition, partly on account that it is the most prominently recognised and recalled era of the enthusiast community. Meaningful rake There is also a meaningful rake of LMS carriages that No. 5551 will be…

Government pledges £10m to Dawlish sea wall upgrade ONE of the UK’s most iconic stretches of railway is to benefit from an additional £10million Government investment in an effort to help strengthen its resilience and ensure its future as a key transport artery. The funding for the line from Exeter to Newton Abbot via the Dawlish sea wall was announced on November 17, and comes as a direct result of fears of a repeat of the events of 2014 when a section of the sea wall at Dawlish was washed away. The closure of the line was estimated to cost the South West economy more than £1billion, leading to calls to reopen the old LSWR main line to Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock as a diversionary route. Network Rail will…

c2c Class 387/3s are in service – tendering begins for new trains By Keith Fender C2C introduced the first two of its six new Class 387/3 EMUs on November 14. Sets 387301 and 387302 will operate the 07.43 service from Thorpe Bay to London Fenchurch St. The same units had been used for a first passenger special, working from Southend to Barking and back on November 11, carrying local stakeholders and the media. c2c has leased six Class 387s from Porterbrook for three years. The contract for the trains – ordered by Porterbrook from Bombardier as part of a speculative order for 20 trains – was agreed in May, with the trains having since been built at Derby. The interior of these trains is similar to Class 387/1 units used…

Dales railway under threat THE FUTURE of Derbyshire Dales Narrow Gauge Railway (DDNGR) could be under threat. Founder Henry Frampton-Jones has been asked to remove all rolling stock, permanent way material, caravans and other possessions owned by him from Peak Rail’s Rowsley site by March 18, 2017. Decision ‘regret’ A letter sent by Peak Rail on September 13 expresses regret over the decision, but says efforts since 2014 to develop a working relationship between itself, the DDNGR and Ashover Light Railway Society (ALRS) have been unsuccessful. The 2ft-gauge DDNGR is located at standard gauge Peak Rail’s Rowsley South station. When the line operated Peak Rail ticket holders could take a a free ride on the DDNGR, or narrow gauge ride tickets could be bought separately. DDNGR did not run during…

LMS-built shunters in Italy: Could UK preservationists bid to bring them home? IN 1939 the first of a batch of 40 0-6-0 diesel locos ordered by the LMS appeared from Derby Works. Unusually, they featured an English Electric 6K 350HP diesel engine and the single-motor jackshaft drive developed by Armstrong Whitworth. Both manufacturers had previously built prototypes for the LMS earlier in the 1930s and the new design sought to mix the successful EE engine with the Armstrong Whitworth drive, at the time een as better performing than the EE twin traction motor design – which suffered from overheating – until modifications in 1940 resolved this. The LMS order for 40 locos (to be numbered 7080-7119) was completed between 1939 and 1942, although 10 (7100 - 7109) never worked for…

ALFORD VALLEY RAILWAY December 10-11 (Santa Specials) Alford station, Alford, Aberdeenshire (01975 564332). www.alfordvalleyrailway.org.uk/timetable.asp ALN VALLEY RAILWAY December 10-11, 14, 17-18 (Santa Specials) Lionheart Station, Alnwick, Northumberland NE66 2EZ.www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk Information line 0300 030 3311. AMBERLEY MUSEUM & HERITAGE CENTRE Wednesday-Sunday (10.00-17.30) Houghton Bridge, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9LT (01798 831370). www.amberleynarrowgauge.co.uk Events: December 10-11, 14, 17-18, 21 Santa Specials. AMERTON RAILWAY December 10-11, 17-18, 24 (Santa Specials) Stowe-by-Chartley, Weston, Staffs ST18 OLA (01785 850965). www.amertonrailway.co.uk APEDALE VALLEY LIGHT RAILWAY (home of the Moseley Railway Trust) December 10-11, 17-18 (Santa Specials) Apedale Country Park, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 7LB (0845 0941953). www.avlr.org.uk AUDLEY END MINIATURE RAILWAY December 10-11, 17-24 (Santa Specials) Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 4JL (01799 542134). www.audley-end-railway.co.uk/ AVON VALLEY RAILWAY December 5, 9-11, 17-18, 22-24, 26, 27, 30-January 1 Bitton…