Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i The Railway Magazine

ONE passenger in his 60s died and four others were seriously injured on October 21, when two Transport for Wales Class 158 units collided on a single line section near to the passing loop at Talerddig on the Cambrian main line between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth. Eleven other passengers required hospital treatment. Police said the passenger who died had suffered a suspected heart attack. The collision occurred at 19.26 and involved train 1J25, the 18.31 Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth (operated by No. 158841) and the 1S71, the 19.09 Machynlleth to Shrewsbury (formed of No. 158824). The westbound train from Shrewsbury had 37 passengers on board, the eastbound train had four. The cab of one unit was significantly damaged in the crash. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) says the collision point was…

CONSTRUCTION of the foundations for HS2’s station at Curzon Street in Birmingham began in mid-October, with the driving of the first of 2000 concrete piles to support the building and its seven platforms. The work is being led by Mace Dragados Joint Venture (HS2 Ltd’s construction contractor for the station). A team of 80 people are working on the 100,000 square metre (24.7 acre) site, preparing the foundations with the help of three 95-tonne, 30-metre tall (98 feet) piling rigs. Interlocking piles will be used to create the main walls of the station basement, which will house operational facilities. Further foundations will be laid on top of the piling once it is completed next year. The wider area will feature outdoor public spaces including two squares and a promenade. Building…

STEAM & HERITAGE THE overhaul of the Great Western Society’s (GWS) pioneer locomotive –‘14XX’0-4-2T No. 1466 – reached a key point in late September. On Saturday, September 28, in the presence of GWS chairman Richard Preston, the first fire was lit in the loco’s boiler since 2002 at Williton on the West Somerset Railway, where the rebuild is being carried out under contract. The September 28, fire was what is termed‘an initial thermal cycle’. While not raising any pressure within the boiler itself, it allowed all the old and new platework to expand, contract and relax without any of the normal stresses. Any possible steam from the boiling water escaped naturally through the open clack valves on top of the boiler. The laborious task of tapping hundreds of holes and…

THE Ffestiniog &Welsh Highland Railway’s (Ff&WHR) September 14/15 Superpower weekend presented an impressive array of big narrow gauge motive power, including four Garratts and Funkey-built Bo-Bo diesels Castell Caernarfon and Vale of Ffestiniog working trains on the Welsh Highland main line. The star of the show was the first public appearance in steam of ex-South African Railways Société Anglo-Franco-Belge (works No. 2684) NG15‘Kalahari’ 2-8-2 No. 134. As reported last month, the‘Kalahari’moved for the first time in over 30 years, and the first time in Britain, under its own steam on September 11, following a long, and costly restoration by Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri/ Welsh Highland Railway Society, led for the last three years by Adrian Strachan. During the Superpower weekend the NG15 steamed gently back and forth along the bay platform…

HERITAGE TRAMS THE new custodian of Wirral Transport Museum, Big Heritage (BH), expects the two Hong Kong-built trams in the museum’s collection to operate the majority of services when it reopens to visitors. The pair of four-wheeled, double deck cars, Birkenhead Nos. 69 and 70 (following on from the numbering of the original Birkenhead tram fleet) date from 1992, and were specially built by Hong Kong Tramways for Wirral Council, being tested on the tramway in Blackpool before their new home route was completed. Condition “We know that their engineering condition is good enough,”BH founder and managing director Dean Paton told The RM. “They are going to do the bulk of any public running, simply because we see the tram operation increasing. We’ll be running more journeys. It’ll be fantastic…

SEATS are still available on several railtours in the lead-up to Christmas, which will take advantage of Christmas Carol services or Christmas markets. UK Railtours is running its ‘Carols at Norwich Cathedral’ special on December 14, which will be operated in top-and-tail mode by EPR (Europhoenix Rail) Class 37s. With a London King’s Cross start, the special will call at Potters Bar and Stevenage, then take the route via Cambridge and March to Peterborough where a final pick-up is made. Retracing its steps, the train takes the avoiding line at Ely through Thetford to Norwich, arriving just before lunchtime. At Norwich, passengers have the option of the carol service and later shopping, or they could go on a mini tour from Norwich to Great Yarmouth, then Lowestoft, before returning to…

PASSENGERS on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line faced a double whammy of disruption on September 26. As well as having to deal with the closure of the line between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury at around 17.00 following heavy rain and flooding, thieves stole more than 140m of cable, causing increased disruption for rail users. The line had been blocked by flooding at Wellington where the water level was well above the rails, when the signalling theft occurred. Network Rail teams worked to get the water pumped away and repair the missing cables, but this meant passengers using rail replacement bus services. With damage to other lineside signalling equipment, there were no services on Friday, September 27 either, with services running on September 28/29 before further substantial rain and another line closure…

DURING the latter British Rail period, virtually all bulk aggregate traffic was carried in private owner stock. Government grants, commonly known as‘Section 8’, often facilitated the purchase or leasing of new wagons by construction companies. However, this changed following Privatisation. The decision by the Strategic Rail Authority to end freight facilities grants meant that freight operators had to begin providing their own stock. EWS began by leasing 68 new HOA-A hoppers in 2006-07. Built in Arad (Romania) by Trinity-IRS, Nos. 320000-067 were to design code HO 002A, with a gross weight of 101.6 tonnes. Twenty hoppers were given EWS Construction livery, while the remainder had blue and white Cemex colours. This followed the signing of a six-year contract with Cemex to carry limestone from Dove Holes quarry in Derbyshire. Today…

IARNRÓD Éireann’s Foynes reinstatement program marked a key milestone on September 24, when the centre span of the Maigue viaduct was lifted back into place at Adare, using Ireland’s largest crane. The viaduct, a three-span structure, was removed in September 2023 for refurbishment and strengthening. Initially, the project included plans to raise the viaduct and the approaching track by one meter for flood mitigation, but a planning appeal to An Bord Pleanála (Ireland’s national independent planning body) led to the decision to restore it to its original height to avoid further delays to the program. With the viaduct reinstated, tracklaying contractor Steconfer can proceed with tracklaying toward Limerick. So far, tracklaying has been completed from Foynes Yard to Adare, which includes the installation of the Adare passing loop with 24km…

NER K Class 0-4-0T 12 ONLY five North Eastern Railway Class K (later known as LNER ‘Y8’) 0-4-0T locomotives were built, and none survived into preservation – the last one being withdrawn from departmental service in 1954. However, a scheme was announced in 2022 to construct a replica for use at Beamish, The Living Museum of the North. It would be based at the museum’s replica NER Rewley Road station and used to operate the branch line. Funded by a private benefactor, components have been built in Darlington by North Bay Railway Engineering Services. NBRES completed, tested and painted the boiler, which arrived at Beamish in April 2023, however, the company ceased trading in May this year (see RM August) and the project is on hold. The completed boiler has…

LNER ‘A1’ 4-6-2 (2009) THE forerunner of all new-build steam projects, it was back in April 1990 that a group of five people – financial planner David Champion, his brother Phil (a teacher), solicitor Stuart Palmer, Ian Storey owner of ‘Black Five’ No. 44767, and chairman Mike Wilson – had together formed the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and presented a plan to build an ‘A1’ Pacific from scratch at the first public meeting held at the Railway Institute, York. Adopting a radical approach to fundraising using Deeds of Covenant, a covenanter would commit to donating a specific amount of money every month for a set period, which provided the funding to have the components manufactured. Selling the funding approach to the public on the premise of ‘the cost of a…

HEADLINE NEWS A KEY milestone in the opening of the East West Rail project was achieved on October 21, when the first passenger trains completed a series of test runs between Oxford and Milton Keynes. A pair of Chiltern Railways units Nos. 168623+168628 worked the first train as 5Z01, which left Oxford at 09.43 and arrived at Milton Keynes Central just 42 minutes later, including a brief pause at the new station at Winslow. The units reached 100mph on several sections of the new line. The £1.2 billion project includes a new fully accessible two-platform station at Winslow, plus the reconstruction of Bletchley Viaduct and a new high-level station. Rebuilding this section of the former‘Varsity Line’, which closed to regular passenger services in 1968 and to all traffic in 1993,…

HS2 NEWS Using a 650-tonne crane, a team of 20 people were involved in lifting a total of 15 beams into position for the two-lane bridge crossing over the HS2 route, providing car park access at Interchange Station, north-east of Solihull. Following the five-day operation in early October, the next phases of building the structure will involve the addition of a concrete deck, parapet walls and road surfacing. The 63.5 metre (208 feet) span bridge is due for completion early next year. HS2 Ltd says it is the most significant structure put in place so far as part of the station development.…

THE Severn Valley Railway’s (SVR) September 19-22 Autumn Steam Gala was a picture of success – with increased passenger numbers, a timetable which ran smoothly, and a smart solution to an operational issue. More than 5500 passengers were carried during the gala, an increase of 6% for the same event last year. “Once again, this was the SVR at its very best,”said SVR managing director Gus Dunster. “We proved that we’d learnt the lessons from last year’s Autumn Steam Gala, which was, in hindsight, rather overcomplicated. This time we aspired to put on an ambitious, exciting and achievable event, and it proved highly successful.” Visiting locomotives included Carnforth-based‘Black Five’ No. 44932,‘Jubilee’No. 45596 Bahamas, Didcot’s‘Saint’ No. 2999 Lady of Legend and Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 0-6-0ST No. 11456 from the East…

VOLUNTEERS at the East Lancashire Railway continue to keep the line’s demonstration goods train in operation, maintaining and restoring the resident fleet of historic wagons. A recent focus for members of the Bury Standard 4 Wagon Group has been the restoration of a 12 ton box van. As reported in RM December 2023, the bodywork on BR Standard box van No. B780991 was rotten and had to be replaced. Since then the sides have been renewed – but it was subsequently discovered that the framework was twisted. Fortunately, it was no trouble to replace it with new wood. However, the roof proved to be more difficult. It would not fasten to the roof beams with the frame being twisted – but perseverance paid off. Both ends also needed welding. The…

THE Leighton Buzzard Railway’s (LBR) September 28/29 Autumn Steam Gala featured a couple of highlights amid the usual formula of all serviceable steam locomotives being worked into an intensive timetable. De Winton 0-4-0VBT Chaloner (privately owned by the Fisher family), which was withdrawn in 2020 for a major overhaul, returned to full service working a special passenger service tagged‘The Leedon Flyer’ between Page’s Park and Leedon Loop. This was the first time in decades Chaloner had worked a passenger service solo at the LBR. The 1877-built loco was originally built for the Pen-y-Bryn slate quarry, Nantlle in North Wales, and later came into the ownership of the nearby Pen-yr-Orsedd slate quarry. Chaloner now carries a green livery which is thought to reflect its as-built appearance. Intensive Industrial Train Demonstrations were…

ON October 6, almost five months to the day after arriving at its new home of the Cambrian Heritage Railways site at Llynclys, south of Oswestry, No. 142055 operated its first passenger services since being preserved. The 142055 Group (formerly known as the Pacer Rail Group), purchased the ex-Northern ‘Pacer’diesel multiple unit in working order from Angel Trains during 2020, and it was moved by road from warm storage at Gascoigne Wood Sidings near Sherburn-in-Elmet in North Yorkshire to the Foxfield Railway in Staffordshire, where the group originally hoped to introduce it into service. Setback Preparations suffered a setback in June 2022 when it was vandalised twice in the same week. A number of its windows were smashed and its fire extinguishers were set off. Repairs, including the reglazing of…

ROAD will replace rail as the mode of transport for the flow of bitumen traffic to the Total Energies plant at Preston Docks, on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire. For the last 18 months, the movements, operated by Colas Rail Freight, have originated at Haverton Hill, near Billingham on Teesside, but in a statement to The RM, the French oil company confirmed it had taken the decision to use road tankers instead of trains. “This is as a result of a reduction in the volumes of bitumen being processed at the site which has determined that the most appropriate mode of transport is now by road,”it added.“We expect rail movements to cease by the end of the year.” Last day Information given by the company to…

CHILTERN Railways unveiled its first refreshed Class 168 diesel multiple unit No. 168003 at London Marylebone on October 9. Over the next 15-18 months, the remaining 27 Class 168s will be refreshed as part of the £12 million project, which is being carried out by Arriva Train Care at Crewe. Working with fleet owner Porterbrook, the fleet will gain new seat cushions and a revised grey moquette, improved wi-fi, the addition of USB ports to the 13-amp plugs, and new carpets. New LED lighting has been installed and the toilets have been refurbished too. Modifications have been made to the heating and cooling system, the battery, and there will be a number of changes made to improve reliability. No. 168003 has been repainted in a dark blue with a contrasting…

POOL CODES RAFC RailAdventure Class 43 (operational)RASC RailAdventure Class 43 (stored) LOCOMOTIVES Allocations 43054 LSLO-LSLS43083 LSLO-LSLS43296 HHPC-RASC43308 HHPC-RASC43423 HHPC-RASC-RAFC43465 HHPC-RASC-RAFC43467 HHPC-RASC-RAFC43468 HHPC-RASC-RAFC43480 HHPC-RASC-RAFC43484 HHPC-RASC-RAFC57007 CD LSLO De-registered66001 WBRT-WBAT66019 WBRT-WBAT66056 WBRT-WBLT66060 WBRT-WBAT66065 WBRT-WBAT66067 WBAT-WBRT66115 WBAT-WBRT-WBAT66134 WBAT-WBRT-WBAT66139 WBAT-WBGT66147 WBAT-WBHT66151 WBAT-WBRT66161 WBHT-WBRT66171 WBHT-WBRT66172 WBAT-WBRT66790 GBBT-COLO66792 GBBT-COLO68019 TPEX-XHTP68020 TPEX-XHTP68021 TPEX-XHTP68022 TPEX-XHTP68024 TPEX-XHTP68025 TPEX-XHTP68026 TPEX-XHTP68027 TPEX-XHTP68028 TPEX-XHTP68030 TPEX-XHTP68031 TPEX-XHTP68032 TPEX-XHTP73002 MBEL-LSLS LiveriesDB red: 66106Freightliner orange: 70020GBRf: 69011HNRC orange: 08527 TfW black and red: 67016 Named57311 The Institution ofMechanical Engineers Names removed43027 Acton Castle43094 St. Mawes Castle43122 Dunster Castle57002 Rail Express Stored/stopped locationsSevern Valley Railway: 43094, 43122 MULTIPLE UNITS Allocations 150230/37 CF/HLHQ-HQ/SBXH150236 sent for disposal153365 sent for disposal175116 CH/HLHQ-HQ/SCEC196114 HQ-TS321305/24 sent for disposal321443 sent for disposal323221/24/40 SO/EJHQHQ/SBXH398022/23 newly delivered HQ/HLHQ555027/28 newly delivered GF/PXGG730023/24/25/26/29/34/35/37 HQ-BY730208/16 newly delivered HQ/EJHQ777029/53 HQ-KD 807003 HQ-OY810003 newly delivered HQ/EMHQ68345/46/52 (325006/07/13) sent for disposal LiveriesNorthern: 323205 SWR: 458402/06/11 Renumbered 458502…

LNWR ‘Bloomer’ 2-2-2 1 2 THE project to construct LNWR ‘Bloomer’ 2-2-2 No. 670 at Tyseley remains active, but is awaiting financial support. Work on the James McConnell-designed ‘Single’ began as long ago as 1986 and reached an advanced stage of construction, but other priorities meant the loco was never completed. However, the 7ft single driving wheelset was fitted to the loco on November 15, 2019, ahead of the loco’s appearance at the Warley model railway exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre on November 23/24 of that year. Tyseley chairman Michael Whitehouse told The RM: “The ‘Bloomer’ project is always open for donations. As and when we receive them, we do more work to match the funds. There is no timeline for the project which progresses as money and time…

The first of 94 Siemens-built ‘Inspiro’trains for the Piccadilly line arrived at London Underground’s West Ruislip depot on October 14. One of 15 sets being produced in Vienna, T001 will undergo intensive testing to ensure it is compatible with existing route infrastructure. Initially, this will take place overnight, although daytime movements are expected between normal services as more sets are delivered and approach entry into service in late 2025. No. T001 has already spent a year at the Siemens test track and validation facility at Wildenrath in Germany prior to its 400 mile journey to West London via the Channel Tunnel. The final leg from Dollands Moor was operated by GB Railfreight Class 66 Nos. 66798 and 66718 ‘top and tailing’ the unit and translator vehicles.…

FOLLOWING the interest shown in the‘Zulu 48’two-day railtour in May this year, hauled by 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle (and covered in Practice & Performance, July issue), Tyseley-based Vintage Trains organised a Birmingham to Plymouth return excursion for September 27, doubling up on power by pairing Clun Castle with No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. In a novel move‘The Mayflower’special was hauled from Birmingham to Bristol East Junction and back from Temple Meads by Class 20 diesels Nos. 20142+20189, which then shadowed the steam special light engine to and from Plymouth. There was some platform confusion at Temple Meads caused by late running of a CrossCountry train, so 1Z20 started 25 minutes late before an immediate signal stop, but an energetic start was followed by a run close to the…

100 YEARS AGO NOVEMBER 1924 Fastest daily run in GWR ON Monday, September 29, following a late start, all previous records were beaten with the fastest daily run on the GWR, the 3.45pm from Swindon to Paddington. The engine was No. 4000 North Star and the journey was completed in 71 minutes, against 75 allowed – an average stop speed of 65.3mph. Japanese locos in Glasgow A NUMBER of electric locomotives which were rendered useless owing to the damage they sustained during the earthquake in Japan last year have arrived in Glasgow. The engines were built in 1922 by the North British Locomotive Co. Ltd. at Hyde Park Works, Springburn, for the Japanese Government, and now the builders have had the work entrusted to them of undoing the damage caused…

THE East Lancashire Railway (ELR) has launched a £150,000 appeal to help return LMS‘Crab’ locomotive No. 13065 (42765) to steam. Originally restored to working order in 1993, the loco ran for 10 years until the expiry of its boiler certificate. The Mogul was back on the roster in 2010, but it was withdrawn from service four years later, following failure of one of the boiler flue tubes. The boiler was removed and sent to a contractor to renew the flue tubes, small tubes, and minor remedial work to return the boiler with a new 10-year certificate. However, during the required inspections and nondestructive testing, the boiler was found to be in far worse condition than anticipated. The estimated cost to extensively renew areas of the boiler was put at £400,000…

THE latest locomotive to return to service on Ribble Steam Railway (RSR) is privately-owned Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST J N Derbyshire (1969/1929). This 12in-cylinder loco has undergone a thorough overhaul and has been repainted in an interesting pink livery, a version of which it carried whilst previously preserved at Carnforth. The locomotive was in action over the weekend of September 28/29 at the railway’s annual steam gala. A week later, the locomotive was in action at the East Lancashire Railway’s October 5/6 Autumn Steam Gala. Another newcomer in action at the RSR gala was Borrows 0-4-0WT The King (48/1906), fresh from overhaul. Two of Ribble’s regular steam locomotives, Bagnall 0-6-0ST Courageous, works number 2680 built in 1942, and Grant Richie 0-4-0ST works number 272 built in 1894, were also in steam,…

EASTLEIGH Lakeside Steam Railway (ELSR) in Hampshire, officially welcomed 4-6-2 No. 1003 Western Queen into its operational locomotive fleet on September 28, following a seven-year-long restoration project. The ELSR believes that, prior to the event, it had been at least 60 years since the 10.25 inch gauge Pacific last hauled a public train. History Purchased by the railway in 2016, No. 1003 has had several owners since it was built in 1933 by RCS Bullock, as one of his‘1000 series’locomotives. Initially used in Burnhamon-Sea and then running on the Farnborough Miniature Railway and the Surrey Border & Camberley Railway (where it gained the bogie tender of fellow SB&C Bullock-built resident No. 2006 Edward VIII, which now also resides at the ELSR), it was sold after the latter line’s closure. Later,…

HUNSLET-BUILT 0-4-0 diesel shunter works No. 2641, formerly resident at Eureka – The National Children’s Museum in Halifax. has been moved to Ribble Steam Railway (RSR) in Preston. Supplied new to the War Department in 1941 (working at the Royal Naval Armament Depot at Crombie in Fife), it moved to Bargate Motor Spares at Linthwaite near Huddersfield in 1983, and arrived at Eureka nine years later, where it was placed alongside a Mk. 2 carriage. Having previously approached RSR and other heritage railways with a view to finding them a new home, a pair of RSR volunteers undertook the task of removing them from the site. The close proximity of the railway line prevented the use of a crane and therefore the locomotive was jacked sideways onto the ramp of…

THE first of the UK-produced batch of Siemens‘Inspiro’trains for the Piccadilly line of the London Underground system is due to be rolled out of the company’s Goole plant around spring of next year. On October 14, the initial set from the 94-strong fleet of units arrived in the capital, in readiness for further testing. It is one of a total of 15 trains to be manufactured in Vienna. Car bodies are being supplied to the Goole factory (officially opened on October 3) for it to build a further 79 of the nine-vehicle sets. “Over the course of the last seven months we’ve been slowly building-up the workforce and bringing more carriages in and starting the build phase of the carriages,” Mark Speed, general manager of Siemens Goole Rail Village explained…

OPERATIONS NEWS RHTT The autumn RHTT (Rail Head Treatment Train) season is under way, with the first report being Class 73 Nos. 73109 and 73128 in the regular top-and-tail formation, with eight hopper wagons powering a Tonbridge-Bognor Regis-Littlehampton-Tonbridge RHTT driver refresher trip on September 17. The RHTT programme from GBRf’s Stowmarket base did not officially start this year until week commencing October 7, on the southern GEML route, although there have already been workings from Whitemoor across the Fens route and preparatory proofing and driver training runs. On September 19, Class 69 Nos. 69005 Eastleigh and 69012 Falcon 2 worked 3L10/09.26 Whitemoor to Stowmarket DGL and returned with 3E11 at 12.39. It was Class 69 No. 69012 on September 26 that worked the first daylight viewing of the class down…

MULTIPLE new locomotive designs were unveiled at the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, which was visited by nearly 180,000 people between September 24 and 27. In addition to the first of Stadler’s Class 99 locos for the UK, which had a central position in the display, the Spanish train manufacturer Talgo displayed one of the‘Travca’electric locos it is building for German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB). The new multi-voltage (15kV/25kV AC and 1.5kV DC) 230kph DB Class 105 locos are designed to work with brand-new 17-car Talgo push-pull train sets. Designated Intercity Express Low Level (ICE-L) by DB, they will replace older Intercity trains in Germany, and be used on services to neighbouring Austria and the Netherlands. Operation on the Berlin to Amsterdam route was originally due to begin in…