Indholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2023 i Traction

We start this issue with Martin Axford’s account of a week spent travelling around East Anglia by train in summer 1985 when he photographed the railway with DMUs and loco hauled trains still operating on what was still a largely steam era infrastructure. Roy Kethro continues his fascinating account of his early railway career at Bristol Bath Road depot as his experience widens. The colourful Kent Coast EMUs are the subject of Michael Welch’s feature of these often ignored trains operating on this busy part of Britain’s railway network. Paul Shannon takes a detailed look at some of the many cement terminals that were found all over the network with much information useful to the modeller. J. Crosse looks at one particular Brush Type 2 locomotive, D5654 (later 31224 and…

in partnership with The Class 08 needs no introduction – the backbone of freight and marshalling yards, station pilots, branch line goods, and later, private industry, and now preservation, the Class has been one of Britain’s longest-lived and most-successful locomotives. With a new Hornby range launch, it made sense to feature this prototype for space-starved OO gauge modellers who didn’t want main line express locomotives. Here, you have ample opportunity to devise a compact shunting layout, without reverting down a scale further to ‘N’. Released in three liveries in its first run – with hopefully more to follow – we find BR blue for the 1970s to 1990s era modeller, and DB Schenker red and GBRf/HN Rail for the 2010s era. I’d argue that a BR green livery wouldn’t have…

14th July 1985 Today I was driving to Blaxhall in Suffolk via the Southern Region and the Dartford Tunnel. It was a good day for Class 73s: 73 116 was photographed at Raynes Park on the boat train; at Coulsdon it was 73 004 with ballast hoppers and various ‘73s’ on Gat-Ex’s; later at Polhill was 73 129 ‘City of Winchester’ with the returning ‘Orient Express’ Pullmans. I also photographed a Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon built Class 119 DMU calling at Penshurst on the Redhill to Tonbridge line. Looking at this photo underlines how much things have changed as it’s now electrified with not even a Great Western ‘Turbo’, never mind a long scrapped ‘119’! 15th July 1985 My aunt’s and uncle’s house was a three mile drive from…

Photo 1: No. 1602 at Dover Priory. This scene, recorded at Dover Priory in March 2004, shows 4-CEP unit No. 1602 undertaking a shunting movement in the station area. A total of 111 4-CEP units were constructed in various batches between 1956 and 1963, the first prototype units (Nos. 7101 to 7104) entering traffic on the Central Section on 11th June 1956. The original formation was MSB/TS/TC/MSB and the units were gangwayed throughout to enable passengers to reach the buffet car where this was provided. There were two principal batches, Nos. 7105 to 7153 being built for stage one of the Kent Coast electrification while Nos. 7154 to 7202 were built for stage two which came into operation in 1959 and 1961 respectively. There were also two other much smaller…

Since the 1950s, bulk cement has been transported in specialised tank wagons to a network of regional distribution terminals, replacing the earlier inefficient practices of loading bagged product into vans or, in a few instances, using small containers. As with many rail freight flows, the number of locations handling cement has shrunk dramatically in recent decades. Back in the late 1970s, the railway still served around 15 plants to more than 40 distribution terminals, stretching from the North of Scotland to Cornwall. The rail served cement plants came in different shapes and sizes, and some had their own internal railway systems as well as loading and unloading facilities for main line traffic. Bulk cement was loaded into tank wagons by gravity through top filling hatches. A small number of locations…

Returning to the depot halfway through 1971 once college was over, I picked up where I had left off working under the electricians, carrying out routine maintenance exams on locos and DMUs. I also had a brief spell working with the outdoor machinery department looking after the depot plant, not the buildings themselves, which were the responsibility of the divisional civil engineer, but with the outdoor machinery department staff who were responsible for the roller shutter doors and the roof extractor fans attached to them. When a portable battery charger failed to work after being plugged into a loco, I went to pull out the mains fuses to check them. There was a sharp intake of breath from the traction electrician I was working with, “Oh no, that is the…

in partnership with ‘Southgate Park’ is set in the period 1986-1991, which was a time of transition with the advent of Network SouthEast, when Mk. 1 EMUs and locomotive-hauled trains dominated. Bold new liveries mixed with down-at-heel blue and grey stock capture this period. The layout is a twin-track main line served by a 12-road fiddle yard with six through roads for each running line. The inner circuit has a number of short stabling roads to provide additional storage. The scenic section covers 16ft with two running lines passing down the middle. A bay platform provides an additional platform face, giving three in total. The station-avoiding line passes to the front of the scenic sections and provides access to three EMU stabling sidings. A double track section of London Underground…

Brush Type 2 No. D5654 entered service on 29th September 1960 and was allocated to Finsbury Park depot. It was built by Brush Traction at Loughborough and was given the works number 254. As built it would have become Class 30 under the TOPS renumbering scheme but following the locomotive being re-engined in November 1967 it became a Class 31. When new it carried the paint style unique to the class with cream bands and window surrounds but no yellow warning panels. Early duties saw the Finsbury Park (34G) allocation employed mainly on suburban passenger and empty coaching stock (ECS) duties to and from Kings Cross but as more machines became available anything from a pick up freight to the occasional front line duty came their way.…