Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i Rail Express

SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) was renationalised on May 25, marking the first step under the Public Ownership Act to take over the former franchises as part of the Government’s transition towards the creation of Great British Railways (GBR). SWR had been run by First Group/MTR since August 2017. The first full service to run under Department for Transport control was the 06.14 Waterloo to Shepperton formed of Class 701 No. 701046. On board was Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander who called the step “a new dawn for our railways”. She added that legislation will come later in the year to set up Great British Railways, integrating the management of track and train. “One team, one railway, delivering higher passenger standards,” she said. It is a cultural reset aimed at instilling a…

JUST a few months shy of the 26th anniversary of its debut in the UK at Newport Docks on October 6, 1999, long-stored spares donor No. 67003 has made its final journey. The Class 67, the first of the type to be delivered to this country, was moved by road to EMR Kingsbury on May 27, and had been substantially disposed of by the end of the month. It was one of four of the Alstom/GM Type 5s to be stored in October 2019, along with Nos. 67007/017/030, although from that group only No. 67030 remains out of service. Built in the same Valencia factory as the Direct Rail Services Class 68s, Rail Operation Group Class 93s and upcoming GB Railfreight Class 99s, the 30 Class 67s were financed by…

CLASS 20 Heading west on May 10 Nos. 20132+20118 Saltburn by the Sea top-and-tailed the 1Z67 06.33 Leven-Oban with EE Type 3 No, 37403 Isle of Mull. The Type 1s had travelled north from Crewe to Carlisle Upperby on May 8 and on to Bo’ness the following day. A private charter left London Paddington bound for Cardiff Central on May 24 hauled by No. 37240 and tailed by Type 1s Nos. 20189+20142. Back in action after a year out of the limelight at Barrow Hill and Worksop, Nos. 20302 (HNRS) and 20311 (HNRL) were hired out to Rail Adventure on May 14 being paired with power cars Nos. 43467+43423 to move former TfW bi-mode unit No. 769006 on the 5Q88 12.25 Crewe IEMD-Long Marston. The pair then ran light engine…

HORNBY continues to deliver its promised 2025 programme with the release of Class 91 ‘Electras’ and matching Mk.4 Driving Van Trailers (DVT). They will provide more options to go with the range of retooled Mk.4 stock released by the company a few years’ ago. GNER (gold lettering), InterCity ‘swallow’ and current LNER liveries are included in the range for 2025 with the Class 91s priced at £244.99 and DVTs at £94.99. www.hornby.com NEW HORNBY ROLLINGSTOCK…

00 GAUGE 4mm scale 2009 to present ERA Prototype background TRAIN OPERATOR South Eastern Railway (www.southeasternrailway.co.uk) revealed its new High Speed livery on March 25 this year. The first unit to wear the new scheme is No. 395015 which also received bespoke graphics for Railway 200 celebrations with the legend ‘Celebrating 200 years of our Railway Past, Present and Future’. The graphics show destinations on the South Eastern High Speed network including St Pancras International, The Orbit at Stratford, oast houses and hop fields of Kent, Rochester Castle, Harbour Arm Lighthouse in Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hornby revealed its model of No. 395015 at the same time the new livery was unveiled at Margate station. A four-car train pack and supporting two-car extension pack in the new livery will…

00 GAUGE 4mm scale 1969-2005 ERA THREE four-wagon runner packs of Heljan 35t tank wagons were commissioned by Irish Railway Models (IRM) around the same time that Heljan announced a new run of its popular ‘OO’ gauge model. They have been adapted for the Esso oil trains that ran on the Sligo line. Redundant 35t tank wagons with the longer barrel were sold to Córas Iompair Éireann in the late 1960s and modified with additional bracing between the underframe and tank barrel, a feature of the IRM models. Otherwise, apart from the livery and wheel gauge, the wagons were more or less the same as when operated on BR. The full-size wagons were operational until the early 2000s when block oil trains on the Sligo line ceased and the wagons were, for…

BRITISH RAIL (BR) was in a bad place in 1982 with subsidies rising and traffic falling. The 1970s had been a tumultuous time for Britain’s railways. A sustained period of politically-led industrial unrest saw strikes directly, or indirectly affecting British Rail. Inflation of 5.5% in 1970 had reached 14.4% by the end of the decade, prompting higher wage demands. British Rail tried to counter its increasing wage bill with cost savings, but the strong might of the rail unions meant staff were reluctant to accept change. Passenger numbers continued to decline. 824 million journeys were made in 1970 but 10 years later the figure was 760 million. But then BR came up with Sectorisation – its best idea since nationalisation: To run the industry as five dynamic business sectors with…

ORDERED in April 1992 at a cost of £1.4 million, the ‘Skako’ ballast train was a key investment by the South East Division of Network SouthEast to improve the efficiency of the BR sector’s Total Route Modernisation programme, particularly with the Eurostar trains due to commence operation through the Channel Tunnel in late 1994. Now, some 33 years later, with the train long since based at Carlisle Kingmoor for use on Scottish track renewal projects, the 10 90-tonne YDA ‘Octopus’ hoppers are considered life expired. They moved from Carlisle to Doncaster Belmont on April 29 via Crewe Basford Hall and Toton, and were sent for their appointment with the EMR ‘gas axe’ on a 6Z81 07.00 to Attercliffe on May 6 behind No. 66082. Built by Powell Duffryn-Standard (PDS) at…

FIRSTGROUP has entered into rolling stock lease agreements with Eversholt Rail for five Class 222 ‘Meridian’ units which will be used on its Stirling to London Euston open access services under the Lumo brand. Just days afterwards, Alstom said it had signed a £50 million contract with FirstGroup and Eversholt Rail for the unit refresh and maintenance of the five sets. Last year First acquired Grand Union WCML which included track access rights for the Stirling operation and say once the service has settled, revenues of around £50 million annually are expected. First say the five Class 222s will be six-car formations and used to operate four return services a day (three on Sundays) with an additional, fifth daily return service between Preston and London, seven days a week. Currently…

THE disposal of redundant Class 465 and 466 ‘Networker’ units continued during May, with the despatch of a further nine sets for scrap, including the first Class 465/9 to be disposed of. All the units sent for scrap during the month were despatched to Unimetals (formerly Sims Metal) at Newport from Ely Papworth. The first of the weekly scrap moves took place on May 1, when No. 37884 Cepheus took Nos. 465240/48 to South Wales for cutting up. Nos. 465243/50 followed on May 8, No. 37800 Cassiopeia providing traction. No. 37884 was used for the three remaining moves, Nos. 465236 (May 15), 465238/39 (May 22) and 465915 and 466027 (May 29). No. 465915 was the first of its sub-class to be sent for scrap; other off lease Class 465/9 sets…

KMRC RAISES FUNDS FOR ‘GORDON’ The Southern Electric Traction Group has received a boost from railway modellers in its efforts to restore 4-Vep EMU No. 3417 Gordon Pettitt to full main line status. Kernow Model Rail Centre has teamed up with Gaugemaster and Winchester Railway Modellers to raise funds by donating three Hornby 4-Vep models for auction on eBay. They have been refinished as No. 3417 in heritage condition by railway modeller Mr Dan Havlik. The auction will take place in the week preceding the Blue Bell Railway Model Railway Weekend of June 28 and 29 where KMRC, will, in addition, be donating 4TC models for a raffle. FIFTY-FUND EXCLUSIVE ‘HOOVER’ No. 50031 Hood finished in BR Large Logo livery as applied at Laira Depot in 1991 is the choice…

N GAUGE 2mm scale 1968-2004 ERA CHOOSING A SUITABLE Travelling Post Office vehicle to model as a representative of the large and varied fleet of vehicles operated by BR for the Royal Mail is not easy. Within the ranks of the two types of Mk.1 Travelling Post Office (TPO) vehicles constructed by BR, there were numerous lots of vans. Stowage vans, in common with sorting vans, were built in small batches with detail changes between each batch. They differed from the location of loading doors to the type of door and whether the van was fitted with nets or not. Bachmann chose a Diagram 732 stowage van to go with its Graham Farish ‘N’ gauge Diagram 720 sorting van model. It was built with door recesses for traductor arms, a feature not…

00 GAUGE 4mm scale 1952-2008 ERA ANNOUNCED in January 2023, the new ‘OO’ gauge YMO and YMA ‘Salmon’ bogie bolster wagons have been eagerly anticipated by modellers. Not only was the BR design with both 5ft 6ins. wheelbase (short plate bogie) and 8ft wheelbase plate bogies revealed, the useful LMS design was also added to the range, covering the life of the wagons from LMS to early Privatisation. ‘Salmon’ were upgraded and fitted with air brakes during the 1980s along with other improvements, whilst the LMS design was withdrawn. Air braking was applied to both the short plate and long plate bogie wagons in the 1980s along with through vacuum pipes being fitted, retained (if the donor wagon was a YMP to become a YMB) or removed depending on the status of…

Steven Knight takes the time machine into the archives 50 YEARS AGO… JULY 1975 ■ LAST OPERATIONAL ‘HYMEK’ SOLD BY BR THE LAST Class 35 diesel hydraulic ‘Hymek’ locomotive to remain in service with British Rail’s Western Region, No. D7018, was sold to a Derby businessman and placed on loan to the Great Western Society at Didcot. The plan was for it to be repainted into original green livery. It left Old Oak Common depot on July 3 in a freight train to Reading West Yard behind Class 52 ‘Western’ No. D1025 Western Guardsman and was tripped the short distance to Didcot the following day behind Class 31 No. 31295. 40 YEARS AGO… JULY 1985 ■ DPUs MOVE SOUTH AN UNUSUAL transfer from Newton Heath depot in Manchester to Birmingham’s…

A GROWING trend over the past few months has been the cancellation of railtours. The cause is often cited as a lack of bookings but the reasons can often run deeper. In recent months, Pathfinder Railtours and the Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) have pulled the plug on promoted tours. Even with the attraction of a pair of Class 37s over a great route with fantastic scenery, Pathfinder cancelled the first two of five planned ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ tours after failing to get past the break-even point. The SRPS has pulled a couple of its tours too. Cancelling a tour can instil a lack of confidence in the market, potentially affecting credibility and raises questions for potential customers. Despite a relatively slow start, to the year are there now just…

THE disposal by First Group of 12 of its sliding door HST coaches (along with two power cars – see Headline News) to West Coast Railways means that the only vehicles remaining at Laira are those currently in use with Great Western Railway, comprising four sets (GW06-GW09) and two spare cars. Eight of West Coast Railways’ acquisitions were moved to their new home on May 20. Nos. 48102/10-12/30/49, 49103/04 were collected by Nos. 47802/812 which then formed the 5Z29 15.31 Laira-Carnforth. A pair of Mk.2 ‘air cons’, TSO No. 6176 and BSO No. 9527, acted as barrier vehicles. The other four coaches which have joined the WCR fleet were still at the West Somerset Railway, along with power car Nos. 43154/155, at the end of May. They arrived there for…

00 GAUGE 4mm scale 2021 to present ERA The prototype LUMO CLASS 803 No. 803005 completes a set of Hitachi units announced by Hornby a few years ago which included TransPennine Express ‘Nova 1’, GWR IEP and LNER ‘Azuma’ trains. In recent times, Hornby has confirmed the production of the Avanti West Coast version which is due later this year. Five all-Standard Class units were constructed in 2020 and 2021 for the new open access operator Lumo. They are electric trains fitted with back-up batteries instead of an auxiliary diesel engine to cover for power failures. Unlike the ‘Azuma’, ‘IEP’ and ‘Nova 1’ trains, there is no catering area, with each five-car train having over 400 seats. Lumo operates them on very limited stop, high-speed services between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh…

0 GAUGE 7mm scale 1925 to 1990s ERA ANOTHER quite lovely item of ‘O’ gauge rollingstock has emerged from Heljan, this time in the shape of the Southern Railway PMV (Parcels Miscellaneous Van) and the similar CCT (Covered Carriage Truck). PMVs were also known as Passenger Luggage Vans, although their primary role was to transport almost anything from parcels, mail, luggage and even livestock from time to time. CCTs carried road vehicles and general goods too. Their general purpose role ensured a long operational history well into the BR diesel era, where they operated as revenue vans coded PMV and NQV. Many passed into departmental service ensuring their survival beyond their last revenue use in 1986. They (both PMVs and CCTs) were phased out completely by the 1990s allowing a reasonable number…

WHEN ONE reckons up the number and cost of small details for railway related equipment, such as lineside cabinets, point machines and cable troughing needed to detail a reasonable-sized layout, the total can be quite eye-watering. We don’t advocate not buying commercially made items, but tight budgets need an approach that saves money if a project is to be completed. The key to successful layout scene development is not to overcrowd them, but build in the essential details to make it believable and authentic in appearance. Experienced modellers use a mix of commercial and handmade details to save money and build in character. Use reference photographs to judge how much clutter really exists in real railway environments before starting work. Another way to control costs is to build up details…

THE use of Class 08s at the Celsa steelworks in Cardiff came to an end in early May after a presence of almost three decades, the hire having begun under Transrail when the plant was still operated by Allied Steel & Wire (ASW). Although current provider GB Railfreight had declared that the changeover to the replacement Zephir road/rail shunters was completed in December last year, this proved to be premature due to teething troubles with the new order. As a result, the number of Class 08/09s on site was reduced by half with the departures of No. 09106 and then No. 08630. Two examples, Nos. 08389 and 08924, remained in regular use until midnight on May 8. From this time, the hire of the HNRC machines to GBRf expired, leaving…

IE (Iarnród Éireann) announced on May 5 that it had signed a €44 million contract with WH Davis for 150 new wagons with delivery planned for mid-2026. There is scope for a further 250 wagons to be ordered over the next 10 years. With the exception of 24 container pocket wagons, most freight vehicles used on the present unit load and timber flows are now approaching their end of service life and will be replaced by new wagon order. Minimal details of the new stock were released but the wagons will be air braked, weigh 17 to 20 tonnes unladen and carry a payload of 62 to 65 tonnes, with a maximum speed of 65mph. The other long term framework agreement (no costs were disclosed) was announced by IE on…

LT Museum launches final appeal for ‘Q’ stock restoration IN May, the London Transport Museum (LTM) launched an appeal to help fund the completion of the ‘Q’ Stock project, returning a three-car unit dating from the 1930s into heritage service alongside the 38 Tube Stock unit. This appeal for £30,000 will fund the re-upholstering of two of the three cars. Each car will represent a different time period between the 1940s and when until the last units were withdrawn in 1971. The cost to re-upholster each of the three cars is £15,000. Funds to undertake the work on one of these cars has already been obtained. The challenge now is for the LTM to complete work on the other two. These two cars are Driving Motors [DM] 4416 and 4417.…