Innehållsförteckning för July 2025 från Railways Illustrated

Well, I won’t make that mistake again! I posted a picture of Avanti’s new 807010 in its diversity wrap on the Railway Illustrated Facebook page and a bun fight ensued, with the word ‘woke’ used rather a lot. I’m all for people having options, but when they get nasty, spiteful, and borderline racist, then I draw the line. By all means say whether you like it or not, but really, more than a thousand comments, some of which were a bit unnecessary about a harmless wrap? I plan to use our Facebook page a bit more and I’m all for interactions, opinions, debate, input, ideas, praise, criticism – whatever. But keep it nice and polite, folks. FWIW… I like 807010’s new look. It’s colourful, and Avanti has probably one of…

ANOTHER FOUR Stadler tri-mode Class 93s arrived at Portbury Dock in April and May, meaning seven of the fleet are now in the UK. On April 28, 93007/010 arrived from Spain, followed by 93003/004 on May 15, so now seven of10-strong fleet has been delivered for use with Rail OperationsGroup. Just 93005/008/009 are yet to arrive and delivery is expected very soon. More main line testing on the WCML was anticipated in June, and the fact the fleet is now being shipped to the UK suggests that acceptance by NR cannot be too far away, some two years after 93001 arrived in July 2023.…

→ Greater Anglia will be the next franchise to be returned to state ownership on October 12, 2025. → Two DB Cargo locos have been stored in the WQAA pool, namely 66140 and 67012. → Long-time resident at Meldon Quarry, 08937 has been moved to Merehead. → One of DC Rail’s Class 60s, 60057, has been moved to Colwick for stripping to donate spare parts to the other Class 60s, the first two of which are now undergoing overhaul, 60013/099. → Because 50008 Thunderer was undertaking charter train commitments on May 17, Hanson & Hall hired Class 33 D6515 to perform its now regular Saturday move of GWR stock between Eastleigh and Reading. → Pathfinder Railtours is planning to take Class 47s back to Newquay on September 20 on its…

TWO GBRF Class 66s are expected to be re-liveried to match the coaches of the new Britannic Explorer luxury charter train about to enter traffic for Belmond this summer. 66744/745 are the locos earmarked for the duty and 66744 has been repainted into GBRf colours and de-named in preparation. It will then have a new vinyl wrap applied to match coaches. Unnamed 66745 will also be repainted and then wrapped. Belmond acquired 10 Mk. 3 coaches from Ireland which have been over-hauled and internally refitted for the special train that will undertake a series of tours around the country. Belmond additionally offers the Royal Scotsman, also operated by GBRf since 2015, and the British Pullman, which remains a DB Cargo operation.…

POSITIVE TRACTION has acquired four more Class 08s for conversion into electric e08s following trials with 08308. The locomotives bought from Swietelsky are 08428, 08742/782/786 and they have been moved to PT’s main base at Chesterfield from Worksop. The next e08 conversions is already underway, with 08296 having the major surgery which will see its ageing 400hp EE 6KT diesel engine removed and replaced by batteries and a new low height body. The existing Class 08 cab, wheels, frame and traction motors are retained. It is expected to be used by Heidelberg for trials. PT is also in talks with other potential customers, both at home and internationally. The first e08 conversion, 08308, was returned to Chesterfield for attention to a traction motor after a spell on trial at Neville…

ON MAY 20, West Coast Railways’ 47802/812 ran light from Southall to Laira with two Mk. 2 barrier coaches to collectex-First Group’s GWRHST trailers 48102/110-112/130/149, 49103/104. They then departed on 5Z29, the 1531 Laira-Carnforth. It is being widely suggested that WCR has been looking to acquire an HST, possibly as a ‘rival’ to LSL’s Midland Pull-man, but if these vehicles are to fulfil that role they will need a complete refitting inside as they currently have high-density airline seating for commuter and people mover roles. RI understands 43094/122 and trailers 48104/106/108, 49102, which had been at the Severn Valley Railway, could also possibly be heading to WCR. These vehicles were collected by Rail Adventure UK on May 2 by 43468/480 and taken to Nemesis Rail for preparation for export through…

GB RAILFREIGHT has started a programme to regear eight more of its Class 66s to increase their tractive effort and so make them better suited for heavy trainload work, and the locos are now being renumbered in the 666xx number series. It already has 66793-796 in the GBHH pool which were imported from Europe in 2020/21, and these are to become 66693-696. The new conversion will give it 12 Class 66/6s. The first of its standard geared 66s to be modified by EMD at Long-port is 66779 Evening Star, which is now numbered 66689. All the locos built at Muncie in 2014-17, 66752-799, along with some of those imported from Europe, 66790-792/797-799, are candidates for the modification. The numbers would change for any locos selected to be in the 66661-692/697-699…

THE MID-HANTS Railway will have a Western Region Type 4 feel, with 50008 Thunderer and D1015 Western Champion set to star at the event. They will line up alongside resident Class 20s D8059/188 and 47579 James Nightall GC. Other guest are being finalised but should include an air-braked freight loco to work with the LUL’s 4-TC, and it is likely there will be some locos visiting from the Severn Valley railway. 50008 will arrive on the preceding Thursday hauling the 4-TC set as a charter from Princes Risborough run by Hanson and Hall and promoted by UK Railtours, and will take a convoluted route to include some rare track (www.ukrailtours.com/product/the-thundering-po-sitioning-move/)…

THE NATIONAL Railway Museum’s Class 108 set has been sent for some much-needed cosmetic attention after deteriorating in open store at York. On April 23, 37706 hauled 51562 and 51922 away to Carnforth to undergo tyre turning at the West Coast depot before the unit headed back across the Pennines to Barrow Hill on May 6 behind 47804. The DMU currently carries mixed liveries, with 51562 in badly faded BR blue, while 51922 is in equally tired BR green with speed whiskers. After the Roundhouse is cleared following its annual beer festival, the plan is for the 108 will be taken inside, thoroughly inspected and restored to working condition, and then placed on a long-term loan at the site.…

Chris Perkins This issue’s 10 Pictures comes from occasional Railways Illustrated contributor Chris Perkins. Born in the West Midlands, but now a long-time resident of the West Country, Chris was born in Birmingham in 1947, and it became quite apparent from an early age that he had an interest in railways. Indeed, at the age of about four, he ran away from his mother during a shopping trip to watch the trains passing under a bridge at Bournville Station, with alarmed factory workers from the nearby Cadbury’s plant soon ensuring that he was reunited with his mother. He doesn’t recall getting into too much trouble for his early venture into solo trainspotting! Chris’s maternal grandparents lived at Ketley, in Shropshire, and their house was conveniently located at the side of…

Railways Remembered AUTHOR: David Cross PUBLISHER: Crecy Publishing  ISBN:978-1-80035-296-4  PRICE: £22.50 WEBSITE: www.crecy.co.uk THIS BOOK, which runs to 184 pages, features the colour images from the late Derek Cross’s collection, compiled by his son David. Derek Cross was on the finest photographers of the 1960s and 1970s, and one of those with the foresight to use precious colour film on diesel and electric locos at a time when others shot nothing but steam, and as a result we can thank him for taking pictures that many just ignored. It’s a mix of steam and diesel (and a few electrics), and it’s about a 50/50 split between modern traction and its coal-powered predecessors. There is good nationwide coverage, but there is definitely a leaning towards northern England and Scotland. The first spread…

THE STEPHENSON Steam Railway is running a diesel gala on July ⅚ which should seeareturn to servicefor unique locomotive Consett No. 10 following a thorough electrical overhaul and the installation of new batteries. No. 10 was built in-house at the Consett Iron Company’s Temple-town works, with the majority of components being either made on site or salvaged from other locomotives. Along with sister No. 9, it was designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the blast furnaces and heavy loads of molten steel. The 0-6-0 diesel mechanical shunter, which dates from 1958, will be joined by a visiting locomotive still to be announced and ex-BR shunters 03078 and 08915 from the home fleet. An intensive time-table of passenger and freight trains will run on the 1¾-mile line on both days.…

THE FIRST-BUILD Class 37,D6700,isdue to attend the Gloucestershire Warwick-shire railway forits July 25-27 diesel gala. The National Collection loco, which dates from 1960, will line up alongside classmates 37215 and D6948 – and so double-headed turns with the latter will have two British Railways green 37s in original condition reunited. Another loco that could hopefully take part is 26043, which is nearing the end of its thorough overhaul. 20137 and 20228, 45149, 47105 and 47376 Freightliner1995 arealso expected to take part.…

FOLLOWING THE news that the owners of Class 26 5310 have had to withdraw the loco from its July 3-6 visit to the East Lancashire Railway, LSL has stepped in to fill the void by sending 57002 Winston Churchill to the gala. The other guest locos are expected to be 31108, 37716 and 50008 Thunderer, joining residentsD9531, D5054, D7076, 37109, 40012 Auerol, D832 Onslaught, 45108, 47765, 50015 Valiant and 56006 – subject to all being available.…

THE NORTH Yorkshire Moors Railway has announced that 33202 Dennis G Robinson and 37688 Great Rocks are attending its June 12-15 diesel gala. They will join previously-announced guests 50021 Rodney and 55009 Alycidon. In addition, the NYMR’s own fleet of heritage diesel locomotives will be in action, including 31128 Charybdis, 31466, 37264 and 47077 North Star. The plan is for the Grosmont to Goathland shuttles to be top-and-tailed, as running round at Goathland is not possible. There will be no trains running to Whitby. The Class 50 and 55 will each do two round trips per day, except on the Sunday when the 55 will do one and a half round trips. There will be pairs of 31s and 37s, and top-and-tail 31s and 37s, and the Saturday evening run…

A NEW five-year deal has been signed to run Network Rail’s fleet of autumn and winter railhead treatment and weedkilling trains, keeping tracks clear and passengers and freight on time. The £850 million contract covers weedkilling, leaf-blasting, anti-ice and snow ploughing trains, with optional three-yearly extensions likely. The services will begin from August 2025 and run through until 2030 and possibly beyond. GB Railfreight will run the NR multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) in the north of the country, with Balfour Beatty doing the same in the south. The contracts include the introduction of six re-engineered MPVs, redesigned from overhead line use to seasonal vehicles with brand-new water jetting equipment to ease pressure on the existing fleet. A mix of Colas and GB Railfreight will look after locomotive-hauled rail head treatment trains…

THE FEW remaining GWR Class43 Castle Class HST sets have started a new set of diagrams for what is likely to be their last summer in use with the TOC. The May 19 timetable has seen some changes to their duties in Devon and Cornwall, with a new daily daytime turn between Penzance and ExeterSt David’s allowing photography of the trains on the famous Dawlish sea wall. There is also the return of a Sunday duty, which includes a return trip to Exeter. Three turns are on Mondays to Fridays, which are: turn 1, 2C00 05.33 Plymouth-Penzance; 2E0607.45 Penzance-Exeter; 2C2011.27 Exeter-Penzance; 2P20 15.15 Penzance-Plymouth; turn2,2C11 10.14 Plymouth-Penzance; and 2P16 13.15 Penzance-Plymouth; and turn 3, 2C26 13.40 Plymouth-Penzance; and 2P21 15.52 Penzance-Plymouth. On Saturdays, they are: turn 1, 2C05 05.15 Plymouth-Penzance;…

GB RAILFREIGHT has unveiled two Class 69s in special promotional liveries. Just after this issue closed for press, 69016 was unveiled at Waterloo station in a livery to promote the British Transport Police’s 61016 text number for people to report railway issues. It follows the unveiling of 69013 on April 28 in an all-over black livery with white window frames and small yellow panels to promote the mental health charity Andy’s Man Club, which helps men deal with issues. The livery has the club’s contact details and the hashtag #itsoktotalk on its bodysides. 69016 arrived at Eastleigh for repainting on the day 69013 was unveiled. The last Class 69 to be built is 69015, which is expected to also wear a sintering livery but is not likely to be seen…

MORE NEW trains have entered traffic for TOCs, with Avanti adding 807009 into the passenger fleet on May 20, following on from 807002 – which had been one of the two early test units – also carrying passengers for the first time on the day before. This leaves just newly-wrapped 807010 to be accepted into traffic to complete the delivery of all 23 Class 805/807 Evero units. Transport for Wales put both 197024/035 in passenger use on May 7, followed by 756006 on May 12.…

THERE WILL be the now relatively rare chance to ride behind some DB Cargo Class 66s are the Midland Railway – Butterley on July 19/20 for its Ale On The Rails 200 event. The weekend will feature steam and diesel locomotives from the railway’s home fleet alongside a number of visiting locomotives celebrating 200 years of railway development DB Cargo will be sending “up to 10” locomotives from Toton, some or all of which should take part in hauling passenger trains alongside being on display in Swanwick Junction yard. Class 66 and 67s are expected to be working trains, while a Class 92 is hoped to be on display. Also visiting will be the ETCS training simulator mounted on a lorry trailer. Alongside this, the railway will feature a beer…

THE EDEN Valley Railway has further expanded its collection of Southern Region EMUs with the arrival of 3-CEP set 1198 from the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway. The unit ended its main line career with South West Trains and was reduced to three cars for use on the Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier shuttle before entering preservation in 2005. Since then, it has led a nomadic existence, moving from the Dart-moor Railway to the Pontypool and Blaenavon, and then on to Chinnor in 2013, from where the EMU was given notice to leave last year. Driving Motor Standard 61736 departed Chinnor for Warcop on April 16, with Trailer Brake Composite 70573 following the next day, and then the other DMS, 61737, on April 24. All three cars had arrived at their…

Just a few days before the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) was due to run its April 19 track bashing tour around Ayrshire, it was advised by Network Rail that it couldn’t cover the Killoch branch. I must admit, I was mildly surprised that NR had even entertained it in the first place given it’s an essentially mothballed line which hasn’t been used for ages since the cessation of coal trains on the branch 2020. But the line isn’t officially closed and is, technically, still open, so available for traffic, and so the SRPS was right in requesting a visit to it. I also believe the odd infrastructure maintenance trains have been down the line in recent times. Having requested to take a charter train down the line, the…

Railway photography for me is about two things: a record for capturing a point in time to preserve a memory and an art form to create a great-looking image. Sometimes for me that is to recreate an essence of how things used to be. I’m always looking out for a composition that takes me back to when I was young, particularly the early 1980s. I like the challenge of capturing an image that looks almost like it could have been taken in the past. This is hard because modern details creep into the scene. It requires a suitable subject, an appropriate backdrop, often some tight composition to exclude modernity, and some compromises. It’s rarely going to be a perfect recreation of the past, but it is great fun trying to…

Main Line Railwayana Auctions will hold its first telephone/email auction on June 2-8 at www.mlrauctions.com. Full details were not available at the time of writing. As reported, this is a new auction started by two collectors, Edd Bird and Steve Walker-Manuell, with 45 years combined experience of collecting railwayana. GWR cabside numberplates: 2851 and 5632. Diesel nameplate: Saint Aidan (47535). Diesel worksplates: Brush Traction No. 135 1959 (31118), English Electric Vulcan No. 2879/D595 1961 (37016), English Electric Vulcan No. 2897/D613 1961 (37034), English Electric Vulcan No. 3040/D702 1962 (37048), English Electric Vulcan No. 3228/D753 1962 (37099 Clydebridge), English Electric Vulcan No. 3412/D870 1963 (37226), BR Crewe Brush/Sulzer 1964 and re-engineered by Brush Traction 2003 (Class 57). SR Targets: Crediton and Herne Hill. Totems: BR (E) Blue: Brampton, Tilbury Town and Westerfield.…