Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i Railways Illustrated

THE OFFICE of Rail and Road has released its comprehensive report into the cracks that were discovered on a large number of Hitachi-built trains operated by London North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway. The problem was first discovered during routine maintenance in April 2021, with cracking discovered around the yaw damper brackets and anti-roll bar fixings, where the vehicle load is transferred to the train bogies. Examination of the GWR train fleet, where the problem had first been identified, resulted in eight trains being found to be significantly affected by the issue and withdrawn from service. Craig Munday On May 7, 2021, further cracking was discovered around the weld lines where the train lifting plates are attached to the vehicle bodies, with a potential risk of the lifting plates…

THE 14 Class 60s offered for sale by DB Cargo have been acquired by Cappagh Group for DC Rail, with the first locomotive moving to UK Rail Leasing’s Leicester depot on April 14. DC Rail already operates four Class 60s – 60028/029/046/055 – which were returned to service by DB Cargo at Toton, while the company has a fifth locomotive at Leicester, 60060, which has been used as a spares donor and not returned to service. A source at DB Cargo had previously told Railways Illustrated that the company was in advanced discussions with Cappagh about the purchase of the 14 locomotives – 60008/009/013/022/038/057/061/0 64/070/075/080/090/098/099 – but the movement of 60099 to Leicester in mid-April confirms they have now been acquired by the company. All of the locomotives involved have…

Phil Chilton THE LOCOMOTIVE Services (LSL) Class 43 high speed train InterCity Swallow-liveried power car 43049 Neville Hill hauled its first passenger service since being stood down by East Midlands Railway in 2020. The power car was repainted into its current colour scheme at Neville Hill last year and has been used on a number of stock moves and route learning trains, but on April 13 it was used to haul Locomotive Services popular Midland Pullman train, when it worked alongside 43046 Geoff Drury 1930-1999 on the ‘Devonian Pullman’ charter from Bangor to Kingswear. 43049 was deputising for the usual Midland Pullman power car 43055, which was unavailable for the tour. This is not the first time the Midland Pullman hasn’t utilised one of its dedicated power cars; both Rail…

Midland Metro Alliance IN THE early hours of April 4, a West Midlands Metro tram became the first vehicle to travel along the extension from Library in Birmingham to Edgbaston Village, ahead of the route opening to passenger services in the summer. The first trip, carried out by CAF Urbos 100 tram 45, marked the start of testing and commissioning of the new Westside extension, which runs along Broad Street in Birmingham and will add three new tramstops to the WMM network. Peter Cushing, director of the Midland Metro Alliance (MMA), which has built the extension on behalf of Transport for West Midlands, said: “It is fantastic that the first tram has now travelled along Broad Street as testing of the new route begins. This marks a significant milestone in…

The number of ‘Castle’ High Speed Trains in traffic with Great Western Railway looks set to be reduced as the operator looks at ways of cutting costs. This is in response to Government asking the industry to save money following the support it received during the pandemic. During the two years since Covid-19 began, the railway has received almost £20 billion in financial support. With reduced passenger numbers and changes to the types of passengers now carried, the industry is being challenged to reduce costs – which has resulted in certain fleets being removed from traffic. The ‘Castle’ sets in use with GWR are made up of two HST power cars and four Standard Class Mk.3 HST trailer coaches. They were introduced in 2018 as a short-term response to delays…

The revival of Mirrlees-engine fitted 37901 Mirrlees Pioneer took a major step forward in mid-March when the locomotive was started and moved under its own power for the first time since its reactivation was begun by Europhoenix. The formerly preserved locomotive, which has recently received a set of refurbished bogies, has been reactivated at UK Rail Leasing’s Leicester depot. It is expected to return to main line use over the next few months. Europhoenix had been aiming to return 37901 back onto the main line last autumn (Railways Illustrated, September 2021) but the project is running later than planned due to other commitments. 37901 is fitted with a Mirrlees MB270T engine, which is a smaller version of the engines fitted inside the Class 60s, along with a Brush alternator. Rob…

Winfrith return Nuclear traffic returned to Winfrith, Dorset, for the first time in a decade on March 24 with the resumption of low-level waste traffic. Due to run roughly every three months, more than 1000 drums of waste are to be transported to the Drigg repository during the next two years. The southbound 6Z62 01.03 Crewe-Winfrith working was top-and-tailed by 68016 and 68017, being routed via the West Coast, Staines, and Eastleigh. This was formed of 10 two-axle PFA container flats, DRSL92712/21/23/3 0/33/66/79/81/98 and DRSL92801, which were loaded with low-height sheeted containers ahead of the 6Z95 15.40 Winfrith-Crewe return. Wascosa deliveries Network Rail’s new fleet of infrastructure wagons owned by Wascosa continue to arrive in the UK. On March 22, 66720 worked from Dollands Moor to Eastleigh Yard with the…

In conjunction with the repainting of 66708 into GB Railfreight livery, but incorporating the Ukrainian colours, the locomotive has also been named Слава Україні Glory to Ukraine at Arlington Fleet Services, Eastleigh. Chiltern Railways has this month honoured the memory of two former staff members who lost their lives to coronavirus during the pandemic. Locomotive 68015 was named Kev Helmer on April 10 in front of friends and family at Birmingham Moor Street station. Mr Helmer was a Chiltern Railways driver based at Birmingham Moor Street. The other locomotive is 68013, named Peter Wreford-Bush at Leamington Spa on April 13. The nameplates on 68013 had already been applied but covered over for a number of weeks as the ceremony was delayed. DB Cargo has named 90021 Donald Malcolm following the…

Tom McAtee IN WHAT is believed to be a preservation first, all four locomotives belonging to the Peak Locomotive Company – Class 44 D4 Great Gable, 45041 Royal Tank Regiment, 45108 and Class 46 D182 – were all in service on April 10. This was the first time that all four locomotives belonging to the group were in action on the same day in their 40-year history. It is understood that no other heritage modern traction locomotive group has previously operated so many of its locomotives in service on a normal operating day outside of a diesel event. While D4 and D182 were in use at a special ‘Peak’ running weekend on their Midland Railway – Butterley home base, 45041 was in service on the Nene Valley Railway and 45108…

Jason Smith CAMBRIAN HERITAGE Railways officially opened its line from Oswestry to Weston Wharf on April 1, with public services starting the following day. Originally opened for freight, the Weston Wharf site has been sympathetically transformed into a passenger station, located just short of the A483 level crossing on the southern edge of Oswestry. The new station features an historic goods shed on the site, which once served the Morda Valley. The office at the Oswestry end of the goods shed has been converted into a period waiting room, with exhibits helping to tell the story of the railways history, complementing CHR’s long established Cambrian Railways Museum at Oswestry. The opening day special was top-and-tailed by hired-in Barclay 0-4-0ST steam locomotive 2217 Henry Ellison from the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Association…

THE EAST Lancashire Railway operated second-built Class 47 D1501 on services between Heywood and Rawtenstall for the final time on the weekend of April ⅔, prior to it leaving the line that has been its home base for the past 29 years. The Class 47 is owned by the Waterman Railway Heritage Trust and is due to move to Rowsley South at Peak Rail, where it will join the rest of the WRHT collection which includes several steam locomotives, along with serviceable Class 25 D7659 and stored 46035 Ixion. D1501 was preserved by Pete Waterman in 1993 and moved to the ELR, where he had a number of locomotives based at the time. After much of Mr Waterman’s collection was sold off in 1996, he retained ownership of the then…

THE CLASS 142 ‘Pacer’ purchased as a spares donor by the owner of 142013 on the Midland Railway –Butterley is returning to service on the line rather than being stripped for spares, as was the original intention. 142011 has been at the MRB for two years following its withdrawal by Northern during the rundown of the ‘Pacer’ fleets. The two Class 142 DMUs were bought with the intention that 142011 would donate components to provide a spares pool for 142013. However, the owner of the two units managed to secure a large quantity of spare parts following the withdrawal of the Class 142 fleet, including spare wheelsets and engines, meaning that original intention is no longer necessary. The owner of the two DMUs told Railways Illustrated that 142011 was actually…

03162 – Llangollen: After several years with the locomotive being ‘in limbo’, the Llangollen Railway Trust is pleased to have been advised that Wirral Council has donated the former Birkenhead Dock Railway shunter to the LRT. The move will safeguard the locomotive’s future and paves the way to allow an overhaul and repairs to begin as soon as possible. The locomotive has not been operational for some time, due to it not being owned by the LRT. The trust will be launching a fundraising appeal. The anticipated timescale for its overhaul is between three and five years, but that will largely depend on both financial and practical support from anyone interested in helping to get the Class 03 back into traffic. The locomotive is complete and in working order, but…

Jim Ramsay Nigel Valentine Phil Chilton Chris Gee Tim Solomon…

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Time is running out for some of our oldest operational fleets of EMUs. This year is likely to see the end of operation of four designs of BR-built electric multiple units, with the Class 313s, 315s, 507s and 508s all expected to bow out during the course of the year. All of these classes were built to a similar standard BR EMU design, but I chose to explore some of the routes on which the surviving passenger-carrying Class 313s are still in regular use with Southern. Built between 1976 and 1977 by BREL York, 44 of the original 64-strong fleet of Class 313s have since been scrapped, leaving 20 of the EMUs still existent in 2022. Network Rail retained 313121 and has adapted it as a laboratory train in connection…

ON APRIL 19, just before this issue of Railways Illustrated closed for press, the first Class 720/6 electric multiple unit destined for use with c2c, 720602, was moved from Alstom’s plant at Litchurch Lane, in Derby, to East Ham Depot. Finished in pink and white, the five-coach EMU is the first of 12 Class 720/6s built for use by c2c and will now undergo commissioning and driver training ahead of an entry into service, which is expected to be later this year. It was originally planned that the c2c fleet would consist of six 10-coach Class 711 EMUs, but the order was subsequently modified to 12 five-coach trains classified as Class 720/6. The trains are owned by Porterbrook. Ian Sinclair The new train fleet will allow c2c to release its…

THE RAKE of seven Mk.3s used by LNER to mark the end of HST operation in December 2019 has been saved from the scrapman – although it will be used for a glamping site by the new owner, rather than returning to operational use. LNER’s HST set EC56 was re-liveried into blue and grey at Wabtec Doncaster by the operator ahead of a four-day farewell charity charter that ran across the entire LNER network in late December 2019, prior to the removal of HSTs from long-distance services on the East Coast Main Line. The coaches, Trailer Kitchen Buffet First (TFKB) 40720, Trailer First (TF) 41118/170, Trailer Standard (TS) 42242/243, 42363 and Trailer Guard Standard (TGS) 44098, along with power cars 43206 and 43312 (renumbered back to their original fleet numbers…

RAIL CHARTER Services has announced that it will not be operating its Staycation Express services between Skipton, Settle, and Carlisle this summer – blaming the increase in the costs of living and economic uncertainty. A statement was published on the company’s website and social media feeds on April 4 that read: “Unfortunately owing to extraordinary difficult trading conditions, we have had to take the difficult decision to suspend our Settle-Carlisle tourist rail services in 2022. “The current economic conditions have created the perfect storm of high costs, while at the same time all the indicators point to constrained demand as people tighten their belts during this unprecedented time of economic uncertainty. “We would like to thank all our loyal passengers and hope to see you back on board in 2023!”…

A CHARITY fundraising charter that took a pair of Class 37s on a three-day tour of the railway network around the North East has raised about £35,000 for Martin House children’s hospice in Wetherby, West Yorkshire. ‘The Tyne-Tees Tractors’ ran from April 8-10 and was organised by the Branch Line Society and Network Rail staff from York Rail Operating Centre (ROC), taking the Scottish Railway Preservation Society’s main line-registered 37403 Isle of Mull and West Coast Railways 37516 Loch Laidon on tour. The train was operated by WCR, using the SRPS’s Mk.1 main line rake of coaching stock. As with most BLS tours, the train also visited various obscure sidings, loops and branches that are not normally used for passenger services. Other highlights included visits to the Port of Sunderland…

A HUMANITARIAN aid train left the UK in early April destined for Ukraine following the invasion of the country by Russian forces. Organised by UK Rail for Ukraine, a special freight train operated by DB Cargo has now departed for the Ukraine, carrying more than 1500 tonnes of aid, including non-perishable food, hygiene and medical products, basic living equipment, and other much-needed supplies that have been donated from a wide range of businesses and organisations following requests for aid from the Ukrainian authorities. Transported in 24 shipping containers over a 500-metre train, the cargo has been labelled in three languages to assist with distribution when it arrives at its destination. Advice and information has been provided by both the Ukrainian Logistics Alliance and the Department for International Trade in Warsaw,…

Five Class 57/3s sub-leased by Rail Operations Group by Direct Rail Services have been returned to DRS. The locomotives – 57301/303/305/310/312 – had been leased for stock moves, but sources have told Railways Illustrated that they were becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. In recent months only 57310/312 have been used by ROG, with 57301/303/305 all out of service. 57305/312 also had ROG’s new livery applied to them. DRS has previously announced plans to reduce its heritage fleet and it is likely that the 57/3s that had been on hire to ROG will be stored. They are unable to operate with Avanti West Coast Class 390 Pendolinos due to the height of their Dellner couplings. DRS currently has five other Class 57/3s in its fleet, 57304/306-309, although 57306 is sub-leased to…

DRS Mk.2 sales The winners of the recent Direct Rail Services Mk.2 tenders have become clear with the transfer of the coaches to their new owners. Late March saw DBSOs 9704 and 9707 moved by road from MoD Longtown to Crewe to join the Locomotive Services fleet. April 6 saw 68018 transfer TSOs 5787, 5937 and 6173 from Motherwell to Kingmoor, this move also including 37425. The next day and with 57002 now in charge, the three TSOs continued onward to Barrow Hill with the addition of Mk.2f 6064 and DBSOs 9705 and 9710 to the train. At Barrow Hill, 9705 was removed and this is now understood to be owned by Europhoenix. The ‘body-snatcher’ then continued on to Great Yarmouth in order to deliver 5787, 5937, 6064, 6173 and…

AV Dawson Former Penzance resident 08410 was finally noted in use at the Middlesbrough terminal of AV Dawson during March, two years after its purchase from GWR. The intervening period had seen it stabled out of use at the site and it still retains GWR green. Freightliner Newly overhauled and reinstated 08891 was released from LH Group Services on April 4, the orange shunter heading for Crewe Basford Hall rather than the originally planned destination of Southampton Maritime, to replace 08691. The latter had been collected from Crewe three days earlier and after a weekend layover at the yard of Reid Freight Services, it was delivered to Burton Wetmore to undergo maintenance by Nemesis Rail. Hunslet By late March, 08401 was back at LH Group Services undergoing repairs, it having…

CLASS 56 56097 – which has been based at Ruddington on the Nottingham Heritage Railway (formerly the Great Central Railway Nottingham) since being preserved in 2005 – is set to leave the railway after the NHR board decided the locomotive was no longer required. A statement released on the 56097 Facebook page in early April said: “It is well-known that the railway is not currently operational and has not operated for a very long time. Unfortunately, when services eventually resume it will be a very scaled-down operation indeed. Against that background, the NHR board has decided that 56097 is no longer required. “While it is obviously very sad that an operational loco is having to leave a non-operational railway, we want to thank everyone who has supported it during the…

THE DELTIC Preservation Society unveiled its newly-restored No. 2 end cab from 55008 The Green Howards in a short ceremony at its Barrow Hill depot on April 1. Representatives from The Green Howards Association joined invited guests to see the work done to the cab, which is now housed in a corner of the DPS Depot building, immaculately restored in BR blue. The cab has been part of the DPS collection for a number of years and was previously mounted on a road trailer for visits to various events and also served as a train simulator, but fell into disuse after being stored outside at Barrow Hill. The project to return the cab to museum condition began in 2016 and has included significant bodywork repairs and fabrication of an additional…

THE CLASS 144 ‘Pacer’ DMU that has been stored on the East Lancashire Railway for the past two years is set to stay on the line instead of being moved to a fire service training centre. Following withdrawal of the Class 144 fleet en masse during the pandemic in 2020, 144009 was secured for use at the Greater Manchester Fire Service Training & Safety Centre in Bury. The DMU moved to the ELR following disposal by Porter-brook and was stored at the railway pending a move to its new home. A deal has been done where 144010 – which has recently moved to the ELR from the Weardale Railway – will now be stripped of spare parts before moving to the GMFS Training & Safety Centre. Ownership of 144010 has…

A NUMBER of railways are holding events for heritage modern traction enthusiasts during June, as the diesel event calendar continues to return to as it was pre-pandemic. The month kicks off with the West Somerset Railway returning to the diesel event circuit by holding a 1960s-themed diesel event from June 9 to 11. The event is expected to feature the railway’s home fleet of locomotives, although at the time of writing, the full line-up and whether there will be any visiting locomotives had not been announced. June 10 to 12 also sees events taking place at the North Norfolk Railway and the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. The NNR is holding a Mixed Traction Event, which will include the railway’s home fleet of diesels and two steam locomotives, with D7659…

Tom McAtee One of the country’s longest established modern traction preservation groups is the Severn Valley Railway-based Western Locomotive Association, which is celebrating 45 years of operating its two preserved ‘Westerns’ this year. Seven British Rail Class 52 diesel-hydraulic ‘Westerns’ survived into the preservation sector for use on heritage railways, and two are now owned by the WLA. Formed in early 1974 with the intention of preserving one of the popular locomotives, the WLA is one of our oldest modern traction preservation groups. I visited the SVR to meet with WLA chairman (and former owner of D1013 Western Ranger) Roger Smith, vice-chairman Paul Finch, and engineering project co-ordinator and former chairman Darren Shelmerdine, to discuss the history of the WLA and find out about its plans for the ongoing operation,…

AUTHOR: Paul Stratford PUBLISHER: Silver Link Books ISBN: 978-1-87594-556-0 PRICE: £25.00 WEBSITE: www.nostalgiacollection.com THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE Warwickshire Railway is one of the UK's leading heritage lines that has grown rapidly over the last 30 years from rather humble beginnings. Now operating for a distance of 14 miles between Cheltenham Racecourse and Broadway, the railway is well worth a visit and this book from Silver Link Books presents a wide photographic record of the line and the trains that have operated over it since the preservationists moved in to restore it. The book features colour photography throughout and the selection of images are all reproduced to a very high standard. The author is a volunteer on the railway and is clearly an accomplished photographer as well. The book is divided into sections…

Phil Chilton THE MERGER between Eurostar and Thalys has been approved by the European Commission. It was first announced in September 2019, with the aim of receiving approval in spring 2020, however, the pandemic delayed the approval process. Eurostar is 55% owned by SNCF, 5% by SNCB, and 40% by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Hermes Infrastructure. The latter acquired its stake from the British Government in 2015. SNCF will take full control of Thalys’ parent company THIF Factory, which is jointly controlled by the French operator and SNCB. The Eurostar brand is being retained. Tom McAtee Thalys runs high-speed services in Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The merger involves reorganising Eurostar and Thalys under a holding company, HoldCo. This will have 100% of the…

THE OFFICE of Rail and Road announced in late March that it is prosecuting Transport for London, Tram Operations London, and tram driver Alfred Dorris for alleged breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in relation to the fatal tram derailment on the London Trams network in 2016. The derailment on the morning of November 9, 2016 saw Bombardier CR4000 tram 2551 derail at speed on the approach to Sandilands in Croydon, with the tram toppling over, killing seven passengers, and injuring many others travelling on board. The ORR alleges that TfL and Tram Operations Limited – which runs the tram service on TfL’s behalf – both failed to ensure the health and safety of passengers on the network, so far as reasonably practicable. Mr Dorris…

Another three Class 91s have been sent for scrapping, with the delivery of 91103/104/108 to CF Booth in Rotherham in late March. The three locomotives were taken out of service with LNER to be used as spares donors for the serviceable Class 91 fleet and all have undergone extensive component recovery while in store at Doncaster Works. The first Class 91 to be scrapped was 91132, which was disposed of at Sims Metals, Beeston, in March 2021. This was then followed two months later by 91102/113/126/129, which were dispatched in convoy to Sims at Newport Docks for breaking up. While the 31-strong fleet has been greatly depleted, 12 of the locomotives are still in front line service with LNER; 91101/105-107/109-111/114/119/124/127/130 are all still active on the East Coast Main Line.…

CLASS 121 30/3 – 977873 (55022) by road from Locomotive Services, Crewe, to Independent Rail Engineering, Chesterfield, for restoration, it having been brought north from long-term storage at Southall on February 23. CLASS 150 1¼ – 150124 5Z81 08.07 Wolverton-Newton Heath, released from cab roof repairs after incurring damage last November when it a hit a tree near Chester in Storm Arwen. CLASS 153 30/3 – 153311 5Z10 10.04 Derby RTC-Long Marston, end of Network Rail’s hire of the unmodified unit used to provide rescue cover for video survey sets 153376 and 153385. 30/3 – 153364 Burton Wetmore to Sims, Beeston, by road for scrapping, the unit having been reduced to a stripped bodyshell. CLASS 196 23/3 – 196104 + 196010 5Q81 11.44 Bletchley-Tyseley. w/c 28/3 – Three cars of…

Freight operators showing their support for Ukraine has been the main feature of the period under review, with 66708 receiving a full repaint into GBRf colours at Eastleigh – this not only removing the obsolete Europorte livery elements but also incorporating the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag along the bodysides. A more restrained approach was taken by DB Cargo, with recently-repainted 66099 gaining a bodyside flag and ‘We Stand with Ukraine’ lettering. Also outshopped from Toton during March was 90021, this carrying a new version of the blue and black Malcolm Group colours to mark the 100th anniversary of the logistics company. The Class 90 had been in store for a number of years and was the last to lose the obsolete First ScotRail livery from its period…

THE SEVEN-YEAR project to return 50021 Rodney to serviceable condition is now nearing completion, following the landmark moment on April 10 when the locomotive was started for the first time in more than 22 years. Work on 50021’s revival has been taking place by a volunteer team at Arlington Fleet Services’ Eastleigh Works since it was purchased in 2015 by a consortium spearheaded by the head of PTG Tours and owner of 50026 Indomitable, Paul Spracklen. Mr Spracklen told Railways Illustrated that the milestone was a very proud moment for him, his fellow shareholders, and the volunteers who have worked on the locomotive, which last ran on the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway in 2000. He expressed his appreciation to Tony Middleton and other volunteers from the Class 50 Alliance who…

THE CONTINUED popularity of High Speed Trains shows no sign of receding, with a growing number of Class 43 HST power cars and Mk.3 HST trailer coaches now being secured by the preservation sector. There are 14 Class 43s already secured for preservation so far and in April the first passenger workings took place at two heritage lines of preserved HST sets, with four power cars making their debut passenger workings on their new home railways. First up was the 125 Group, which held a special operating weekend at the Midland Railway – Butterley on April ⅔ featuring two of its four preserved power cars, 43048 and 43159, hauling five of the 125 Group’s former East Midlands Railways Mk.3 HST trailers. It was originally intended that the trains would feature…

A COLLISION involving Class 31 97205 (31163) on April 2 overshadowed the Spring Diesel Event on the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway. The event took place between April 1 and 3 and featured the railway’s operational home-based locomotives alongside visiting HST power cars 43054 and 43066, which were provided by DATS and Hanson & Hall Rail Solutions 50008 Thunderer, although power car 43054 failed beforehand and was not used. One of the highlights of the event was the use of 43066 hauling the C&PRR’s Class 411/9 3-CEP EMU 1198, with a locomotive at the other end of the formation to haul the return working. The Class 411/9 was used with air-braked locomotives and a rake of Mk.1 coaches was also in use. The event suffered from a number of operational…

David Barnsdale Launching a new open access train operation is not an easy thing to do at any time. Launching a new open access operation in the midst of a global health pandemic is even harder. However, the FirstGroup-backed East Coast Main Line (ECML) operator Lumo has achieved a successful launch and has now been running for six months, despite some of the most challenging times experienced by train operators. Lumo’s fleet of five Hitachi Class 803 EMUs in their striking blue colour, have gradually increased their presence on the ECML as services have been ramped up since Lumo took to the rails in late October. I met with Lumo’s commercial and customer experience director, Matthew Lee, to get his thoughts on the first few months of service for the…

AUTHOR: Anthony P Sayer PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword Transport ISBN: 978-1-52679-237-2 PRICE: £30.00 WEBSITE: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk THE LATEST Pen & Sword Locomotive Portfolios book written by Anthony P Sayer covers another popular class of locomotive, but also one that hasn’t been widely covered previously by authors – the Swindon-built Type 1 Class 14 diesel-hydraulic locomotives. The locomotives were built at Swindon Works, with the first examples emerging in 1964. However, by the time the 56 locomotives had all been delivered to British Railways, the network was in a state of decline in the wake of the Beeching report of March 1963. The Class 14s were effectively redundant almost as soon as they entered traffic – one of the reasons they were withdrawn after a very short time. Indeed, D9531 (still surviving…

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