Sommaire pour February 2018 de Rail Express

THIS year will see the start of a massive change to both the Great Western and East Coast main lines, as new Hitachi-built Class 800 bi-mode IETs, and the electric-only Class 801 version, take over from existing stock. On the Great Western, this essentially means replacing HSTs that have been in continuous use since 1976. Despite the fact they are now 40-year-old technology, HSTs are ahard act to follow. Various refurbishments over the years have seen the power cars fitted with new engines, and the Mk.3 coaches have had ever more seats squashed in. But despite all that, they remain one of the quickest, reliable, and most comfortable trains ever to run in Britain – a true design classic, and one that is thankfully set for continued use with the…

CAR No. 5234 in the spare ‘A’ Stock RAT has had a remarkable career. Originally No. 5034, its identity was swapped with No. 5008 in July 1985 as a result of an incident in 1983. It joined cars that had been part of the very first ‘A’ Stock train to enter passenger service in June 1961 but were already out of service. This four-car set was regarded as derelict by the time it was taken to Derby Works in August 1990 to be rebuilt as part of the fleet refurbishment programme. It emerged renumbered as Nos. 5234/5235 in April 1994 with deicing equipment installed. As a result, No. 5234 is notable as being the only car of its type to carry three different identities. As an aside, the original No.…

AN EARLY ‘08’ SURVIVOR AS a follow-up to your interesting article on ‘Class 08 Precursors’ (RE260, January 2018 issue), it should be noted that one of the early LMS prototypes still survives. No. 7069 was one of the batch of 10 ordered in 1935 from English Electric/Hawthorn Leslie, which featured an 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, 350hp EE engine, and traction motors on the two outer axles – the essential design elements that evolved into the Class 08 in the 1950s. No. 7069 has a remarkable history. Built for the LMS, it was requisitioned by the Government for use in France (as No. 18) during the Second World War, but was captured by the Germans after British troops were evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. It was recaptured after D-Day in 1944, then…

MK.1 GENERAL UTILITY VAN MOVES TO G-WR IN early December, Mk.1 GUV No. 86828 arrived at the Gloucestershire-Warwickshire Railway from the Churnet Valley Railway. It is to swap its good condition bogies for aspare set and then be used as a store van. KWVR SELLS SUBURBAN MK.1 LAID up at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway since 2012, Mk.1 BS No. 43145 has been sold and departed for anew home at the Cambrian Heritage Railways site at Oswestry at the end of December. OLDEST SURVIVING MK.1 SK TO BE RESTORED MK.1 SK No. 24006 has been sold and left the Chasewater Railway for anew home at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway where it is to be restored. EAST LANCS HIRES IN TWO CATERING CARS THE East Lancashire Railway has taken delivery…

CLASS 20 ABSENT from the main line for over 24 years, a newly resurrected No. 20007 (in BR green) departed the Midland Railway-Butterley in the company of No. 20142 on December 19. On hire to the Rail Operations Group, the duo later teamed up with Nos. 37601 and 37608 to move brand new London Overground EMU No. 710256 from Derby to Melton Mowbray that evening. The formation continued to Old Dalby the next morning before the ‘Choppers’ headed back to Butterley on December 22. There was no let-up in the movement of London Underground ‘S’ Stock between Derby Litchurch Lane and West Ruislip during December. After staging at Banbury, Nos. 20096+20107 and 20314+20905 moved sets Nos. 21505/06 to Derby on December 5 and sets Nos. 21351/52 two days later. Nos.…

ANNOUNCED at the end of November, Hattons has now received the first CAD images of its forthcoming FEA container flats in ‘OO’ gauge. These illustrate not only the wagons but also the modules that will be produced as part of the Railhead Treatment Train packs. While some corrections are required, the models remain on course for a late 2018 release with all variants proving highly popular for pre-orders. Shown here are two of the RHTT wagons, one carrying sandite, pump and water modules and the other with a full set of water tanks in place. Also illustrated is the empty version of the FEA, the liveries of which will include Freightliner green and GB Railfreight blue. www.hattons.co.uk…

STAKING a strong claim for the best new model of 2017 was Realtrack’s ‘OO’ gauge Class 156 DMU, the first examples in the ScotRail Saltire scheme having arrived back in the summer. Towards the end of the year, the second launch livery of First ScotRail started to arrive, allowing another look at the Rapido Trains-produced ‘Super Sprinter’. Three different models have been produced in the First ‘barbie’ scheme, including No. 156467 pictured here (RT156-114). This portrays a unit with a full set of First Group brandings, this particular ‘156’ being so adorned between the autumn of 2006 and early 2015, when such logos and lettering were removed in preparation for the takeover of the ScotRail franchise by Abellio. Strictly speaking, the modified cab front light clusters without the small vertical…

A FURTHER livery on Bachmann’s ‘OO’ gauge recreation of the Class 150/2 is due for release soon, the two-car DMU this time appearing in the revised two-tone blue colour scheme of Arriva Trains Wales (32-939DS). This attractive version of the livery debuted on the BREL-built ‘Sprinters’ from the beginning of 2013, No. 150236 being the third to be repainted in May that year. Subsequently, the colours have spread to much of the franchise’s Class 150 fleet, although such has been the slow pace of application that a handful of units still retain the original blue and cream livery at the beginning of 2018. This is not a bad thing for modellers though as it gives the opportunity to run both of Bachmann’s Arriva releases together. The manufacturer’s Class 150 has…

ALSO new in Bachmann’s ‘OO’ gauge range this month are further versions of the VAA and VDA vans and OTA timber carrier, these bringing a welcome refresh of the always useful air-braked long wheelbase wagons. Most interesting is the VDA decorated as a Ministry of Defence internal user vehicle in green and yellow (38-140IG, £27.50). This is intended for use with the Military Manoeuvres train set released back in 2016 and portrays one of a number of such vans sold off in the 1990s in order to modernise the MoD’s internal rail traffic fleet. Finished as No. WGB4311, it was formerly No. 200780 and is today found at the Epping-Ongar Railway. The model is also another of Bachmann’s regional limited editions and, as such, can only be purchased from shops…

TRAM-TRAIN ‘UNREALISTIC’ A REPORT by the UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has condemned the delays and cost overruns of the Sheffield-Rotherham tram-train project, which could finally open later this year. Network Rail’s early cost estimates were said to be wholly unrealistic, as they rose from an initial £18.7 million to £75.1 million, while the Department for Transport failed to properly challenge the increase. The report also found that both NR and the DfT do not know how much taxpayers’ money has been wasted on future-proofing for an electrification project (Sheffield-Doncaster) that has now been cancelled, a decision that affects the north-eastern section of the tram-train route. To make matters worse, the PAC says neither NR nor the DfT have evaluated how the lessons learned during this pilot project could help…

First Generation Scottish Diesels in Colour By David Dunn Published by Book Law www.booklaw.co.uk104 pages, colour, 275x225mm, hardback. £23.99 THIS is by far one of the best books to be published recently, featuring more than 100 pages of high-quality images, every one of which is a winner. Most of the photos were taken by talented railway photographer John Boyes and depict the many diesel types to be found in Scotland during the 1960s, from shunters to ‘Deltics’. Nearly all show the BR green era, with a few shots after the change to blue livery, but all are before TOPS renumbering kicked in. Typical Scottish power such as the Sulzer-powered Types 2s (Classes 24-27) feature heavily, but there are also some great shots of Class 17 ‘Claytons’, NBL Class 21/29, Classes…

■ AS of the start of January, there were just two examples of the Rail Express limited edition ‘OO’ gauge Class 66 remaining in stock. Depicting GB Railfreight’s ‘rainbow’-liveried No. 66720, once this pair is sold no more will be available. Turn to page 93 for details of how to order. ■ THE latest transfer releases from Railtec Models includes a 4mm sheet for BAA steel wagons, this providing TOPS numbering panels, red/white Railfreight logos and other lettering (7130, £5.90). Moving up to 7mm, there are 3D printed transfers to recreate the plate fitted to Class 37 nose ends just above the coupling. Intended for the Heljan model, the transfers are pre-finished in yellow (9899, £6.50). www.railtec-models.com ■ FOLLOWING on from the renumbered ‘S’ Stock sets released last summer, the…

NOW available from Stenson Models are four new wagon bogie kits in 4mm scale, these consisting of a brass inner frame and whitemetal sideframes. Each kit will build a pair of fully sprung bogies and includes all the parts required except wheelsets. First up are two variants of the 5ft 6in wheelbase Gloucester design, one being a 1962 version with Timken bearing caps (CC02B62, £12.50, far left) and the other a 1972 style with three-bolt bearing caps (CC02B72, £12.50, centre left), the latter commonly found under YGH ‘Sealion’ ballast hoppers. Joining them is the similar 5ft 6in wheelbase Davis and Lloyd (ESC) design (CC03B, £12.50, centre right), which was employed under batches of Bogie Bolster C and D along with all the Bogie Bolster E wagons and the later YCV…

IN some ways, the new Graham Farish range for 2018/19 mirrors the developments seen with Bachmann’s ‘OO’ gauge catalogue for this year, bringing a strong focus on producing new variants of existing models. Beginning with the ever popular Class 47, this will see a further version produced to cover locos with the life extension modifications, in particular the cut-back bufferbeams and extended range fuel tank. The chassis will also be upgraded at the same time to accommodate a Next 18 DCC decoder socket and pre-fitted sugar cube speaker. This incarnation of the Type 4 will initially appear in Virgin Trains red/grey as No. 47814 Totnes Castle (£134.95) and Colas Rail’s No. 47727 Rebecca, the latter featuring factory-fitted DCC sound. The Class 31 also benefits from exactly the same chassis upgrade,…

ONE of the most notable rolling stock releases of last year was Hattons’ Warwell wagon, this finally delivering a quality rendering of these highly useful vehicles in ‘OO’ gauge. As promised, the retailer has now followed this up with a 7mm scale version as well, giving another wagon to hang behind all those Heljan diesels. The first impression of the large scale Warwell is not only its size, measuring over 320mm in length, but also its weight, the model tipping the scales at 480g. This is thanks to the predominately diecast construction of the main structure with plastic only utilised for the deck elements. In this size, the rivet and plate detail shows up impressively well as do the lashing rings, although the latter are only moulded in place. The…

FANS of Bachmann’s Class 47 continue to be spoilt for choice with the arrival of another example of the ‘OO’ gauge Type 4, one of over a dozen different versions either newly released or due very soon. The latest to cross the Rail Express desk is No. 47814 Totnes Castle (32-819), this being the first of the class to receive Virgin Trains colours early in 1997 as part of the Cross Country fleet. The loco remained so employed for a further five years, it being stopped in May 2002 for rebuilding as No. 57306. Naturally, the model utilises the life-extended Class 47 tooling with cut back bufferbeams, extended range fuel tank and cab roof aerials. The fuel tank is not quite an exact match for the version fitted to No.…

NETWORK Rail has contracted Siemens Rail Automation to install European Train Control System in-cab signalling on the main freight operators’ locomotive fleets. The £870 million deal will see ETCS added to around 750 locos owned by Colas, DB Cargo, DRS, GBRf, Freightliner Heavyhaul and Freightliner Intermodal. It forms part of the ‘Digital Railway Programme’ – the industry’s plan to tackle growing demand by allowing more trains to run on the current network. The work will begin in 2022, followed by a wider roll-out in 2024-29. Installation teams will be based at Holgate (York) and Eastleigh. Network Rail says it is also working with smaller freight companies and spot hire firms, which are expected to enter agreements with it in the future. The fitment criteria for ETCS will be based on…

SOMERSET DERAILMENT THE Rail Accident Investigation Branch has released its report into a freight train derailment at East Somerset Junction on March 20, 2017. The report says that the derailment occurred due to a loss of track integrity, and that the design of the track was sub-optimal following replacement of a set of points with plain line in 2010. The signs of gauge spread were not identified during inspections of the track by staff from Westbury track maintenance depot, and the section of line where the derailment occurred had not been subject to mandatory geometry measurements. The RAIB has recommended enhancements to Network Rail’s procedures for plain-lining of points, mitigation of risk at locations where points have previously been plain-lined, improvements to planning the operation of track measurement trains and…

CHELSEA Basin was one of several London area railway locations to feature in the popular 1970s TV police series The Sweeney, and featured in the closing scenes of an episode called I Want The Man, in which the character detective sergeant George Carter (played by Dennis Waterman) is seen running along the top of a string of loaded coal wagons while in hot pursuit of a villain. Other London railway locations to feature in The Sweeney during its four-year run (1975-1978) included the stations at Euston, Farringdon, Peckham Rye and Kensington Olympia. Chelsea Basin also appeared in an episode of the cult 1970s TV classic The New Avengers, as did ‘Kenny-O’ (very briefly) when it featured in scenes filmed for an episode titled Sleeper, in which the character Purdey (played…

‘DELTIC’ STOPPED FOR MECHANICAL ATTENTION FOLLOWING its successful outing from York to Liverpool and back on Pathfinder’s ‘Trans Pennine Deltic Reprise’ charter, ‘Deltic’ No. D9009 Alycidon has been taken out of traffic for the next few months to enable its air receivers to be overhauled. Its next booked outing is not until June 16, when it is due to haul the ‘Albert Gilmour Memorial Charter’ from Newcastle to King’s Cross and back. The loco is also being used by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust on July 21, and Pathfinder Tours hopes to use the loco again on September 29. NO ‘2-HAP’ FOR NORTH WALES THE PROPOSED move of 2-HAP unit No. 4311 to North Wales will not take place, and the unit has been sold to…

IN its latest tie-up with Heljan, Hattons has commissioned two exclusive versions of the forthcoming ‘O’ gauge ETH-fitted Class 37/4. These will portray two of the most popular members of the sub-class in the form of Nos. 37401 Mary Queen of Scots and 37408 Loch Rannoch, both carrying the classic BR large logo blue scheme. The doyen of the sub-class will be finished with yellow headcode panels while Loch Rannoch receives the black-painted versions. An early 2019 release is expected with each priced £599. www.hattons.co.uk…

SHEFFIELD retailer Olivia’s Trains is now accepting pre-orders for its exclusive ‘OO’ gauge TEA cryogenic tankers, this following on from the unveiling of the initial pre-production models on the Heljan stand at Warley. Expected in late 2018, two different batches are being produced, one with cast Gloucester bogies and the other with the alternative Gloucester GPS design, as pictured. A total of 20 models are planned in the white, red and orange BOC livery, ten of which will be lettered for carrying liquid oxygen and the remainder for liquid nitrogen. These will all be individually numbered with five of each having a pristine finish and the rest a coat of weathering. The prices have also been announced with a single pristine TEA costing £75 and a weathered one £80. Transfer…

February 3-4 Stafford Railway Circle Exhibition, Stafford County Showground, Weston Road, Stafford, Staffordshire. www.staffordrailwaycircle.org.uk 10am-5pm Sat, 10am-4.30pm Sun. Adult £9, accompanied child £1. For layout details see text. February 17 RISEX Model Railway Exhibition, Princes Risborough Community Centre, Wades Park, Stratton Road, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire. www.rdmrc.org.uk 10am-5pm. Adult £4, child £2. Layouts include Hinksey Yard (N). February 23-25 Model Rail Scotland 2018, Scottish Exhibition Centre, Exhibition Way, Glasgow, Lanarkshire. www.modelrail-scotland.co.uk 10.30am-6pm Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, 10.30am-5pm Sun. Adult £13, child £6, family £29. For layout details see text. ENJOY RAIL EXPRESS MODELLER IN EVERY ISSUE SUBSCRIBE TODAY ON PAGE 20…

NOW available from Gaugemaster are the latest additions to the range of small hand-operated track maintenance machines produced by German manufacturer Noch. As with the previous releases, these are in 3.5mm scale/’HO’ and are very detailed 3D prints that are supplied fully assembled, painted and weathered. However, they are delicate items so require careful handling. Pictured below (from left) are a track lifting machine (13644. £16.25), a track turning machine with moveable parts (13643, £16.25) and a hydraulic clip machine (13642, £16.25), which is also articulated. While undoubtedly on the pricey side, they are impressive little models that would enliven a set scene of a track gang at work or add some detail to an infrastructure compound. Also new is a public address system set (13621, £12.75), which consists of…

ANNOUNCED 12 months ago, the latest iteration of the Graham Farish Class 47 has now arrived, this taking the form of No. 47209 Herbert Austin in Railfreight Distribution colours (372-247). This was one of the models unveiled to mark last year’s 30th anniversary of the sub-sector liveries and portrays an entirely typical example of the Tinsley-based Distribution fleet. No. 47209 received the livery in May 1990 following overhaul at Doncaster Works with the nameplates appearing a few months later. As modelled, the loco is correct up to the start of 1993, when the life extension modifications were carried out, and is suitable for a wide range of traffics, such as Freightliners, automotive trains and Ministry of Defence workings. The spring of 1994 would bring the fitting of green circle multiple…

A FURTHER limited edition Dapol Class 121 ‘bubble car’ is now available from DCC Supplies, the ‘OO’ gauge model joining the manufacturer’s standard releases and Hattons’ suite of colourful exclusives. The subject this time is Chiltern Railways’ second heritage DMU, No. 121034 in its retro BR green livery. This unit was reinstated to regular passenger service in mid 2011 to reduce the burden on Chiltern’s blue-liveried No. 121020, the two subsequently taking turns to operate peak hour Aylesbury-Princes Risborough trains until their withdrawal in May 2017. Arguably something of a bridesmaid to its ‘celebrity’ classmate, No. 121034 received a less extensive refurbishment for its return to the main line. For example, it retained the cab front exhaust pipes and original destination blinds while, internally, it did not receive the passenger…

RECENT weeks have seen Kernow Model Rail Centre release weathered versions of its exclusive 4mm scale ‘Clay Tiger’ hopper wagons, these following on from the pristine models released last summer. Pictured here is one of the white-liveried PBA hoppers, there being four differently numbered models available with this finish along with a further quartet in the later blue scheme when coded JIA on TOPS. Notably, Kernow has now sold out of the pristine white models, such has been the demand for the high capacity china clay carriers. The white examples are numbered as TRL11626/28/29/31 (reference nos. SB002E-H respectively) and are finished to the same high standard as their predecessors. The weathering adds a further £5 to the price and amounts to adecent all over coating of grot. This has been…