Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Rail Express

TAKEN out of service for planned attention in late 2024, Locomotive Services’ Statesman Rail charter rake returned to traffic during September. The set has received an interior refurbishment at Crewe as well as a repaint at Arlington Fleet Services, Eastleigh. Added to the set has been Mk.1 RMB No. 1863, which was formerly part of the Saphos Trains set and carried blood and custard colours. It has been repainted into Pullman style umber/cream to match the rest of the Statesman Rail rake, emerging from Arlington on September 1 when it was returned to Crewe with another repainted vehicle (Mk.2d BFK No. 17159, now in InterCity colours) by No. D1924 Crewe Diesel Depot. The addition of No. 1863 means that Statesman Rail is now offering a limited number of standard class…

BRAND NEW ‘N’ gauge body tooling for two Gresley coach types is proposed by Dapol with expressions of interest being invited at the time of writing. The first is a long-lived coach, the Gresley Diagram 113 ‘Full Brake’ coach which were constructed between 1929 and 1934 along with the virtually similar Diagram 245 BGs built after 1934. Many of them made it into the BR era, being operated into the D&E period as departmental and parcels stock, which is reflected in Dapol’s choice of liveries, the last ones being withdrawn from revenue service in the mid-1970s. Dapol has suggested that the BG may be of limited scope (along with the refurbished buffet) which will be disputed by many modellers, especially those modelling the steam to diesel transition and the BR…

EM GAUGE 4mm scale A SET OF drop-in wheel sets for ‘EM’ and ‘P4’ gauges was released for the new Cavalex Class 60 in August which makes life a great deal easier for the 4mm finescale modeller. The Class 60, in common with the successful Class 56, utilises a stub axle current collection system where the wheel set axles are longer in length, running in bearing contacts on the inside of the bogie side frames, in a close to prototypical manner. The wheels are insulated from each other with a plastic bush which has a moulded drive gear for the outer powered axles. This type of current collection system is efficient, reliable and avoids the problem of a loss of contact which can and does occur with wiper current collection pickups.…

THE RETURN of No. 89001, to the main line in the late 1990s where it worked services between Kings Cross, Leeds and Bradford Forster Square was one of the surprises of the early privatisation years. For operator GNER, a spare locomotive capable of covering for Class 91s was too good to pass up and it was purchased in 1996, overhauled and returned to traffic in 1997, painted in GNER livery with white lettering. It was a relatively short-lived spell back on the mainline because it was soon sidelined with numerous faults which took months to resolve before a return to service was made. In the meantime, the white LNER lettering was replaced with gold, a change reflected in the models produced by Accurascale. It ran in this livery until final…

50 YEARS AGO… NOVEMBER 1975 ■ BOXING DAY TRAINS IN PARLIAMENT THE LACK of trains on Boxing Day was raised in Parliament on November 21, 1975. Responding, Under-Secretary of State for the Environment Gordon Oakes said that if staff worked on that day, they would have to be paid time-and-a-half and given a day off in lieu. By not running trains the British Railways Board could save around £240,000 (c. £1.8 million at 2025 prices) in staff costs. With this cost and savings on fuel and other items, even when set against loss of revenue, a net saving of £130,000 (approx. £1 million today) could be made. It was estimated around 55,000 passengers would use train services on that day. ■ WATER DOWN THE DRAIN A BURST water main resulted…

THE first of 54 CAF-built B23 stock units for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) entered service during the morning of September 30, with unit No. 209 operating between Woolwich Arsenal and Stratford International. The introduction of the B23 trains was more of a soft launch rather than a highlighted event, perhaps due to the 18 months of delays experienced caused to signalling issues. These new trains are replacing 32 units from B90, B92 and B2k stocks, which have already started a programme of withdrawal from service. A temporary timetable had to be introduced across the DLR in June this year, as some examples were no longer operational. All the older examples of rolling stock are due to be removed from passenger service by the end of 2026. The B23 units…

THE last of the Akiem Rail leased Class 66 fleet has entered service for GB Railfreight, No. 66316 departing EMD Longport on September 3 for a 0Z72 run to Doncaster Decoy Yard behind No. 66307 Ipswich Town. It was then moved to Tyne Yard two days later by No. 66752 The Hoosier State under a 0N81 headcode and worked its first train, a 6G81 20.02 Tyne Yard to Micklefield just a few hours later. With the Railhead Treatment Train (RHTT) season about to kick off, the Class 66/3 has been pressed into service still in its former Heavy Haul Power Industries (HHPI) grey, albeit with large white GBRf logo and numbers and a touch of green primer around the cabside windows. Although new to the UK, this particular EMD machine…

CLASS 20 With three new Tyne & Wear Metro units (Nos. 555036/40/41) in tow, Nos. 20007+20205 formed the 6Q25 02.15 Wembley-York Yard North on September 4, going forward to Pelaw Junction late that night with Nos. 555040/41. The Type 1s returned to York to collect No. 555036 the following day. On September 15 they moved translator vehicles from Kings Norton to Burton Wetmore prior to heading light to Parkeston Quay ready to collect five track machines for transfer to Burton, arriving at 06.45 on September 18. The following day found Nos. 20007+20205 in charge of tamper No. DR73114 forming the 6Z20 11.42 Whitacre-Guide Bridge. In addition to the foregoing, the pair found time to take ‘Deltic’ No. 55009 Alycidon from Barrow Hill to Lydney Junction (September 11) and No. 44008…

CLASS 08 (TOTAL 231) D3000 WorksopD3002 Plym Valley RailwayD3014 Dartmouth Steam RailwayD3019 Cambrian Heritage RailwaysD3101 Great Central RailwayD3255 Private Site, LeaveningD3261 Swindon & Cricklade Railway08011 RSS, Wishaw08015 Severn Valley Railway08016 Peak Rail08021 Tyseley Locomotive Works08022 Cholsey & Wallingford Railway08032 Mid Hants Railway08046 Caledonian Railway08054 Embsay Steam Railway08060 Cholsey & Wallingford Railway08064 Locomotion, Shildon08102 Lincolnshire Wolds Railway08108 Kent & East Sussex Railway08114 Epping Ongar Railway08123 Cholsey & Wallingford Railway08133 Severn Valley Railway08164 East Lancashire Railway08168 Ecclesbourne Valley Railway08195 Llangollen Railway08202 Llangollen Railway08220 Great Central Railway (North)08238 North Yorkshire Moors Railway08266 Keighley & Worth Valley Railway08288 Dean Forest Railway08308 Peak Rail08331 Midland Railway - Butterley08359 Kent & East Sussex Railway08375 RSS, Wishaw08377 Mid Hants Railway08389 Barrow Hill08401 Hunslet, Barton-under-Needwood08405 Neville Hill08410 AV Dawson, Middlesbrough08411 RSS, Wishaw08417 Tyseley Locomotive Works08418 WCRC, Carnforth08423 Stonegravels…

A SINGLE Class 37 has been added to the range of new TT:120 Class 37 models, the first of which are due this winter from Hornby. BR blue No. 37086 with split headcode boxes and cut bufferbeam will be a very useful addition to the range and was revealed in Hornby’s Autumn TT:120 announcement for second quarter 2026 arrival. The artwork shows the proposed model side-on, so there is no indication of how the headcode boxes are to be modelled. The cut away bufferbeams is a feature of the locomotive after its early 1981 overhaul which dates the model to the 1980s prior to its heavy general repair at Crewe when it was renumbered as No. 37516. New livery for the Mk.2f stock The release of a Virgin trains HST…

N GAUGE 2mm scale 1995 to 1999 ERA MOTIVE POWER shortages affected Railfreight Distribution (RfD) following transfer of some of its locomotives to Freightliner in the run up to privatisation. This event saw a small number of Class 47/4s allocated to RfD including one which became something of a Tinsley celebrity and pet locomotive. No. 47555 The Commonwealth Spirit was always one that enthusiasts looked out for on passenger services. Whilst ‘Sprinterisation’ and other factors saw many Class 47/4s sidelined whilst those allocated to the former Parcel’s Sector underwent a programme of modernisation, creating the Rail Express Systems Class 47/7 fleet, a small number survived to see use with RfD. No. 47555 was painted from rail blue to InterCity executive livery in the 1980s, with the latter livery being changed slightly when it…

ALMOST five years after the first set made its debut passenger outing, the last of Greater Anglia’s 133 ‘Aventra’ EMUs made its first run in revenue-earning service on September 24. The last set to be put into use, No. 720505, had been accepted by the Train Operating Company the previous day. Its first passenger working was the 2H02 05.58 Liverpool Street-Cambridge, in multiple with No. 720573. No. 720505 first emerged from Bombardier, Derby (as it was then, Alstom acquiring the firm in 2021) on March 11, 2020, and spent more than four years in store at Worksop; it moved to Derby on June 19, 2024. Arriving at Ilford on March 22, it was subsequently sent back to Alstom, Derby on May 16, returning to Ilford on July 24. Originally ordered…

OO GAUGE 4mm scale 1986 to present ERA A VERY FINE replica of No. 89001 has been produced by Accurascale in partnership with Rails of Sheffield, a model that has all the appearances of a museum quality model. Upon removal from its packaging, the box was checked for any parts that the model may have lost in transit but, like the recently released Class 60, there were none. It was popped on the test track straightaway for an initial run with the sound activated. The pantograph mechanism was also tested and found to be smooth and effective, working perfectly in sync with the onboard sound decoder. Further testing showed that the pan could be left in the lowered position when sound is activated by pressing a certain combination of function buttons. The…

MODELLING MATERIALS: A length of second-hand or recovered track (Code 75 bullhead track was used).  1mm cork underlay.  White woodworking glue.  Modge Podge craft glue.  Mininatur static grasses 2mm and 4.5mm lengths.  Woodland Scenics Polyfibre.  Woodland Scenics fine turf in various colours.  LifeColour rust, dust and wood colour packs.  Woodland Scenics fine cinder ballast. THERE WAS a spare corner of my ‘EM’ gauge layout (writes Nigel Burkin) which was begging for something more than just the usual lineside vegetation, bushes and grasses. The main track plan was well established, completed and with the track at the ballasting and weathering stage when this corner called for more than a passing glance with a static grass applicator. It is located at the exit to the goods loop and that could have had…

WITH a current roster of 100 of the 60 cubic metre capacity JNA-X wagons, GB Railfreight will be receiving a further 50 of the Greenbrier Europe-built vehicles which will be financed by lessor Porterbrook. These will be constructed at the same Drobeta-Turnu Severin workshops that outshopped the previous two batches of the upgraded ‘Ealnos’ boxes to GBRf, as well as around 1,250 of the similar JNA-T design. Initially the main spotting difference between the two was the covered over horizontal beams at the ends to prevent unsafe climbing, although the final batch of JNA-T built for VTG Rail also introduced this feature. Having debuted in October 2022, a second group of 50 JNA-X were delivered in the second half of 2024, the two batches being numbered 81 70 5932 757-806…

RAILTOURS Ireland in association with the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) and Iarnród Eireann (IE) continue to offer upmarket tours around Ireland that include side trips by road to places of historic or cultural interest with overnight stays in hotels. While primarily aimed at tourists, the ‘Emerald Pullman’ tours usually offer the attraction of GM 071 Class power – a rare opportunity these days with this tour giving 913 miles of haulage by various members of the popular class. The tour started from Dublin Connolly on Sunday, September 7 with No. 082 in charge of six Cravens and van No. 3173 for the run to Waterford where No. 080 took over for the next leg of the tour to Killarney via Clonmel and Limerick Junction. The next morning No.…