Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Rail Express

ALMOST 50 Class 60s have been put up for sale by DB Cargo UK. The operator’s chief executive Andrea Rossi had confirmed earlier this year that DBC would look to dispose of redundant locomotives (RE334). Ten Class 67s, 12 Class 90s and 16 Class 60s had been put up for sale earlier this year (see Power By The Hour), but 31 Class 60s were made available on April 3. Should they all be sold, DBC will be left with five of the Brush Type 5s, a locomotive class it has vowed to rid itself of. All 100 Class 60s joined the Wisconsin Freight fleet at the end of 1995 when five of the six trainload freight companies were privatised. DB inherited the entire fleet when it bought English, Welsh &…

EAST Midlands Railway (EMR) plans to refurbish its Class 158 and ‘170’ diesel multiple units and Class 360 electric multiple units. The operator has confirmed a £60 million refurbishment plan that will be delivered in partnership with rolling stock leasing companies Angel Trains, Porterbrook and Eversholt Rail, which own the trains, and Siemens, which maintains the ‘360s’. Once completed it will mean that EMR will have a fleet of either fully-refurbished or brand-new trains. EMR said that the Class 360s, which operate between St Pancras International, Kettering and Corby, as well as the EMR Connect and Luton Airport Express trains, will be upgraded with 2+2 seating throughout the trains with a mixture of airline-style and bay seats, luggage racks, charging points and new passenger information systems (PIS). The EMUs were…

CLAYTON Equipment has completed the construction of the two additional CBD90 shunters ordered by Tata Steel last year, with the departure of the second hybrid machine from its Burtonupon-Trent workshops on March 13. This was delivered to Port Talbot two days later after a rather circuitous tour of the road network and gives the steel company a total of seven of the 90-tonne locos. The newcomer is works No. B4666/2, which will become No. 936 in Tata’s internal system once commissioned and numbered. Like its classmates, it carries the company’s light blue and white livery with grey underframe. Tata received the first of its CBD90s in the spring of 2019, No. 930 going on to be joined by Nos. 931 and 932, which were ordered the same year, and then…

CLASS 20 Nos. 20189 and 20205 passed Birmingham New Street station on March 18, forming the 5Z33 17.35 Soho-Kings Norton sandwiching translator vehicles and West Midlands Trains electric multiple unit No. 323240. Three days later the same ‘20s’ top-and-tailed the 6Q21 11.55 Old Dalby-Kings Norton with No. 20142 Sir John Betjeman moving TFW Rail tram-train No. 398002 on the first leg of its journey to South Wales. Next day the whole entourage continued its journey to Radyr before the three Class 20s returned the barrier vans to Kings Norton as a triple-header on March 23. By March 28, Nos. 20142 and 20189 had been paired to take WMT No. 323203 from Soho to Tyseley for tyre turning. Due for a repaint into Balfour Beatty livery, Nos. 20901/905 travelled light from…

A list of contracts valued at greater than £100,000 reveals the extent of works already underway to upgrade and even extend the Bakerloo Line. Previously, the Bakerloo Line was due to be upgraded as part of the Deep Tube Upgrade Programme (DTUP), established in 2012. This would have seen both signalling and rolling stock replaced across the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines. However, these upgrade works were solely limited to the Piccadilly Line in 2019/20. Instead, plans to replace rolling stock and signalling systems were merged to include the proposed extension beyond Elephant & Castle, creating the Bakerloo Line Upgrade and Extension (BLUE) Programme. This is broken down into two distinct elements. The Bakerloo Line Upgrade (BLU) and the Bakerloo Line Extension (BLE). The Bakerloo Line Upgrade…

CONSTRUCCIONES y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) Class 397 electric multiple units (EMUs) are part of the Spanish manufacturer’s Civity family of units, with 12 owned by rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail Group and leased to TransPennine Express for use on Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley routes. The five-car EMUs were branded Nova 2 by TPE as part of its Nova Fleet (Nova 1s being Hitachi Bi-Mode Class 802s and Nova 3s being the now replaced Mk.5A locomotive-hauled sets). Options were put in place in the contract for further orders if needed (particularly if electrification was extended and passenger numbers carried on increasing). The ‘397s’ represented a major step up in performance and passenger comfort from the Class 350/4 sets they replaced (the…

RAILTOURS FOUR railtour promoters have released a series of new tours that are set to run over the coming weeks, with an array of traction, rare track and unusual itineraries on offer. The Branch Line Society is visiting the North Norfolk Railway on June 6, when ‘The Holt Hoover’ departs Eastleigh at 08.34, and runs to Norfolk via an interesting route with pick-ups at: Basingstoke, Reading, Slough, South Ruislip, High Wycombe, Haddenham & Thame Parkway, Banbury, Warwick Parkway, Coleshill Parkway, Leicester, Peterborough and Norwich. The charter is operated by Hanson & Hall and features the London Transport 4-TC unit as stock with Nos. D6515 (33012) Lt Jenny Lewis RN and 50008 Thunderer as power. The ‘50’ is expected to lead from Eastleigh to Humberstone Road, where it will run round…

00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft 1938 to preservation ERA HORNBY’S brand-new Ruston & Hornsby 88DS shunter is cute, just like its smaller brother, the 48DS locomotive which was released a few years ago and reviewed in the February 2020 issue of Rail Express (REM190). The new Ruston 88DS upholds the fine work applied to the 48DS and shares similar technology, including geared drive to both axles. The longer wheelbase has prompted Hornby to forgo the match truck with its pick-ups which was supplied with the 48DS model. Immediately favourable impressions were formed, first by the fine finishing and lining applied to the model. When unboxed, its weight was a surprise. It weighs 125g which is a useful 62g per powered axle. Although the prototype could handle very heavy trains when fitted with…

KIT BUILDING has numerous benefits for railway modellers, and saving money over buying ready to run models is the last of them! More importantly, kit-built rolling stock will fill gaps in signature vehicles for a given era and location. Southern Region modellers will immediately think of several four-wheel ballast wagons currently not available ready-to-run, and unlikely to be so. One is the ZCV ‘Crab’ which fortunately has a kit available to model it, along with the ‘Lamprey’. They are produced by Chivers Finelines (www.chiversfinelines.co.uk) and are reasonably priced too. Another wagon type is the former Diagram 1/058 ‘Shochood B’ which were converted to ZCV ‘Dace’ engineers’ wagons. No kit for this signature wagon has been made available in plastic, and scratch building a reasonable number of them, either as revenue…

ALSTOM has demobilised the production lines at Derby Litchurch Lane and is now consulting with staff, trade unions and its supply chain to provide as much certainty as it can regarding its future. This follows the conclusion of the construction of the final Aventra vehicles for London Northwestern Railway (LNWR). While not all have been released for testing and not all trains have been released for Greater Anglia, West Midlands Trains or LNWR, Alstom has completed the order for 2651 vehicles. An Alstom spokesperson told Rail Express on April 3: “We have worked constructively with the Government on securing a sustainable future for Derby Litchurch Lane, but after 10 months of discussions we have run out of time, and the production lines have stopped.” There is currently no confirmed orders…

SIGNIFICANT developments surrounding open access operations occurred during March, when the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) approved Grand Union Trains’ plans to run trains between London Euston and Stirling; and Alstom announced plans to operate trains to Wrexham in partnership with SLC Rail. ORR approved the GU plans on March 7, with the aim of the trains beginning running from June next year. Four trains per day will call at Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Crewe, Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds, Larbert and Stirling. GU plans to use off-lease Class 22x units, which are likely to be former Avanti West Coast Class 221s, of which six have yet to be accounted for (12 are bound for CrossCountry, while a further two are on short-term lease to Grand Central until…

GOVIA Thameslink Railway has signed a £50 million contract to lease all 30 four-car Class 379 Electrostar electric multiple units, currently stored at Worksop, from Porterbrook. The new lease coincides with a change in ownership of the fleet, which has been acquired by Porterbrook from Akiem. The Class 379s entered service with National Express East Anglia between 2011 and 2012 and were taken out of traffic by its successor, Greater Anglia, and handed back to Akiem in 2022. Originally owned and financed by Lloyds Banking Group, the ‘379s’ were sold to Macquarie European Rail along with the rest of Lloyds’ rail leasing business in 2012. In April 2020, Akiem, which lease trains to operators across Europe, bought Macquarie European Rail. Since their removal from service in 2022, the Class 379s…

FOLLOWING cosmetic restoration in Great Western Railway Brunswick Green by DB Cargo UK, No. 60081 left Toton for Margate on March 18 (see Power By The Hour), arriving at the One:One Museum the next day. The Class 60, which is not operational, has yet to receive its cast numbers, crests and Isambard Kingdom Brunel nameplates. No. 60081 had been stored at Toton for almost 19 years, which is five years longer than it spent in active service. Having lost its original Bleaklow Hill nameplates in 2000 upon being repainted in green and becoming Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 2000, it was stopped in April 2005, after suffering a major power unit failure. Put up for sale in 2019, it was bought by Locomotive Services Group for display at its new museum.…

GREAT Victoria Street (GVS) in Belfast is planned to close in mid-May, however Translink has confirmed that trains will not be using its replacement, the new £200 million Belfast Grand Central, until the autumn. Construction and fitting out of the new station is progressing well with preparatory work in connection with the installation of further track and associated signalling continuing. Great Victoria Street’s closure is required so that its approach from Westlink Junction, platforms and associated infrastructure can be removed as that part of the area is required for the bus infrastructure for the new station. A prelude to the numerous possessions and bustitutions that are planned during the commissioning period over the summer months for the new station, as well as track alterations and signalling renewals on the Belfast-Lisburn…

LESS than a year after Class 321s finished serving London Liverpool Street in daily service, a pair of the four-car electric multiple units returned to the station on March 13, to showcase their planned return, which could happen in the very near future. Still carrying National Express East Anglia colours from their days serving the station, Nos. 321428/429 were used to showcase just what Varamis Rail is all about. Its business says its plans to serve Central London are quicker and more efficient, cheaper than current methods, directly reduce the carbon footprint of UK businesses, support the clean air strategies of major towns and cities and offer a sustainable alternative not achievable elsewhere. The operator has been running trains for many months now, initially on the Birmingham International-Mossend route using…

THE SECOND new tank wagon to be revealed in March is an Irish prototype from the early Corás Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) diesel era. Built in 1956, the 21 locomotive depot fuel tank wagons were based on the Bulleid triangulated underframe design which was used as a standard for modern freight stock of the time. The wagons were moved within mixed freight trains to transport fuel from Dublin Port to various locations throughout the CIÉ network. They lasted for around 30 years until replaced with newer vacuumed braked stock towards the end of the 1970s. The new ‘OO’ gauge model is the latest triangulated underframe based wagon to be announced by IRM, continuing the series which promises to deliver quite a broad range of stock for Irish railway modellers. IRM has…

WEST Coast Railways suspended its ‘Jacobite’ steam service from March 20 as it still had no exemption to operate Mk.1 coaches without central door locking (CDL). The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) had revoked WCR’s previous exemption to use stock without CDL on January 10, after a judicial review rejected the operator’s challenge against the decision to ban such vehicles (RE334). That decision meant that only stock fitted with CDL could be used by WCR, although it remains free to operate trains on behalf of others. WCR confirmed it had applied for a new exemption on March 8, and on March 14, the ORR told Rail Express: “We are assessing an application made by West Coast Railways on March 8, for an exemption from Regulation 5.” RE understands that…

GB Railfreight and Porterbrook have signed a contract for the lease of a further 50 of the revised JNA-X variant of the ubiquitous JNA (UIC code Ealnos) box wagon, to be built by Greenbrier/ Astra Rail and delivered in the third quarter of 2024. Introduced in 2016 and originally TOPS coded JNA-T, some 1192 of the 77-tonne capacity vehicles were constructed in Romania up until the most recent batch of five were delivered in September 2023. Of these, 200 carry GBRf livery, 50 leased from Wascosa Rail in 2017, 100 leased from Ermewa in 2019, and the debut batch of 50 JNA-X from Porterbrook that was delivered in two groups between October 2022 and January 2023. The primary spotting difference on the latter derivative is the covered end steps. GBRf…

ELEVEN Class 43 High Speed Train power cars and 11 Mk.3s were exported to Nigeria towards the end of 2023 by ROMIC Consulting. The vehicles had all been withdrawn last year, with one of the power cars, No. 43008, used by CrossCountry on its farewell HST charter to Swanage. After being sent off-lease, all 22 vehicles made their way to Great Yarmouth, most by rail under their own power (the ‘43s’) before being prepared for export by Eastern Rail Services at its base at the Norfolk town. They were the second batch to set sail from the Norfolk port following an initial tranche that went to Mexico in August (where more have subsequently been shipped to). ROMIC managing director Robert Coleman, said: “We have ongoing commitments for further exports, which…

ROLLING STOCK THE issue of traction power for trains, both existing and new-build, is one that is set to dominate discussions for some time. In many cases, electric trains are the preferred choice, however this is not always possible. A lack of coherent electrification strategy by the Department for Transport (DfT), combined with the costs surrounding such schemes, means operators, manufacturers and rolling stock leasing companies, as well as infrastructure suppliers, must look to other options to power trains. This situation is further exacerbated by the need to decarbonise the country’s railway system by the 2050 deadline set by the Government. But then this is the same Government that has increasingly turned off the funding tap for the railway and, only recently, published a letter detailing planned orders for Chiltern…

IN APRIL, Hornby revealed its new TT:120 range for 2024 which includes a useful intermodal wagon which has been constructed in large numbers and sees regular use on Network Rail. The Sffgmss IFA is a single intermodal wagon with drawgear at each end. It is capable of carrying a single 40ft or 45ft container, or a combination of 20ft containers. The model is suitable for both UK and European operations, being passed for Channel Tunnel operation. Its low deck allows the transport of hi-cube containers on certain UK routes too. Specification of the model includes a cast metal spine for weight which is fitted with injection moulded plastic details along with close coupling cams and NEM pockets. The model is to be released under the Hornby TT:120 brand as three…

00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft 1941 to 1968 ERA OUR model locomotives rely on kinetic energy from flywheels to overcome minor interruptions in electrical supply from the rails. The booster devices designed by Alfred Raworth for the Bulleid ‘Booster’ locomotives worked in a similar way to mitigate gaps in the conductor rail. Granted, we do not have miniature motor generator sets incorporated in our models, but the use of flywheels to smooth out model operation is an accepted technology today. The boosters, in what became designated as Class 70 electric locomotives, served several purposes, the primary one was to assist the locomotive over gaps in the conductor rail and to smooth out operation where gaps occur, thus avoiding snatching of couplings. A booster is a motor generator set with a large one-tonne flywheel…

REVIEW 00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft Mid-to late 2000s ERA SCOTRAIL modellers may be the ones that benefit the most from the latest train pack from Hornby. Labelled as the ‘EWS Business Train’, it contains one of Hornby’s super detailed Class 67s rather than the former Lima model and three Mk.2e/f coaches based on tooling released a couple of years ago. It is supported by an add-on pack of four Mk.2f coaches decorated in the same simple lined maroon livery. Although ‘EWS Business Train’ is the title for the train pack, Hornby has, in effect, produced part of the EWS charter train fleet which was assembled to take advantage of the lucrative charter market of the 2000s. A fleet of Mk.2e/f stock was painted ready for hire around 2006 or 2007. In…