Innehållsförteckning för February 2026 från Railways Illustrated

PRESERVED PEAK 45133’s Sulzer 12LDA28-B engine was started on December 11 for the first time in eight years, since the loco was stopped for overhaul in September 2017. The loco, owned by the Class 45/1 Preservation Society, is being worked on at Swanwick shed at the Midland Railway – Butterley. The group said: “We are delighted to report that 45133 has shown real signs of life, with the engine firing up for the first time since being stripped for overhaul. It’s a huge milestone and a welcome morale boost as we approach the end of the year. “We weren’t going to start it, and we were only going to crank it to check for hotspots and oil jets under the pistons. There should be four, but depending on where crank…

THE FUEL tank on the Class 50 Alliance’s 50049 Defiance has been extensively cleaned, repaired and refitted to the loco at the Severn Valley Railway’s diesel depot at Kidderminster. The issues can be traced back to late August when 50049 shutdown unexpectedly at Bridgnorth. When attempting to re-prime the fuel, it was discovered there was zero fuel pressure. Back at Kidderminster, further examinations and tests took place. A few local tests were performed, and the fuel was primed once again and 20psi of fuel pressure registered. An attempt wasn’t made to restart the loco as the fuel system required bleeding prior to a restart taking place. In light of what was found previously, both the fuel filter and strainer were examined and this showed signs of being full of debris,…

Pioneer Mk. 5 set released from Wolverton After a stay of just over two years, Mk. 5 set TP01 (11501, 12701-703, 12801) was finally released from Wolverton Works on December 4, having initially arrived for crack repairs on October 3, 2023. As the set has yet to go through the hand-back process to Beacon Rail, it remains on lease to TransPennine Express so was taken north to Longsight between 93008 and 93010 for this to take place. Meanwhile, two more sets have returned to Long Marston for storage following exams and the application of Chiltern vinyls at Eastleigh. 68026 was utilised on both occasions, first taking CH11 (11511, 12731-733, 12811) north on November 18 and then CH08 (11508, 12722-724, 12808) on December 4. On the latter occasion, CH04 (11504, 12710-712,…

HISTORY WAS made on November 18 when preserved ex-Merseyrail unit 507001 was driven along Alstom’s test track in Derby using the facility’s third rail power source. Since welcoming about 6000 visitors on board 507001 during Alstom’s The Greatest Gathering event, volunteers from the Class 507 Preservation Society have been working hard to prepare the unit for its next preservation milestone – a return to third rail operation. This was achieved when it made several faultless journeys under its own power along the test track. The move comes nearly a year since the last of the fleet was retired; the last 507 to carry passengers was on November 28, 2024. A week later, an empty stock move of 507003/029 on December 3 marked the last time Class 507s operated under their…

THE ISLE of Wight Steam Railway turned its operation over to diesel power on November 29/30 with a gala that saw new arrival 03179 take a star billing. The recently repatriated shunter, immaculate in its Network SouthEast livery, returned to the island for the first time in 30 years after undergoing a full overhaul at Rushden during the last decade. When it left Wootton on the 09.48 to Haven Street on the Saturday, the loco was working its first public passenger turn on the Isle of Wight despite being on the island from June 1988 until June 1998. Also in use was Class 05 D2554, which worked the three trips formed of three brake vans on each day of the gala. High demand for 05 haulage had seen the third…

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…

When the first 10 British Railways Sulzer Type 4s appeared during 1959 and early 1960, they were named after English and Welsh mountains and hills, so unsurprisingly, they were soon referred to as Peaks. Construction of more Type 4s soon followed, although to a slightly modified design, eventually becoming the Class 45s and 46s, but all three designs were collectively known by the same Peak nickname, despite none of the later designs being officially named as such. Eventually, 127 Class 45s and 56 Class 46s were built between 1960 and 1963, and they proved popular not only with railway enthusiasts, but also with BR drivers, who admired the locomotives for their performance on heavily loaded trains. From their introduction, the Peaks were soon to be found at work in many…

The latest expansion of Heljan’s O gauge range sees the manufacturer turn to the world of second-generation DMUs for the first time with what could be considered a toe-in-the-water exercise. Previous ventures into multiple units in this scale have seen older, more traditional prototypes tackled such as the Great Western railcars or Class 128 parcels units, while the Class 117 and Class 121 Pressed Steel family are due for release early this year. However, with diesel locomotives in both sectorisation and privatisation colours proving popular, the time seems right to offer a contemporary multiple unit to accompany them.As a result, the Class 153 has been jointly developed in both OO and O gauge, with the larger version arriving first. The single-car conversions of the Leyland-built Class 155 Super Sprinters are…

BARRING ANY unforeseen changes, December 13 was the last day of HST operation on the Western Region after 49 years of use when Great Western Railway ended its use of its Castle Class 2+4 HSTs. The trains remain on lease until January 3, but the timetable change is when the trains were booked to come out of traffic. As has been the case for the last year or so, the final workings were in the West Country, in Devon and Cornwall. The last day started with 43156 Maen Castle and 43189 Launceston Castle working 2C05, the 05.15 Plymouth Penzance. The rest of their duty was 2P10, the 07.40 Penzance-Plymouth, then 2C16, the 10.15 Plymouth-Penzance, and finished on 2P90, the 13.15 Penzance-Plymouth. However, this final duty was terminated at Par due to…

THE ARRIVAL of 99003/004, with more of the new Stadler bi-mode locos due in early 2026, means GBRf is assessing the future of its Class 66 fleet and with some locos due to end their current lease periods in early 2026, they could be returned to their owners for reuse. GBRf has 115 Class 66s, 38 of which it owns outright (66671/687/689, 66752-760/762-776/778/780-789) and the rest it leases from a mix of suppliers: Beacon Rail, Akiem, Eversholt and Porterbrook. Those locos nearing the end of their lease periods are 66701-722, owned by Eversholt. It also leases 66723-728 from Eversholt. Those owned by Beacon are 66301-305 and 66693/694, 66734/738-751/790-792/795-799, while 66306-316 are owned by Akiem and 66728-733/735-737 by Porterbrook, all of which 66733/735-737 are ex-DRS locomotives (66401/403-405). GBRf CEO John Smith…

AFTER A press and stakeholder unveiling on November 20, East Midlands Railway put its first Class 810 Hitachi AT300 unit into passenger service on December 3 when 810010 worked 1C17, the 07.00 Sheffield-St Pancras. There was no advance notice, or fanfare or media invites to the low-key entry into traffic of the new Aurora bi-mode five-car unit. It returned on 1F32, the 11.32 from London. It then worked another trip from Sheffield to St Pancras, then undertook a return trip to Nottingham, and finished on 1F82, the 21.32 St Pancras to Sheffield. 810006 was the next to be put into traffic and was used on the same turn, which was then covered by a mix of 810s and 222s over the next week. On December 12, two 810s were in…

A FAREWELL charter for the outgoing Chiltern Railways Mk. 3s has been arranged for Sunday, February 22. The special trip is being promoted by the Branch Line Society and profits will go to the Railway Children charity. The train starts at Banbury just after 10.00, heads to Stourbridge, and will work directly into Stourbridge Junction Headshunt and Depot. It then heads to Marylebone, via a short break at Birmingham Snow Hill, and then back to Banbury, arriving at about 19.30. Throughout the day, various loops and crossovers will be included in the itinerary.…

BELMOND IS hoping that the issues with the Mk. 3 coaches its uses in its high-end luxury Britannic Explorer train can be resolved as they returned to Hamilton for winter maintenance. The coaches, consisting of 99101-103/105-110, were moved on November 25 from Eastleigh to Hamilton, with 59003 Yeoman Highlander working 6S20 as far as Tuebrook Sidings, Liverpool, where 66732 John Smith took over. The other coach from the set, 99104, had already been returned on September 7. The launch of the train in July has been beset by a number of issues with the coaches, causing some cancellations, and one trip had to be terminated after a door was found to be open while the train was on the move. The ex-Irish Mk. 3s were overhauled by Assenta Rail at…

THE DELTIC Preservation Society has returned a fully overhauled Napier 18-25 engine into 55009 Alycidon on November 17 and in doing so has achieved two major milestones. First is PU430 has worked successfully for the first time in 44 years after £45,000 was spent on overhauling it. Just as important is all three DPS Class 55s – 55009, D9015 Tulyar and 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, are now back running on two engines, for the first time since 1997. The DPS bought this engine along with four other spares in 1982, soon after the withdrawal of the Class 55s by BR and it has lain dormant until it was decided to reactivate it due to failures of other operational units fitted to three locos. The engine required returning the phasing case…

LOCOMOTIVE SERVICES’ Deltic D9000 Royal Scots Grey was returned to main line passenger action on November 27 when it worked 1Z46, the 08.45 King’s Cross-Edinburgh, as far as York. It was the first ECML passenger working by a Class 55 since August 23, 2023, when 55009 Alycidon worked from King’s Cross to Scarborough and back, albeit only as far as Retford on the return after suffering a minor fault. After giving way to 60532 Blue Peter at York, D9000 ran light to Carlisle and was due to work the return train to London on November 30 from the border city via the Settle and Carlisle line and back to King’s Cross. However, on the day the crew decided the Deltic was ‘not right’ and not to risk using it, so…

Asmall ceremony at London’s Marylebone station on Saturday, February 24, 1996, marked the start of privatisation for British railfreight. That was the moment when Wisconsin Central, led by the charismatic Ed Burkhardt, took over the assets and operations of British Rail’s Trainload Freight business. The Government had previously split Trainload Freight into three separate companies – Loadhaul, Mainline Freight and Transrail – with the intention of selling them individually to competing bidders. However, common sense prevailed once it was realised that the real competition was between rail and other modes; none of the separate companies could attract a viable private sector bid on its own. Wisconsin Central had already gained a foothold in the UK when it bought Rail Express Systems, the mail and parcels division of British Rail,…

THE FREIGHTLINER fleet has been split as the company prepares to ratify a deal which will see its intermodal operation sold to CMA CGM, leaving the Heavy Haul business as a standalone company. The latter will take all the 59s and 70s, as well as many 66s, while the intermodal business will take all the 08s, 90s and, again, some of the 66s. All the 14 Class 59s,59001/002/004/005, 59101-104 and 59201-206, will remain with Heavy Haul and are now in the DDII pool, apart from longterm stored 59002, which remains in the DHLT holding pool The Class 66s being taken on by Heavy Haul are 66413-416/418-420 (owned by Akiem), 66585/587-590/594 (Halifax Bank of Scotland), 66951-953/957 (Eversholt), which are now in the DDHN pool, 66534 in the DDHJ pool, 66536/537/545-548/550 (Porterbrook)…

 We hear Hanson & Hall’s 50008 Thunderer could be set for a repaint, but what livery? An old BR livery has been mooted, with Network SouthEast mentioned * The SRPS may look to reduce the use of 37403 in 2026 to preserve its tyres… * …but it will still be used for the ‘Because We Can’ threeday charter on March 20-22. Starting at Dundee, Stranraer is on the itinerary, which could see it sport-ing a modification as 37s with roof-mounted horns are barred on that route… * …which would mean its partner would most likely be an early series 37 – 37521, perhaps * And talking of BWC4, where else will it go? Largs? Ardrossan South Beach? Tweedbank? * Heritage railways are looking to start tying down their guest locos,…

THERE WAS a successful private charter at the Great Central Railway on November 22 when visiting Hymek D7018 worked six return trips between Loughborough and Leicester North. The train was made all the better by the railway’s steam heat generator van being used keeping the coaches – and so passengers – warm. In fact, by the early afternoon, the coaches were almost sauna-like! The previous weekend, the loco had been in action at the Last Hurrah mixed traction event alongside Class 27 D5370, which made its last GCR runs before returning to the Caledonian Railway at Brechin on November 18 after its extended stay at the line. On November 29, Class 37 D6700 was out on another privately hired train, also running six return trips.…

03145 – Moreton Park: In September, the reduced-height 03 received a layer of polish from the top down to give it some protection during the winter. Some rust spots on the cab end and sides were treated and a layer of primer applied in preparation for some touch-up painting. The coupling rods and bufferbeams also received some rubbing down, filling, and priming. A few weeks later, when the loco was needed for shunting, failed batteries meant it wouldn’t turn over. The batteries were known to be on borrowed time, as they’d been on it since 2014, so they were swapped with a pair off the Class 05; once fitted, the 03 started and the shunting took place. In October, the loco received some more TLC, rubbing down and undercoating the…

As 2025 draws to a conclusion, it’s time to look back at another varied year on Britain’s railways, and, as ever, there have been many developments, not all for the better, but plenty of good news as well. It can be hard to judge what’s newsworthy and what isn’t, but over the next 10 pages I’ve tried to recall the highlights of the year… well, until early December! Business developments In January, Wabtec announces it will close its Doncaster facility in the old loco works, with 400 jobs at risk. In the same month, it is formally announced that HNRC has been acquired by Swietelsky – included in the sale are 21 Class 08s, 10 Class 20s, 16 Class 37s and two Class 73/9s, leaving Harry Needle owning 19 Class…

The locos that broke barriers January marks 40 years since the first four General Motors’ Class 59s landed in the UK, the first American diesel locos and the first privately owned locos to run on BR. The fleet later expanded to 15 locos of three different subclasses. Pip Dunn looks back at why they came about, why they were so successful, and what legacy they created. Walking old railways: Walking on the trackbeds of closed railways is a rewarding experience – it can be educational, thoughtinspiring, and it keeps you healthy. Pip Dunn looks at some of his walks and gives tips on how to make the best of a day… and what to look out for. Nostalgia: We make no excuses for delving into the SiCol collection once again…