Heritage Railway Issue 228

FORGET all the bluster about to the general election and Brexit: what is making Britain truly great again is the heritage railway sector! In the past month, attention has again focused on the East Coast Main Line, where a succession of steam, diesel and electric speed records were set, the latest being 101mph recorded by A1 Pacific Tornado on a 90mph overnight proving run. It was the first time in 50 years that a steam locomotive reached the magic ton in the UK, and what is even more remarkable, it was a first by an engine that was not built by or for a major railway company, but by a group of enthusiasts who for many years were persistently told it was impossible. I have long maintained that Tornado is…

FLYING Scotsman – the locomotive which has the uncanny ability of writing world transport history without a second thought – has done it again. As helicopters circled overhead, global headlines and newsreel footage were generated on a steady production run after dawn on Sunday, April 23, when No. 60103 stood to the left of three of its East Coast Main Line successors – but still managed to take the centre stage podium. A unique world-first event saw Network Rail’s works delivery department at Doncaster take possession of all four ECML tracks from Tollerton into York, so two of the trains could run in the “wrong” direction alongside the other two. The aim was to promote the forthcoming latest state-of-the-art trains on the ECML – the Class 800 Virgin Azuma. Billed…

WEST Coast Railways has been chosen as the train operator for Swanage Railways’ groundbreaking services to Wareham, which are scheduled to start on June 13. More than 45 years after the last BR service over the LSWR branch ran, ‘real’ – as opposed to tourist or enthusiast – services are to be operated over the full length of the line. However, the initial services, which will run four times a day each way, five days a week (apart from Mondays and Fridays) as part of a grant-aided two-year trial period, will not be run by heritage DMUs as has long been planned. The three-car Class 117 set and Class 121 ‘bubblecar’ which are being restored by Arlington Fleet Services at Eastleigh will not be ready to enter service this year,…

ENGINEERING works at Ruislip depot have led to the cancellation of one of the two weekends of steam on London Underground this year. Public steam trains over the Metropolitan Line between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham, organised by London Transport Museum, were scheduled to run over September 9/10 and 16/17. However, the lack of access to Ruislip depot has led to the cancellation of the second weekend’s steam runs. The trains will be hauled by Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No. 1 and Dennis Howell’s Hawksworth 0-6-0PT No. 9466. Meanwhile, London Underground’s last D Stock tube train ran in regular service on April 21. In conjunction with the museum, a special D Stock farewell tour was scheduled for Sunday, May 7. It will travel to all parts of the District Line except…

AT 3.42am on Wednesday, April 12, a new pinnacle of railway heritage was reached – when £3 million new-build Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado reached 101mph during a 90mph proving run. With a select group of invited guests on board the nine-coach train, the locomotive was undertaking tests between Doncaster and Newcastle in view of raising its permitted maximum speed to give more flexibility to future charter planning. Tornado is currently limited to 75mph but builder and owner the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust wants to lift the maximum speed to 90mph to increase flexibility in scheduling its tours on the network. The tests were organised in partnership with DB Cargo Rail and Network Rail and took place with rail industry engineers and certification bodies monitoring the trial. During testing…

THE vehicle that recorded both Flying Scotsman’s official 100mph run on November 30, 1934, and Mallard’s 126mph unbroken world record run on July 3, 1938, is to appear as an exclusive proprietary model in OO gauge. Leading model railway retailer Rails of Sheffield is working with Rapido Trains Inc to produce an outstandingly detailed OO gauge model of the LNER’s record-breaking dynamometer car No. 23591. The iconic 1906-built North Eastern Railway test car, is part of the National Collection and stands behind Mallard in the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum in York. It will be the first of a series of products to be released under the‘Rails Exclusive’ brand of high-quality, collectable ready-to-run models. Two versions will be offered initially, depicting No. 23591 in July 1938 LNER teak…