Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Rail Express

AS this issue goes to press we are once again in a nationwide lockdown. We are advised not to travel unless it is an essential journey, while heritage lines and museums have been forced to close, so most of us are back to being armchair enthusiasts. But there is much to be hopeful for this time – light at the end of the tunnel, to use one of the railway metaphors so popular with the Government experts! 2020 was a horrible year, not least for the many people and families directly affected by the virus, or the knock-on economic effects of all the restrictions on jobs, businesses and trade. Now, though, the roll-out of the vaccination programme means that come spring – exactly a year after the first lockdown began…

THE usual January rail fare rise has been put back to March 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Government has announced. However, regulated fares such as season tickets will then rise by 2.6%, which is greater than the planned January increase of 1.6% announced in summer 2020. Annual rail fare rises are calculated using the retail price index (RPI) of the previous July. The RPI in July 2020 was 1.6%, and this was originally the figure used to set 2021 fare rises – but this has now been changed to RPI+1% from March instead. The Department for Transport said the rise will be the lowest in four years, and that the delay will give commuters the chance to renew their season tickets at old prices. It also claims that…

GWR BATTERY POWER HITACHI Rail and Eversholt Rail have signed an agreement aimed at adding battery power to Great Western Railway’s Intercity Express Trains to create an electric-diesel-battery tri-mode hybrid. The batteries will supplement the power of the engines on non-electrified sections, as well as at stations to improve air quality and reduce noise levels. T&W DEPOT OPENS THE Tyne and Wear Metro’s new £362 million depot in Howdon has officially become operational. The site in North Tyneside will be used to commission the new Metro trains from 2022, and for maintenance of the current rolling stock while the main depot in Gosforth is rebuilt for the new trains. It will be used for cleaning and stabling up to a quarter of the existing Metro fleet over the next four…

BESIDES those credited elsewhere, this issue has been made possible by the contributions of the following readers, to whom the editor is most grateful: Chris Addoo, Ben Bucki, Steve Donald, Jamie Dyke, Martin Elsey, Peter Foster, Chris Gee, Stephen Ginn, John Hales, Richard Giles, Fraser Hay, Ryan Hayward, Jason Hickling, Brad Joyce, Gordon Kirkby, Stuart Kirkby, Peter Laithwaite, Ian Leech, Mark Lynam, Greg Mape, Duncan McEvoy, Kenneth Middleditch, Graham Nuttall, Keith Partlow, Kevin Payne, Chris Playfair, Colin Pottle, Jack Prentice, Karen Richardson, Iain Scotchman, Steve Sienkiewicz, Andrew Stoppard, John Stretton, Steve Stubbs, Mick Tindall, Martin Turner, Jack Taylor, Neil Walkling and many more.…

FOLLOWING their introduction on the Southend Victoria branch on November 26 (see Headline News last month), the Class 720 fleet extended its sphere of operation on December 16, when Nos. 720511/536 formed the 2F04/05.45 Shenfield-Braintree and 1F09/06.40 Braintree-Liverpool Street. These two had been the second pair to enter service (doing so on November 28) and they were followed by Nos. 720539/540 on December 15, this pair having arrived at Southend Victoria from Wembley on December 7 after testing on the West Coast Main Line. Other moves from Wembley following completion of testing took place on December 11, when Nos. 720543/548 arrived at Ilford, followed on December 16 by Nos. 720550/556. New units emerging from Derby have been Nos. 720551 (hauled to Wolverton on December 7), 720552 (initially planned to go…

DB CARGO: WIA (UIC code Seefoors) five-unit car carrier No. 85 70 4971 030-7, which arrived at DBC’s Stoke works on November 27, has completed its overhaul and was dispatched back to Arpley on December 11. FREIGHTLINER: After component recovery at Castle Donington, ex-Freightliner Heavy Haul HHAs are being moved by road to the former Iron Works site at Stanton Gate, 14 having arrived at the site for scrapping minus bogies, brake components and buffers by the end of the first week of December. GBRf’s No. 66765 visited the site on December 3, the first rail movement on the branch in over a decade, ready for a new scrap flow. NETWORK RAIL: Crewe Gresty Bridge-based ZZA independent snowploughs Nos. ADB 965206 and ADB 965241 were sent out on a test…

DECEMBER 12 saw the appearance of the first of four temporary three-car HST sets, which have been formed to enable additional diagrams to be introduced from the start of the new timetable following the withdrawal of GWR’s Class 143 fleet. Set GW13 formed the 2C54/18.35 Plymouth-Penzance with power car Nos. 43088/122. By December 18, two short sets had been created formed: GW02 (Nos. 48134, 48104, 49102) and GW13 (Nos. 48135, 48106, 49113). December 17 saw the release of the first of GWR’s additional ‘Castle’ sets released from Wabtec, Doncaster. Set GW14, made up of Nos. 48140-142 and 49114 (ex-Nos. 42005/015/016 and 44005 respectively) was delivered to Laira by No. 57305 in a convoy that also contained power car Nos. 43010/022/029. It is due to enter service during January.…

WEST Coast Railways will be running the ‘Pendle Dalesman’ on 13 occasions in 2021. Starting at Lancaster and picking up at Preston, Blackburn, Clitheroe and Long Preston, they will be hauled by one of WCR’s steam fleet. It is good to report that the Standard fare is £90, which represents good value for money for two runs over the superb Settle & Carlisle route. A full dining option is also available at £265. The operating days are May 18/25, June 8/15/29, July 6/20/27, August 10/17/31, and September 7/21.…

03’ RETURNS TO DEAN FOREST AFTER a spell at the Gwili Railway, No. D2069 (03069), which is nominally based at the Vale of Berkeley Railway, was taken back to the Dean Forest Railway on December 17. GWENDRAETH ‘08’ ARRIVAL RETURNING to its former stamping ground, cutdown cab shunter No. 08995 was moved from Wishaw (Warwickshire) to the Gwendraeth Valley Railway during December. ‘PEAK’ UPDATE WORK on returning No. D182 (46045) continues at Butterley, the reinstallation of the Peak’s triple pump taking place during December. CLASS 104 SCRAPPED FOLLOWING stripping over the past few months, Class 104 DMCL No. 53556 was reduced to just its underframe in December.…

A NUMBER of lines have now revealed planned dates for events in 2021, although obviously these are still subject to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. With 2020 having been an extremely difficult year for all the UK’s heritage railways and rolling stock owners, it is hoped that some of 2020’s losses can be recouped this year. Other lines are taking a more cautious approach – the Spa Valley Railway, as an example, is not holding a spring diesel gala, but is planning a Class 20 and 31 running day on March 20 with a two train service in operation. Unfortunately, some line’s plans are still having to be cancelled at short notice. For example, the plug had to be pulled on the Epping Ongar Railway’s ‘Winter Warmer’ running days with…

THE repeated bailouts and loans imposed upon Transport for London have impacted its finances to the extent that a decision has been made not to progress with resignalling to the western terminuses of the District Line. As much of the line west of Barons Court is shared with the Piccadilly Line, this suggests LU is waiting for the introduction of that line’s replacement 2024 Stock to delay costs and balance budgets elsewhere. This also impacts the Wimbledon branch, which will not be resignalled beyond Fulham Broadway. Elsewhere on the District Line, however, the project remains unchanged apart from delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.…

THE North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership (NTCRP), a long established lobby group that promotes the Nenagh branch, has requested that Irish Rail improve service levels. The group has questioned why, with a significant investment in track renewal and other infrastructure on the branch, this has not led to higher speeds or the introduction of a more attractive service. The group has suggested that as well as an increase inservice levels between Limerick and Ballybrophy, some through trains between Limerick and Dublin Heuston could again run via the branch. Irish Rail CEO Jim Meade has met representatives of the NTCRP to discuss issues in regard to the service provided and the future of the branch. Further discussions are to be arranged and it was reported that Transport Minister Eamon Ryan of…

A CAR-carrying service of a different nature was operated by the Western Region between Pilning and Severn Tunnel Junction stations before the opening of the Severn Bridge road crossing in September 1966. This ‘rail car ferry service’ reduced the time taken to cross the Severn estuary to a few minutes compared to driving a circuitous route via Gloucester. The trains comprised flat wagons, onto which passengers drove their cars, and a coach for the drivers and passengers. The charge for the vehicle was 27/6d (£22 at 2020 value) at the time the service was withdrawn in October 1966.…

Your letters, emails, feedback and other comments are always welcome. Contact us at Rail Express, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR; or email: railexpresseditor@mortons.co.uk. The editor reserves the right to edit all letters, and the views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine. REMEMBERING THE 4-SUB IT was sad to see the picture in the January issue of 4-SUB No. 4732 and the sorry state it is now in, but I was pleased to hear it has been offered a permanent home at the former Hornby Factory at Margate and the hope of it being restored. I worked on this unit on many occasions, firstly whilst serving my apprenticeship at Selhurst Repair Shop and the ‘old’ Selhurst Inspection Shed,…

COACHINGSTOCK dominates the new Hornby range for 2021, with a wide range of newly tooled Mk.4 stock alongside a fresh batch of Mk.3 HST configured as complete trains in the correct coach order and with individual running numbers. Developments on the railway over the last 18 months or so have influenced the range to include very up-to-date liveries, new operators, social trends and one heritage scheme which will appeal to the collector. Classic BR liveries are not forgotten but only make up a part of the overall story which includes a multitude of Class 66s in various one-off specials for the third year in a row. GBRf livery and its derivatives still dominates Hornby locomotives, both in the Railroad and main range, although the Colas Railfreight scheme also makes a…

A whole range of wagon loads have been released by Accurascale to suit its open wagon models, including a new run of loads for the HOP24 together with new loads for the PFA container wagons and the iron ore tippler wagons which are sold in packs of five, logically matching the number of wagons in each box set. Each load is correctly measured and shaped to fit inside the body of the wagons and containers including any inside corner strengthening pieces. They are hand finished which introduces variation between individual loads. Iron ore, dolomitic limestone and aggregate loads for the tipper wagons are included in the range which are priced at £16.95 for five. Coal loads for the PFA wagon containers are available in packs of three for £8.95. www.accurascale.co.uk.…

TWO new Class 02 shunters in ‘OO’ gauge based on the forthcoming Heljan model have been added to the Gaugemaster Collection range as special editions, including No. D2846 in Redland Aggregates green and No. D2850 in BR blue with yellow and black stripes together with yellow bufferbeams. Features include an 8-pin DCC interface, working lights, detailed cab interior, correctly profiled wheels and a body detailed with a wealth of small fittings including wire hand rails. While a release date is to be announced, the models are available for pre-order, priced at £159.95. www.gaugemasterretail.com Like us on facebook facebook.com/RailExpressMag…

PRE-COVID RAIL TRAVEL HIGH FIGURES released by the Department for Transport show that rail travel in the year to March 2020 was the second highest on record at 1.7 billion journeys – and could have been even higher but for the impact of coronavirus on travel in the second half of March. The total is more than double that at the time of Privatisation in the mid-1990s, with annual trips per person up by more than half since 2002. Waterloo remained the busiest station in the country with 86.9 million entries and exits in 2019/20. The only station outside of London in the top 10 was Birmingham New Street (fifth place with 46.5 million entries and exits). Berney Arms in Norfolk became the official least used station (42 entries and…

HANSON & HALL HOWARD Johnston has sold Class 31 No. 31106 to Hanson & Hall (owners of No. 50008), who have stated their intention to overhaul and return the popular locomotive to the main line. It was moved by road from the Weardale Railway to the East Lancashire Railway in early December. LOCOMOTIVE SERVICES AFTER being sent back to Eastleigh Works in the second week of November (see last issue), LSL’s Blue Pullman-liveried Nos. 43046 and 43055 were dispatched north on December 9 as a 5Z44 move to Crewe DMD ready for their big debut three days later on the tour from St Pancras-Crewe via the Midland Main Line (see also Railtours). SCOTRAIL HAVING been at Wabtec, Doncaster since October, power cars Nos. 43124 and 43164 finally returned north of…

Correct to December 21, 2020 Allocations 153372/82 HQ/SCEC-CF/HLHQ 195133 HQ-NHXA 196107 new delivered HQ/EJHQ 315801/15 IL/EKHQ-HQ/SAXU 317503 IL/EBHQ-HQ/SCXH 317655 HQ/SCEC-HQ/SCXH 317664/66 IL/EBHQ-HQ/SCXH 317708/19/23/32 HQ/SCXH-IL/ EBHQ 701009/14 newly delivered HQ/HYHQ 710272/73 HQ-WN 720511/15/17/36/39/40 HQ-IL 720551/52/58 newly delivered HQ/ EBHQ 745008 HQ-NC 769006 HQ/SBXH-CF/HLHQ 769936/37 HQ/SBXH-RG/EFHQ 777001/16/18 newly delivered HQ/ HEHQ Renumbered 170523-170623 319436-769936 319437-769937 Formations 170623: 50523+56635+79523 170630: 50630+79630 170631: 50631+79631 170634: 50634+79634 317503: 77002+62663+71579+77063 317512: 77015+62676+71592+77050 Now in passenger traffic 195133 317709/10 345023 710272/73 720511/15/17/36/39/40 745008 769006/08 Preserved Mid-Norfolk Railway: 144018 Vintage Trains, Tyseley: 144014/19/23 Vale of Berkeley Railway: 143603/12 Stored/stopped locations Bo’ness: 314209 Bristol Barton Hill: 56630/31/34 Crewe cs: 720545/46/49/52/58 Crewe LNWR: 777001/03/09 Eastleigh Works: 319010/11, 319377 Ely: 317505, 317670 Heaton: 142004/18/58/65/68/70/71/78/87/90/94 Kirkdale: 777006/16/18 Landore: 143611/20/21 Longsight: 365525 Nemesis Rail, Burton-on-Trent: 769930/36 Old Dalby: 710256, 720546 Old Oak Common:…

EASTERN Rail Services’ former ‘Nightstar’ generator van No. 96371 was tripped from Leicester to Knighton Junction Sidings by Nos. 50007 Hercules and 50049 Defiance on December 1, for onward movement to Mossend (near Glasgow) by road. The former Mk.3 Sleeper was then tripped to Polmadie depot – where it is to be used for pre-heating Caledonian Sleepers Mk.5 stock – by No. 66744 on December 3. December 21 saw 15 ERS coaches leave the Weardale Railway, departing for the firm’s site at Great Yarmouth. Hauled by 47593 Galloway Princess and running as the 5Z54/10.00 Bishop Auckland West-Yarmouth Vauxhall, it conveyed Nos. 1210, 6700/02/04/07, 9802/04/05/07/09,10212/501/502/600/699.…

RAILWAY SUPPORT SERVICES RSS finally moved No. 08895 to its new owners at the Gwendraeth Valley Railway in South Wales during mid-December. The same lorry was then used to collect Class 03 No. D2069 from the Gwili Railway, where it has been on loan, and returned it to the Dean Forest Railway. As planned, No. 08516 has moved from Wishaw (Warwickshire) to Bristol Barton Hill following the completion of repairs, releasing No. 08480 to be moved to Wolverton as cover for RMS’ No. 08754, which had failed on site. INDUSTRIAL CLAYTON Equipment continues to be busy with orders for locomotives. Having just completed a contract for battery-powered CB 5.5-tonne tunnelling and mining narrow gauge locomotives for a customer in Peru, the company has now signed a deal with Tata Steel…

NEW HOME FOR FORMER FRENCH ‘CHOPPER’ BASED at the Barry Tourist Railway since it was repatriated from France in 2005, No. 20228 (former CFD No. 2004) was moved to a new permanent home at the Gloucestershire-Warwickshire Railway on December 18, where it becomes a partner for No. D8137 (20137). The ‘Chopper’ has lost its French livery and headlights in favour of BR blue and, although it still requires some further work, it is hoped to have it back in traffic later this year. ‘37’ LEAVES ELR STORED at the East Lancashire Railway since 2014, and having had little or no work carried out on it in the past 10 years, No. 37679 departed Bury for storage at Wishaw on December 9. The loco, bought from EWS for preservation in 2007,…

A PAIR of former Great Western Railway Class 143s, retired from service in December, have been acquired by the Vale of Berkeley Railway for preservation. The units involved are Nos. 143603, stopped at Exeter on December 12, and 143612, which ran from Exeter to Bristol St Philip’s Marsh on December 6 before being taken by road to Railway Support Services’ yard at Wishaw (Warwickhire) for storage 10 days later. No. 143603 had previously been earmarked for the Swindon & Cricklade Railway, but a decision was taken in 2020 not to proceed with its purchase. The Vale of Berkeley Railway was set up in 2013 and intends to create a heritage line along the Sharpness freight branch. A maintenance facility has already been established at Sharpness Docks, where Class 03 No.…

RETRO FIT FOR PROTOTYPE HST COACH NORTHUMBRIA Rail, which owns former prototype HST coach No. 42356 currently at Eastleigh Works, is to refit the vehicle with original IC70 seats, a number of which have been acquired from withdrawn Class 317 EMUs. ‘Project 42002’ will also see table units refitted and the coach repainted. It will, however, retain its wheelchair area and accessible toilet. RMB RETURNS TO BLUEBELL AFTER having structural repairs carried out by Cranmore Traincare & Maintenance Services at the East Somerset Railway, Mk. 1 RMB No. 1838 returned to the Bluebell Railway in December.…

■ PRESERVATION: Preservation societies continue to limit their activities to essential maintenance and restoration work because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Downpatrick and County Down Railway has undertaken refurbishment work to two of its ex-NIR 80 Class DEMU vehicles. The seat frames in DTSO No. 749 have been refurbished off-site and reinstated along with the upholstery. The vehicle’s floor and roof have been repaired and the dome at the driving end repainted. The floors on Motor Coach No. 69 have also been repaired. ■ TRAFFIC AND TRACTION: Evening services on the Belfast-Londonderry line were subject to delays on November 21 because of signalling problems in the Bellarena area. NIR reported during the morning of November 24 that disruption to services on the Londonderry line was because of signalling problems in…

■ EXPERIMENTAL SERVICE ENDS: February 21, 1981 saw the end of a timetabled service on a former London Midland and Scottish Railway mainline because of insufficient patronage. Northern Ireland Railways had reinstated a service between Belfast (York Road) and Antrim on the Londonderry line on June 16, 1980 to gauge passenger demand. This was a rare initiative for NIR, as the company normally lacked the funds for operating anything other than timetabled services. Timetabled trains had previously been withdrawn from the Bleach Green Junction to Antrim section on January 23, 1978, when Londonderry line trains were diverted via the upgraded Antrim to Lisburn (via Crumlin) branch to serve Belfast Central (now called Lanyon Place). However the Bleach Green Junction line was kept in good order, primarily because it provided a…

WHILE today there are no Motorail services in Britain as such, there is the Eurotunnel ‘Le Shuttle’ car carrying service between England and France through the Channel Tunnel. Passengers drive their own vehicle onto the train, removing staff costs, and they then remain in the car so there is no need for separate passenger carrying vehicles. Since the service began in 1994, it has increased in popularity and the most recent annual results show that 2.6 million cars and 51,000 coaches were carried on the 35 minute journey. This is a mass market operation offering few frills, with refreshment facilities and toilets being confined to the terminals. As a result, the use of car ferries for the short sea crossing has remained more popular than might have been expected.…

By Anthony P Sayer Published by Pen & Sword www.pen-and-sword.co.uk 272 pages, mostly B&W, hardback. £40 AFTER wowing us with his book on Classes 21/29 in 2019, the author has done the same with this book covering the Class 28 Co-Bo locos. Like the earlier work, this book really gets into the nuts and bolts of the class and covers, as its subtitle states, ‘from design to destruction’. The text is deeply researched and rich in detail – all backed up with an impressive collection of mostly black & white images showing the locos at all stages of their careers. This includes comprehensive data and photos of all 20 locos in the fleet, allocations, operations, problems and much more. The locos' unusual Co-Bo wheel arrangement has always made them stand…

ENGINEERING samples of the new ‘O’ gauge BR Diagram 1/217 ‘Vanwide’ wagons were revealed by Dapol showing the models in both standard condition and as rebuilt with air brakes, FAT19 friction link suspension springing and roller bearing axle boxes (VEA), the latter representing the wagon in Railfreight condition where their short wheelbase was ideally suited to use in MOD depots with sharp curves. They differed from standard 12t ventilated vans in having wide, twin sliding doors on external runners instead of cupboard type doors allowing the loading of palleted goods. Built in 1962, the 2000-strong fleet of Vanwides managed to survive the introduction of more modern air braked vans with most of the fleet intact by the late 1970s. Conversion to VEA took place between 1978 and 1983, with the…

ONE of the main justifications for constructing the Channel Tunnel was the ability to transport a much higher volume of direct freight traffic between Britain and Europe than was being carried on train ferries. In the run-up to opening the tunnel, British Rail conducted extensive market studies that predicted within 10 years some 11.6 million tonnes would be conveyed. It was also assumed that the two million annual tonnes of train ferry traffic would transfer, but this judgement proved misplaced – mainly because ferry consignments were carried on a wagonload basis, an operation that was dying out. The new cross-Channel arrangements would be based on trainload working using intermodal swap bodies of the type generally used in Europe. There was a warning this might not be straightforward, however, as Freightliner…

Correct to December 21, 2020 Allocations 43208 NL/EMPC-LA/EHPC 43239 NL/EMPC-LA/EHPC 60060 WQDA-WQCA 66060 WBRT-WBAR 66114 WBRT-WBBT 66116 WBRT-WBAE 66143 WBRT-WBAE 66174 WBRT-WBAE 66183 WBRT-WBAE 67016 WQ/WQAA-CE/WAAC 68022 TPCF-TPEX 68026 TPCF-TPEX 68027 TPEX-TPCF 68030 TPEX-TPCF 90039 WFMS-WQAA Modifications  Modified to run on Bio Fuel: 66150 Stored/stopped locations  Barrow Hill: 43423/65/67/68/80/84 Nemesis Rail, Burton-on-Trent: 43043 /45/47/49/61/64/71/73/75/79/81/82/86, 43159/96, 43299 Wishaw: 37679 Operational 67016 Liveries  Black + I am the backbone of the economy: 90039 Cross Country: 43208/39 DRS/ROG: 57305 Green: 08168 GWR green: 43010/22/29 + We are the future vinyls: 66150 Names removed 43049 Neville Hill…

DB CARGO THERE was one reinstatement to report during the period under review, No. 67016 moving from the WQAA DBC Stored Locomotives Group 1A pool to the standard Class 67 WAAC pool. Meanwhile, No. 90039, reliveried into the mostly black ‘I am the backbone of the economy’ livery previously seen on German Vectron locomotive No. 193 318, has been upgraded from WFMS to WQAA but remains stored. The Class 90 was moved from Toton to Crewe EMD (0Z69) on December 4 by No. 67015 along with Nos. 66181 and 67016. Finally, Class 60s Nos. 60004, 60014 and 60018, all in the compound at Toton, have been officially deregistered from the WQCA (DBC Stored Locomotives Group 3) pool, the only DB-owned members of the fleet with no status on TOPS. DIRECT…

MK.3 STOCK MOVES TO BICESTER & BURTON SIX Mk.3 coaches belonging to Electric Traction Ltd and Rail Operations Group were hauled from Castle Donington (Leicestershire) to Bicester (Oxfordshire) for storage on November 25. Nos. 10406, 12125/154/183-185 and 82107 were moved by No. 57303. Another stored Mk.3 No. 11088 was transferred (along with HST power car Nos. 43053/064/081/082) from Long Marston to Burton by No. 47739 on November 27. SCOTRAIL HST DELIVERY UPDATING the list in last month’s issue, November 28 saw the delivery of the penultimate ScotRail ‘Inter7City’ HST sets, when power car Nos. 43143/179 formed the 5S01/12.00 Wabtec Doncaster-Slateford with set HA20. It is made up of Nos. 40620 (ex-41158), 42200/575/129. EMR HST UPDATE ON DECEMBER 15, set NL08 – which had been stopped five days earlier – was…

TRACK laying has begun on Edinburgh Trams’ three-mile extension from the city centre to Newhaven. Contractors are working in Leith on the sections next to the Ocean Terminal shopping centre and in Tower Street. The project is aiming for completion in spring 2023, and is forecast to be delivered within the agreed budget of £207.3 million. The prototype vehicle for the Coventry Very Light Rail (VLR) project is being built in the city at the NP Aerospace factory. The lightweight railcar, developed by engineers at WMG (University of Warwick) working with Transport Design International, will be powered by batteries and able to carry up to 50 passengers (20 seated). It will run on prefabricated track that is more lightweight and shallower than traditional tramways, enabling it to be laid over…

SENDING your car by rail was a service advertised from the early years of British Railways’ operations, and was one available at most stations on main line routes given the extensive prevalence then of suitable wagons, loading docks, and local shunting staff. In those early days, however, the driver and any passengers would not travel with the car. Instead, it could be seen as an extension of the much-used ‘Passenger Luggage in Advance’ service, but with cars dispatched to a destination station some days in advance of the owner’s journey. As car ownership grew in the 1950s, BR’s Eastern Region introduced a dedicated service between London and Scotland that saw the car and passengers conveyed on the same train. This began in 1955 and was marketed as a car-sleeper service.…

By Patrick Bennett Published by Amberley www.amberley-books.com 96 pages, some colour, softback. £15.99 WHEN we think of railways in the Chilterns today, it is easy to just focus on the route out of Marylebone – but the range of hills stretches from the west to north of London, so has actually been bisected by five main lines and numerous branches, and this book aims to cover them all. It follows the publisher’s standard picture and caption format, with two or three images per page. But there is an excellent selection of photos, starting with steam but also plenty of diesels and electrics, and each is accompanied by an in-depth and well-researched caption that together build to tell the story. The inclusion of relevant maps too also helps to create a…

A small delay was encountered with the box sets of Accurascale ‘OO’ gauge PTA, JTA and JUA tippler wagons as used by ARC for aggregate traffic from its Whatley quarry to terminals in the home counties. This batch of wagons was part of a larger fleet of 114 wagons built by British Steel at its Redpath Dorman Long works for its Redcar-Consett iron ore flow which ceased when the Consett works was closed in the early 1980s. Sold to wagon hirer Procor, the wagons were refurbished for aggregate traffic including removal of the rotary coupling mechanism. ARC and Foster Yeoman hired the wagons, with 50 being taken by ARC, being numbered PR26801-850. The models are finished in the classic and popular mustard yellow and grey theme with large ARC logos…