Innehållsförteckning för April 2022 från Railways Illustrated

NEWS Totota automotive trains launched from Toton Steve Donald THE LONG-AWAITED movement of Toyota cars from Toton to Dollands Moor and on through the Channel Tunnel commenced on January 19. DB Cargo has invested £2.6 million at the Nottinghamshire depot to turn the former training area into a secure vehicle storage compound with loading and unloading facilities. This will see Derby-built Corolla hybrids exported to the company’s plant at Onnaing, near Valenciennes, in France, as well as to the Czech Republic with the Yaris and Aygo models imported in return. Up to three trains a week are planned, each carrying up to 230 vehicles, with DB and Euro Cargo Rail providing the traction. The flow is using newly-overhauled IPA double-deck cartic wagons, which have received deck modifications in order to carry…

Our Verdict Railways Illustrated was invited to the launch event for the HybridFLEX on February 10 for the inaugural passenger journey of the train between London Marylebone and Aylesbury. The operator plans to mainly use the adapted train on the Aylesbury route, although it is expected to find use on other lines across Chiltern’s network. The train is smart and has been given a distinctive vinyl wrap, so there is no mistaking which member of the fleet has been used to trial the technology. In normal operating situations the train is supposed to use its batteries for departing and arriving at stations, with the diesel engine normally kicking in once the train is away from station environments. The train’s performance was impressive, with generally smooth braking and acceleration. It is…

NEWS Planning application submitted for NR’s new Forth Bridge Experience NETWORK RAIL has submitted a planning application to City of Edinburgh Council for revised proposals to install a bridge walk and visitor hub at the Forth Bridge. The proposal includes a single-storey reception hub to the east of the iconic bridge, sympathetically positioned in the landscape and offering stunning views of the Forth Bridge while minimising the impact on the surrounding environment. The submission of a full planning application follows a public engagement exercise in autumn 2021 to gather feedback from residents which helped to inform the final designs. The proposal would see the construction of a bridge walk and reception hub on the South Queensferry side of the UNESCO World Heritage site, to be used for preparing those heading…

NEWS Midweek ‘Night Riviera’ is suspended for tunnel work GREAT WESTERN Railway’s (GWR) Night Riviera sleeper services have been suspended every Monday to Thursday until mid-March while Network Rail constructs a 209m rockfall shelter extension north of Parson’s Tunnel, Devon. The line between Exeter St Davids and Teignmouth has been closed overnight Monday-Thursday from January 24 until March 17 inclusive. The temporary suspension only affects midweek services and the Night Riviera continues to run as usual on Friday and Sunday nights. The rockfall shelter is an extension of Parson’s Tunnel, designed to protect the railway line from rocks falling from the cliff face above, which Network Rail identified as a growing risk. The infrastructure company says that while there is temporary mitigation to this problem currently in place, the work…

FLEET Review Traction News New locomotive fleets sought for TPE and GWR By Simon Bendall and Andy Coward FirstGroup is seeking a fleet of at least 15 but up to 30 bi-mode locomotives for use on its TransPennine Express (TPE) franchise, with an option for up to five further locomotives for use on Great Western Railway (GWR) Night Riviera sleeper services. In a tender document released on January 21, the company states that the new locomotive should be compatible with the CAF-built Mk.5 stock and must be able to interface with the rolling stock for door controls, passenger information systems, and selective door operations. They must also be able to haul seven-coach trains and operate anywhere over the TPE network. The TPE order will also include provision for maintenance of…

FLEET Review Unit Focus Spencer Conquest CLASS 142 The first half of February saw the disposal of 142032 commence at Eastleigh Works, the bodies of 55573 and 55623 being removed and scrapped on site by Raxstar. This has allowed easier access to the chassis, both of which will undergo component recovery before also being cut up. CLASS 150 w/c 17/1 – 150124 Newton Heath to Wolverton by road, unit for cab roof repairs after hitting a fallen tree near Chester in Storm Arwen at the end of November last year. CLASS 165 2/2 – 165130 5Q81 10.09 Wolverton-St Philip’s Marsh after internal refresh. CLASS 171 7/2 – 79423 from 171202 returned to Selhurst from Wolverton by road after repairs to damaged cab, was unloaded the next day after being away…

FLEET Review Livery Changes A rather quiet period for repaints over the last few weeks has seen the action centred on Toton, where two further former ‘Eurosheds’ were turned out in DB red in the form of 66010 and 66073. An actual ‘Shed’ from Europe was also tackled, with imported 66799 now resplendent in GBRf blue and orange. Ian Sinclair The Greater Anglia white and black livery is now extinct on the Class 90s following the visit of 90013 to Wolverton Works, it emerging on February 9 resplendent in Freightliner orange and black. 90013 was the final Class 90 of the 13 former Greater Anglia locomotives bought by Freightliner to gain the operator’s G&W-inspired colour scheme. East Midlands Railway continues to apply its aubergine colour scheme to its units, with…

NEWS | Heritage Hanson & Hall to appoint new contractor to complete 31106 HANSON & Hall Rail Services Solutions (H&H) is soon to employ a second contractor to complete the overhaul of its Class 31 locomotive 31106, after the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) informed the company that it is unable to complete the necessary works to the locomotive in a reasonable timeframe. The Class 31 was bought by the company from its previous owner, Howard Johnston, in December 2020 and it was moved to Baron Street Locomotive Works at Bury on the ELR for its overhaul to begin. A H&H spokesman explained to Railways Illustrated that while a lot of work had already been done, pressure of other work at the ELR had seen the organisation state that the overhaul…

Class 40 D345 returns to Bury following the end of LSL hire Tim Moran AFTER IT was revealed that the agreement between Locomotive Services Ltd (LSL) and the Class 40 Preservation Society for the hire of main line-registered Class 40 D345 had ended by mutual agreement (Railways Illustrated, issue 229), the immaculate BR green-liveried locomotive left LSL’s base at Crewe Diesel Depot on January 24 to return to its home railway on the East Lancashire Railway in Bury. The Class 40 had spent the last 18 months on hire to LSL, where it worked a number of tours for the operator and was also returned to original BR green with small yellow warning panels while it was based at Crewe. CFPS chairman John Stephens had previously told Railways Illustrated he…

43018’s cab transformation completed at Crewe RESTORATION WORK on the interior of the cab and luggage compartment of Class 43 HST power car 43018 has been completed in time for the reopening of Crewe Heritage Centre (CHC). The power car was donated to CHC by Angel Trains in heavily stripped condition, having been used as a spares donor at Haymarket for the ScotRail Inter7City project. Following the external cosmetic transformation of the power car into as-delivered yellow blue and grey InterCity livery last year, attention has recently turned to the restoration of the cab and luggage area of the power car. Work was completed in mid-February on the restoration of the cab, with all the instrument panels and controls reinstated, along with the cab seats. The cab interior has also…

Heritage | NEWS Restoration of 50019 forges ahead Chris Gee WORK ON the bodywork overhaul to 50019 Ramillies is nearing completion on the Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR). The owning group, the Class 50 Locomotive Association (C50LA), employed a professional welder and fabricator with extensive knowledge of repairing Class 50s to address the body rot and corrosion that has been suffered by the locomotive, which has been stored out of use at the MNR for a number of years awaiting overhaul. With new steel now in place, work has commenced on rubbing down the bodywork prior to filling and profiling, with the new metalwork primed and painted. The plated-over cab sandboxes have been removed, as have the now redundant radio pods on both cab roofs. Now that the bodywork repairs have been…

Dean Forest DMU Group celebrates 30th anniversary AS MENTIONED in the last issue of Railways Illustrated, the Dean Forest DMU Group is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the preservation of Class 108 DMU vehicles DMBS 50619 and DTCL 56492, which arrived on the Dean Forest Railway on April 20, 1992 – two years after the group had been formed. Now, almost 30 years to the day, the group is celebrating the anniversary with a special DMU gala on April 23/24, featuring both of its operational Class 108 DMUs, along with a guest appearance from Derby Lightweight diesel railcar M79900 Iris, which is visiting the line for the summer from its usual base on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. The group’s second operational Class 108 consists of vehicles DMBS 51914, TSL 59387…

PICTORIAL: AFTER DARK Tom McAtee Nigel Valentine Scott Paddington Leicester Depot on January 16, 2022. Rob Reedman Nigel Valentine Tom McAtee.…

NEWS Europhoenix Class 91 to aid 89001 return Rob Reedman TWO CLASS 91s belonging to spothire locomotive supplier Europhoenix have been moved from UK Rail Leasing’s Leicester depot to Barrow Hill in Derbyshire, with one destined to supply parts required for the reactivation of unique Class 89 AC electric locomotive 89001 Avocet, which is owned by the AC Locomotive Group (ACLG) and due to go on hire to Locomotive Services Ltd (LSL). Europhoenix owns 91117 and 91120, which were originally set to be exported for use in Hungary in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic created a turndown in traffic that meant the two locomotives were not moved abroad as planned. They have remained at Leicester for the past two years in a state of abeyance, although Europhoenix managing director Glenn Edwards…

NEWS Competition launched to decide GBR headquarters Steve Donald THE GOVERNMENT has launched a competition to decide which town or city will become the new home for the headquarters of Great British Railways (GBR). The creation of GBR was announced as part of the Williams-Shapps Review published last year. The Government is keen to establish a base for the organisation away from London as part of its aims to ‘level up’ the UK, and will bring a number of highly-skilled jobs to the winning location. Additionally, it is anticipated that local economies will be boosted by a number of new regional headquarters across the country. Locations with strong historical links to the railway are being encouraged to state why they believe they should be the new home of GBR. The…

100 trains digitally refurbished for Northern FOLLOWING THE delivery of 101 new Class 195 and Class 331 trains for Northern, the operator is now working to refurbish its older train fleet, with 100 out of 243 now complete. The first phase of the operator’s fleet refurbishment involved repainting the trains into Northern’s blue and white livery, as well as fitting new seating, carpets and lighting. The second phase – which has now been completed on 100 trains – is what the operator is classing as a digital refurbishment, with free Wi-Fi and CCTV being installed, the addition of enhanced and real-time customer information screens, and other on-board systems designed to improve the performance of the trains and their maintenance. Additionally, USB charging sockets are being installed at every seat throughout…

IN BRIEF The team working on a project to transform the Grade II-listed railway goods shed at Llanelli into a flagship social enterprise and community hub – which will become a multiuse facility addressing social, economic, environmental and cultural issues – has been boosted by a grant of almost £16,000 from train operator GWR. The funding awarded to the Llanelli Railway Goods Shed Trust has come from GWR’s Communities and Education Programme. Gavin Bland…

Naming Update One of Southeastern’s recently transferred Class 707 City Beam EMUs was named on January 31 in memory of James Brokenshire MP, who represented Old Bexley and Sidcup until his death at the age of 53 from lung cancer last October. The vinyl Remembering Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP Old Bexley and Sidcup name was unveiled during a short ceremony at Cannon Street station, with members of Mr Brokenshire’s family in attendance, along with former colleagues including Rail Minister Wendy Morton MP, and Southeastern managing director Steve White. Mr White said: “We are proud to mark the positive contribution made by James Brokenshire over many years, representing thousands of people in the Bexley and Sidcup constituency. “He was dedicated to working with us and was our biggest advocate in…

87035’s Virgin Trains transformation complete JUST OVER two years since Virgin Trains disappeared from the railway network, the defunct operator’s distinctive red and grey livery has been recreated on Crewe Heritage Centre’s preserved 87035 Robert Burns. Work on the restoration of the locomotive was completed in January with the addition of Virgin branding, after permission was obtained for the Virgin logos to be applied. It is planned that the locomotive will be re-dedicated at CHC when the centre opens after the winter break in March. 87035 is being kept in good condition by volunteers at CHC, and much of the electrical and mechanical equipment is being restored to operational condition, although it is unlikely that it will be returned to main line use. 87035 has donated its traction motors to…

NEWS | Heritage 125 Group looks forward to a bright year ahead THE 125 Group is forging ahead with its plans for 2022 after a busy couple of years with dramatic fleet expansion but very little in the way of operation of its High Speed Train (HST) power car and trailer coach fleet following the coronavirus lockdowns. The group’s most recent acquisition – MTU4000-fitted Class 43 HST power car 43159 – was moved by road from its home base on the Nottingham Heritage Railway (NHR) to Loram in Derby in mid-January, as its owners work on getting the power car back into service. 43159 has had four new secondary suspension springs fitted at Loram. Following completion of this work, it was collected by 43048 and 43089 on February 5 and…

NEWS | Heritage Preserved ‘Happy Train’ set to cater for a new audience WITH THE number of surviving Class 365 EMUs rapidly reducing as the fleet is scrapped, three vehicles from two of the ‘Happy Trains’ have entered preservation on the East Kent Railway (EKR). The vehicles were acquired by the EKR from Eversholt Rail, who owned the Class 365 fleet and who have been gradually disposing of the redundant fleet over the past few months. Two of the vehicles – driving coach 65917 and TSOL 72287 – were part of 365524, while the other driving vehicle – 65974 – came from 365540. Due to space constraints in the bay platform at Eythorne station, where the unit is to be housed, the decision was taken to not preserve a Class…

NEWS | Heritage What’s happening to … Our monthly round-up of restoration projects around the country, by Pip Dunn. D2767 – Bo’ness: The NBL shunter is stored out of service with a faulty water pump and it is hoped to address this problem during 2022. D2246 – Buckfastleigh: In mid-January the Class 04 was started and run up to temperature. There is a strong suspicion that the radiator is leaking in the bottom corner so it was decided, as the locomotive is currently out of traffic, to have it removed and tested. Hopefully it won’t be a costly repair. The nose has suffered a lot of corrosion on the bottom edge, so the rotten metal will be cut out and replaced with new. The shunter should soon move undercover so…

FEATURE | Class 47 Preservation The 47s: A Class Act! As the 60th anniversary of D1500 emerging from Falcon Works in Loughborough approaches, we kick off our Class 47 60th birthday celebrations with a look at the Class 47s that have found salvation preserved in the heritage railway sector. Tom McAtee As the largest single class of main line diesel locomotives built for British Rail, the Class 47 has enjoyed a long and illustrious career – with the oldest survivors now approaching their 60th anniversary. Introduced into traffic in September 1962, when D1500 first entered service, that locomotive was followed by a further 511 examples over the next six years. Construction was shared between Brush at Loughborough, which built 310 locomotives, and British Rail’s Crewe Works was responsible for…

Vivarail to supply Fast Charge Class 230 for GWR GREAT WESTERN Railway (GWR) is to trial battery-charging technology on its Greenford branch line, following the signing of a deal with Vivarail. ‘Fast Charge’ equipment will be installed at West Ealing later this year and the technology will be tested with Vivarail’s battery-only Class 230 train, which was demonstrated at COP26 in Glasgow last year. The trial will be the first time that the fast-charging equipment has been introduced into an operational setting. The Vivarail Class 230 has a range of up to 62 miles on battery power, but in tests it has been found that the train can be recharged in just 10 minutes using the Fast Charge equipment. When the train arrives at a station, it connects automatically to…

NEWS Avanti West Coast seeks 40 new drivers Avanti West Coast/Tom Stevenson AVANTI WEST Coast is seeking to recruit 40 new train drivers during 2022, with the West Coast Main Line operator operator saying it wants to encourage more people, especially women, to consider train driving as a realistic career to pursue. Applications for the first 10 positions opened in January, and more than 1000 people signed up to take part in an online question-and-answer session featuring recently qualified London-based driver Hayley Richardson. She is a former detective constable with Cambridgeshire Police and has taken the opportunity to change her career. Avanti West Coast head of drivers, Richard Morrow, said: “Train driving is a wonderful career – one that carries a lot of responsibility and job satisfaction. “While the application…

Unit News Class 379s stood down Greater Anglia has become the latest operator to slash its rolling stock fleet in response to pressure from the Department for Transport to reduce operating costs and thus pandemic support payments in the face of lower passenger numbers. This has been achieved by removing the 30-strong Class 379 EMUs from traffic and placing them in warm store. By February 14, over half of the Class 379s were in store at Harwich, either in Parkeston Yard or at Dovercourt, these being 379001/04/06/09/10/14/15/17-20/22-25/28. Six more sets, 379002/03/11/16/26/29, had also spent time at Harwich but on this date were back at Ilford for exams to ensure they remain serviceable. The rest of the units were variously stored at Ilford, Cambridge and Orient Way, but subject to frequent…

Shunter News Freightliner Newly-resurrected 08891 was still to be found at LH Group Services in early February, defying expectations of a transfer to Southampton Maritime during January. However, it was officially reinstated to the DDIN pool during the month in preparation for its eventual return to traffic. HNRC Two of the cut-down cab Class 08/9s have been reunited in South Wales following the transfer of 08994 from Burton Wetmore to the Gwendraeth Valley Railway on January 19. Most recently in HNRC ownership, this has allowed the shunter to be reunited with 08995, which arrived at the embryonic line in December 2020. However, neither machine is operational at present, with both requiring significant repairs. Also in need of attention is 08924, which was transported from Cardiff Tidal to Barrow Hill via…

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Heritage | NEWS NRM’s pioneer Class 37 to move to the GCR THE NATIONAL Railway Museum’s pioneer Class 37 D6700 is to move to the Great Central Railway at Loughborough following an agreement for the locomotive to be placed on a five-year loan to the Heavy Tractor Group (HTG). D6700 will move from the Railway Museum at York to Loram UK in Derby, where the locomotive will undergo some repairs and a repaint before moving to the GCR. There, it will be used alongside the railway’s extensive heritage modern traction fleet under the custodianship of the HTG. The HTG already owns 37714 Cardiff Canton at the GCR, having bought the locomotive from Direct Rail Services in 2017. Volunteers who have previously worked on D6700 while it has been at York…

East Lancashire Railway returns with Sulzer style AFTER BEING closed since Christmas for track renewals, the East Lancashire Railway launched its 2022 season with one of its popular diesel theme days, making use of the railway’s extensive collection of Sulzer locomotives. In use at the event were D5054 Phil Southern, 25279, 33108 Captain Bill Smith RNR, 45108, D1501 and 47765, although the weather was typically seasonal, with rain showers throughout the day. Tom McAtee The ELR remains as one of our heritage railways that regularly uses its fleet of heritage modern traction locomotives throughout the year on service trains, as well as hosting diesel events and theme days. The main diesel weekends for the railway this year are taking place on June 30 to July 2 and September 16/17, with…

FEATURE | Fleet Analysis The post-pandemic passenger railway As the country emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, the railway looks very different to how it was before the first lockdown in March 2020. Richard Clinnick provides an operator-by-operator account of how our train fleets have changed over the past two years, along with the new fleets waiting to come on stream. Rob Reedman The railway has changed dramatically in the last two years. It isn’t just the number of people travelling, but also the very trains on which we are travelling. Entire fleets have been withdrawn, including the Class 142, 143 and 144 Pacers, Class 365s and Class 456s, while some new fleets that should have long been in traffic by now have yet to carry a passenger. Avanti West Coast…

Coming up in the May issue! THE MAY ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FROM APRIL 7. DON'T MISS IT! Next month we profile the Severn Valley Railway-based Class 50 Alliance. The Alliance now has six Class 50 locomotives in its charge, including three main line-registered examples. On April 14, 2018, 50049 Defiance and 50007 Hercules head through Daisyfield Junction in Blackburn, working ‘The Cumbrian Hoovers’ railtour. Kevin Delaney ROB REEDMAN In the second feature to mark the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the Class 47s into BR traffic, we take a look at the surviving locomotives that remain registered for operating on the main line network. JOHN STRETTON ROB REEDMAN Plus all the latest news from around the UK and the best in railway photography. Pre-order your copy of…