Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från Railways Illustrated

TWO DISUSED railway buildings have been transformed into useful community spaces following extensive works to repurpose them. On February 22, celebrations were held to mark the transformation of the original station building at Henley-in-Arden, which had lain out of use since the 1990s. The refurbished building was officially opened by Network Rail’s chairman, Lord Peter Hendy of Richmond Hill, who was joined by representatives from the Railway Heritage Trust, Henley-in-Arden Parish Council, West Midlands Railway, Friends of the Shakespeare Line, and Friends of Henley Railway Station to celebrate its completion. The refurbishment was spearheaded by the Friends of Henley Railway Station, with support from Network Rail, West Midlands Rail-way, Henley-in-Arden Parish Council and the Railway Heritage Trust. The former station building now houses a community bar and lounge, and also…

NOW ENTERING the twilight period of their long operating lives, South Western Railway has celebrated the legacy of its Class 455 third-rail electric multiple units with a special retro-repaint into a compliant version of the classic British Rail blue and grey livery. The remaining Class 455s operated by SWR are expected to be withdrawn over the coming months, to be replaced with the newly-introduced Alstom-built Class 701 Arterio EMUs that began to enter service earlier this year (Railways Illustrated issue 253). The special repaint to 455868 was carried out at Bournemouth Depot. Since first being introduced into traffic by BR in 1982, the Class 455s have gone on to become the backbone of suburban commuter services in the Southern Region. 455868 was also chosen in 2002 to be the recipient…

SHORTLY AFTER FirstGroup announced plans to increase its Hull Trains open access operation to serve Sheffield (Railways Illustrated issue 253), the company is now looking at expanding some of its Lumo open access services through to Glasgow. Based in Newcastle, Lumo started operating on the East Coast Main Line between London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley in October 2021, with services operated by a small fleet of five Hitachi Class 803 five-coach electric multiple units. Lumo also calls at Stevenage (not all services), Newcastle and Morpeth between the two capital cities. FirstGroup is currently in discussions with Transport Scotland and Network Rail to extend some Lumo services from Edinburgh to and from Glasgow. The organisations are working on final route options and timings before making a formal application to the…

AN OFFICIAL countdown clock was switched on by the Scottish cabinet secretary for transport, Fiona Hyslop, at Edinburgh Waverley station on February 23 to mark the 100-day countdown to the reopening of the £116 million six-mile Levenmouth Rail Link from Thornton Junction to Leven. ScotRail services are due to commence running from June 2, reconnecting the Fife communities to the railway for the first time since 1969. Countdown clocks have also been installed at the two new stations on the route, Cameron Bridge and Leven, which are fully accessible and will include car parking, electric vehicle charging points, and links to local bus services. Scotland’s Railway managing director, Alex Hynes, said: “Levenmouth is currently the largest urban area in Scotland without a railway and I am really looking forward to seeing…

DB Cargo is continuing with its efforts to dispose of a number of its redundant locomotives, with a tender being issued in early March for the sale of a further 16 withdrawn Class 60s. Being offered for sale are 60001/007/010/015/019/020/039/040/044/059/063/065/066/079/092 and 60100, with registration for interest closing on March 22, just after this issue of Railways Illustrated went to print. A large quantity of Class 60 spares are also being sold by the company under a separate bidding process. Unlike previous sales of Class 60s by the freight company, all but one of the locomotives being offered for disposal this time are from those examples which underwent ‘Super 60’ life extension works at Toton Depot in Nottinghamshire during the mid-2000s. The aim of the project was to improve the reliability…

CLASS 150 4/3 – 150207 5V83 11.34 Wolverton-Exeter St Davids, away since 4/9/23 for body overhaul and corrosion repairs. CLASS 158 26/2 – 158881 5Z58 04.30 Salisbury-Leicester LIP, 5Q59 10.12 Leicester LIP-High Marnham, for trials of new sanding equipment on the Network Rail test track. CLASS 170 21/2 – 170401 5Q70 20.22 Haymarket-Wabtec, Doncaster. CLASS 180 11/3 – 180110 5Q18 13.27 Crofton-Ely Papworth, off short-term lease with Grand Central and returned to store. CLASS 197 5/3 – 197116 into passenger service with 197122 following on 9/3. 12/3 – 66534 + 197114 6Q97 11.01 Wolverton-Crewe Carriage Sidings. 13/3 – 66548 + 197125 6Q97 10.07 Donnington RFT-Crewe Carriage Sidings. CLASS 319 Following component recovery, the four cars of 319214 were moved by road from Cockshute Sidings, Stoke, to Sims, Newport with 62904…

Belle newcomer The new operating season for West Coast’s Northern Belle commenced on March 15, with 57313 and 57601 taking the dining set from London Paddington to Evesham in conjunction with the Cheltenham Festival. The previous day saw the stock work south from Carnforth to Southall, with the Mk.2s all sporting the telltale evidence of central door locking having been fitted. Changes in the formation were also evident with Mk.2f FO 3313 now a member of the set, having been repainted in umber and cream, as well as being given the name Warwick that previously adorned fire-damaged Mk.2d FO 3182. Also included in the formation was sister Mk.2f FO 3392, this coach still carrying West Coast maroon, with Mk.1 Pullman First 95325 Amber now removed from the Northern Belle set.…

THE BABY Deltic Project has provided an update on the ongoing project to recreate one of the long-scrapped Class 23 Type 2 Baby Deltic locomotives at Barrow Hill Roundhouse to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the first of the original locomotives entering service with British Railways. As part of the 1955 British Railways Modernisation Plan, the British Transport Commission ordered 10 locomotives, numbered D5900-D5909, which commenced test runs on the BR network in April 1959. D5903 was the first example to be delivered to Doncaster Works from English Electric’s Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows. The Class 23s only enjoyed a relatively short-lived working life on BR; they were withdrawn from traffic between September 1968 and March 1971 and subsequently scrapped. However, in 2001, the BDP purchased the sole-surviving Napier Deltic…

THE EIGHT CDA china clay hoppers preserved in a joint project between the National Wagon Preservation Group and the Bodmin & Wenford Railway undertook their first testing and crew training runs along the heritage line on March 16, seven months after the wagons were withdrawn from service in Cornwall by DB Cargo. The wagons – 375050/061/063/067/090/091 and 375113/117 – were delivered by road to Bodmin in December, having all been in service with DB Cargo until the freight operator ceased using the CDA wagon fleet on August 11 last year. The test trip along the BWR on March 16 was the first time the wagons were operated together since entering preservation. The BWR is home to 37142 – currently undergoing an overhaul – which was the first Class 37 to…

WITH THE majority of our heritage railways reopening at Easter following closedowns over the winter period, heritage diesel enthusiasts can welcome the return of gala events, with five heritage lines hosting enthusiast events during April. Firstly, the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is teaming up with its Peak Rail neighbour for the two Derbyshire heritage lines to host a joint Twin Peaks diesel gala on April 11-13. On the Wirksworth to Duffield EVR line, it is expected that Class 14 D9537, 31601 Devon Diesel Society, Class 47 D1942, 73001 and a DMU will be service, while over the hill at Peak Rail, Class 25 D7659, Class 44 D8 Penyghent and Class 47 D1501 will be joined by the railway’s newly re-commissioned two-car Class 108 DMU. Also at Peak Rail, the Heritage Shunters…

As recently as 2016, Swiss manufacturer Stadler didn’t have a multiple unit in service in the UK, but as this issue of Railways Illustrated went to press, four main line fleets are in traffic, with two more to follow in the coming months. This Fleet Survey does not include Stadlerbuilt locomotives (Class 68, 88, 93 and 99), which will be featured in a future issue, nor does it include light rail. It was Abellio’s successful bid for the Greater Anglia contract that brought Stadler to the fore. Within the winning bid were plans for a fleet of trains that would revolutionise travel on the rural routes in East Anglia. These were to be mix of three and four-car bi-mode trains – 38 in total – that would replace the existing…

A frequent complaint aimed at the railway is that fares are too expensive to make train travel a realistic option for many people. While this can undoubtedly be true in some cases, there are various ways of reducing the overall cost of end-to-end journeys, such as booking in advance online. However, occasional promotions and flash sales organised by various train operating companies can provide travellers with the opportunity for a bargain-priced day out at a fraction of the usual fare. Recently, I took advantage of one of these promotions to see just how far I could travel by train using the lowest possible fares on offer. When Northern announced last December that it was holding a flash sale offering five million tickets for just £1 for travel on selected…

The provision of modern, high-quality models of British Rail’s Mk.2 coaches in all their various incarnations is still something of an untapped market in OO gauge, despite relatively recent developments from both Bachmann and Hornby. While the two manufacturers have divided up the air-conditioned Mk.2e and Mk.2f fleets between them, to varying degrees of success, the preceding Mk.2d are in desperate need of a new model to replace the 40-year-old Mainline tooling that now resides in the Hornby range. The situation is much the same among the pressure-ventilated types, with Bachmann having tooling for both the vacuum-braked Mk.2 and air-braked Mk.2a, which is solid enough but rarely utilised, especially in the case of the first generation of vehicles. By far the most poorly served though have been the Mk.2b and…

GREAT WESTERN Railway began a year-long trial of its fast-charge Class 230 train on the branch line between Greenford and West Ealing in mid-March. An event was held at West Ealing on March 15 to demonstrate the technology and showcase the groundbreaking project which could help to transform branch lines around the country, as the railway looks to phase out diesel-only traction by 2040. The trial will see the three-coach train, converted from former London Underground D78 Stock, operated on the Greenford branch for the next year. This is to test the battery and charging technology in a range of real-life scenarios and operating the train in different environmental conditions. While the Class 230 train will not be operated in passenger service initially, this could be introduced later in the project…

THE LATEST GB Railfreight Class 69 locomotive to be repainted by Arlington Fleet Services at Eastleigh Works has emerged in British Railways maroon and named Western Consort, in tribute to the former Western Region Class 52 diesel-hydraulic Western locomotives. After completion of the work on its conversion to a Class 69 by Progress Rail at Longport, 69009 spent last autumn working railhead treatment trains for GBRf, although it and classmate 69010 were operated in undercoat due to their utilisation on the RHTT workings. However, 69009 moved to Eastleigh on January 31 for repainting by AFS. The maroon livery with small yellow panels is reminiscent of the original colours carried by many of the Class 52 Westerns when they were first built in the early 1960s. Cast nameplates and numbers have…

TIME HAS finally run out for the derelict Shark ballast brake van, numbered DB993733, which spent more than two decades located at the end of a siding adjacent to Plat-form 1 at Shenfield station, with the wooden-bodied vehicle finally being scrapped in late February. The brake van is understood to have been detached from an engineering train after it developed a hot axlebox and although it is unknown exactly when it was abandoned at Shenfield, it had been there for more than two decades, becoming something of a landmark in the process. The brake van was owned by DB Cargo and various efforts were made in the past to extract it from its resting place, but these all proved impossible due to the deteriorating condition of the vehicle and its…

AS REPORTED in our last issue, a full rail service resumed on the Marston Vale Line between Bletchley and Bedford from February 19. Now, route operator London Northwestern Railway has announced that one of the dedicated Class 150/1 diesel multiple units used on the route is to be named following a competition to find an appropriate name for the DMU. A partial service has been running on the line since LNR acquired three Class 150/1 DMUs – 150137/139/141 – from Northern to operate services on the route, with a limited daily service in operation since November 2023. Rail replacement bus services had been in operation since December 2022 after Vivarail, the company which maintained the Class 230 trains previously used on the route, entered administration. Reintroduction of the Class 230s…

THE TREHERBERT line between Pontypridd and Treherbert reopened to passenger services on February 26, having been closed for nine months while the route underwent extensive upgrading works as part of the South Wales Metro network being established by Transport for Wales. Initially, two trains per hour will operate along the upgraded route, using Class 150 diesel multiple units for the services. TfW Rail plans to introduce its new tri-mode Class 756s trains and Class 398 tram-trains onto the South Wales Metro network over the coming months. The works have included the installation of overhead line equipment and the addition of three new loops to allow service frequencies to be increased, along with a new signalling system and station works, including extending station platforms and adding new footbridges for easier accessibility.…

The first of the 16 former Freightliner Class 86/6 locomotives which were exported to Bulgaria last year has returned to service following reactivation and modification works by Express Service OOD. The 16 locomotives – 86604/605/607-610/612-614/622/627/628/632/637-639 – were exported from the UK last summer, having been progressively taken out of service by Freightliner between the start of 2020 and February 2021, when the final two examples – 86613/632 – were stored. The classification of the locomotives is being changed to Class 85 under Bulgarian Transport Administration requirements, due to the Class 86 designation already being in use in Bulgaria, although the last three numbers carried in the UK will remain the same. Other Class 86s that were exported to Bulgaria a few years ago for use by Bulmarket were similarly given…

HNRC With recent weeks seeing little in the way of shunter activity, 08892 was an unusual arrival at the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre at Dudley in late February. Previously located at Worksop, it was noted in mid-March stabled alongside the Parry People Mover that resides on the site. The shunter still retains its Direct Rail Services blue livery, albeit unbranded, that was applied back in 2006 and, unsurprisingly, is looking rather shabby now. Hunslet Even more unlikely was the arrival of 08472 at Aggregate Industries’ Bardon Hill quarry in Leicestershire on March 4, a location which has not seen a Class 08 in residence for many years. With one of Hunslet’s Thomas Hill shunters currently away for maintenance, it is seemingly providing cover. It also marks a return to…

New deliveries Another 10 FEA-G twinsets for GB Railf-reight reached the UK at the beginning of March. 66793 was entrusted to work them forward from Dollands Moor to Peterborough Yard early on March 4, with 69002 also in the consist. Included on this occasion were 81 70 4663 321 to 340. GBRf is also set to receive a further 50 JNA box wagons during this summer, which are being manufactured by Greenbrier and leased via Porterbrook. Meanwhile, Colas Rail has received a new track machine. Plasser & Theurer Unimat 09-4x4/4S tamper DR75017 arrived at Plasser’s West Ealing work-shops for commissioning on February 23, 66054 having provided the traction from Dollands Moor. Hawk conversions The rebuilding of MRA side-tippers into JNA ballast boxes continues to provide gainful employment for 37418. On…

The period under review has seen two of GB Railfreight’s Class 69s named. The first was freshly-repainted maroon 69009, which has been painted into a livery reminiscent of the colour scheme originally applied to the Western Region Class 52 Western diesel-hydraulic locomotives. The distinctive-looking 69009 emerged from Arlington Fleet Services Eastleigh Works facility on February 23. For further authenticity, the locomotive has also received cast numberplates beneath the driver’s cabside windows, and it now carries the name Western Consort, which was originally carried by Western D1065 and a personal favourite of GBRf chief executive officer John Smith. GBRf also named 69008 Richard Howe after a respected and popular Network Rail controller. A ceremony was attended by family, friends and colleagues of Mr Howe on Platform 1 at London Victoria station…

THE GREAT Central Railway and the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) held a joint event on March 16/17 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the opening of the original Great Central Railway’s London extension from Sheffield to London Marylebone. Although the majority of the GCR was closed following the publication of the Reshaping of British Railways report, the section between Leicester and Ruddington in Nottinghamshire is now home to the two GCR-related heritage lines, which are currently physically separated, although efforts are underway to reunify the two operations. More than £5 million has been spent on the reunification of the two railways over the past decade to refurbish bridges and replace bridges that were removed after British Rail closed the former GCR main line during the 1970s. During the event to…

THE SWANAGE Railway has confirmed that its main line DMU service linking the heritage railway with South Western Railway’s station at Wareham will not be repeated in 2024 after last year’s operation was deemed to have been commercially unsuccessful. The Wareham service first operated in the summer of 2017 using hired-in stock and locomotives from West Coast Railways. In 2023, the services were operated using the Swanage Railway’s Class 117 and 121 diesel multiple units, which had both been upgraded to operate over Network Rail between the railway’s boundary and Wareham station, again with WCR crews hired in to operate the trains. A statement seen by Railways Illustrated from Swanage Railway Trust chairman Frank Roberts said: “I would like to thank our dedicated and professional staff and volunteers who worked…

FURTHER TO the news last month that two of the three vehicles from the sole-surviving Class 503 electric multiple unit were set to be scrapped, the vehicles were removed from Locomotive Services Group’s One:One Collection museum site at Margate and sent for scrapping in mid-March. The Class 503 – consisting of DMBS 28690, trailer standard 29720 and driving trailer standard 29289 – was secured by the Heritage Electric Trains Trust (HETT) following the closure of the Electric Railway Museum in Coventry in 2017. The EMU was moved to LSG’s storage facility in the former Hornby Railways factory at Margate, which LSG is currently transforming into the One:One Collection museum, displaying a wide variety of rolling stock from LSG’s collection and other selected exhibits. HETT also owns 4-SUB 4732, which will…

08769 – Lydney: With the winding down of Dean Forest Diesels, the opportunity arose some months to sell 08769. It will continue to be based at the Dean Forest Railway and will see some significant investment over the coming months. D9551 – Bridgnorth: On the second weekend of February, the two bonnets and the short nose end front panel/access doors were craned off to allow the rewire of the short bonnet end. The new wires were pulled into the conduit, buzzed out for continuity, and then numbered, cut to length, the ring terminals crimped on, and then connected. The brake frame in that end was then fully bolted down, before fitting the new bearings to the radiator fan motor. Other jobs have included refitting the repaired turbocharger mounting bracket and…

The name Pete Waterman needs little introduction to most people. The renowned record producer, television personality, businessman and entrepreneur is almost as well-known for his passion and dedication to the railways as he is in the music and entertainment industry. In the late 1980s, Pete purchased 25909 from British Rail for preservation and moved his newly-purchased Class 25 – the last locomotive to be built by Beyer Peacock at Gorton, in Manchester – to the East Lancashire Railway, marking the start of a remarkable locomotive collection that went on to include numerous steam and diesel locomotives, including Pete at one time being part-owner alongside the late Sir William McAlpine of legendary LNER A3 Pacific steam locomotive 4472 Flying Scotsman. Pete’s links with the railway community run deep and although his…

With the new Alstom Class 730/0 Aventra electric multiple units expected to enter service on West Midlands Railway’s Cross City route between Redditch/Bromsgrove and Lichfield Trent Valley over the coming weeks, time is rapidly running out for the majority of the Class 323 EMU fleet, which has been a familiar sight in Birmingham and the West Midlands since being introduced into traffic just over three decades ago. A total of 43 three-coach Class 323 EMUs were built for the Regional Railways sector of British Rail by Hunslet Transportation Projects in Leeds between 1992 and 1993. Each individual vehicle featured a bodyshell manufactured from aluminium alloy totalling 23 metres in length, with a three-car set originally having a total seating capacity of 284 passengers in a combination of three by two…

A NEW era got underway in Corn-wall on March 11 when a new digital signalling system was brought into use following a 13-day engineering possession to remove redundant traditional signalling equipment and commission the new signalling. The project has seen the signalboxes at Lostwithiel, Par and Truro closed, with the operating areas previously controlled by these transferred to a new digital workstation at Exeter. The signalboxes at Liskeard, Roskear, St Erth, Penzance, St Blazey and Goonbarrow will remain in use. Network Rail said the upgrade work, which has been carried out with Siemens, will improve the reliability and safety of the railway, and that the new digital technology will allow real-time information to be provided to passengers. During the engineering works, a team of more than 100 engineers worked on…

GOVIA THAMESLINK Railway train services manager Dave Jones set off on a mission to visit all 2580 stations in Great Britain in just six weeks to raise money for two children’s charities close to his heart. Dave Jones, who works in the control room for GTR at the Rail Operating Centre in Three Bridges, started his Great British Rail Adventure on February 19, setting off from Three Bridges station. The trains must stop at every station for them to qualify and Mr Jones, who will average about 62 stations a day, has the journey mapped out on a Word document, using a railway industry train tracking system and National Rail Enquiries. He said: “I will be sleeping on board wherever I can. I’ll be on my own, so the thing…

WREXHAM, SHROPSHIRE and Midlands Railway (WSMR), a partnership between Alstom and SLC Rail, has announced plans to operate a new open access service, with a formal application submitted to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in mid-March. The proposal is for five return services between Wrexham General and London Euston in each direction from Monday to Saturday, with four return journeys on Sundays. WSMR’s application proposes that its services will also call at Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Telford Central, Wolverhampton, Darlaston (where a new station is currently being built), Walsall, Coleshill Parkway, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes. WSMR trains will avoid Birmingham, instead utilising the freight-only Sutton Park line. WSMR says services could begin as early as next year and will create about 50 new jobs, with roles mostly based in North…

THE THREE remaining UK-based Class 86s were all in action on the West Coast Main Line on February 25, with 86101 Sir William A Stanier FRS, 86259 Les Ross/Peter Pan and 86401 Mons Meg being used on special services in connection with the Carabao Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea, which saw Liverpool win with a score of 1-0. West Coast Railways utilised Riviera Trains blue and grey Mk.2 coaches on a special working between Liver-pool South Parkway and Wembley Central, with the train operated in top-and-tail formation by WCR’s 86401 and privately-owned 86259. Additionally, Locomotive Services Group’s 86101 was also in use on a second football special utilising coaching stock from the Statesman set between Liverpool Lime Street and Wembley Central, with the Crewe Diesel Preservation Group’s 47712 Lady…

CALEDONIAN SLEEPER has opened a new guest lounge on Platform 1 at London Euston station for its double room and club room passengers. The new lounge, which has an overall footprint of just over 200 square metres, offers a menu of light meals and alcoholic drinks for purchase by passengers, while a complimentary self-serve offer of sweet and savoury snacks, as well as a choice of hot and cold beverages, are also available. The lounge also features an accessible toilet and shower facilities for passengers who wish to make use of them before boarding the train, although both club and double rooms on the Mk.5 coaches feature en-suite toilets and showers. Caledonian Sleeper managing director Kathryn Darbandi said: “Our dedicated guest lounge is the perfect addition to our overnight experience…

Locomotive Services Group has taken delivery of 50050 Fearless from Boden Rail Engineering Ltd. The Class 50 is expected to be used as a back-up locomotive while Class 55 Deltic D9000 Royal Scots Grey is being fitted with European Train Control System signalling equipment. The BR blue 50050 was collected from BREL’s Colwick depot by Class 20s D8096 and D8107 Jocelyn Feilding 1940-2020 on March 5, before being tripped across to LSG’s base at Crewe Diesel Depot. It is understood that it will undergo some maintenance work before being used by the company, with the rectification work expected to be carried out by Harry Needle Railroad Company. The Class 50 gives LSG a locomotive capable of operating at speeds of up to 100mph while D9000 has the ECTS equipment fitted, which…

Class 175s to Ely The first two Class 175s, 175004 and 175009, have arrived at Ely Papworth for storage following the expiry of their lease with Transport for Wales. As the units are subject to several route restrictions, their journey from Landore on February 22 took in the Great Western Main Line to London, then via Northampton, Nuneaton, Leicester and Peterborough to reach Ely. Meanwhile, three-car sets are continuing to visit Alstom’s depot at Central Rivers for bogie work. On February 9, 175116 returned under its own power to Crewe South Yard following this attention, but 175114 was taken back to Holyhead on February 21, sandwiched between 37884 and 37510. Five days later, 175109 ran from Crewe to Central Rivers, but when released on March 7, 37800 and 37608 conveyed…

GB Railfreight’s latest ‘celebrity’ was rolled out of Eastleigh Works on February 23, with 69009 now carrying BR maroon with Class 52 Western-inspired white window surrounds, along with cast numberplates and Western Consort nameplates. Next to be painted will be newly-completed 69011, with 69010 still awaiting its call to finally lose its undercoat green. Elsewhere, 66311 has received standard GBRf colours at UK Rail Leasing at Loughborough, with DB Cargo’s 66174 the latest to go into the operator’s corporate red at Toton. Also now with the ‘celebrity’ tag is Class 455 5868, the unit being returned to an approximation of its original BR blue/grey at Bourne-mouth to mark the type’s upcoming demise with South Western Railway. An additional ScotRail-liveried Mk.3b FO has been created for Locomotive Services’ push-pull set, with…

WORK IS underway to install 46 rail vehicles and one road vehicle into the National Railway Museum’s newly-completed £8 million New Hall at its Locomotion site at Shildon, County Durham, ahead of its opening on May 24. During a four-week period from the middle of March, a mammoth shunting exercise has been underway to move all of the exhibits into the new building, with a wide selection of locomotives, coaches, wagons and other vehicles being exhibited. The new building and vehicle display will recognise the important role of railways in shaping communities in Shildon and across the North East, as well as the development of the railways across the UK. The interpretation will also tell stories of the significance of coal in the development of the railways, along with related…

AFTER LYING at the end of siding at Warcop on the Eden Valley Railway for more than 13 years, work on the revival of privately-owned 37042 is underway, with the locomotive found to be in surprisingly good condition despite its prolonged period out of use. Operated by English Welsh and Scottish Railways prior to its withdrawal by the freight company in January 2005, 37042 is one of several locomotives now owned by preservationist Graham Harris (Railways Illustrated issue 228) and has been located at Warcop since 2011. With little physical evidence of restoration work having been carried out, its increasingly shabby external appearance has seen an increasing amount of speculation as to its longer-term future. However, work on the revival of 37042 has finally begun, with the restoration of the…

A NEW home has been secured by The 142055 Group for its second-generation Class 142 Pacer diesel multiple unit after it was asked to move the two-car unit from its current home on the Foxfield Railway (Railways Illustrated issue 252). Yet to run in preservation, 142055 has been based on the Staffordshire heritage line for three and a half years, but a change in policy, and with little prospect of the DMU getting regular use on the rail-way, Foxfield requested that the owning group moved the Pacer to another home. Spokesman Simon Thomas told Railways Illustrated that 142055 should arrive at the Cambrian Heritage Railways site at Llynclys at some point during April and expressed his appreciation both to Foxfield and the CHR for their help in relation to the…

THE IMMEDIATE future of BREL railbus R3, otherwise known as RDB977020, has been secured, with the vehicle set to return across the Irish Sea to a new home at the embryonic Gwendraeth Valley Railway. Built in 1981, the Leyland-derived railbus is one of the best-known of the experimental vehicles that appeared in the early 1980s and was trialled with British Rail, when it carried a white, green and orange livery. August 1982 saw it sold to Northern Ireland Railways and re-gauged, mainly for use on the Coleraine to Portrush branch. Withdrawn in 1992, it was initially preserved at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum before moving to its present home at the Downpatrick and County Down Railway in 2001. However, plans to use the railbus on midweek services failed to materialise…

THE JUNE ISSUE WILL BE ON SALE FROM MAY 9. DON’T MISS IT! A fixture on the East Coast Main Line for more than three decades, the Class 91 and Mk.4 InterCity 225 sets are now in their twilight years of service with LNER, while some Mk.4 coaching sets are also in use on Transport for Wales’s Class 67 locomotive-hauled sets. In the next issue of Railways Illustrated, we speak to Chris Curtis and Ben Denton-Cardew from the 225 Group about the work they are doing to promote the trains that are still running and their plans to hopefully see some of the vehicles survive into preservation in the future. Two years ago we spoke to Peak Rail general manager Mark Sealey, shortly after he took up the lead role…