Railways in Parliament

Once more into the trough

GOVERNMENTS come and go, while prime ministers and

The Railway Magazine

‘BATTLE OF BRITAIN’ MEETS TOUR OF BRITAIN:

New contracts awarded to Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry

Government signs up the Avanti joint venture for a further three years, and Arriva for another four.

Mk.5 withdrawal means fewer TPE services

The capacity offered by the five-coach, loco-powered Mk.5

Network Rail fined £6.7 million after prosecution for fatal Carmont crash

Overflowing drain water washed debris onto the tracks

Collett’s final wishes revealed

Appeal fund ended after new evidence comes to light.

Darjeeling Tank Locomotive Trust gets charitable status

THE Darjeeling Tank LocomotiveTrust, custodian of loco No.

STEAM SHIP PERFORMANCE

Two historic steam ships met up

Milestone for MagRail levitating train

SEPTEMBER 5 was a turning point for hyperloop-inspired

CrossCountry HST sets bow out

The final week of workings provided much interest from Devon to Scotland.

MEXICAN HST

One of the HST sets shipped out

WEST SOMERSET ‘CASTLE’ SETS

As part of the phased withdrawal of its

SINGLE LINES

Peak fares abolished THE Scottish Government is to

Visitors get rare view inside Mersey pumping station

Open weekend gives access to historic building for the first time since 2008.

Countdown to Railway 200 begins

Major celebrations are planned for 2025, to mark 200 years since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway

Train design achieves ‘world first’

Hitachi claims emissions will be 90% lower per passenger than flying, as new fleet becomes first to be PAS 2080 accredited for carbon footprint standards.

Longest ‘green tunnel’ underway

ASSEMBLY of the‘m’-shaped double arches that will form

LU power supply completed

A NEW traction substation (TSS) for London Underground’s

VIADUCT PROGRESS

The first of the 32

Cross purposes

The final CrossCountry HST ran in mid-September after more than four decades. John Heaton FCILT took one last trip.

Pie in the sky?

Many of the major railway companies also operated connecting bus, ferry and ship services – but the 1930s saw the ‘Big Four’ add airline routes to their networks, as Mike Jones describes.

Creating a high-speed diversion

October 1983 saw the opening of the 14-mile deviation of the East Coast Main Line, avoiding Selby. Forty years after the inauguration of the first purpose-built, high-speed route in the country, Graeme Pickering speaks to three of the British Rail team responsible for making it a reality.

A rail safari

Richard Gennis travels by road from South Africa to Namibia, chasing steam and diesel traction.

William Stuart Sellar

Railwayman and renowned photographer William Stuart Sellar passed away on August 1, aged 86. The RM pays tribute with this selection of archive shots he sent to the magazine around the end of steam in the 1960s.

How the CDA fleet came about

REGARDING the farewell to china clay CDA wagons

Types of china clay traction

WELL done on the well researched and presented

CDAs outside Cornwall & Devon

IWAS interested in your comment that CDA wagons

Scouting for tracks

THE World Scout Jamboree might have gone off

Putting the ‘Castle’ in Newcastle

FOLLOWING up on your‘Castles Centenary’issue (August), on September

‘Castles’ to Weymouth

BACK in the heady days of 1958, when

Where is it?

LAST month’s photo was taken on June 25,

MEETINGS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 SLS. Friends’Meeting House, Mount Street,

From the archive

Subscribe and read previous issues at www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/archive

The RCTS: then and now

Britain’s leading Railway Society

PANORAMA

A showcase for the best in railway photography

A race against time

Photographing the last years of steam on Britain’s railways 1962-1971

The GloriousYears of the GNR

100 years have now passed since the dissolution

Can’tYou Find A Better JobThanThis?

THIS self-published A4format book, recounting a 34-year career

The Railway Magazine binders and bound volumes

Binders High-quality binders to store your copies of

Exhibition diary

October 14/15 Blackpool Model Show, Norbreck Castle Hotel,

Mid-Suffolk success

THE Mid-Suffolk Railway held a Model Mania Event

Leeds show is off

THE Leeds Model Railway Society’s annual exhibition has

Model collaboration announced

Engineering prototypes of Railway Icons’ prototype HST power

Limited edition wagon

CONTINUING the cooperation between the General Steam Navigation

Get set for this year’s Warley

FOLLOWING on from a successful show in 2022,

Exeter gears up for garden rail show

MEMBERS of the South Devon Garden Railway Group

CROSSWORD & NEXT MONTH

The NOSTALGIA Collection The crossword winner and two

Coming up next month...

INSPECTION saloon Caroline famously carried Prince Charles

SIDE LINES

Llynclys operation CAMBRIAN Heritage Railways (CHR) welcomed visitors

Rother Valley progress

Surveys are already well underway as physical work due to start in spring 2024.

SVR celebrates ‘Big Four’ at Autumn Steam Gala

THE Severn Valley Railway continued its celebration of

GWSR to showcase resident fleet and attractions at ‘last hurrah’ gala

THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway will hold its

Original livery for ‘P3’ as centenary marked

THE North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (NELPG) celebrated

‘Saint’ on a freight

After an absence of several years, a full

Pacific on the move

Now in the ownership of Southern Locomotives, Bulleid

Well-wishers of Cotswold Standard welcomed to view latest progress

SUPPORTERS ofToddington Standard Locomotive Ltd have enjoyed a

DIARY

Until Oct 20 Bluebell Railway: Autumn Tints (on

‘Amazing’ Scotsman visit

Celebrity ‘A3’ hauls sell-out trains at Bluebell Railway.

After five years, ‘T3’ is back

LSWR‘T3’No. 563 arrived back at the Swanage Railway

Churnet Valley welcomes Swanage young volunteers for weekend visit

A DOZEN teenagers from the Swanage Railway took

Beattie Well Tank set to move ‘back home’ to Cornwall

LSWR 2-4-0WT No. 30587 is to return to

‘Streak’ steaming along the S&C

LNER ‘A4’Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley

SIDE LINES

Inclusive Santa trains THE East Lancs Railway launches

Court orders Gwili to pay £36k after volunteer breaks leg

GWILI Railway Company has been ordered to pay

Telford’s ‘Taffy tank’ returns

No. 5619 was hauling public trains on September

Station grant

JOSH BRINSFORD SHREWSBURY’S former Abbey station will have

Brake van boosts public services

Restored BR van transforms Yorkshire Wolds Railway visitor offering.

Ballast wagon appeal fund

Sealion ballast hopper No. DB982613. CVR AS the

Fireless loco returns to operation

Britain’s sole working 0-4-0F is back in traffic at the Doon Valley Railway in Ayrshire.

Fresh exhibit

AB 2335 on display at Museum of Scottish

Colne Valley anniversary

The Colne Valley Railway in Essex celebrated

Double Barclay power

Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway’s 40th anniversary gala

‘Austerity’ hired by Nene Valley for the autumn

HUNSLET‘Austerity’0-6-0ST No. 3193 Norfolk Regiment entered service at

SINGLE LINES

■ RHYL Steam Preservation Trust’s Barnes 4-4-2 Billie

DIARY

OCTOBER 1 Bredgar &Wormshill Light Railway steam gala

New steam loco launched into traffic in Mid-Wales

Second near-replica locomotive enters service at Corris.

140 years of Brighton’s electric railway celebrated

Built in 1898 as trailer car No. 9

New owners for Evesham Vale Light Railway

DAVID and Katherine Nelson-Brown have been announced as

First of Talyllyn Railway’s new carriages delivered from Boston Lodge Works

THE first of three new Talyllyn Railway (TR)

Decauville debut at Richmond open day

Decauville 0-4-0T 648/1912 Lily pictured working passenger trains

South Tynedale marks anniversary with gala day

Thomas Green & Company 0-6-2ST 441/1908 Barber, now

Blue duo at Bala gala

Privately-owned, Ffestiniog Railway-based, Hunslet 0-4-0ST Britomart was the

SIDE LINES

Blue Talyllyn approaches completion THE overhaul of Talyllyn

Battery-electric boost

Ex-industrial locomotives acquired for operation at Ffestiniog and Westonzoyland lines.

Steam and diesel at W&LLR gala – but no Alishan hauler delivering the goods

Austro-Hungarian action at Welshpool as on-hire No. 2

SINGLE LINES

■ THE theme for the September 9/10 Steam

FR to begin Blaenau renovation

WITH proposals for major redevelopment of the joint

Linda set to return for Christmas

THE overhaul of Ffestiniog Railway’s Hunslet 2-40STT Linda,

Welsh Hunslet pair visit Lynton & Barnstaple for gala

THE Lynton & Barnstaple Railway encountered another guest

Tinkerbell’s 55th birthday celebrated

Milestone marked for classic miniature loco design.

Visitors aplenty at Pecorama Loco Week

Single-Fairlie Elsi was a long way from

STEAM PORTFOLIO

1 JAMES KINDRED 1 MORNING COMPOSITION:

Derby tram’s new city heritage centre role

No. 1 will be on display from November.

SIDELINES

Fylde Transport Trust founding member dies TRIBUTES have

LISBON TRAM FILMING

Southampton Tram Project has revealed that Lisbon

Seaton Tramway looking to expand company board

MODERN Electric Tramways Ltd, the registered charity which

Didcot diesel developments

Heritage diesel fleet boosted with Type 2 addition and a fresh look for a Hunslet shunter.

South Devon ‘Rat’ stretches its legs further north in white rose country

Picture: JAMIE SQUIBBS SOUTH Devon Diesel Traction Group’s

‘Hymek incident at Williton

Investigations under way to establish the causes of an uncontrolled run-away.

Class 58 preservation progress

THE restoration of the three surviving Class 58s

Superbly restored Class 104 DMU trailer makes its preservation debut

Picture: HAYDEN SHEPPARD CLASS 104 DTCL No. M56182

Ex-Army Ruston shows its true colours at Plym Valley

PLYM Valley Railway’s (PVR) River Annan (0-6-0DH LSSH

‘Forgotten’ Type 2s find new home in Scotland

A PAIR of Birmingham RCW Sulzer Class 26s,

First moves for French ‘Chopper’ at GWSR

CLASS 20 No. 20228 moved under its own

‘Heavy Tractor’ Type 3 replaces ‘Deltic’ at Nene Valley gala

CLASS 37/7 No. 37714 Cardiff Canton is to

NIRT’s first ex-BR loco readied for service

Picture: KEVIN SMITH CLASS 02 0-4-0DH No. D2867,

Festive Fifties head to Manchester

Seasonal market excursion from London is set to operate on metals rarely traversed by ‘Hoovers’.

BLS charity farewell tour for Merseyrail’s Class 508 EMUs

WITH the withdrawal of Merseyrail’s Class 508 fleet

‘40’ replaces Alycidon on Christmas tour

THE unavailability of‘Deltic’No. 55009 Alycidon (RM Sept, p14)

Tempted by ‘Cromptons’ to Chester?

PATHFINDERTours’second seasonal excursion for the pre-Christmas period will

SIDE LINES

Track replaced in Dinmore Tunnel THE track and

Project to upgrade Cornish signalling gets underway

Several traditional ’boxes to close, with Exeter regional centre taking over

Signal changes come in at Feltham and Peterborough

NETWORK Rail signalling installation teams have completed the

More Severn Estuary line landslip resilience work completed

WORK to mitigate the risk of landslips on

Barmouth viaduct readied for new spans

PREPARATIONS for the installation of two new 160-tonne

Contractor appointed for York gateway project

A generated image of how the revised approach

Northern City line ready for digitally signalled trains once ORR gives green light

NETWORK RAIL and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have

Leven link tracklaying completed

TO mark the completion of tracklaying on the

£3.8m repairs for historic Sankey viaduct

SANKEY viaduct at Newtonle-Willows, the world’s oldest railway

Thousands receive Victa training

ALMOST 4000 people from across the UK have

More trains to serve Drax contract with Port of Tyne

Site and rail infrastructure improvements to handle up

Northampton freight interchange is now rail connected

TRACK, points and signalling has been installed to

Container trial gives food for thought

FOOD manufacturer Nestlé has trialled a rail container

TfL’s search for new DLR operator is launched

Eight-year, £2.3bn franchise to run the system for TfL will begin in April 2025

£500,000 refurbishment underway

WORK is under way on more than half

New Class 555 undertakes test runs to South Shields

CLASS 555 No. 555003 completed early morning test

SIDELINES

Glasgow Subway’s busiest day since 2018 STRATHCLYDE Partnership

SIDE LINES

‘Paragon’ unit used to cover Lumo services HULL

Cost stops further Chiltern Class 168s conversions

Operator rules out hybrid refits for its wider fleet but issues a tender notice for new or converted low emissions trains.

Marston Vale Class 150 makeover completed

Ex-Northern Class 150/1 No. 150139 in London Northwestern

Naming honours base of LNER Class 91s

Class 91 No. 91127 is pictured at

‘Javelin’ lands back into Southeastern service

THE first of the 29 Class 395 Southeastern‘Javelin’sets

Traction system upgrade planned for PPM car No. 12

Pre Metro Operations Ltd to oversee further revamp of stored Parry People Mover prototype.

WAGON REPORT

AUTUMN sees the annual rollout of the railhead

The network’s notable moves

Get them while you can, as TransPennine Express

Hydrogen locomotive project launched

€1.5m scheme to see an 071 Class locomotive converted to run on hydrogen.

Adare bridge lifted as Foynes line project continues

THE three spans of the 1856-built structure over

Timetable consultation launched

IARNRÓD Eireann unveiled its proposed new timetable for

Downpatrick diesel gala

DOWNPATRICK and County Down Railway has confirmed that

SINGLE LINES

Accident closes world’s longest rail tunnel A FREIGHT

Illinois Railway Museum marks milestone year

Popular US railway heritage venue celebrates 70th anniversary with three-day gala.

Czech and Slovak ‘Bobina’ loco gathering

Nine ‘Bobinas’ lined up for a photoshoot at

Danish steam restoration

DSB Class F No. 658 departs Vrads on

Metra tests its ‘new’ six axle locos

Metra SD70MACH No. 502 was used to work