Sommaire pour October 2017 de Rail Express

Rail Express Editor WHAT a treat is was to attend the Old Oak Common open day at the beginning of September, and everyone involved who helped organise and steward the day has to be thoroughly congratulated. The only downside is, there cannot be another one. The first Old Oak depot was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1906, although that site closed in 2009 to make way for Crossrail use, and it is the 1970s HST depot that is still in use by today’s GWR. All that will change from next year, however, as IEPs take over fromHSTs on West Country routes, and those sets that remain will be serviced at Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance instead. So the theme of the open day was one of celebration, marking the…

Follow us on twitter @railexpress WEST Midlands Trains, which is a consortium made up of Abellio, the East Japan Railway Company, and Mitsui & Co, has won the next London Midland franchise. It will take over from incumbent Govia fromDecember 10, with the contract running until March 2026. For services operating in the Birminghamarea, there will be more involvement from the elected mayor and 16 local councils in the area, which have formed West Midlands Rail (WMR) as an umbrella organisation to promote improved services. WMR already has a number of development proposals, such as an extension of the current Birmingham to Stourbridge Junction service to a new station at Brierley Hill, and a plan to extend some Kidderminster trains to run on the Severn Valley Railway as far as…

Like us on facebook facebook.com/RailExpressMag RESPONSIBILITY for choosing the next holder of the Wales&Borders franchise has been transferred to theWelsh Government. However, the Department for Transport at Westminster has nowsaid it will still need to be involved because the network is owned by Britain asawhole. Before the devolvement, there was a settled plan for capacity enhancement and electrification of local lines in South Wales as a result of the Route Utilisation Strategy, developed by Network Rail. One element, theCardiff re-signalling to provide increased platform capacity at Cardiff, has been carried out, but electrification of local routes was put on hold after the Welsh Government decided it wanted to evaluatewhether a light rail system would be a better solution. The current Wales and Borders franchise contract is due to end on…

Follow us on twitter @railexpress THREE serious derailments occurred in mid-August, bringing disruption to busy parts of the network. The first was at Ely on August 14, followed the day after by one at Waterloo, and then the third at Paddington on August 20. The Ely incident saw eleven container wagons of GBRf’s 33-wagon 4Z33/11.18 Felixstowe South-Doncaster derailed at Ely West Junction, with initial reports suggesting that instability in the embankment on the curved section of track was to blame. The line was closed until August 21 as a quarter of a mile of track needed replacing, during which time passenger services between Ely and Peterborough were replaced by buses, while freights were diverted via the East Coast Main Line. The derailment at Waterloo occurred while the station was partially…

FORMED in 2006, the Class 50 Alliance was a natural merger of two groups – the Fifty Fund and Project Defiance. The Fifty Fund had been formed in 1989 and successfully purchasedNos. 50035 Ark Royal in April 1991 (the first member of the Class to be saved) and 50044 Exeter sevenmonths later. It also became custodians of No. 50031 Hood, which had been bought by Fund members in the same year. InMay 1992, No. 50031 first operated on the Severn Valley Railway, so this year marks the 25th anniversary of the line’s association with Class 50s. Nos. 50031 and 50044 were permanently based on the line from May 1994, andwere joined by No. 50035 in September 1996 following restoration at St Leonards. No. 50049 Defiance was bought from BR by…

FOLLOWING a spell on Norwich-Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft workings while the DRS set (NC68) was stopped for maintenance, Nos. 5921, 6042 and 9520 returned to Burton on August 9. The trio, carrying Anglia Railways colours, returned as the 5Z29/09.10 Norwich Crown Point-Burton worked by Nos. 37405 and 37419 Carl Haviland 1954-2012 in ‘top and tail’ formation. The protracted overhaul of Mk.1 RBR (Restaurant Buffet) No. 1657, acquired by Riviera Trains following the collapse of Cargo-D in 2011, has been completed and the vehicle has been repainted at Eastleigh Works, it now carrying BR blue/grey. Mk.1 Generator Van No. 6310 saw use with the Northern Belle set on August 12, providing ETS for a trip from Edinburgh to Oban and back, hauled by Nos. 37602/609. It had been moved north two days previously…

RAILTOURS: On Sunday August 6, ex-LMS NCCNo. 4, the booked Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) steam locomotive for the society’s ‘Slaney Railtour’, was failed because of leaking boiler tubes prior to departure from Dublin Connolly. As no other steam loco was available, the substitute motive power was IR GM diesel No. 077. This loco hauled the tour train of six RPSI Cravens coaches and ‘BR’ vanNo. 3173 from Connolly to Enniscorthy and return. A local trip from Enniscorthy toWexford and return, promoted by Enniscorthy ‘Rockin Food Festival’ as part of that event, was also worked by No. 077 - the tour train ran empty stock to and from Rosslare Europort to enable the locomotive to run round. An untitled railtour organised by the Irish Railway Record Society (IRRS) on…

SEPTEMBER 23 Vintage Model Railway Exhibition, St Joseph’s Hall, Chapel Street, Leigh, Lancashire. 10am-4pm. Adult £3, accompanied child free. SEPTEMBER 30/OCTOBER 1 Wigan Model Railway Exhibition, Robin Park Sports & Tennis Centre, Loire Drive, Wigan, Lancs. www.wiganfrm. org.uk 10am-5.30pm Sat, 10am-4.30pm Sun. Adult £10, Accompanied Child Free. Layouts Include Barton Hill (N), Barton Road (N), Coppell (OO), Euxton Junction (OO), Newhaven Harbour (OO), Poultonle- Fylde (OO), Durham Road (O) and Mill Bank Alley (O). OCTOBER 7/8 Folkestone MRC Exhibition, The Leas Cliff Hall, The Leas, Folkestone, Kent. www.folkestone-mrc.com 10am-5pm. Adult £6.50, OAP £6, child £3, family £16. Layouts include Buxton (N), Ronsthorpe (N), Ashgate (OO), Oulton TMD (OO) and Sheepcroft (EM). OCTOBER 14/15 Corby & District MRS Exhibition, St Peter & St Andrew Church Hall, Beanfield Avenue, Corby, Northants. www.cdmrs.co.uk 10am-5pm…

THE start of the year saw Dapol score a notable hit with its first batch of ‘traditional’ BR freight wagons in ‘O’ gauge, the vast majority of the models selling out within days of release. A second production run was quickly scheduled and these have now arrived, allowing the Hybar open wagon to be reviewed for the first time. A number of the other releases are just new numbers on the previous liveries but the diagram 1/251 insulated 10t van is now available in the later pale blue livery while the diagram 1/250 10t meat van is released for the first time, this carrying the type’s original BR crimson scheme. Although marketed as a diagram 1/044 wagon, No. B485971 pictured here is actually from diagram 1/039, certain batches of the…

Like us on facebook facebook.com/RailExpressMag Follow us on twitter @railexpress MORE than 7000 visitors took the opportunity to have a last look round Great Western Railway’s Old Oak Common depot on September 2, which featured no less than 39 locos and units, representing more than a century of development of Western Region traction. The depot is due to close next year to makeway for a newHS2/Crossrail interchange station. The neabry depots for HeathrowExpress and Crossrail will remain unaffected, however. The original GWR depot opened at Old Oak in 1906, although that site closed in 2009. The current GWR HST depot opened in 1976, but will shut when Hitachi-built Class 800 and 801 sets replace HSTs on front-line duties – the IEPs being maintained at nearby North Pole depot, on the…

FOLLOWING an agreement with the Somerset and Dorset Locomotive Company to base Class 20 No. D8059 (20059) at Chinnor in 2018, the loco will be performing its inaugural run in ‘top and tail’ mode with newly restored Class 31 No. D5581 (31163) on October 9. Just 50 tickets are available for the charter, which will perform two round trips of the line, with all profits being split between the Railway Benevolent Fund and for completion of the external restoration of No. D5581. Ticket holders will be invited to take a private tour of the yard at Chinnor, including to view ‘Bubble Car’ No. W55024 as restoration continues. Details at www.chinnorrailway.co.uk TROLLEY TRUSTGETS BASE THE Rail Trolley Trust has announced it has obtained a permanent base for its collection at the…

Got something to review? Send any books, DVDs or other items to the editor at: Rail Express, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR Britain’s Growing Railway By Jerry Alderson & Ian McDonald Published by Railfuture www.railfuture.org.uk 192 pages, colour, 210x149mm, softback. £9.95 MOST readers will know of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s – which slashed the size of the rail network – but how many realise since then more than 400 stations have opened or reopened? This incredible figure is documented in this book, firstly in alphabetical order, but then cross-referenced by date. Openings are spread across the country, but there are clusters in South Wales, West Midlands, North West, Yorkshire, and the Glasgow-Edinburgh belt. Also included are the 600 miles (950km) of new lines and chords…

THE latest trio of Class 68s Nos. 68032- 34 were all released into traffic at the end of August, following commissioning at Kingmoor. First away was No. 68032, the plain blue loco running north on the 29th as the 0S32/18.50 Kingmoor-Motherwell TMD. This put it in position to make its debut workings on the Fife Circle locohauled services the next day, it powering the 2K18/07.35 Cardenden-Edinburgh and 2L69/17.18 Edinburgh-Cardenden alongwith the associated empty stock moves. Indeed, it was a good day for haulage enthusiasts as No. 68030 was covering the other diagram, while No. 68032 was still in use on the ScotRail services on September 5 With full DRS vinyls in place, No. 68034 hadamoremundane debut on August 30, heading No. 66421 and nine engineers’ wagons on the 6K27/14.43 Kingmoor-BasfordHall…

A BUSY period for reliveries was headlined by the appearance of the first Class 68 in TransPennine Express colours, with leaked pictures at the beginning of September showing No. 68021 inside Crewe Gresty Bridge sporting the new silver and blue vinyls. Meanwhile, the latest trio of Stadlerbuilt locos have received DRS brandings at Kingmoor, No. 68032 carrying the plain blue livery while Nos. 68033 and 68034 have received the full ‘compass’ scheme. Also attracting much attention was the launch of the new SouthWestern Railway franchise at Waterloo on September 4, for which ‘Desiro’ No. 444040 was vinyled in the new dark grey and silver colours at Northam. Prior to the demise of South West Trains, both Nos. 450112 and 450118 lost the New Forest and Jurassic Coast landscape vinyls that…

ALSTOM AS pictured last month, No. 08721 arrived at Stobart’s Widnes terminal from Manchester Longsight on August 1, this being the nearest convenient unloading point to allowthe shunter to move the short distance to Alstom’s newTechnology Centre. Somewhat surprisingly, it has joined No. 08454 at thedepot rather than replaced it, giving an abundanceof shunting power for the newfacility. HNRC THE company has announced that Nos. 09106and 09201are being returned to service for use onanew hire contract. Currentlyundergoing preparations at BarrowHill and Hope Cement Works respectively, this will includefitting all the necessary equipment formain line operation along with newheadlights. Stored since 2005, No. 08918has joined fellowBurton residentsNos. 09006 and 09014 on HNRC’s for sale list. MENDIP RAIL RESIDENT since March, Mendip’s No. 08650 was released fromEastleigh Works onAugust 22and then deposited…

Rail Express Modeller editor THIS month marks the 40th anniversaryof the launch of the Speedlink wagonload network, which remains enduringly popular today despite only existing for 14years. Formodellers, this is undoubtedly due to the wide rangeof commodities movedby the trunk services and the equallydiverse rangeof shorter trip workings that could serveeither urbanor rural locations. Pretty muchany layout scenario can be justified under a Speedlink banner! Promptedby recent wagon releases in ‘OO’ gauge, this month takes a look at one of Speedlink’s largest customers, the Ministry of Defence and the wide variety of loads thatwere conveyedon its behalf. Accompanying this is a series of articles showinghow to improve and loadanumber of suitable wagonmodels. EXPRESS RATING…

IN response to considerable demand from modellers, Heljan has finally scheduled a new batch of ‘OO’ gauge Class 26s for release at the beginning of next year. Disappointingly, a new run of TOPSnumbered Class 27s did not accompany the announcement but the manufacturer is understood to be aware of the need for a new batch of the more powerful Sulzer Type 2s. As it stands though, nine newClass 26s are promised, these being split between the two sub-classes and all with a RRP of £129.95. The four Class 26/0s will all portray 1980s and 1990s machines with air brake cylinders on the underframe and encompass No. 26008 in Trainload Coal, Railfreight Red Stripe No. 26010, BR blue No. 26014 and ‘Dutch’ grey/yellowNo. 26011. Moving to the Class 26/1s, Nos. 26026…

COMMISSIONED earlier this year, Rails of Sheffield has now received livery samples of its two limited edition Bachmann Class 66s. The ‘OO’ gauge models are due for release around the turn of the year and are each priced 169.95. The most interesting is undoubtedly GB Railfreight’s No. 66727 Maritime One in the striking Maritime Transport blue livery, which was unveiled a year ago at Birch Coppice. It will be joined by Freightliner’s No. 66614 Poppy 1916-2016, this featuring the company’s current logo style and safety slogans. Both will be supplied with etched nameplates, including the sizeable poppy crests carried by the green GM. www.railsofsheffield.com…

Like us on facebook facebook.com/RailExpressMag CUT-BACKS to electrification and other schemes have prompted Network Rail to look at how best to deal with a resultant drop in funding in the next financial control period (2019-24), in response to a study set up and headed by engineer Professor Peter Hansford with a supporting team of industry representatives from Keolis UK, Amey, Carillion, and GB Railfreight. The process for managing the Government’s rail budget is based on five-year plans known as Control Periods, where a Statement of Funds Available (SoFA) is provided to the Rail Regulator (the Office of Rail and Road) together with an expectation of what is to be delivered from the funds in the form of a High Level Output Statement (HLOS). A negotiation then takes place with Network…

METAL AND CABLE THEFT SET TO INCREASE? THE price of copper has increased by more than 50% in little more than a year, raising fears the incidence of metal and cable theftwill follow suit. According to the London Metal Exchange, in the last four months alone the value of copper rose 25%with an overall increase of 50% since 2016. The Scrap Metal Dealers Actwas implemented four years ago, which severely restricted the stolen metals market. However, security firmVPS Site- Security says it has foundmany of the licenses issued to scrap metal merchants – which is a legal requirement – have expired and not been renewed, even thoughmany of them still appear to be operating. NEW STATION DISAPPOINTS EDINBURGH Gateway, the £41 million taxpayer- funded station to the west of the…

Like us on facebook facebook.com/RailExpressMag EXETER has had a long tradition of being served by two main lines offering the option of journeys using either London Waterloo or Paddington. The routes have similar mileages, being 172 miles from Waterloo via Salisbury and 174 miles from Paddington, using the Berks and Hants line, and up until the award of the South Western franchise to a consortium led by First Group there was a choice of train operator and therefore fares. In the post-Beeching era of rationalisation in the late-1960s, it was thought a good idea to concentrate journeys between individual towns and cities on a single route, and as a result the main line between Salisbury and Exeter was run down and singled in 1967. Some reinstatement of capacity has taken…

GO-AHEADFOR MIDLAND METROEXTENSION THE Government has given permission to extend theMidland Metro tramnetwork by 1.25 miles (2km) from Birmingham city centre toEdgbaston, with fivenew stops. The £149 million project should be completed by March2021. The Department for Transport will supply£60 million, with the rest coming from local authorities and organisations. WATFORD COLLISION REPORT THE Rail Accident Investigation Branch has released its report into the derailment and subsequent collision at Watford last year. On September 16, 2016,aLondonbound passenger train operated by London Midland struck a landslip at the entrance to WatfordSlowLines Tunnel. The leading coach of the eight-car train derailed, partly obstructing the opposite track and was struck byapassenger train travelling in the opposite direction. The driver of the second train had already receivedaGSM-R emergency warning and had begun to brake.…

ONE plan that could have resulted in further Class 50s returning to the main line around the turn of the century involved using a fleet of them as ‘Thunderbirds’ on the West Coast Main Line. This would have seen DNLL supply a fleet of Class 50s to West Coast Traincare, with the locos being stabled at various strategic locations to rescue failed trains as required. DNLL held discussions with a number of owners with a view to creating a pool of locos and, for a period, Nos. 50002/050 were stabled at Wembley in the expectation of the work materialising. In the event, the proposal came to nought and Class 57/3s were used instead. The Devon Diesel Society’s No. 50002 Superb, which had been placed on hire to DNLL in 1998,…

INTERPRETING WORKING TIMETABLES IN reply to Ian Pell’s comments (September issue) with regards to the Working Time Table (WTT) inmy Lichfield Line Lament article (July issue) – as Ian correctly points out, the WTT accompanying my article about the South Staffs route between Lichfield and Walsall was drawn up from information contained in the official BR WTT for that period, but was also updated with information contained inWTT Supplement No. 4 (dated March19, 1984). This Supplement also included previous WTT amendments (some relating to the South Staffs route) issued throughout much of 1983 and into early 1984. The WTT accompanying the article, therefore, pretty much accurately tabulates all booked freight and light engine movements for the South Staffs line during its final twoweeks before closure as a through route in…

MORE MK.2 COACHES FOR TELFORD STEAM RAILWAY AFTER a spell in storage at Wishaw (Warwickshire) following its sale by the East Kent Railway, Mk.2 TSO No. 5220 has arrived at its new home at the Telford Steam Railway, where it is undergoing restoration. Two other coaches of this type, Nos. 5193 and 5221, have also arrived from Tyseley for use on Polar Express trains, joining No. 5148 which arrived in 2016. ‘37’ ARRIVES AT LEICESTER FOLLOWING its move by road from Dereham (Mid-Norfolk Railway) to Ruddington (Great Central Railway, Nottingham) in July, No. 37003 was taken to UKRL’s Leicester depot on August 27. Its transfer, handled by No. 57604, doubled up as a convoy move to Old Oak Common for the September 2 open day, with Nos. 41001 and 47828…

THE power unit issues with ‘Deltic’ No. 55022 Royal Scots Grey (see last month) mean it will be unable to attend the DPS40 event at the Bluebell Railway in October as originally planned. However, three ‘Deltics’ in the form of Nos. D9002 (55002) The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, D9009 (55009) Alycidon and 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier will be in action, and the Bluebell’s Class 09 will be providing brake van rides. A number of railways have announced dates for 2018 events, and these are included in the gala listing for the first time. The East Lancashire Railway has replaced some planned DMU operating dates with loco haulage, which will be hauled by No. 40106 Atlantic Conveyor, complete with steam heat. The ‘Whistler’ will operate on October 21/22 and 28/29.…

COLAS RAIL THE company’s Class 56fleet received awelcome addition on the last day of August, with the emergence of No. 56049 fromWashwood Heath following its lengthy overhaul. Reinstated to the COFS pool aftermore than a decade out of action, it was sandwiched between Nos. 50017 and 50050 on a test run to Kings Norton and back. Next day sawthe trio head to Old Oak Common to appear at the open day. DB CARGO THE ten Class 66s put up for sale byDB on August4were all transferred to the WQDA pool the day afterwards. Of these, Nos. 66058, 66132 and 66184 were already stored in the WQAA pool with Nos. 66008, 66046, 66081, 66141 and 66250 in WQAB. However, Nos. 66016 and 66238 were transferred straight from operational pools, although both…

DB CARGO: Following the story last issue about the Cowans Sheldon-built wiring modules being transferred from FKA Sffggmrrss two-unit wagons to FAA well-style container flats, the remaining fiveexamples of the once nine-strong fleet have arrived at Axiom Rail, Stoke-on-Trent for conversion back to container carrying service. Nos. 81 70 4908 030-9, 088-7, 096-0, 124-0 and 141-4 arrived on the trip from ArpleyonAugust4behind No. 66004. Therewereeight FAAs on site at the same time (Nos. 609007/10/8/9/56/7/ 60/9) and twoof these were quickly extracted (Nos. 609019/56) and fitted with the wiring modules. These departed on the 11th. The inbound working on the same daybrought three moreFAAs, Nos. 609037/64/70. Therehavebeen a large number of MHA Coafish spoil carriers recoded as MPAs since our last report in the July issue, as follows: Nos. 394046/56/130 /75/9/215/22/9/66/8/89/309/20/48…

Quick off themark as ever, Railtec Models has released a complete set of waterslide transfers in 4mm scale for HST power car No. 43093 in its new ‘Legends of the Great Western’ livery. Unveiled at the Old Oak Common open day, the pack includes all the bodyside graphics along with small details (43093-1, £14.50). Equally notable in 4mm is a complete livery pack for No. 47813 in the newRail Operations Group dark blue livery, this including the complex logo (47813-1, £9.90). www.railtec-models.com PH Designs has added a further detailing set for the ‘O’ gauge Heljan Class 37 to its range, this being intended for the centre headcode box model released earlier this year. Priced £18, it includes etched headcode panels, body and roof blanking panels, axlebox covers and other smaller…

SOMEWHAT amazingly, the VGA van has been part of Bachmann’s ‘OO’ gauge range for some 19 years now, it being one of the very first D&E erawagons to be released by the manufacturer. The model has appeared in the catalogue at sporadic intervals ever since, including carrying some of the one-off brandings that adorn selected vehicles, but this latest duo sees a welcome return to the two core liveries, albeit withaweathered finish. Displaying the original red ends is No. 210538 (37-601B), this also featuring the Railfreight and Speedlink boards on the doors. These proved to be a liability in traffic and were systematically removed in the mid 1980s. Notably, this is only the third time that the model has appeared with red ends and, in a change to the previous…

AS supplied, the VGAs lack the footsteps fitted at each bufferbeam corner to allow staff to access the door locks on the ends. In the past, these have been added from scraps of brass. However, they are now available as an etched part from Stenson Models, each pack featuring 16 steps, enough for four vans, for £3.50. As detailed below, these requiring folding up, soldering and painting but are a very neat addition to the model, particularly as they are of the correct pattern.…

Modelling the Southern Region 1948 to the Present By Chris Ford Published by The Crowood Press, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 2HR. Softback 190mm x 246mm, 176 pages. Price £18.99. ISBN 978-1-78500-300-4. THIS new title from Crowood Press takes a look at how to model the Southern Region fromNationalisation onwards. Although titled ‘to the present’, this is actually only as far as 1994 and the end of British Rail, subsequent events in the privatisation era only being briefly touched on in the text and the occasional picture. Even so, 46 years of developments on an entire region is still a lot to cram into 176 pages so, as you might expect, the brush strokes are pretty broad at times. For example, there is a look at freight stock of the traditional kind,…