Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2024 från Traction

Welcome to this first issue of TRACTION in British Railway Modelling. As regular readers of TRACTION will notice we have the usual wide variety of articles about the diesel and electric era on Britain’s railways. From this issue TRACTION in BRM will appear 13 times a year rather than as a bi-monthly publication which means we will be able to allow more space for each feature as we now have over twice the number of pages during the year. From many comments we’ve had over the years this is exactly what many of our regular readers have been asking for! As always, we welcome contributions to TRACTION and if you have an idea for a future article, please get in touch with me by email. steverabone@hotmail.com…

In August 1994, Scotrail organised events in recognition of the centenary of the West Highland Railway that was opened in 1894 from Glasgow to Fort William. The line is perhaps the most scenic in Britain and was very difficult to construct in view of the mountainous terrain it traverses. In steam days, most trains were double headed and later, when the diesels took over, trains were loco hauled by initially Type 2s of the Classes 27 and 29. These were replaced by more powerful Class 37s in the 1980s. ‘Sprinter’ multiple units replaced these in turn during the 1990s, providing reduced operating costs although with fewer facilities. Freight trains and the London to Fort William sleeper service continued to be loco-hauled. The 11th of August was the day of the…

As the era of the former Western Region Inter-City 125 High Speed Train comes to an end, it is time to look back at the history of these trains. In their last few years of service, they no longer ran in the 2 plus 7 and 2 plus 8 formations, which had endured for more than four decades on principal services to and from the capital and between the West of England, the North East and beyond. For the final two years, a small number of sets ran with just four trailer cars on secondary services between South Wales and the West of England. In late 2023, the HSTs used by Cross Country also operated their last services from the South West to the North and Scotland. However, with the…