Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Rail Express

IT was a case of back to the future as Southeastern Class 465 ‘Networker’ EMU No. 456908 was unveiled in Network SouthEast (NSE) livery at London’s Charing Cross station on February 25. Reprising the livery the unit would have carried when it was built in 1992 is another segment in ‘Rail 200’, the year-long celebrations that mark the 200th anniversary of the world’s first passenger rail service. Guest of honour at the event was former NSE sector director Chris Green, the architect of the Network SouthEast brand under British Rail Explaining the background to what became an iconic brand with a patriotic livery, Mr Green said: “I remain immensely proud of everything Network SouthEast accomplished and the foundations it built for today’s railway – particularly in and around south-east London…

CONSTRUCTION of the first viaducts that will form the Delta Junction for the HS2 high-speed line at Water Orton, North Warwickshire, has been completed. The 472-metre single-track River Tame West Viaduct was constructed using a giant cantilever structure moving the concrete segments into place span-by-span. It is the first time in the UK that the technique has been deployed. The precast segments are made nearby, transported to site and positioned between the viaduct piers using the cantilever structure which includes temporary post-tensioning cable stays and a 14-metre-high swivel crane. The crane lifts and installs one concrete segment into place at a time, eventually completing each 45-metre span length. The permanent post-tensioning tendons are then stressed to allow the removal of the temporary cable stays, leaving the permanent structure securely in…

RAILWAY Support Services has commenced the lengthy task of moving the 14 London Underground locomotives it won at auction last summer to its base at Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield. These were originally built by Schoma in 1996 as two-axle diesel hydraulics before 10 of the class were rebuilt as battery locomotives by Clayton during 2015. While the conversion of Nos. 2/4-8/10/11/13/14 was completed, the project was aborted before the final four examples were done, leaving Nos. 1/3/9/12 as diesel-powered. In recent years, all of the locomotives have been stored at West Ruislip. First to head north to the West Midlands on February 13 was No. 5, with No. 10 following seven days later, these both being Clayton rebuilds with the works numbers of B4607/5 and B4607/10 respectively. In addition to…

THE CLUBS making up the Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland (AMRSS) traditionally present their layouts at Model Rail Scotland, Scotland’s premier model railway event which is attended by guest layouts and traders too. Manufacturers see the occasion as an important event to showcase their latest projects, and this year was no different. Livery samples of the forthcoming EFE Rail ‘OO’ gauge Class 74, along with the new Bachmann Class 08 were available for inspection. Heljan displayed new ‘O’ gauge models with the help of a small layout and revealed the first impression of its new ‘OO’ gauge Class 44. Cavalex took up a spot adjacent to one of the entrance doors, with its stand showing off its recently released Class 60 and forthcoming steel and scrap metal wagons.…

00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft 1959-1980s ERA FIRST RELEASED in 2017, the Heljan 35t tank wagon models became well regarded by modellers, making Heljan’s announcement of a new batch for release at the beginning of 2025 particularly well received. The bulk of the new issue consists of four-wagon runner packs of Class A and Class B tank wagons in Fina and Esso private-owner liveries. The differences between Class A tank wagons intended for the transport of low flash-point petroleum products and Class B tanks for heavier and dirtier oils with high flash-points are incorporated in the tooling. Class A tanks have longer barrels due to the lower density of the products they carried. Class B tanks were fitted with shorter barrels to allow for higher density liquids. The review model is based on…

THE Government has launched an eight-week consultation on its plans for Great British Railways, which it claims will overhaul the country’s railway system. The consultation closes on April 15. A consultation document outlines the framework for the Rail Reform Bill that will formally establish Great British Railways (GBR), and pave the way for changes and improvements, bringing track and train back together again. Under the bill, there will be a new independent passenger watchdog which will have powers to hold operators to account. The watchdog will have powers to investigate repeat services issues along with the ability to raises noncompliance with the rail regulator. There would also be a safeguard whereby the watchdog would be consulted on major changes that would affect passengers. Despite previous failures, there are still plans…

WITH No. 37901 Mirrlees Pioneer backdated to its early 1990s Railfreight Metals condition last July, Europhoenix has gone one further and brought back one of the most celebrated depot paint schemes from the 1980s on the former No. 37601, now renumbered as 37501. By the mid-1980s, British Rail was accelerating its move away from the homogenous corporate blue era with a range of colourful paint schemes. However, the concept of special customer paint jobs was still unheard of when Thornaby released newly acquired No. 37501 into traffic, in what was described as British Steel blue in February 1987. The former No. 37005 had only been released from Crewe Works in the original Railfreight grey in April 1986, for an early stint at Cardiff Canton before heading to the North East.…

CLASS 20 THE expected quartet of EE Type 1s on UK Railtours’ ‘Shakespearean Sonnet’ special (February 22) turned out to be a trio following the non-availability of No. 20189. Nonetheless, Nos. 20205+ 20007 tailed by No. 20142 Sir John Betjeman made for an impressive sight leaving the capital with the 1Z58 07.01 London Paddington-Long Marston, passing Oxford at 08.35. Later the tour travelled to Stratford-upon-Avon via Worcester Shrub Hill and Birmingham Snow Hill thence to Fenny Compton prior to the last leg of the journey as the 1Z66 19.09 Oxford-London Paddington routed via Bicester, West Ruislip and Drayton Green to regain the GWR main line at West Ealing. In order to reach London the day before the main tour, the three Class 20s had topped the 1Z57 13.54 Kidderminster SVR-Watford…

WASCOSA has delivered a further 40 FEA-G container flats to GB Railfreight, all formed in ‘twin’ configuration. Wearing the lessor’s striking orange paint scheme, the first Wascosaliveried rolling stock in the UK, albeit already looking faded from several months in store in Germany, the vehicles arrived in two batches of 20 wagons on January 31 and February 5. The first to arrive were Nos. 81 70 4663 401-414/417-422 and these moved north as a 6E59 05.49 Dollands Moor to Peterborough North Yard behind No. 66770 Darius Cheskin. The balance of the order, Nos. 81 70 4663 415/416/423-440, was delivered, collected from the Channel Tunnel yard by No. 66708 Cnaba Ykpaihi - Glory to Ukraine and worked west as a 6O97 03.45 to Eastleigh Yard. As of the end of February,…

TT GAUGE 1:120 scale 1998 to present ERA First impressions ANY LINGERING thoughts that Hornby’s ‘TT:120’ range would be little more than toys are completely dispelled by the new Class 66 range. They are certainly not toy-like and bear no resemblance to the ‘OO’ gauge Railroad range models either. Immediately good impressions were formed when the moulded bodyshells were first examined. Modern tooling has clearly been utilised to the max to produce well-defined detail and the models are heavy for their size. A quality paint finish is applied to all four of the sample models, with particular mention of the fine lining on GB Railfreight’s No. 66779 Evening Star which looks just the part. Model variations Taking on a completely new range of Class 66s is no easy task given their…

0 GAUGE 7mm:1ft 1938 to preservation ERA SMALL INDUSTRIAL shunting engines are all the rage in ‘O’ gauge at the moment, the second Ruston & Hornsby locomotive to appear in a matter of months being Accurascale’s Ruston 88DS. And what a little beauty it is too, being produced in a variety of liveries covering several of Ruston & Hornsby’s industrial customers. Some of the liveries, including the Eastern Gas Board, Babcock & Wilcox Ltd, and NCB rail blue, could be adapted for other layout plans and freelanced industries with minimal effort. Two British Rail examples are included in the range, one in BR green and the other is finished in rail blue. The test sample is one of Accurascale’s special edition models, finished in Tarmac livery. The real locomotive was No.…

ONE of the benefits of Privatisation is the ability to set up an open access passenger operation. These are independent passenger operations outside of the now defunct original franchise agreements, where an operator is given approval to run train services for which there is no Government subsidy or incentive. In short, all the financial risks are undertaken by the operator. There are currently five open access operators – Eurostar, Heathrow Express, Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo. Three of these operators – Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo – compete for business on the East Coast Main Line with incumbent operator, LNER. This competition has provided direct services to London for towns and cities which tend to be bypassed by the mainstream operator. Open access services often call at underserved…

THE tragic events that took place at Moorgate underground station at 8:46am on Friday, February 28, 1975, continue to shape London Underground today. The driver of train 272, motorman Leslie Newson, drove his train containing two three-car ‘38’ Tube Stock units, across a crossover, along platform 9 and through a sand drag. The train impacted a wall inside a short tunnel beyond, resulting in the first three cars riding over or under each other, crushing the car ends. The accident sadly resulted in 43 deaths and 74 passengers with injuries, many of which were life changing. The precise cause has never been identified. Following the incident, the Department for the Environment [DoE] published its findings, confirming that the responsibility lay solely with motorman Newson, with London Underground being unable to…

THREE years after the last ‘379s’ were stopped by Greater Anglia, the fleet has begun to re-enter traffic with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) on its Great Northern services out of King’s Cross. The first working took place on February 10, when Nos. 379002/022 formed the 1L48 17.24 King’s Cross-Letchworth Garden City. Since this date, both this service and a corresponding morning working (the 1R09 07.45 Letchworth Garden City-King’s Cross) have been diagrammed for ‘379’ operation. More sets will come into service in the coming months, prior to the introduction of the new timetable in December 2025 which will see full fleet deployment. The reactivation of the Class 379s, which have been stored at Worksop, is being managed by Alstom. A variation on the existing technical support and spares supply contract,…

THE return to service of the Deltic Preservation Society’s No. D9015 Tulyar took a step closer on February 15, when the ‘Deltic’ moved under its own power for the first time in over 27 years, operating a short distance at its Barrow Hill base. This followed a start-up of the locomotive’s power units just over six months earlier; in the intervening period, DPS electricians have spent many hours checking and testing all the new wiring and eradicating faults. Prior to the locomotive taking power, the six traction motors were checked in pairs before being connected up. The ‘Deltic’ was then run in each direction from both cabs before being driven back into the DPS depot. At the controls was, appropriately, Mike Hallam-Rudd, DPS volunteer liaison officer, who had switched the…

AN AMBITIOUS project to produce an entire suite of tooling for the gangwayed Electrostar family has been announced by Accurascale. The project is quite vast in scope, causing Accurascale to team up with Rails of Sheffield which is keen to build on the success of the Class 89 project. The potential of the Electrostar was highlighted in Rail Express Modeller as long ago as May 2021, although we are sure Accurascale would have seen the same potential for a model we have identified. The longevity of the design, the large number of vehicles in traffic, together with a wide variety of operator liveries gives a model wide appeal. It also presents another challenge we outlined in our original ‘Any Takers?’ article, and that is one of the two differing designs…

00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft 1969 to present ERA FOUR OF THE impressive models of BR Mk.2c stock released by Accurascale in ‘OO’ gauge is the subject of this review. Anticipation for these coaches was intensified by the successful Mk.2b models released last year. The stock consisted of five coach types: Tourist Second Open, Brake Corridor First, Corridor First, Brake Second Open and First Opens. Construction was completed at Derby and released to traffic in BR blue grey livery with Inter-City markings. The Midland Region was the main recipient of the stock until they were displaced to secondary routes by air-con Mk.2 stock. Accurascale’s first batch (we hope there will be more) covers the coaches from introduction in BR blue grey livery through to sector liveries and the Privatisation era. This makes the…

INTRODUCED IN 1988, the Orenstein & Koppel, or O&K PHA wagons, looked different to other bogie box wagons in regular aggregate traffic at the time. They were followed by a fleet of 100 uniquely designed JHA bogie hopper wagons also built by O&K. The new wagons completed modernisation of Foster Yeoman’s wagon fleet, to go with the successful purchase of Class 59 locomotives from General Motors and expansion of the Torr Works Quarry. The wagons were a completely new design for the UK, being fitted with O&K 25-100 bogies which have proven to be reliable. Concerns by BR regarding track forces with the O&K 25-100 saw loaded trains initially restricted to 45mph despite their 60mph rating. When new, the PHAs (JYA) were delivered in a light silver grey livery with…

WHEN the air conditioned Mk.3 sleeping car fleet was introduced by British Rail from 1982 onwards, the electric train supply (ETS) from a locomotive would provide power for the on board services of central door locking, heating, lighting and air conditioning. At the time the new vehicles were being introduced, the West Highland sleeper from London Euston to Fort William still used the steam-heated Mk.1 sleeping cars, and continued to do so until the latter half of 1985. The Mk.1 sleepers were entering their final years, being replaced with new Mk.3 sleepers produced by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) at its Litchurch Lane Works, Derby. The new design included many new safety features which had been lacking in the Mk.1, the type of carriage involved in the Taunton sleeping car…

BOTH Pathfinder Railtours and UK Railtours are organising excursions which includes a visit to the ‘Rail 200’ event at Alstom’s Litchurch Lane Derby plant where ‘The Greatest Gathering’ is to take place in August. With general admission tickets completely sold out, the tour operators have managed to secure tickets to allow tour participants to gain access to the event. Pathfinder Railtours is running ‘The Bicentennial and Peak Forest Explorer’ on Saturday, August 2. Starting at Eastleigh, there are pickups at Southampton Central, Romsey, Salisbury, Westbury, Bath Spa, Bristol Parkway, Cam & Dursley and Cheltenham Spa. For those for whom ‘Rail 200’ does not appeal, the train continues to Duffield (for Ecclesbourne Valley Railway), Chesterfield (guided bus tour of Peak District including Bakewell), and Barrow Hill Roundhouse Museum. Standard class fare…