Innehållsförteckning för April 2023 från Rail Express

LOCOMOTIVE-hauled trains operated by West Coast Railway were provided to take passengers between London Liverpool Street and Peterborough on February 18/19 due to closures on the East Coast Main Line (ECML). West Coast Railway No. 47813 and 47815 Great Western top-and-tailed a rake of 10 Riviera Trains Mk.2s on both days, covering for the lack of trains on the ECML south of St Neots. The ‘47s’ hauled the trains via Ely, Cambridge and the West Anglia Main Line (WAML) and into London Liverpool Street. In a similar fashion to the additional trains operated by WCR taking mourners to London last year, following the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, the trains were not advertised and did not appear on the National Rail ticketing website. WCR dispatched the ‘47s’ from Carnforth…

HIGH operating costs and forthcoming major disruption at Carstairs Junction caused by infrastructure upgrades are both likely factors in DB Cargo’s decision to reduce its Class 90 fleet to six active locomotives. Nos. 90019/020/024/029/034/036 were all moved to the WQAA stored pool during February, with many having not worked since late last year. These six electric locomotives are stored at Crewe International Electric Maintenance Depot (IEMD) where they join long-term residents Nos. 90017/022/023/025/027/030-033/038 (stored between 2004 and 2007) and 90018/040 (stored in 2019 and 2020 respectively). Also expected to be sidelined soon are Nos. 90035/037, which will leave an active fleet comprised of just four locomotives, Nos. 90021/026/028/037. However, just as the month ended, still stored No. 90034 was sent out on a Crewe-Wembley light locomotive move. The stopping of…

A variety of rare workings have started the new year on Iarnród Éireann (IE), including the delivery of more new vehicles. Carrying Belmond livery, GM No. 216 was active on Dublin Heuston-Cork services with a Mk.4 set during late January. The locomotive, however, had reliability issues on January 23, and, with its train attached, ran from Heuston station to Inchicore for attention. No. 216 was repaired and worked the 16.25 Cork-Heuston on January 25, with Mk.4 set, DBG No 4003. GM No 227 failed between Balbriggan and Gormanston the same day while hauling the 07.35 Dublin Connolly-Belfast Lanyon Place. No. 231 ran light from Dublin to rescue the stricken train and returned it to Connolly where No. 227 was removed. Trains were disrupted with departure of the 09.30-ex Connolly delayed…

THIRTY MLA-W low-sided box wagons, Nos. 81 70 5932 431-460, arrived in the UK in the last week of January. The Greenbrier Europe/Astra Railbuilt vehicles were moved to Eastleigh Yard on January 30 by GB Railfreight No. 66726 Sheffield Wednesday, as the 6Z67 03.45 from Dollands Moor. These are the last of 260 new ‘Falcons’ to make their way through the Channel Tunnel, the first having made the same journey in December 2021, and they are also the final members of the 570-strong Network Rail/Wascosa/ GBRf fleet to be delivered. This contract was announced at the end of 2020 and also included 260 FEA-W module flats (delivered between January 2022 and January 2023) and 50 JNA-W high sided ‘Ealnos’ box wagons (delivered between November and December 2021). Meanwhile, the project…

CLASS 20 Locomotive Services Nos. 20096+20107 Jocelyn Feilding 1940-2020 spent the week beginning February 13, on training runs from Southall to Canterbury West via Airport Junction, West Drayton and Swanley and back by way of Sandwich, Dover Priory and Tonbridge. On February14, No. 20096 was used solo. The pair returned to Crewe on February 20. CLASS 37 Scottish Railway Preservation Society’s preserved No. 37403 Isle of Mull and Jason Hall’s No. 50008 Thunderer played their part in two Branch Line Society railtours over the weekend of February 11 and 12. The ‘Wolf Hall Thunderer’ charter on February 11 left Derby bound for St Pancras and then to Shepperton, Wimbledon, Hampton Court, Waterloo and Chessington South before heading back to Derby. Next day the two locomotives handled the ‘Technical Cobra’ tour…

TWO new Stadler fleets entered traffic in January (RE322), following hot on the heels of two CAF-built diesel multiple unit fleets beginning their main line careers in the final quarter of last year. Operators are also continuing to put new trains into traffic as manufacturers including Alstom and CAF continue delivering trains, while testing of other fleets not yet in service continues. New locomotives will also begin their testing this year (Class 93s), while Docklands Light Railway and Tyne & Wear Metro will also begin testing new fleets ahead of their entry into service. The first operator to introduce new trains this year was TfW Rail with its Class 231 diesel electric multiple unit (DEMU) fleet. No. 231007 was the first to carry passengers on January 18. Since then, Nos.…

THE orange livery of local trains in the West Midlands provides a cheery tone to the otherwise drab surroundings of Birmingham New Street on a grey January morning. The Shrewsbury stopper service is in disarray, not helped by a standard five-minute turnround at this end of the line. My train then has its intermediate stops removed in the interests of service recovery, constrained by the need to reach Birmingham New Street punctually for the next turnround. New CAF Civity Class 196 diesel multiple units, first introduced in October (RE320), call at Smethwick Galton Bridge then all stations from Wolverhampton until they meet one of the last bastions of semaphore signalling in the shadow of Shrewsbury Castle. There are no level starts to be had but some of the downhill ones…

NEXUS took delivery of the first Tyne and Wear Metro Class 555, No. 555003, built by Stadler, on February 28. The five-car train was delivered to Gosforth depot by rail having arrived from Switzerland where it was manufactured. Testing and commissioning will now begin ahead of the Class 555s entering service this autumn. Nexus has 46 five-car trains on order as part of a £362 million modernisation programme. Testing has already been undertaken using various sets across Europe and at the Velim test track in the Czech Republic The trains will feature air-conditioning, an open-plan interior, linear seating, charging points, USB chargers, ‘double’ grab poles, more than 40 CCTV cameras and sliding steps at doors to improve accessibility. There are two multi-use areas for buggies, bicycles and heavy luggage as…

THE Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway has expanded its resident diesel fleet with the purchase of No. D8110 (20110) from Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC). The Class 20 arrived from the Battlefield Line, where it had been located since March 2021, on February 22. It had been in use, with classmate No. 20087, on passenger services just three days earlier. Unlike the other main line diesels based at Embsay, Nos. D1524 (47004), D5600 (31435), D9513, 31119 and 37294 which are privately owned, the ‘Chopper’ has been bought outright by the line’s Trust, its purchase being financed by loans from members. By owning the ‘20’, the E&BASR will have greater control over it than other resident locomotives, some of which have been laid up owing to a lack of agreement…

THE highlight of a busy period for Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC) was the return to service of No. 08799 after more than a year undergoing overhaul and repairs. The beginning of February saw it rolled out of the company’s workshops at Barrow Hill, finished in all-over orange and adorned with the Ian Goddard 1938-2016 nameplates that previously graced No. 20096. February 14 duly saw it moved by road to Worksop to assume yard pilot duties. The ‘08’ has been fitted with GSM-R and On-Train Monitoring Recorders (OTMR) as well as Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) to allow it to operate on Network Rail infrastructure. This marks a return to full use for No. 08799, which was stored by DB Cargo back in December 2015 while based at Westbury as…

“THE replacement of the Merseyrail fleet has provided a unique opportunity to place passengers at the heart of the design process,” said David Powell, rolling stock programme director, Merseytravel, in a Transport Focus report into what passengers want in February 2021. It was back in December 2016 when Stadler received an order for new trains that would replace the Class 507/508 electric multiple units which had plied their trade on Merseyside since the late-1970s. Despite not being the oldest trains on the network (that accolade belongs to Southern Class 313s and a handful of High Speed Trains used by ScotRail and Great Western Railway), because Merseyrail only operates these trains it meant this was the oldest fleet on the national network. The latest Office of Rail and Road (ORR) report…

Class 60 duo Hornby’s latest Class 60 models will satisfy the demand from BR Railfreight modellers for more locomotives finished in BR Trainload Freight colours. Hornby has re-created the first two Class 60s in as-built condition: No. 60001 Steadfast and No. 60002 Capability Brown. However, due to problems discovered with the Class 60 design during the extensive testing undertaken before being accepted, they were not the first locomotives to be released into traffic. Records indicate that Nos. 60017 and 60018 were the first in mid-1990 despite No. 60001 being completed a year earlier. It would take two years before No. 60001 would be accepted for traffic following rectification of numerous faults with the design. No. 60002 was not much more successful, but also entered traffic by the end of 1992.…

BEFORE embarking on a refinishing and detailing project on the EFE Rail Trainload Coal Class 58, finding a way to convert the model to ‘EM’ gauge was sought. Budgets are tight at this time, making a bespoke conversion pack out of the question for many modellers, so with this in mind, the decision was made to show how the model can be prepared for life on an ‘EM’ layout without having to throw a lot of money at it. A favourite method of converting Heljan models to ‘EM’ and ‘P4’ is to take advantage of the 2mm diameter axles and use coach disc wheels. Whilst quick, effective and depending on which wheels are used, low cost, the wheel diameter is a touch on the small size, and with bogie frame…

A Class 47/7 operating in push-pull with a Mk.2f Driving Brake Standard Open (DBSO) ran on the main line in passenger service for the first time in almost 33 years on February 24-26. Preserved No. 47712 Lady Diana Spencer, owned by the Crewe Diesel Preservation Group (CDPG), powered a rake of Locomotive Services’ Mk.3s and DBSO No. 9707 on a three-day charter that ran from Crewe-Edinburgh and north to Inverness. This was the first time since May 1990 that a ‘47’ and DBSO operated in push-pull mode on the main line. The train was formed of Buffet Standard No. 10404, Open Firsts (FO) Nos. 11066/082, Open Standards (TSO) Nos. 12111/171 and the DBSO. The CDPG also owns a DBSO, No. 9711, but this was not part of the set, and…

CROSSCOUNTRY has confirmed that its fleet of five High Speed Trains will be withdrawn by October. XC has a fleet of 12 Class 43 power cars and 40 Mk.3 coaches. These are formed into five HST sets, although since the pandemic there have only been two booked diagrams for the trains each day. An XC spokesperson told RE on March 3, that two HSTs would be removed from traffic in September, with the other three following in October. They told RE that the HSTs would be replaced by pairs of Voyagers operating on the same route, and that there would be no capacity loss. They did not say if extra Class 221s being sent off-lease by Avanti West Coast would be acquired. The current XC contract expires on October 15,…

STOPPED by East Midlands Railway earlier in the month, No. 156907 ran from Derby Etches Park to Barrow Hill for temporary storage on January 27. In due course, it will move to Wolverton Works for refurbishment, regaining its former identity (No. 156407) in advance of its redeployment to Northern. The only other ‘156/9’ still in service is No. 156917 which is also due to head to Northern in the next couple of months, along with Nos. 156409/413/416. Another transfer to Northern, No. 156403, arrived at its new base at Newton Heath on February 17 following repaint into its new operator’s colours by Arriva Traincare at Crewe. Five other ‘156s’, Nos. 156405/406/408/410/411, are due to be handed back to Porterbrook by EMR at the end of the current timetable in May.…

FORMER York driver Harry Wilson, known to friends and colleagues as ‘Odd Socks’, celebrates his 100th birthday on May 6, Coronation Day. In a recent interview he said he’d like a Deltic cab ride for his birthday, and UK Railtours, the Deltic Preservation Society and West Coast Railway have got together to make it happen. UKR’s ‘The Coronation’ will run on May 13 from King’s Cross to Scarborough. From York, Harry will enjoy a ride to Scarborough in the secondman’s seat. This will be No. 55009 Alycidon’s first railtour since its untimely and hugely expensive failure in March 2019, and from York the ‘55’ will carry a ‘Centenarian’ headboard. ‘The Coronation’ will run directly down the East Coast Main Line but will return via the ‘Joint’ line from Doncaster to…

THE imminent arrival of the first tri-mode Class 93s for Rail Operations Group (ROG) is another significant moment in the recent history of the business, which has grown considerably in less than a decade. It’s too easy to think of ROG as an operator using heritage traction to deliver new trains from their manufacturers to their new operators, or taking redundant rolling stock either for storage or in its final trip to the breaker’s yard. There is so much more to the business. The company was formed in 2014, around the time that the first Crossrail Class 345 electric multiple units were to be moved for testing and commissioning. Previously, a locomotive and several vehicles would arrive at a facility and spend several hours shunting and marshalling a train before…

RAILWAY UPGRADES A world-first is taking place on Britain’s railways which could have a wide-ranging impact on reliability and performance. And there’s a particularly good chance that you will have already experienced this without even knowing. Govia Thameslink Railway Class 700 electric multiple units are operating through the Thameslink ‘Core’ between the Canal Tunnels north of St Pancras International and London Bridge using Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2. This means that the Siemens-built electric multiple units are self-driving, with a driver in place who remains in overall control of the train. Resignalling is vital to the planned capacity increase on the Thameslink Core. The eight and 12-car Class 700s introduced from 2016 can carry huge numbers of passengers, but they still operate on…

SPECULATION regarding a brand-new ‘OO’ gauge Class 60 model was rife in the month leading up to the Model Rail Scotland exhibition, fuelled by the appearance of a sticker, given out by a certain manufacturer based in Dublin, appearing on the front of a DB ‘60’. A few days before the show, Cavalex Models revealed that it was the manufacturer working on what will be its second Type 5 freight locomotive, leaving modellers wondering what the other company was likely to announce. Cavalex Models sees the Class 60 as an important development to match its current range of air braked wagons together with future rolling stock releases. The new model is a long-term project for Cavalex Models, with considerable time being taken to research the locomotive type carefully using works…

A PROJECT which appeared to be simple enough to complete in a week or so turned out to be more complicated than expected. Part of the fun was finding useful photographs of the real Mk.1 BGs converted for newspaper traffic, which revealed enough information to model them with reasonable accuracy. There are plenty of pictures of newspaper trains with the vans within the trains, mixed with conventional Mk.1 BGs and GUVs together with a BSK for the packing crews, but few of single vehicles. Not to be put off, considerable time was spent searching digital media and other sources. Eventually, enough information was uncovered to model one NCV and one NCX in early 1990s condition when used in mail and parcels traffic. By this time, the vans were both unkempt…