Innehållsförteckning för February 2025 från Rail Express

AN RAIB (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) report on a collision between a ScotRail HST and a tree at Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, on December 27, 2023, has revealed that six calls from a Network Rail helpline call handler to the Scotland Integrated Control Centre (SICC), to warn of an impending accident, went unanswered. In the incident, the 10.46 Perth-Aberdeen service formed of HST power car Nos. 43129 and 43133, had been turned back at Arbroath as a result of high winds and flooding from ‘Storm Gerrit’. The HST was returning to Perth with power car No. 43129 leading, when the driver saw the tree on the track while negotiating a right-hand curve between Balmossie and Broughty Ferry stations. Making an emergency brake application, the driver took refuge behind the driving…

A YEAR of planned events to mark the 200th anniversary of the first passenger train journey in the world was launched at midday on January 1, when more than 50 heritage railways across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland sounded off locomotive whistles and train horns. Guard’s whistles were also sounded at many mainline stations on the national network and the ‘Whistle-Up’ was repeated at overseas heritage railways in New Zealand, Australia, Peru, USA, South Africa, Sierra Leone, France, Germany and the Netherlands, some using British-built locos. A celebration of 200 years of the modern railway, and commemorating the launch of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in 1825, Railway 200 will explore how rail has shaped national life. The national event will also be used to encourage more people…

DECEMBER saw the debut appearance of former Caledonian Sleeper lounge/reception car No. 6707 with its new owner, Locomotive Services. Acquired from Eastern Rail Services, it has been converted into an observation saloon by Independent Rail Engineering for use in ‘The Chairman’s Train’, and as such was used on a private charter from Victoria to Canterbury East and back on December 2, hauled by No. 46100 Royal Scot with No. 57002 at the rear. No. 6707 has been modified with a viewing balcony at one end of the coach in place of the gangway connection, in a similar manner to that already seen on No. 6705 Ardnamurchan, which was rebuilt as the Chairman’s Suite with a master bedroom in 2020. Now carrying lined blood/custard colours to match the rest of the…

IT APPEARS that Accurascale indulged in a little ‘slug-fest’ towards the end of 2024, by announcing a ‘OO’ gauge model of the Class 37/9 heavyweight Type 3 locomotives. It is the first time they have been offered as a mainstream model. They were and remain a particular favourite of enthusiasts and thankfully, three have been saved from scrapping, including Nos. 37901, 37905 and 37906. Accurascale is starting with Mirrlees-Class 37/9s with a new tooling being prepared to model the angled roof along with variations in the exhaust silencer panels. Three of the four Mirrlees locomotives are being included in the range covering Railfreight, Trainload Freight Metals and No. 37901 in Europhoenix livery as an Accurascale Exclusive model, giving modellers of the current scene the chance to add a Class 37/9…

0 GAUGE 7mm:1ft 1939 to preservation ERA WE HAVE been having a lot of fun playing with one of the latest and smallest of the Heljan ‘O’ gauge range, the diminutive Ruston & Hornsby 48DS four-wheel shunting locomotive. At 7.5t in weight and a mere 11ft in length, the full-size locomotives were more of a shunting tractor, really. It may not be as mighty as the soon to be released Class 45 model, or the recently reviewed Class 37, but what it lacks in physical size, it makes up for in character. More importantly, the model opens the door to ‘O’ gauge on a compact scale for those fascinated by the heft and size of 7mm scale modelling, but without the real estate to accommodate a satisfactory layout suitable for large…

HOW MANY new modellers have chosen to take advantage of the space benefits of ‘N’ gauge when starting out in the hobby this Christmas? How many experienced ‘OO’ and ‘O’ gauge modellers are tempted with having a go at the smallest universal scale, attracted by the higher quality models? The extensive improvements in the quality of ‘N’ gauge equipment, together with better coverage of prototypes and eras makes the scale very attractive. A working layout can be assembled in relatively little time, either using set track or the more flexible and widely available Peco Streamline system with its numerous turnouts, flexible track and carefully designed track geometry. If you are new to ‘N’ gauge and decide to work with a set track product like the Kato Unitrak system which allows…

THE Q Stock Project that has spanned more than 20 years, has taken another significant step forward towards returning a unit back to operational condition. At the end of November, the first of the three cars, Q38 4417, was collected for road haulage at the end of November, from the London Transport Museum (LTM) depot at Acton. It was delivered to Rampart Engineering Limited, based at the Barrow Hill Roundhouse, who specialise in the refurbishment and enhancement of heritage railway vehicles. This stage of the restoration work will involve lifting the 85-year-old vehicle to enable work to be undertaken below the solebar, and on the bogies and wheelsets. The work will involve installing electrical conduit and cables, fitting of a motor alternator and installing traction motors. In addition, the braking…

UK RAILTOURS decided to change its tour policy in 2024, to include more charters traversing unusual routes, particularly freight-only lines. This proved successful and one of the highlights was the tour on September 14, 2024, to Eastriggs former MoD private sidings on the Glasgow & South Western line north of Carlisle. This is set to continue in 2025. UKR’s MD Liz Morris confirmed the continuation of this policy, and its staff are working on a series of tours which fit this pattern. Tour operators, such as UK Railtours, are experiencing considerable difficulties from a variety of sources which conspire against actually running successful tours. Quite often, the main problem is the train operating company being unable to provide the resources in terms of available drivers, despite the tour request being…

AFTER a number of false starts, thought to be due to a technical issue, further main line testing of Rail Operations Group tri-mode Class 93 No. 93001 finally got underway on December 10, when the loco completed a light engine move from Crewe South Yard to Carlisle and back. The following night, December 11, the Class 93 undertook a successful loaded test run using carriages provided by Eastern Rail Services – the first run using 25kV power for the loco with a trailing load. Further WCML tests were being planned for January 14-16. The revolutionary locomotive has up to 4600kW (6200hp) on tap when on 25kV overhead supply, there is a 900kW (1200hp) Stage V emission diesel engine and two Lithium Titanate Oxide traction battery packs which provide 400kW (540hp)…

THE ranks of main line operational Class 37s increased by two to 38 during December, with the revenue earning debut of Nos. 37402 Oor Wullie and 37423 for Andania Engineering and Europhoenix respectively. The pair were stored XHSS by Direct Rail Services in February 2022, along with Nos. 37069 and 37407 as part of the rundown of the operator’s ‘heritage’ locomotive fleet. The unique Brushfacelifted No. 37423 was reinstated during the following Railhead Treatment Train season but in the end was not used. Both were included in the aborted ‘sale and leaseback’ plan in summer 2022, before eventually being sold to their new owners in December 2023. EPUK pool No. 37423 was the first to return to service, albeit with a false start back in mid-2024. Its maiden run for…

CLASS 20 A noteworthy duty for Type 1s Nos. 20142 Sir John Betjeman and 20189 occurred on December 4, when the pair ‘tailed’ the 5Q97 10.40 Long Marston-Crewe Carriage Sidings. Powered by Rail Adventure Nos. 43465+43484 the train conveyed new Transport for Wales DMU No. 197027. On December 13, the Type 1s travelled from Kidderminster SVR to Welwyn Garden City ready to take part in a weekend tour, along with English Electric counterpart No. 37407 Blackpool Tower. CLASS 33 A Railway Touring Company charter ran as the 1Z30 08.53 London King’s Cross-Lincoln on December 7, powered by WCR Nos. 47848 and ‘Crompton’ 33207 Jim Martin, the latter enjoying a rare day out in winter. The return leg of the tour visited Newark, Nottingham and Grantham before heading back to the…

REVOLUTION TRAINS announced its intention to produce ‘TT:120’ scale models in July of 2024, starting with the numerous ‘Ealnos’ MMA/JNA bogie box wagons, a vehicle it has already produced in other scales. It is an attractive choice, with Hornby producing suitable traction in the form of Class 66 locomotives in various suitable operator liveries. Further, the variety of liveries and wide area of use on aggregate traffic makes it a pretty universal wagon type for the current era. There are some variations between different builds of MMA/JNA wagons, including the number of side ribs and whether there is a side door fitted. A colourful range of liveries is being offered on the models, including DB red, GB Railfreight blue and Wascosa yellow. The models had reached the CAD stage in…

N GAUGE 2mm:1ft 1971 to privatisation ERA First impressions ‘N’ GAUGE MODELLERS will welcome the new, high quality model of the Open AB wagon or OAA from Rapido Trains. They were the first of a large number of air braked general purpose open wagons constructed on 20ft 9ins underframes. Although only 100 wagons were constructed in 1971 at Ashford, they were an important development for BR freight at the time, and their versatility saw them remain in traffic well into the Privatisation years. The wagons bridged the gap between traditional wagon designs and the Railfreight era. OAAs were built with three wooden drop-side doors, removable stanchions and fixed steel ends, making them very versatile. Modernisation features included disc brakes and door controllers which is why there are no door bangers fitted…

BRITAIN’S passenger railway network has expanded again, thanks to the opening of the Northumberland Line. The past 10 years has seen four new lines open – the Borders Railway, the Dartmoor Line, the Elizabeth Line and the Levenmouth Line – adding around 60 additional stations to the network. The lines and stations have been a success and show that when railway is reopened, or a new line built, passengers will use it. The Northumberland Line is the latest addition to the reopening list, connecting Newcastle and Ashington once again. Previous passenger services over the line between Backworth and Newbiggin-by-the--Sea ceased on November 2, 1964. It is a line steeped in history (see panel), and is poised to become another reopening success. Plans to reopen the line were included in the…

BREEDON Group plc has agreed with VTG Rail UK to lease 54 JPA bogie powder wagons that will be equipped with the company’s iWagon real-time wagon monitoring equipment. This is the second order for the striking Feldbinder of Germany-constructed vehicles in recent months, and follows Heidelberg Materials’ contract with VTG for 32 JPAs reported in RE339. The JPAs will supplement and replace the ageing two-axle PCA fleet and will be delivered in January 2026. Breedon is the largest operator of PCA wagons with around 200 on its books, all built in the 1980s. This includes around 80 of the iconic ‘V’ tank (depressed centre) design that originally debuted in 1966 for Associated Portland Cement, although the wagons still in service were built between 1981-2 by BREL Ashford and Procor, Wakefield.…

A PROJECT by Alstom to refurbish and reform 28 Class 458 EMUs for South Western Railway (SWR) has concluded. Completion of the £25 million project came on December 12, when Alstom held an event at its Widnes Technology facility to mark the occasion, set No. 458414 being the last to be refurbished. The unit left on December 16 for Bournemouth depot. The Class 458s are owned by Porterbrook who funded the work which has seen them reformed from five cars to four, with SWR planning to use them on its suburban network, rather than Waterloo-Guildford-Portsmouth Harbour services as originally intended some years ago. During the refurbishment, Alstom have stripped the interiors, installed new carpets, new seats in a 2+2 arrangement, along with new seat back tables, charging points and two…

DECEMBER 14 saw Avanti West Coast’s Voyager fleet undertake its final workings before being sent off-lease. On the final day, the last two examples to be taken out of traffic, Nos. 221105/06, worked the 1A10 06.28 Chester-Euston, 1D83 09.02 Euston-Holyhead, 1A64 13.53 Holyhead-Euston, 9G38 18.16 Euston-Birmingham New Street before running to Central Rivers. Removed from service earlier in the month were Nos. 221101-04/08/09. Of the other Class 221s previously operated by Avanti, Nos. 221142/43 were handed back to Beacon Rail in 2022 and have since been taken on by Grand Central for use on King’s Cross to Bradford services; their lease now runs to September 2025. Nos. 221114-16 have entered service with Cross Country and will be joined by a further nine sets in the coming months; Nos. 221107/11-13/18 are…

PUT up for sale earlier in 2024 following a review of the Epping Ongar Railway’s diesel fleet, No. D6729 (37029) departed for a new home at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway during December. The Class 37 had been stopped for repairs since 2022 when it developed a turbo issue, and with two other resident diesels – Nos. D7523 (25173) and 45132 – expected to be back in action in the near future. The Epping Ongar Railway was unable to justify the repairs needed to a locomotive which was unable to provide train heat. No. D6729 becomes the third resident Class 37 at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway, joining Nos. 37023 and D6916 (37216). Neither are currently operational, although both are being worked on – No. 37023, which has yet to…

00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft 1954-1977 ERA A HIGH FIDELITY ‘OO’ gauge model of a Cinderella coach of the BR era was promised by Accurascale when it announced the short-frame Mk.1 suburban coach back in 2020. On first inspection, it appears that is precisely what it has delivered. From the roof with its separate metal water pipes and correctly placed roof ventilators, to the individually applied door handles and interior fittings, the models are adorned with small fittings. Another immediate impression is how such dull-looking vehicles have been brought to life in model form. The austere appearance of the prototype is beautifully replicated in the models, but they do not look mundane or boring. So far, so good. Lined up for our attention were three coaches: Second Class (‘S’) No. E46147; Second Class Open…

00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft 1987 to present ERA ORIGINALLY constructed by Rautaruukki of Finland for Tiphook Rail, the KFA (PFA) single unit container flat wagon has been part of the modern railway scene since 1987. The Hornby model is based on one of the later batches of the wagon fitted with Sambre et Meuse VNH1 bogies which are well represented on the model. The KFA design has been part of the Hornby range for some years and is a popular one in the catalogue, being reissued with different containers almost every year, including 2024 when No. TIPH 93385 with Touax markings arrived in the autumn. The load includes a container tank in Rinnen livery. Notably, the frame members on the container tank are more or less straight showing that some work has…

A REVITALISED No. 09022 was returned to the Port of Boston Ltd on December 11, 2024, following the completion of a suite of repairs by Railway Support Services. The Class 09 had initially arrived at Wishaw on August 21, for attention to its power unit before it moved on to Tyseley Locomotive Works at the beginning of October for repairs to a shifted crank. With this work completed, the shunter continued its UK tour in mid-November with transfer to the West Coast Railways depot at Carnforth for tyre turning, before it arrived back at Wishaw on November 22. Its connecting rods were subsequently refitted and final adjustments carried out to allow its dispatch back home. However, the low-loader returned to the Midlands on December 12, carrying the Port of Boston’s…

THE use of a GM 071 Class locomotive on the pre-Christmas series of ‘Santa Specials’ between Dublin Connolly and Maynooth, organised by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) and IE, saw a member of the popular class used for one of the 33-mile twohour round trips each day, which gave a rare opportunity for mainline haulage behind one of the 1976-built machines. Three trips operated each Saturday and Sunday between November 30 and December 15, and, as in previous years, the first two each day were steam worked, with the third being 16.20 ex-Connolly which was booked for diesel haulage. No. 077 did the honours on November 30, hauling the consist of eight Cravens coaches and van No. 3173 e.c.s. from Inchicore to Connolly and return. No 078 carried…