Innehållsförteckning för January 2022 från Rail Express

THE United Nations COP26 event held in Glasgow has not resulted in a network-wide plan to reach net zero carbon emissions for rail operations by 2050. This is despite a Rail Decarb 21 campaign organised by the Railway Industry Association (RIA) who represent the railway supply chain. Since electrification projects were cancelled by the Department for Transport following the cost over-run of wiring the Great Western Main Line, the RIA has launched an electrification cost challenge with the aim of delivering overhead line electrification works at a cost of £1 million per single track kilometre (stk), which compares with a figure of £3 million per stk for the GW scheme. The most significant finding is that there must be a rolling programme of work to allow the retention and development…

WITH many MRAs effectively operating as box wagons without tipping capability, NR has contracted Loram UK to make this a permanent solution by equipping them with new bodies. One of the more innovative freight vehicles to emerge from Thrall Europa during its short tenure at York Holgate, the MRA 90-tonne bogie side-tipping ballast wagon was a large modern update of the classic two-axle ZJV ‘Mermaid’ that was used from the mid-1950s through to the mid-1990s, which was itself based on a 1930s Great Western Railway design. With a capacity of 58 tonnes between its two compartments and a maximum speed of 60mph they were designed to significantly enhance the delivery of ballast to possession, primarily for the base layer. Following the completion and successful testing of a prototype (JQA No.…

THE first pair of Class 231 Stadler ‘Flirt’ diesel multiple units has arrived in the UK and been delivered to Transport for Wales’ Cardiff Canton depot. Nos. 231002/004 were hauled from Ripple Lane to the Welsh depot by No. 66001, departing late on November 18 and arriving the next morning. The units have been constructed at Stadler’s Bussnang factory in Switzerland and moved to the UK via the Channel Tunnel. Transport for Wales has 11 Class 231 units on order, made up of four vehicles, plus a power pack. Intended for use on the Cardiff to Cheltenham route, as well as the Maesteg and Ebbw Vale branches, they are similar in design to the Class 755 ‘Flirt’ units operated by Greater Anglia, but without any overhead line capability. They should…

Network Rail is updating and repurposing its bulk ballast fleet. The infrastructure operator’s existing IOA boxes will be supplemented by a large number of reconfigured MRAs (see Headline News, p17) as well as by a fleet of new JNA wagons that have been leased from Wascosa, with maintenance to be handled by GBRf. The first 25 examples of the latter, Nos. 81 70 5932 151-175 GB-WASCO (numbered after the GBRf ‘Megaboxes’ currently under construction at WH Davis), arrived in the UK in the second week of November, the bright yellow boxes being delivered to Eastleigh East Yard on the 11th by No. 66751 working a 6Z93 04.47 from Dollands Moor via Tonbridge West Yard. These were constructed by Drobeta Turnu Severin in Romania, and take the fleet of JNA/ MMAs…

COMPLETELY new Deltics and Class 37/0s headline Heljan’s ‘O’ gauge range for 2022 and 2023, whilst a new GWR parcels car and improved 'Cromptons', Class 17s and ‘Hymeks’ are lined up in ‘OO’ gauge. New liveries are offered on the popular Class 25 with delivery expected in early 2022, including ETHEL 2. Together with new Class 02s, Class 45s, Class 47s and Class 86/4 models, it all adds up to what will be one of the most prolific times for Heljan to date. The new catalogue was distributed to retailers in time for its December 4, 2021 launch, which coincided with the first public showing of ‘Heaton Lodge Junction’ at an event in Wakefield which was sponsored by Heljan. GWR parcels car announced Building on the success of its brand-new…

‘SUPER 60’ overhauls have given a number of the 100-strong fleet of Class 60s a new lease of life in their twilight years. DB were the only operators of the BR Trainload Freight Class 60s until the sale of 10 locomotives to Colas Rail in 2014, having inherited them through the acquisition of EWS, which in turn brought the locomotives into its ownership through the purchase of the regional freight companies in the 1990s. EWS was not impressed with Class 60s and many were in store following major failures or when in need of expensive overhauls when DB took over EWS. Thinking always changes and the need for a locomotive capable of hauling the heaviest trains beyond the capability of a Class 66 saw the new owners of EWS look…

CEMENT tank wagons are very well represented across several scales thanks to the recent efforts of Accurascale, Revolution Trains and Bachmann. The distinctive vee-tank wagons of the PC009 design are available in ‘OO’ gauge from Hornby whilst PCAs to Diagram PC017B/C are offered by Accurascale in ‘OO’ gauge and Realtrack Models in ‘N’ gauge. The famous ‘Cemflo’ wagons are also a ‘OO’ gauge product by Accurascale whilst Revolution Trains produce a neat little miniature in ‘N’ gauge. Bachmann offers the PCA ‘Metalair’ and the large bogie JPA in its ‘OO’ gauge Branchlines range and in the Graham Farish ‘N’ gauge collection. Apart from the older Hornby PC009 model, the cement tank wagons are all highly detailed and require minimal or no preparatory work before being weathered. Two quite different types…

IT’S that time of year again! Whilst not mentioning the C-word, many of us will be enjoying railway modelling inspired gifts and there is a good chance that an airbrush kit will have been pushed down the chimney by that bloke in red and left under the tree for some lucky modellers. Fair exchange for a mince pie and glass of sherry, we think. Now comes the fun of learning how to get the best from it. Whether for repainting models; refinishing, weathering and layout work, an airbrush is seen as an essential modelling tool. It matters little how expensive or advanced the airbrush happens to be: the basic techniques are the same, as are the care and storage requirements. Here are five ways to successful airbrushing alongside the all-important…

The four-day GBRf marathon ‘This Time It’s Personal’ railtour in September 2021 (see December issue) was an endurance test for many on board, especially those who succumbed to a purported norovirus outbreak on Day 3. Day 2 was different though. The weather was good, adhesion conditions favourable and former German exile Class 59 No. 59003 Yeoman Highlander was ticking over, in the distinctive way these General Motors products do, waiting for the road over the switchback ‘Portsmouth Direct’ route from Woking towards Guildford. Gradients that varied from 1-in-143 ‘down’ to 1-in-111 ‘up’ over the 2.73 miles it took No. 59003 to accelerate its 14-vehicle, 635 tonne trailing load from 0 to 60mph made calculations less than ideal. However, there are not that many opportunities in a single lifetime to record…

CLAYTON Equipment moved the first of its new Class 18 CBD90 battery locomotives to the Chasewater Railway on November 5 for a couple of months of tests, running in and customer demonstrations. This is the first of 15 that will be built for Beacon NEWS ROUND-UP RAILWAY SUPPORT SERVICES IN late October, RSS moved No. 08703 from the HS2 Willesden Hub site to the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway to make use of the pit there to fix an oil leak, Wembley not having any such facility (see Preservation, December 2021 issue). Whilst at Chinnor it was hoped to use the locomotive on public trains on the Sunday (October 31), in what is believed would have been its first ever passenger workings. However, contractual issues with HS2 late in the…

OPENINGS NEW LINES Just two pieces of main line are due to be added to the national rail network in 2022, but one of them is a biggie. CROSSRAIL/ELIZABETH LINE Originally due to open by the end of 2019, well before Covid, the central section of London’s major cross-city underground link, some 30 years in the making, is (we hardly dare put this in print) finally due to open to passengers at an unspecified date in the first half of 2022. The 70 nine-car Derby-built Class 345 Bombardier (now Alstom) Aventra EMUs have, of course, been running as seven-car units on TfL Liverpool St-Shenfield and latterly Paddington-Heathrow Airport/Reading routes since June 2017 and have over the past year gradually been lengthened to full length in anticipation of the opening of…

ALTHOUGH the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow in November failed to result in any immediate major changes to the UK rail network (see Analysis Special, p14), despite the fact that several types of alternative traction technologies were displayed to delegates (see December 2021 issue), train manufacturer Alstom and leasing company Eversholt Rail announced a partnership to design, build and commission a fleet of 10 three-car multiple units. This will be the UK’s first brand-new hydrogen train fleet. Timescales for the new units are yet to be announced.…

AFTER a virtual ceremony in 2021, the NRHA was pleased to be able to hold a physical awards ceremony again in 2021, that took place in London on December 1. Over 100 guests attended in person and many more joined online, as the event was also livestreamed. The sheer diversity of projects showcased in the 11 main awards categories (plus a further two special awards) was most impressive, though all involved much dedication and high levels of attention to detail. Arguably the most stunning award winner was the Auch Viaduct at Tyndrum, Scotland, whose restoration by Network Rail and Story Contracting, while trains continued to operate on the West Highland Line for much of the time, was a convincing first place holder for the Costain Structures Award. For the full…

CLASS 20 Two pairs of English Electric ‘Type 1s’ were out and about on November 8. Nos. 20007+20205 hauled the 5Z55 11.46 Derby RTC-Kidderminster SVR with the new weedkilling train, while Nos. 20901+20118 passed Loughborough at 14.10 with a set of barrier vehicles forming the 6Z21 13.00 Leicester-Chaddesden. Another example took to the rails on November 10 when No. 20107 (LSLO) ran light from Barrow Hill to Crewe in the company of No. 37688. Ten days later, Nos. 20107+20096 powered the 1Z32 08.09 Derby-Blaenau Ffestiniog railtour (with No. 37667 at the rear), later visiting Llandudno before heading back to the East Midlands. Early on November 18 Nos. 20901+20118 moved a pair of new Merseyrail electric units (Nos. 777008/012) on the 5Q25 05.18 Kirkdale TMD-Crewe CS routed via Rainhill and Warrington…

ALTHOUGH DB Cargo had previously stated it had no plans to reduce the use of its electric fleet (see December 2021 issue), by the middle of November the deployment of Class 90 locomotives on regular service trains had all but ceased. While 13 members of the 24-strong fleet are officially stored (Nos. 90017, 90018, 90021, 90022, 90023, 90025, 90027, 90030, 90031, 90032, 90033, 90038 and 90040, all at Crewe), only five machines saw main line use during the month with the other six, Nos. 90020, 90026, 90028, 90029, 90035 and 90037, all undergoing maintenance or laid up at Crewe EMD. THEN THERE WERE FIVE... No. 90019 was briefly borrowed by Rail Operations Group earlier in November to work ‘Hydroflex 2’ unit No. 799201 and ROG’s own No. 57312 from Crewe…

TOWARDS the end of November, the RMT union called out staff across Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines as part of a dispute over drivers being rostered to operate Night Tube services. This is despite TfL having agreed with both ASLEF and the RMT unions that “All existing Train Operators will be given the choice whether or not to become Night Tube ‘Part Time Operators’ and have priority to move to these roles over any external candidates.” In addition, TfL had agreed that “No existing Train Operator will therefore need to work the Night Tube shifts unless they choose to do so”. In addition, TfL is reportedly counting Sundays as being a ‘rest day’ when staff have been on shift and then clock off up until 07.30. RECRUITMENT MORATORIUM…

MODELLERS have endured a long wait for a high-fidelity model of a bulk aggregate hopper wagon dedicated to Mendip stone traffic in any scale. The 100-strong fleet of O&K bogie aggregate hopper wagons used by Foster Yeoman (see pM23) is perhaps the first and an ideal partner for the Foster Yeoman and ARC JUA and JTA tipper wagons released last year by Accurascale. At last, a reasonable representation of the large and heavy trains that haul massive stone from the Mendip hills via Westbury through to Acton and other terminals can be modelled, assuming one has a layout large enough. Dapol’s JHA model was subject to some delay in its journey to the model shop, but was finally released in October of 2021. Both inner and outer wagons (the latter…

This weathering bout starts with the Revolution Trains Cemflo wagons. The preparation work to weather underframes had been completed the day before and left overnight to set and cure, even though acrylic paints from the Tamiya range had been used. Cemflo wagons were constructed of aluminium to reduce their tare weight and consequently rust does not feature prominently on these wagons. However, they are from an era when dust control was not as tight as it is today and cement buildup was extensive on Cemflos. The bright aluminium finish is dulled down with a thin coat of matt varnish to give it the appearance of oxidised aluminium and provides a key for successive coats of weathering – it does not stay bright for very long. This is followed up with…

SLINK into York station by train from the south and the ROC is hard to miss. Sitting in the ‘V’ between the East Coast Main Line and the ‘York avoider’ the brightly coloured ‘Y’s and giant ‘Welcome to Yorkshire’ hoarding facing the main line make the most modern of the UK’s 11 ROCs something of a standout building. Cheery as the exterior may be, entering the 76,000 sq ft three-level main building, which started operating in 2014, is no mean feat. Large concrete anti-vehicle blocks protect the main front gates, which are surrounded by tall, barbed wire-topped fences. Pedestrian access is via a full-height turnstile and only after showing ID via a CCTV camera. Inside, security is equally tight, with access to individual rooms and sections controlled by key tags…

A SIGNIFICANT period of inactivity for the GM 8111 Class fleet came to an end for one of the locomotives on October 26, when No. 8112 hauled an empty hopper wagon from Belfast York Road to Ballymena. The locomotive was then stabled after shunting the infrastructure department yard. No. 8112 hauled five empty hoppers to Poyntzpass on the 28th and, after positioning them in the ballast siding, ran light engine to York Road. The Sandite programme was temporarily suspended in mid-November because MPV No. 11 was unavailable. As low rail adhesion continued to be a problem across the network, the decision was made to use No. 8112 to haul the waterjetter wagon, whose equipment would clear the railhead of leaf mulch. On November 16 the locomotive and wagon ran from…

BEACON Rail’s unusual (in the UK rail market) decision to speculatively order a batch of 15 Clayton CBD90 battery electric locomotives is likely to pay off handsomely, judging by the reaction of freight drivers putting Burton-upon-Trent-built Class 18 pioneer No. 18001 through its paces at the Chasewater Railway on November 19, with a short wagon consist of around 180 tonnes. The modern cab environment is a world away from the Class 08/09 diesels it is designed to replace. The traction drive is purely electric, with the on board diesel engine provided solely for recharging the battery cells, which can also be recharged by regenerative braking and shore supply (charge time around eight hours). The lead acid batteries have a minimum life expectancy of eight years. The first five £1 million…

IN a surprise development on November 28, the Arriva UK Trains-operated CrossCountry franchise (XC) has withdrawn its four HST sets following the cessation of a rest-day working (RDW) agreement with the drivers’ union ASLEF. XC has 12 HST power cars on its books, 10 of which (Nos. 43207, 43208, 43239, 43285, 43301, 43303, 43304, 43357, 43366 and 43378) have been in regular service throughout 2021. The other pair are No. 43321, which recently completed an F-exam at Laira after almost 14 months out of action, and No. 43384, which has been laid up for a similar amount of time at Laira and was last spotted minus its cab. No. 43321 undertook a test run via Newton Abbot with No. 43208 on November 25. It is unknown how long the disagreement…

SCHEDULED passenger trains recommenced to Okehampton (Devon) on November 20. The current GWR operated service to/from Exeter (either St Davids or Central) runs two-hourly on weekdays, with an hourly frequency planned in 2022. The line lost its passenger services in 1972, though it remained open for freight and therefore the occasional railtour.…

DATS THE DATS fleet of HST power cars and Class 91s, previously used for ECML and MML overhead line testing, have been moved from Rectory Junction to the Brush Traction site at Loughborough. Having not turned a wheel in revenue earning use since April, Nos. 43050 and 43076, along with No. 91122 and a rake of former ‘Pretendalino’ coaches plus other Mk.3s, worked a 5Q11 to Loughborough on November 1. They were followed by Nos. 43054 and 43066 on the 5th, with No. 91128 in tow, the trio comprising a 0Z42 light engine move. The two power cars then continued south to Leicester depot under a 0Z45 headcode. HANSON+HALL AFTER 10 weeks of repairs at the Class 50 Alliance’s excellent facilities at Kidderminster, No. 50008 departed the SVR on November…

THE London Transport Museum (LTM) has been given an additional £450,000 grant by Arts Council England. This sum comes from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund direct support mechanism, which is distributing more than £100 million to 925 recipients to support their financial recovery. LTM received previous awards of £1.75 million in October 2020 and another £875,000 in April from the Government's £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund. These were to assist the museum with its long-term recovery, keeping it in operation during the 2020/2021 period. However, these grants barely made up for the estimated £7 million of lost revenue caused by the pandemic during that initial period, as the museum generates 80% of its own income. In total, the museum was closed for just under a year; 355 days. Since it…

A ‘OO’ gauge model of the unique Southern Region General Managers Saloon was first announced in May 2020 by Revolution Trains in three liveries: original BR blue and grey, Network SouthEast and BR (SR) green. This left out the unusual viridian green livery applied to No. 975025 Caroline after the acquisition of the saloon by Network Rail in 2008. An overhaul saw the removal of the SR jumper cables and brake hoses along with the two-character headcode box. Viridian green was applied which was carried by the saloon until its repainting in BR (SR) green in 2015. Rainbow Railways has commissioned a model of No. 975025 from Revolution Trains finished in the unusual viridian green colour with fittings applied to the saloon during its overhaul, including the head and tail-light…

A FLEET of 100 modern air-braked bogie hopper wagons were ordered by Foster Yeoman shortly after the introduction of its Class 59/0 locomotives, with deliveries commencing in 1988. Orenstein and Koppel (O&K) completed delivery of the new wagons in 1989 which were finished in a dull grey silver livery with a big ‘Y’ logo and a separate panel of blue with ‘Yeoman’ in white lettering. A blue stripe was applied along the lower edge of the hopper and along the top too. Underframes were painted black along with a strengthened version of the German freight wagon bogie: The O&K Type 25-100. Two variations existed within five design codes when built: Outer wagons fitted with buffers and draw gear at one end only, with a knuckle coupling at the other end…

A lighter touch is required for the Realtrack Models Castle Cement PCA wagons which did not become as dirty with dust as older cement tank wagons. Most of the dirt observed on the PCAs is from the track rather than loading because dust suppression reduces the amount of dust reaching the top surface of the tank barrels. Furthermore, the barrels are built from steel, not aluminium, and are painted which means that the starting point of the weathering process is different. Weathering powders were not used on these models and the level of dust build-up was not very great, even on the dirtiest wagons that could be found in photographs. Graffiti tagging appeared to be the worst disfigurement that many of these wagons faced on a day-to-day basis, a subject…

RARE TRACK Last chance to visit former Cwmbargoed Colliery line? It looks like the end of the road for the seven-mile freight-only line from Ystrad Mynach. WITH the highly likely final closure in 2022 of the former Cwmbargoed Colliery line which runs seven miles along a branch from Ystrad Mynach on the line to Merthyr, Pathfinder Tours is running ‘The Cwmbargoed Collier’ on February 5. Starting at Banbury, with pick-ups to Newport, the charter special will be hauled by a DB Cargo Class 66. At Newport, a Class 60 will couple onto the rear. The train continues to Bridgend before reversing back through Cardiff to Ystrad Mynach on the Rhymney line and the steeply graded branch to Cwmbargoed. The tour then proceeds to traverse the Barry Docks lines. The Cwmbargoed…

WORK continues at Inchicore Works on restoring ex CIE/Irish Rail GM No. B134 to full working order. The work has included replacing the cab floor and painting the locomotive with primer and a grey top coat which is similar to the standard livery that 071 Class locomotives sport. The loco’s running number 134 and EVN number 9201170134 have been applied, as has the RPSI crest, while yellow warning panels feature on the cab front and bonnet. The reason a grey top coat was applied is that it will help protect the bodywork during the next stages of the restoration. The locomotive will also retain this livery during testing and trial runs and then be reliveried into the original light grey and yellow colour scheme. On a less positive note, the…