Índex per January 2019 a Rail Express

THE Mayor of London, the Greater London Authority, and Transport for London announced on December 10 that an additional financing package worth up to £1.7 billion has been agreed with the Government to complete the Crossrail project and open the Elizabeth line to passengers as quickly as possible. The new east-west line under London had been due to open in December 2018, but a few months before this date it was put back to autumn 2019, although this date is now also in doubt after engineers found that more work is required to complete the infrastructure so that full-scale testing can begin. FINANCE REVIEW Core elements, including the stations and the fit out of the tunnels, are at varying stages of completion – plus the complex signalling systems and integration…

TRAIN services operated by the Northern franchise continued to be disrupted during December, with the RMT union imposing strike action on successive Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas. By the end of the month, there will have been 19 successive Saturdays when it has only been possible to run 30% of planned services. Support for the industrial action shows no sign of abating among the staff concerned, and as a result the franchise operator Arriva has produced a contingency plan based on the staffing resources available that provides a much-reduced timetable with last trains departing by 17.00. The lack of rail services later in the day will affect retailers and many sporting and cultural events across the North. The dispute centres around Driver Controlled Operation (DCO), which will account for…

DECEMBER 9, 1983 witnessed one of the most unusual events in locomotive history, which would probably be classified under ‘whimsy’ had it not also led to the loss of life. The loco was Immingham-based No. 47299, which collided with a DMU at Wrawby Junction, west of Barnetby, while hauling an oil train – an event foretold two years earlier by a clairvoyant, although there are those who believe it was just plain coincidence. No. 47299 began its career uneventfully as one of the 512-strong Brush Type 4 fleet. As No. D1866 it started work out of Tinsley depot, Sheffield, before moving to Immingham in September 1969, where it would remain until June 1991 apart from a short spell at Healey Mills in 1981. All was routine until the end of…

LONDON Underground formally signed the contract for the construction of 94 new ‘Inspiro’ trains across four of its lines on November 20. Following tender submissions from several contractors, the preferred bidder, Siemens Mobility, had been announced in mid-June. However, following legal appeals launched by both Bombardier and Hitachi in July, which have still not been exhausted, a temporary restriction preventing TfL from signing the contract was lifted by the High Court. This initial contract will enable the replacement of all trains on the Piccadilly Line, which currently operates 1973 Tube Stock first introduced into passenger service in 1975. In order for these to continue operating until the new trains arrive, they are to undergo life extension work to improve reliability and performance. Work to overhaul seating, flooring, door locks and…

A STRANGE fault with the middle wheelset on one of the bogies of No. D9009 (55009) Alycidon has left the Deltic Preservation Society with no option but to lift the locomotive, remove the bogie and strip it down to ascertain what the fault might be as there is evidence of something rubbing on the inside of the wheel. No. D9009 returned on the rear of the empty stock of ‘The Deltic Deviator’ railtour to Nemesis Rail’s depot at Burtonon-Trent on September 29. The Nemesis engineers have since lifted the ‘Deltic’, run the bogie out and replaced it with an accommodation bogie, which the DPS had moved by road from its Barrow Hill depot. No. D9009 had been booked to haul Pathfinder Tours’ ‘Waverley Re-Union’ trip on January 5 to mark…

AT its annual general meeting on November 25, members of the Llangollen Diesel Group decided to reduce its fleet size and put Class 37 No. 6940 (37240) up for sale. The decision comes following the failure of the loco’s vacuum system in September, which resulted in a full appraisal of the loco’s condition being undertaken. This led to a conclusion that the EE Type 3 will need a full mechanical and bodywork overhaul in the near future. With two other locos in its ownership – Class 26 No. D5310 (26010) and Class 47 No. D1566 (47449) – the Group has reluctantly conceded it does not have the resources and manpower to continue looking after all three locos. The sale, which has already generated considerable interest and may well have been…

A PAIR of Class 50s, likely to be Nos. 50031 Hood and 50049 Defiance, are the first two visitors to be announced for the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s event at the beginning of May. Defiance is likely to be used to bring in other visitors to the event. Once again, ‘Deltic’ No. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier will be visiting the Severn Valley Railway in May. In addition to its use at the Spring Diesel Festival, it will be used on a number of driver experience days. FEWER ELR EVENTS The East Lancashire Railway has reduced its number of diesel events to one main gala and three theme days. The reason is largely twofold – a decline in visitor numbers on Sundays and a shortage of volunteers. (At its September…

IT was in August 2017 when Great Western Railway handed back the first of its HST sets to Angel Trains, although the first appearance of a Class 800 IET in passenger service did not take place until a few weeks later. Since the release of the first two power cars, Nos. 43021/132, more than 50 have now been returned to Angel Trains prior to transfer to ScotRail. The 54 power cars destined for use by ScotRail are in the process of being put through Brush, Loughborough, where they are being overhauled and reliveried into ScotRail colours. In addition, they are receiving interlock equipment to enable them to operate with refurbished ‘sliding door’ Mk.3 stock. Power cars that have had this modification can still operate with unrefurbished ‘slam door’ stock. To…

SYNONYMOUS with cement trains in the UK since the 1980s, the classic two-axle depressed centre (or ‘V’) tanker and the mid-1980s built ‘Metalair’ equivalent are now on the chopping block following recent deliveries of new JPA bogie wagons from Feldbinder in Germany. The fleet of 51-tonne PCA wagons utilised on Lafarge Blue Circle services, which was purchased in a sale and leaseback deal by Freightliner Heavy Haul in 2007, has seen a huge chunk taken out of it with the arrival of two rakes of wagons at CF Booth, Rotherham, in mid-November. BATCH TYPES Used on various services from Aberthaw, Hope, Oxwellmains and Northfleet in the last couple of years, with both Freightliner and Colas Rail power, the first wagons to be culled are taken from three different batches: Nos.…

IRISH Rail and Northern Ireland Railways continue to report increased passenger numbers on their respective networks, with 45.5 million passenger journeys recorded on IR in 2017 and 15 million on NIR. These positive figures have a downside, however, as many services are now running at capacity and overcrowding is a regular problem. IR is investigating interim solutions to the issue, as long term investment has to be authorised by the Government and its agencies. The company has considered returning some of its stored rolling stock into service in order to supplement the operational fleet, but a plan to restore the 1998-built 2700 Class DMU fleet (28 vehicles plus car No. 2609) to full working order has been ruled out due to excessive cost – although it is reported that only…

KERNOW Model Rail Centre delighted modellers at Warley with the announcement of a special edition ‘OO’ gauge model of the numerous Astra Rail JNA 11-rib JNA bogie box wagon (Ealnos). It is an excellent wagon to produce in partnership with Revolution Trains, with over 500 in service with detail differences and operators and in different liveries. The model will be offered in several current liveries, including VTG/Mendip Rail and GBRf, covering a wide sphere of operations that use heavy traction such as Class 59s and 66s. Mendip Rail operates a fleet of 65 wagons leased from VTG for aggregate traffic originating from the Mendip quarries to terminals throughout the south of England, where they are unloaded by mechanical grab. Flows are varied, which means the wagons can turn up at…

WHEN Bachmann produced its TTA 46t tank wagon in both ‘OO’ and ‘N’ gauge, it opened up a lot of potential for modelling a variety of different wagons because underframes from various redundant TTA wagons were fitted with new bodies for spoil, scrap steel and aggregate box wagons such as the POA and PNA. In ‘N’ gauge, the POA/PNA aggregate wagon has been offered by Bachmann Graham Farish with two body styles, opening up an opportunity for a simple conversion project that could be completed on a wet Sunday afternoon as a ‘quickie’ if acrylic paint is used for weathering. This article shows how the Graham Farish POA/PNA/MKA models can be converted to ZKA/MKA ‘Limpet’ spoil wagons, taking advantage of the fact that after the initial batch of InterCity labelled…

TANK wagons are popular with modellers, not least because many have specialist uses, were built in small numbers with specific fittings, and there is no need to account for loaded and empty wagons within a train as one might with coal or aggregate traffic. So, when a brand-new model of an air-braked tank wagon is released, it generates a great deal of interest in the modelling community – even more so when Olivia’s Trains chose to commission a particularly interesting tank wagon from Heljan for its latest ‘OO’ gauge special edition model. The British Oxygen Company (BOC) 102t TEA cryogenic tank wagons carried liquid oxygen and nitrogen from the BOC depot at Ditton near Widnes to numerous locations around the UK, including steel works and industrial sites. They ran in…

THE Welsh Government believes the new Wales & Borders franchise represents a once in a generation chance to redesign and repurpose the railway network in Wales. A £5 billion investment is headlined by a £700 million electrification project for the Core Valley Lines to Treherbert, Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Coryton, where the infrastructure ownership will be transferred from Network Rail to the Welsh Government. In addition, the scope of the network will be increased by light rail operations using tram-trains in the Cardiff Bay area. £800 million is also allocated to the provision of new rolling stock, with further funding for at least five new stations. Connectivity between population centres was a strand running throughout a Welsh Transport Conference organised in Cardiff on November 29, when the lack of…

THE ‘root and branch’ review of the current rail structure has concentrated a lot of passenger services, but little mention has been made of any freight implications. There is speculation that the outcome is going to be a return to more integrated passenger operations – indeed chairman Keith Williams has so far refused to rule out nationalisation saying he will consider all options – although how this will be implemented with a publicly-owned infrastructure provider and privately-run franchises can only be a matter of speculation. If the principal passenger operator and route provider becomes a single entity, the freight companies are rightly concerned that they may not have access to paths at the times they needed, and that track access charges may not reflect market conditions. It would seem the…

FIFTY-five new signals, nine new gantries, 56 miles of signalling cable, 79 sets of points, 150,000 tonnes of ballast, 240 engineering trains, roughly 10 miles of track relaid in a new configuration, and all in 79 days: that is the statistical summation of the recent Derby Resignalling Project. But it is more the human angle I have considered in this article, and so would probably add a few disrupted nights of sleep to that list, as I live at the north end of operations and received the brunt of many sonorous Class 66 warning horns as they passed through the possession. The project’s two main phases were July 22 to September 2 (South/ West) and September 2 to October 7 (North). For those involved in delivering the changes, it was…

50 YEARS AGO... JANUARY 1969 ■ WAVERLEY ROUTE CLOSED: Amidst controversy and protests, the line between Edinburgh and Carlisle via Hawick was officially closed on Monday January 6 – although the final trains, including a farewell railtour hauled by ‘Deltic’ No. D9007 (55007) Pinza, had run the day before. The final passenger train was the 9.56pm sleeper from Edinburgh Waverley to St Pancras hauled by ‘Peak’ No. D60 (45022), which arrived two hours late into Carlisle due to protesters blocking the line at Hawick and Newcastleton. Freight services to Hawick continued until April 25, and at the Carlisle end the Longtown-Harker section survived until 1970 for the Ministry of Defence munitions depot. The 1968/69 timetable from Edinburgh had one train each way to and from St Pancras, one to and…

THE Diesel Traction Group’s No. D1015 Western Champion has been repainted into BR blue with small yellow warning panels. The ‘Western’ is currently at Kidderminster awaiting two replacement power units before it returns to service. One engine suffered a major failure while working a tour to Scarborough in December 2016, leaving the loco in service at the Severn Valley Railway on one power unit. More recently, this operational power unit has developed a coolant leak, which is also to be removed from the ‘Western’ for inspection. The first replacement power unit was expected to arrive from Germany at the end of November. This is a slightly different specification short engine, but compatible with the loco. In addition, two engines are being built up in the UK, which will give three…

DB Cargo listed eight more Class 60s for sale in November, the closing date for offers being midday on December 14. Nos. 60008, 60064, 60070 and 60098 are at Toton while Nos. 60028, 60029, 60046 and 60055 are at Crewe EMD. Only No. 60064 has not been offered for sale before, but the others are on their second or third tender. Nos. 60070 and 60098 are two of the longest-stored ‘Tugs’, being taken out of traffic in August and May 2004 respectively. ■ The last week of November saw 30 Class 60s listed as active, 20 with DB Cargo and 10 with GBRf. This equates to just under a third of the 100 examples built, which sounds bad until it is recalled that DB’s predecessor EWS aimed to withdraw the…

CLASS 20 ALTHOUGH the quartet of Type 1s Nos. 20132+20311 plus Nos. 20096+20107 powered the 7X10/01.28 Banbury to Derby early on November 1 (with LUL sets Nos. 21435/6), the latter pair had been replaced by Nos. 20314+20901 later that day on the 7X08/15.56 Derby-West Ruislip. From the afternoon of November 3, however, the pairings became colour co-ordinated, with the Railfreight grey duo of Nos. 20118+20132 at one end and Nos. 20901+20905 in GBRf livery at the other, and so it remained throughout the rest of November. On November 1 and again the next day, the duo of Nos. 20007 and 20205 could be found on RHTT duties in Yorkshire, ending with the 3S15/19.50 Bridlington-York Works on November 2. Since then the DRS trio of Nos. 20302/3/5 have been regularly employed.…

GREATER Anglia took delivery of the first of more than 150 units that will replace its entire fleet over the next two to three years on November 15. The first to arrive was Stadler-built ‘Flirt’ No. 755405, which had previously been displayed at the Innotrans rail industry event at Berlin in September. After movement through the Channel Tunnel, it was collected by No. 66002 and taken to Norwich as the 5P99/03.43 Ripple Lane to Norwich Crown Point. While Swiss firm Stadler may be new to UK operations, its ‘Flirt’ design has widespread use in many other parts of Europe since it was first introduced in 2004. In addition to these 38 bi-mode sets, which will enable all of Greater Anglia’s DMUs to be replaced, a further 20 EMU versions are…

DURING the first morning of the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition in November, the covers were whipped off a small display case by Accurascale’s marketing manager Fran Burke to reveal the biggest surprise of the show as far as 4mm scale modellers were concerned. As a first British outline model, the Class 55 ‘Deltic’ is an interesting choice for Accurascale to choose, and one that the popularity of the full size locomotives is likely to guarantee good sales – particularly as the specification suggests that the model will break new ground for locomotive models in the UK. Accurascale plans to produce no less than 17 different versions of the Class 55 in the first batch, spanning its operational life from the early 1960s, with Nos. D9004 and D9007 in BR…

HATTONS is no stranger to producing models of complex prototypes, as demonstrated by its successful ‘OO’ gauge models of the ICI bogie hopper wagon and the Beilhack snowplough, and now it has turned its attention to the complex world of on-track plant. The announcement of a model of the Plasser and Theurer 12t General Purpose Crane, which is a complex prototype with a large amount of external equipment, is a welcome move towards exploring the potential of railway infrastructure equipment. A total of 30 Plasser & Theurer general purpose cranes (GPC) numbered DRP81503-81532 (5501-5530) were acquired by BR between 1977 and 1981 for use in infrastructure worksites, such as track relaying projects. They are self-propelled, allowing them to run at slow speed within a worksite, greatly improving project efficiency. They…

FIRST announced in March 2018, Dapol displayed the prototype of the new ‘OO’ gauge O&K JHA aggregate hopper wagon at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition. Models of both the inner and outer wagons are in development, allowing the correct train formations for Mendip aggregate traffic to be assembled. Outer wagons are fitted with conventional draw gear and buffers positioned at each end of a train, and inner wagons without conventional draw gear marshalled between them. The wagons will be the perfect companion to Dapol’s forthcoming Class 59 locomotive. The short, bulky appearance of the JHA wagon was apparent in the displayed prototype, which represents an inner wagon with buckeye couplings fitted in the same manner as the full size wagons. Walkways are represented with etched brass components, and internal…

THE first ZKA ‘Limpet’ conversions from private owner aggregate wagons coded POA and PNA were undertaken by BR Intercity in the early 1990s, at the same time as PGA hopper wagons were converted to ‘Gunnell’ wagons, in an effort to replace life expired vacuum braked engineers’ wagons. Conversions continued until a total of 181 wagons numbered Nos. 390150-331 were completed. Note should be made of a small number of ZKAs rebuilt with low sides as ‘Doorand’ and coded ZKA in the same number sequence. Not all ‘Limpets’ were repainted and many retained their original livery details following conversion to save money. The common feature is the former TTA tank wagon underframe, which was usually in good working condition after the tank wagon itself became redundant. ‘Limpets’ are very rare in…

THE NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust has won two major prizes in the Heritage Railway Association’s 2019 Awards for the stunning restoration of Autocar No. 3170 (see last issue). The Trust has won the Modern Traction Award, which is sponsored by this magazine, and also the HRA’s prestigious Manisty Award for Excellence, which is only given to truly outstanding projects. Despite entering service in 1903, No. 3170 was the first to combine an internal combustion engine with a generator and traction motors, thus becoming the first example of what we today call modern traction. Its restoration from just a bodyshell has been remarkable, having the look and feel of the original despite having to conform to modern safety standards using ‘upcycled’ parts from NIR trains, HSTs, Class 08s and others.…

Just how nimble are today’s locos and units, and what’s the quickest off the mark? FOLLOWING last month’s run with a Siemens-built Class 360 ‘Desiro’ in East Anglia, readers have wondered how British Rail Engineering Limited’s 1988-built Class 321s compare. With just over half the power (54%) of a ‘360’, a Class 321 cannot be expected to compete equally, even after allowing for their 17% weight advantage. Using the level standing start from Kelvedon as a test bed, Baard Covington recorded a 0-60mph time of 64sec for an originally-configured Class 321 – a creditable figure, but definitely a division lower than the 51sec of a ‘Desiro’. The Class 360 can also reach 100mph in 2½min, whereas the Class 321 usually takes over 4min – and that converts to braking for…

WITH their horns blaring, Class 50s Nos. 50007 Sir Edward Elgar and 50050 Fearless drew to a stand at the stops at Paddington on March 26, 1994 bringing to an end the life and times of the ‘Hoovers’ on national metals. The aptly-named ‘50 Terminator’ tour was the last passenger service for the English Electric-built machines, which had spanned 27 years. Or so it seemed at the time. The infamous diesel ban for preserved diesel traction was still in force then, with British Rail engineers continuing to maintain that they did not have the resources to inspect a preserved diesel in sufficient detail to guarantee it was fit or safe enough to run. Privatisation of the railways was looming, however, which had the effect of renaming ‘preserved diesels’ as ‘privately-owned…

PREVIOUSLY owned by the West Somerset Railway, Class 04 No. D2271 has been purchased by 5542 Ltd, owners of the GWR ‘Small Prairie’ of that number. The diesel shunter moved from the WSR to the South Devon Railway on November 1, where it joins another member of the class, the Devon Diesel Society’s No. D2246. No. D2271 received an overhauled engine in 2017, having been out of action since 2011. Withdrawn in 1969, it was sent to C.F. Booth at Rotherham for scrap, but escaped the cutter’s torch when it was bought for preservation. It was based at the Midland Railway Centre until 1982, when it was sold and taken to the West Somerset Railway.…

LAIRA resident No. 08483 had a brief break from its usual duties when it paid a short visit to the South Devon Railway for the heritage line’s weekend diesel gala on November 2-4 . The move left Laira depot with only one ‘08’ to cover the booked duties (No. 08644), so No. 08483’s holiday was a very tightly co-ordinated move – it arriving at the SDR on the Thursday afternoon and departing back to Plymouth on the Monday. During the gala, No. 08483 worked a full round trip each day solo, another round trip paired with resident Class 09 No. D3721 (09010), plus one short Buckfastleigh-Staverton return ‘top and tailed’ with No. D3721. No. 08483 has only been at Laira since August, having been transferred from Bristol St Philip’s Marsh.…

Another TransPennine Express rake, TP09, was delivered on November 15. Made up of Nos. 11509, 12725-727/809, the shrink-wrapped set moved north behind No. 57305 as the 5Q32/09.41 Portbury-Longsight (Manchester Eurostar Terminal), pictured passing Hatton North Junction, Warwickshire. The shrink wrap is reportedly to protect the coaches from being scratched by overgrowth on the Portbury branch. The previous day, set TP02 (coach Nos. 11502, 12704-706/802) was moved from Longsight to Crewe South Yard by No. 68022 Resolution to provide space for the new delivery.…

THE Downpatrick and County Down Railway (D&CDR) has secured IR departmental vehicle No. 638A for preservation. The two-axle 13½ton van, which was originally a Post Office Sorting Van, was one of 10 built in 1957 at Inchicore, but was latterly a Permanent Way Department Mess Van. No. 638A was removed from Heuston sidings to Inchicore by GM No. 088 on November 15, and will be transferred to Downpatrick in due course. Also on the move two days earlier (November 13) were eight stored RPSI wooden-bodied carriages, which were transferred from the valeting shed at Heuston to Inchicore at the request of IR. No. 224 marshalled the stock at Heuston, and No. 081 hauled the rake to Inchicore.…

IRISH Railway Models (IRM), the sister company to Accurascale, announced a highly-detailed model of the CIE Metropolitan-Vickers A/001 Class in 4mm scale at the Dublin show at the end of October. Sixty such locomotives were constructed in the mid-1950s at the Metropolitan-Vickers factory in Manchester to replace steam on the Irish railway network. Specification of the first locomotive model to be offered by IRM is high, and is similar to the Accurascale ‘Deltic’, including a precision mechanism with all wheel drive, five pole motor, twin flywheels and metal helical gears in the gear towers for fine running qualities. Fully-controllable lighting, including in the engine room, will be fitted to the model. Detailing is planned to be advanced to create a premium-quality model, including rotating axle ends, fully-detailed buffer beams and…

AMONG the impressive array of ‘OO’ gauge models displayed on the Dapol stand at Warley was a sample of the Class 68 decorated in Trans-Pennine Express livery of blue, magenta and silver as No. 68019 Brutus. As expected from the high standards being set by Dapol, the model is adorned with a wealth of details, many of which are added to the main body shell assembly as etched or moulded components and the cooling fan grilles located on the roof are particularly noteworthy details. The standard analogue model is priced at £154.95 with delivery to the shops planned for the end of 2018.…

HEAD and tail-lights are usually a given in contemporary standard ready-to-run locomotives and multiple units, and DCC interface sockets make fitting decoders to new models a simple plug-and-play exercise – allowing modellers to enjoy independently-controlled lighting regardless of whether the model is in motion or not. Whilst mainstream model locomotive electronics need to further develop with running lights independently switched through the circuit board and decoders, rather than sub-miniature slide switches in the underframe, the recently released ‘OO’ gauge Bachmann Mk.2f coaches is a sign that more sophisticated electronics are on their way. When it comes to kit-built and converted rolling stock, however, running lights usually have to be fitted by the modeller. This article shows how simple DCC controlled lighting was installed in a Southern Region General Managers Saloon…

THE Class 25/3 sub-class was the final development of British Railways’ Sulzer Type 2 Bo-Bo family, which began in 1958 as a ‘pilot scheme’ batch of 20 Class 24/0 locomotives for evaluation by BR and resulted in a total of 151 Class 24s entering traffic. Class 25s followed the same basic design, but with a four-character headcode box above the cab and an uprated Sulzer 6LDA engine. A number of design changes took place during the production run of Class 25 locomotives, including the redesign of the body shell to clean up its appearance (locating bodyside ventilation grilles to the roof shoulder) and removing the front gangway doors. By 1965, evolution of the design came to a close with the introduction of 80 Class 25/3 locomotives numbered Nos. D7598-D7677 (nos.…

FORMER Fastline Class 56 No. 56303 (ex-No.56125) passed into Devon & Cornwall Railway ownership in 2010 and was painted in the company’s green livery shortly afterwards with a large DCR logo placed on both sides of the loco at the No.2 end. The locomotive saw regular use on a variety of traffics, including scrap metal trains, on-track plant movements, Didcot-Calvert fly ash trains, coal from Butterwell in the North East, heritage stock movements and spoil trains to Barrington tip in Cambridgeshire. The locomotive operates in DCR green today, as represented by Hornby’s latest release of its popular Class 56 model, offering modellers about an eight-year time span of operation and the potential to turn up in a wide number of locations. Whilst DCR green may seem to be an unusual…