Sommaire pour November 2016 de Rail Express

PLANS by European rolling stock manufacturers CAF and Alstom to extend their UK operations by constructing new factories have taken another step forward, with work underway on one new plant and a location decision for another expected imminently. CAF chairman, Andrés Arizkorreta, has been in discussion with Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, as the Spanish firm looks to develop a rail-connected site. This will include a 15,000m2 building for the construction of new vehicles, with a further 10,000m2 set aside for stabling. To date, more than 100 sites across the UK have been looked at, and the company is now working on a detailed cost analysis and project timetables. It expects to make a final decision on the chosen location during October or early November. The intention is…

GOVIA Thameslink Railway has commenced consultations on the future timetable that will be introduced progressively between January and December 2018, when the re-modelling of the track layout at London Bridge has been completed. In addition to written inputs, a series of meetings have been organised at principal stations during October and November. Any comments must be submitted and fed back by December 8. There has been a significant increase in passenger demand since the project was first described as Thameslink 2000, with growth since then of 135% at London Bridge, 94% at Blackfriars, 71% at King’s Cross and 80% at St Pancras. Growth at other terminals served by GTR is 94% at Victoria and 187% at Moorgate. To cater for continuing growth, the rolling stock fleet is being enhanced. In…

THE offer by Abellio to pay £3.7 billion in premium payments exceeded rival bids of £3.1 billion from First Group and £2.7 billion from National Express. In the quality element of the bid, which made up 8% of the evaluation, First Group was marginally ahead with a credit of £187 million compared to £184 million scored by Abellio. However, National Express’s quality assessment was somewhat lower, as there was a reduced commitment to introduce new trains. This is in contrast to the total fleet renewal planned by Abellio, which involves introducing 1043 vehicles to replace the 937 in the existing fleet (see Headline News last month). Calculations made by analysts show that the franchise winner will need to increase revenue by more than 10% annually, which takes an optimistic view…

THE Rugby Portland Cement Company was established in 1872 and was an important railfreight customer until 1990, contributing about 15% of British Rail’s total cement tonnage. Railbourne cement was dispatched directly from the company’s works at Foxton (Cambridgeshire) and Halling (Kent), while cement from Rugby’s South Ferriby Works (Lincolnshire) was loaded onto rail at the nearby Scunthorpe Freight Depot. Cement traffic from Chinnor (Oxfordshire) and the company’s two works in the Rugby area, at New Bilton and Southam & Long Itchington – which included occasional workings to a small terminal at Osbaldwick on the Derwent Valley Railway (near York) – also survived into the early 1980s, but had gradually dwindled away to nothing by the middle of the decade. WAGON LOADS With a large number of relatively small flows, Rugby…

AS briefly reported in last month’s issue, the 'Summer Steam' event, intended to be run on September 10/11 by the London Transport Museum on the Metropolitan Line, was cancelled. Michael Owen’s Class 20 No. 20142 was to beofficially unveiled in its new Metropolitan Railway/London Transport livery at the event. A YEAR IN PLANNING Preparation had been in progress for almost a year. The London Transport Museum had worked with the Metropolitan Line Working Group and timetable specialists to identify slots in the timetable where the train could be routed around normal passenger services. Volunteer steam drivers had been chosen, and contractors had installed water towers at Amersham Station to replenish the steam locos’ water tanks. Documentation had also been written covering safety, maintenance and operation of the vehicles to be…

THE Branch Line Society has released two provisional dates for its 2017 diary, starting off on January 7 with an organised tour around the Scunthorpe Steelworks system. The full-day tour will commence at 09.30 and is expected to run through to dark, no doubt taking in as much of the Scunthorpe network as possible. The second date is a week later on January 14. As yet no information has been released except that it will be a main line railtour, and will be centred on the south east of England. Keep an eye on branchline.org.uk for details as and when they are released.…

EIGHT heritage railways have announced their dates for diesel galas next year. The first is the Spa Valley Railway on March 11/12, followed by the Ribble, Nene Valley, Swanage, Severn Valley, North Norfolk, West Somerset and Wensleydale railways. The Spa Valley, Wensleydale, Ribble and Nene Valley have announced two dates so far (see list below). Diesel Galas: October 21-23: Spa Valley Railway November 5: East Lancashire Railway (DMU day) November 4-6: South Devon Railway December 30-31: Mid-Norfolk Railway Mixed Traction events: December 29-30: Gloucestershire-Warwickshire Railway 2017 confirmed events: March 11-12: Spa Valley Railway March 25-26: Ribble Railway April 7-9: Nene Valley Railway May 5-7: Swanage Railway May 18-20: Severn Valley Railway June 9-11: North Norfolk Railway June 9-11: West Somerset Railway July 13-15: Wensleydale Railway August 3-6: Spa Valley Railway…

COLAS RAIL ALTHOUGH reinstated back in the spring, No. 47749 City of Truro had been conspicuously absent from the main line since its appearance at the St Philip’s Marsh open day on May 2. This changed on September 14 when, with No. 56113 in tow, it worked a 0Z47/10.40 Washwood Heath-Washwood Heath test run via Burton, Leicester and Nuneaton. This was its first outing under its own power since December 2013, but the Type 4 was not seen again during the month. Also still sidelined at Laira since its collision at Ivybridge on February 27 is No. 70803. It is understood that the loco is awaiting a new cab and frame parts to be fabricated in America and shipped to the UK before repairs can get underway. In the meantime,…

ANNOUNCED back in January, Oxford Rail has now received the initial engineering prototypes of its new ‘OO’ gauge range of Mk.3 coaches. These samples are designed to test the look and fit of the components and display a variety of detail configurations, not all of which are set to appear immediately. As previously stated, the loco-hauled Mk.3a coaches will be the first to be released, with the initial batch due in quarter one of next year. The first types to be produced are the First Open (FO), Tourist Second Open (TSO) and two kinds of catering vehicle, one of these being the original Restaurant Unclassified Buffet (RUB) design with three seating bays. The other will be the initial batch of Restaurant First Modular Buffets (RFM) as converted from HST Mk.3…

SEPTEMBER saw another name added to the growing number of small model companies looking to fill gaps in the range of available ready-to-run D&E era rolling stock. Known as Cavalex Models, its stated aim is to produce high quality models to the best possible standard and involving customers along the way to ensure their requirements are met. For its first subject, it has chosen the PGA hoppers built by Standard Wagon in three batches to diagram PG012A between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, these being operated by Redland Aggregates. Later passing to the rebranded Lafarge, these two-axle hoppers have enjoyed a long life, operating from Mountsorrel to assorted terminals across the south east, East Anglia and onto the Western Region over the years and with a wide variety of motive…

THE catalyst for what would become a semi-regular boat train operation to Southampton Docks occurred on December 11, 2008, when Direct Rail Services worked the first passenger train into the city’s Western Docks for some 15 years. Operated in conjunction with Cunard and Associated British Ports, the working was intended as a trial to see if the running of boat trains from the north of the country directly to the cruise ship terminal was a viable proposition. It was envisaged that this would not only give passengers a better overall travel experience but also reduce the congestion that occurred as several thousand passengers and crew arrived by road to board the super liners. The trial originated from Manchester Piccadilly with stops in Birmingham and Oxford before delivering 276 passengers to…

THE start of October saw a piece of model railway history being made as Revolution Trains took delivery of its ‘N’ gauge TEA tankers. Produced in conjunction with Rapido Trains, the wagons are the first UK models to be developed and delivered solely using the crowd-funding principles, where interested modellers pay up front with the funds then being used to produce the model. This methodology has a number of advantages, not least that customers get the models at a lower price than via traditional channels as the modellers behind Revolution have effectively worked on the project unpaid in their spare time for over 18 months. It also helps that the company has gone about the project in a totally professional way, communicating regularly with modellers and building trust along the…

TWO separate derailments just three days apart caused major delays at both Watford and Welwyn Garden City in mid-September. The first occurrence took place at Welwyn in the early hours of September 13, when two cars of Great Northern Class 313 No. 313055 were derailed on trap points close to the A6129 Great North Way bridge to the south of the station. The incident occurred at around 01.20 while the EMU was working as an empty stock movement in conjunction with classmate No. 313050. Righting the vehicles initially proved difficult – an attempt to re-rail the driving car with a road-rail recovery vehicle ultimately leading to the car leaning over even further. Consequently, two road cranes were brought in instead. It is understood that the driving car of No. 313055…

EVEN in the busiest days of British Railways, it would have been unusual to see a ‘60A’ Inverness shed-plate anywhere near Pickering, North Yorkshire, and considerable imagination is necessary even to formulate the likely circumstances that would lead to such an event. But here in August bank holiday week 2016 was a Scottish Class 26 ‘MacRat’ at the head of a seven-coach train – an opportunity that some of us remember having to travel as far as Kyle of Lochalsh to enjoy. The Birmingham RC&W’s 1160hp Type 2 diesels were constructed from 1958 with the ultimate destiny of dislodging steam traction from the Highlands, which it was proving disproportionately expensive to fuel and maintain on a heavily-subsidised railway that could easily fall prey to closure. Often working in multiple with…

AS part of the Sub Surface Railway (SSR) upgrading project across the four SSR lines, the signal cabin at Edgware Road is due to be decommissioned in early 2020. Instead of being dismantled, the Railway Heritage Designation Advisory Board (RHDAB), the successor to the Railway Heritage Committee (RHC) that was abolished on April 1, 2013, has designated the cabin as being an item of national historic interest. The cabin was originally built by the Metropolitan Railway prior to the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB), which amalgamated the range of previously privately-owned businesses to operate London’s bus and railway network under one public body in 1933. It opened on October 10, 1926, the station at Edgware Road having opened two years previously. The cabin is of a ‘Type…

THE National Railway Museum’s No. 84001, the sole-surviving member of its class, has been placed on long-term loan with the Scottish Railway Museum Trust. It moved north from Barrow Hill to Bo’ness on September 26/27, and has since been placed on display in the Museum of Scottish Railways. Bo’ness is seen as being an appropriate place to display the loco, as the Class 84s were constructed around 30 miles away by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. Ten examples were built between 1959 and 1961, and were taken out of service between 1977 and 1980 following continued reliability problems. No. 84001 was placed on loan to the National Railway Museum with the intention of replacing it with a Class 86 at a later date, although that decision was subsequently…

OUT of action since the ‘14s@50’ event at the East Lancashire Railway in July 2014, when its power unit was severely damaged owing to an engine overspeed incident, Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ No. D9523 has been given a new power unit. The work has been undertaken at the Nene Valley Railway, and it was hoped that the loco could perform at the line’s diesel gala on October 14-16, just after this issue goes to press. It is normally based at the Derwent Valley Light Railway near York. The failure of classmate No. D9539 at Peak Rail, which necessitated its return to the Ribble Steam Railway in August, has proved not to be as bad as first feared, and the loco saw use at the line’s diesel gala on October 1/2.…

WITH the autumn leaves now falling, this has once again brought the annual return to traffic of some of the Direct Rail Services Class 20/3 fleet. As usual, the Type 1s are required to power the Railhead Treatment Trains on routes around Yorkshire, including lines that are prohibited to other traction types. Having undergone preparations at Barrow Hill, Nos. 20308 and 20312 were released on September 27, the pair running light to Crewe Gresty Bridge. Here, they were reunited with Nos. 20303 and 20305, this duo having made the same journey back on July 21 prior to the DRS open day and had remained at the Crewe depot ever since. The afternoon of September 27 saw the quartet, now reinstated to the XHNC pool, run together back to Barrow Hill…

CLASS 20 CELEBRATING its 15th anniversary, GB Railfreight ran a four-day tour of the network beginning on September 8, when Nos. 20118+20132 ‘top and tailed’ the 1Z15/09.43 London Victoria-Swanage charter with Nos. 73128+73213, later returning the train to King’s Cross. There was further Class 20 use two days later when Nos. 20096+20107, ‘tailed’ by Colas Type 4 No. 47739, powered the 1Z15/08.15 Edinburgh-Inverness out via Ladybank, Perth, Dundee and Elgin and back over the Highland Main Line thence Shields Junction, Airdrie and Bathgate (see also pages 16-19 for a full report). On the day the tour had started, classmates Nos. 20096+20107 had been covering their normal work along with Nos. 20314+20905, forming the 6E21/21.00 West Ruislip-Peterborough with barrier wagons having taken LUL ‘S’ Stock sets Nos. 21567/8 south from Old…

FOR shunter fans, the Wensleydale Railway was the place to be on September 25, with a very rare public appearance of the two Class 08s owned by Sembcorp Utilities, Nos. 08743 Bryan Turner and 08903 John W Antill. Originally purchased by ICI in 1996, the two locos have spent the past 20 years in industrial use on Teesside, passing through the hands of Enron to today’s current owner. Based at Wilton since 2004, the pair have not seen action for a number of years, being locked out of sight in a shed. The ‘Wensleydale Wilton Shunter Spectacular’, organised by the Branch Line Society and the Preserved Locomotive Enthusiasts’ Group, thus offered the opportunity to not only see the locos but also get haulage behind them. The pair were delivered to…

SUFFICIENT Class 387/2s were in service during September to allow the remaining Class 442s to be withdrawn from Gatwick Express duties. The final booked ‘GatEx’ working was in the early hours of September 17, when No. 442413 worked the 1D02/00.02 Victoria to Gatwick and 1U07/00.50 return. This leaves just four peak-hour diagrams into and out of London Bridge for the former ‘Wessex Electrics’ from a pool of Nos. 442402/06/08/10/13/19. More units have been moved to Ely for storage in recent weeks, No. 442420 being transferred by No. 47815 as the 5E42/12.45 Eastleigh Works-Ely Papworth on August 31. A number of moves to Eastleigh Works, where the units are being prepared for storage, have also taken place. On September 6, No. 47812 left Three Bridges with Nos. 442412/416 in tow, but…

THE first run of Belmond’s new luxury train, the ‘Grand Hibernian’, was beset by a number of problems. Dedicated locomotive No. 216 was still considered to be unreliable for the high-profile inaugural journey, and so the role was instead given to ex-works Intercity-liveried No. 226. On launch day August 30, No. 226 and the train of 10 Mk.3s left Dublin Heuston at 14.20 for Cork (see last month’s front cover and Headline News). At 20.30, the tour train departed Cork and ran to Thurles to enable the locomotive to run round, and then returned as far as the down loop at Charleville, where the train was stabled until the following morning. The requirement for the train to make the 86-mile round trip from Charleville to Thurles and return was because…

DUE to join Heljan’s ‘O’ gauge range in the middle of next year, the manufacturer has now released further details of its new Class 45. Pictured here in hand-painted BR blue, the model will be supplied with customer-fit blanking plates for the boiler access steps, roof fillers and associated bodyside grilles along with the smaller grilles above the battery boxes. Reflecting the recent increase in liveries offered across the 7mm range, six versions are proposed for the ‘Peak’, all using the split-centre style of headcode panel. Exclusive to Tower Models will be BR green with grey roof, grilles and body stripe but no yellow panels while general releases include this scheme with half yellow ends and the late 1960s ‘economy’ green with yellow panels but no grey embellishments. There will…

TO provide luggage accommodation on the DB Schenker-operated boat trains, two Super BG parcel vans were repainted in maroon to match the company’s existing charter stock. In 4mm scale, the Bachmann model is the obvious starting point to recreate these vehicles, making sure it is fitted with B4 bogies. The first job was to match the maroon colour, which turned out to be more difficult than first thought. Examining prototype pictures, the shade appeared to vary massively depending on weather and ambient lighting conditions, but comparing it to other vehicles of known colours in the same pictures was a helpful guide. After much debate and many pictures later, I decided that the nearest colour was West Coast Railways maroon, which is available in the Railmatch acrylic range. For the roof,…

THE ranks of limited edition Bachmann Class 66s currently available increased by two during September with the release of the latest exclusive ‘OO’ gauge models from the London Transport Museum. Following on from the previous Class 20s in their London Transport and London Underground colours, the museum has now commissioned the GB Railfreight duo of Nos. 66718 and 66721 in their unmistakable liveries. Unveiled in November 2013, the two GMs were repainted at Eastleigh Works as part of the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Underground system. Previously in the obsolete Metronet colours, the event also strengthened the ties between GBRf, the museum and its parent organisation. The results were certainly startling, with No. 66721 appearing in white livery to pay tribute to Harry Beck’s iconic Tube…

THROUGHOUT this year, Rail Express Modeller has been marking the anniversary of Network SouthEast at selected exhibitions with a display of models and literature. This varied collection will be getting one further outing at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition on November 26/27, it being only fitting to conclude the celebrations at the UK’s largest show. Forming the centrepiece of stand A39 will be the magazine’s former project layout Elcot Road, the ‘P4’ gauge creation depicting suburban passenger operations in the Croydon area in 1988 alongside a coal concentration depot. Also on display will be a collection of 4mm scale models in the red, white and blue colours along with as much NSE literature as possible. Adjoining the display area will be the Rail Express trade stand which, in addition…

THE main rail link between England and Wales was closed on September 12 until October 21 as part of the Great Western electrification scheme. During the closure, freight and some passenger servies were diverted via Gloucester, while replacement buses also ran between Newport and Bristol Parkway. Intercity services ran hourly between Paddington and South Wales, leaving the main line at Swindon and running via Gloucester and Chepstow to pick up the normal route at Severn Tunnel Junction. There was also an hourly service between Paddington and Bristol Parkway – although the last train direct to Parkway left London at 18.45, after which a change at Temple Meads was necessary. Services between Portsmouth Harbour and Cardiff were truncated at Bristol Parkway, with replacement buses going forward via the Severn Bridge, adding…

AN ambitious railtour on September 8-11, organised by GB Railfreight to celebrate 15 years of operations, travelled over 2200 miles behind 19 locos from nine different classes. The four-day charter, which had been over a year in planning, raised more than £125,000 for three charities. The British Heart Foundation, the Ripple Project and Woking Homes are all set to benefit from the proceeds of the tour, which was the brainchild of three GBRf employees, Dale Williams, Paul Taylor and Richard Owen. Such a large array of power was reminiscent of the ‘Skirl of the Pipes’ trips in the 1980s – although back then, with more locos on the network, such tours were much easier to plan. A large number of positioning movements had to be arranged for the GBRf tour,…

THE final months of the Class 52 ‘Westerns’ in BR service in late 1976 and early 1977 saw a number of railtours run to mark the end of the class and thus the diesel-hydraulic era. One of the most anticipated was the ‘Western Talisman’ on November 20, 1976 – which would see one of the remaining ‘Thousands’ haul a passenger train along the East Coast Main Line for the first time. Although it was a simple format, with a straightforward out and back run from King’s Cross to York, its significance was huge. Not quite 30 years after the nationalisation of British Railways, the regions still operated with great rivalry, and there was little appetite to help each other out more than they had to. So when the request came…

ELECTRIC ‘GOLDEN ARROW’: With completion of the Kent Coast Electrification scheme in early 1961, the prestigious ‘Golden Arrow’ Pullman service was switched from steam to electric-hauled and the timetable speeded up. Dual-mode HA locos (later Class 71) were employed, which featured third-rail pick-up for main lines and a pantograph for shunting in sidings. In November 1961, No. E5015 (which was later rebuilt as HB/Class 74 electro-diesel No. E6101/74001) passes through Hildenborough en route to Dover Marine with the down service. 50 YEARS AGO... NOVEMBER 1966 FULL YELLOW ENDS: Diesel locos began emerging from works with yellow warning panels enlarged to cover the entire body ends – and, in some cases, extended around the cab sides. A multiple unit that received two versions was a six-car ex-‘Midland Pullman’ transferred to the…

THE Diesel Traction Group’s ever-popular ‘Western’ No. D1015 Western Champion put in another faultless performance on September 17, when it worked Pathfinder Tours’ ‘Cornishman’ to Penzance. Running in the guise of scrapped classmate No. D1071 Western Renown, and with a trailing load of some 455 tonnes (13 coaches), the hydraulic made a smart departure from Tame Bridge Parkway at 05.07, heading south eastwards through Perry Barr and curving to the south west through Proof House Junction and into Birmingham New Street bang on time at 05.21. The three minutes allowed at New Street turned into four before No. D1015 got underway again via Kidderminster and Worcester, but by Cheltenham the ‘Western’ was running perfectly to time, and Bristol Temple Meads was reached at the booked time of 08.00. Back on…

Promoter Codes: A1SLT – A1 Steam Locomotive Trust; AGA – Abellio Greater Anglia; BBP – Belmond British Pullman; BGH – Belmond Grand Hibernian; BNB – Belmond Northern Belle; BRS – Belmond Royal Scotsman; CR – Charity Railtours; GBRf – GB Railfreight; HR – Hertfordshire Railtours; NT – Nenta Traintours; PMRT – PMR Tours; PRU – Papyrus Rail UK; PT – Pathfinder Tours; RM – Railway Magazine; RPSI – Railway Preservation Society of Ireland; RTC – Railway Touring Company; SCTR – ScotRail; SD – Steam Dreams; SR – Statesman Rail; SRPS – Scottish Railway Preservation Society; TEL – Torbay Express Ltd; TfL – Transport for London; UKR – UK Railtours; VT – Vintage Trains; WCRC – West Coast Railways…

JUST a few weeks after it was announced that the Epping Ongar Railway’s 3-CIG is to be exported to Ireland, it has been revealed that another preserved ‘CIG’ unit is to be disposed of. Three cars from Dartmoor-based No. 1399 – driving car Nos. 76747/818 and trailer No. 70508 – are to be used for component recovery to provide parts for the owner’s ‘VOP’ No. 3905 before being disposed of. The remaining car from the set, motor car No. 62385, is to be retained and will be used to make the ‘VOP’ back into a four-car formation, creating a hybrid set. The VOP was acquired minus its motor car, which was retained by the 5-BEL Trust to provide parts for the rebuilding of the ‘Brighton Belle’ EMU. The latest developments…

THE final vehicles belonging to the EPB Preservation Group have now left the East Kent Railway. 2-EPB No. 5759 has been moved to Southall, where it joins Motor Luggage Van No. 68002. The decision by the EPBPG to transfer all of its rolling stock to other locations came after it was given notice to remove its non-operational vehicles from the railway earlier this year. The two driving cars from ‘CEP’ No. 7105 remain at Eastleigh Works for rebuilding back into unrefurbished condition. The accompanying table details the current whereabouts of all the group’s vehicles. EPBPG ROLLING STOCK…

GB RAILFREIGHT is set to expand its motive power roster further with the addition of a small fleet of Class 47s, these being taken on long-term hire from HNRC. The locos are due to be equipped with translator equipment and removable Dellner couplings in the same manner as the Europhoenix Class 37s to allow use on EMU drags, while they will also bemaintained to allow 100mph operation. Four locos have been identified to join the new GBHN pool, the first to be transferred being No. 47853. This was retrieved from store at MoD Longtown on September 8 and returned to nearby Carlisle Kingmoor to be prepared for handover by former owner Direct Rail Services. It was awaiting collection as the month ended. No. 47853 is due to be joined by…

BELMOND has introduced an extra vehicle in its luxury ‘Royal Scotsman’ rake in the form of Metro-Cammell Pullman car No. 337, which has been completely rebuilt into a ‘State Spa Car’, providing treatments such as massages and pedicures. The coach has been given a TOPS identity of No. 99337 and entered service on September 26, having been taken to Scotland three days earlier by No. 47826 as the 5Z47/08.00 Carnforth-Craigentinny. Work on the vehicle, which resembled little more than a shell, was undertaken at Carnforth, with interior fitment being undertaken by Mivan, a specialist construction company based in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Built as a Pullman Second Kitchen (PSK), the former No. 337 was withdrawn from traffic in 1977 and initially based at the Nene Valley Railway before moving to…

AS reported in the Headline News pages of Rail Express last month, GBRf is acquiring 41 new 101.6-tonne hopper wagons from Nacco Leasing for use on Sibelco’s silica sand flow from Middleton Towers (near King’s Lynn) to Goole, Barnsley and Doncaster. Constructed by Greenbrier Europe at Wagony Swidnica in Poland, the fleet is expected to be similar in design to the HIAs already in service with DB Cargo, Freightliner and Mendip Rail, albeit with a covered roof. The new wagons will replace the current group of WBB Minerals-branded two-axle PAA hoppers, which were acquired by British Industrial Sand in 1981-2 and refurbished by WH Davis between 2003-4. WBB was rebranded after its parent company Sibelco UK in 2008. GBRf is also reported to have ordered 24 JNA (Ealnos) boxes from…

WHILE visiting the DRS Carlisle Kingmoor open day in July 2011, we first noticed the Cruise Saver-liveried Mk.2f BSO coach when it arrived on the depot, having been part of a Pathfinder railtour to Carlisle. This was photographed at Kingmoor while the set was serviced and again back at the station as the train waited to work back south. This included side-on shots in order to help create bespoke transfers to model the coach in 4mm. Taking a Hornby Mk.2d BSO model as the basis, this was first dismantled and any raised printed logos and lettering removed. It was then given a coat of primer before the painting process got underway. While the application of the main blue and roof grey colours was straightforward, the areas where the large picture…

AFTER an absence of several years, Rail Express can once again offer readers a chance to purchase an exclusive model… at a fantastic price. Launched to the public at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition, our new limited-edition model is the unmistakable GB Railfreight’s No. 66720, a design that came about after the company held a competition for the children of its employees to come up with a locomotive livery. The winning entry was unveiled in July 2011 and was the handiwork of Emily Goodman, then aged six. Emily came up with two designs; on one side of the loco is depicted the ‘day’ and features the sun, birds in flight and an extensive rainbow, while the opposite ‘night’ side includes the moon, a shooting star…

WITH the 2mm version of the VTG/ Greenbrier modern day TEA tankers now manufactured and in the process of distribution, attention has turned to the ‘OO’ gauge model. Announced a few months after the ‘N’ gauge version, this is further behind in the development process but September saw Rapido Trains release the first images of the tooling. Pictured here, the model is the first manually-assembled test example built from components sent from China. As such, it is still subject to a number of adjustments to the fit of the parts, such as the etched brass walkway, this being shaped and fitted by hand on this example so is not quite level all the way along. Nonetheless, this first sample gives a good indication of how the TEAs will look and…