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JOHN HEATON Practice & Performance CLIFF THOMAS

The RAILWAY Magazine

DAWLISH ‘WARSHIPS’: This superb photo shows the Up

Modelling map of Britain... locate your friendly expert

1 SMITHS MODEL RAILWAYS Opening times: Mondays -

Year end endings

IT has been quite a month for significant

ORR backs down on decision to cancel premier Manchester train

Avanti’s ‘ghost train’ reinstated as the regulator’s chief announces retirement.

LUMO EXTENDS TO GLASGOW

Open access operator Lumo has extended its services

Avanti ‘Thunderbirds’ are gone

Use of Class 57/3s as rescue locos on WCML comes to an end.

Colas Rail to take over contract for East Coast Main Line rescue service

NETWORK Rail has awarded a £10.7 million contract

Loco firm Clayton Equipment goes into administration

BURTON-ON-TRENT based industrial locomotive manufacturer Clayton Equipment Ltd

FAREWELL OLD FRIENDS

Great Western Railway withdrew its final ‘Castle Class’

SIDELINES

Railway calendar FOR anyone still in need of

Huge setback for Irish heritage scheme after accidental blaze

Fire causes €50,000 of damage to line’s signal cabin.

Plan to move hydrogen by rail

A green hydrogen production plant could soon start shipping bulk quantities by rail.

Freeze in rail fares will impact on future infrastructure projects

Lower revenue will mean less to spend on performance and safety needs.

First Rail London is named as the new Overground operator

TRANSPORT for London has awarded an eight-year contract

NETWORK RAIL ‘153’ VISITS GRIMSBY LIGHT RAILWAY

Track Condition Monitoring Unit 1 (TCMU1) No. 153379

SIDELINES

Halfway point for M6 South viaduct THE third

Road moved for next phase of HS2’s longest green tunnel

The temporary realignment will create space for the latest stage of excavation at Greatworth.

Railways in Parliament

Landslip warnings BASILDON and Billericay MP Richard Holden

The view from the top

Network Rail’s outgoing and incoming chief executive officers talk to Phil Marsh about Privatisation errors and how Great British Railways intends to rectify those mistakes.

‘Two plus four’ no more

Guinness World Record: Longest-running railway series, established in 1901

A Northern icon

Robin Whitlock takes a look at the recently restored Stockport Viaduct, which looms over the town centre as Britain’s largest brick-built structure.

The final chapter

Britain’s biggest railway bookshop has closed after more than half a century of trading. Owner Robert Humm looks back on a remarkable career and tells Nick Pigott how the publishing industry has changed in the face of the internet onslaught.

Engineer and enthusiast

Steve Morris looks back on the distinguished career of the late Brian Penney.

Model bookstall

APOLOGIES for being a pedant, but the vintage

Readers’ Platform

Heaton recalled I WAS very interested to read

Adrian’s unusual Wickham wonder

SURELY, one of the most unusual standard gauge

Mini headboard in action

AS a follow-up to the article about my

‘Warships’ and ‘Western’ mysteries solved

REGARDING the photo of the Royal Train on

Finnish Railway joins in 200 celebrations

ON a recent holiday in Finland I belatedly

Overnight train was cheaper than a hotel

THE letters page in the November issue and

Where is it?

Our pictorial quiz, for fun only

MEETINGS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 Bath Railway Society. Museum of

From the archive

100 YEARS AGO JANUARY 1926 Whitemoor upgrade THE

RCTS

Britain’s leading Railway Society

PANORAMA

A showcase for the best in railway photography

TRACK RECORD

The Railway Magazine news digest

Yorkshire railway disasters

THIS book should appeal to all who share

North American Traction The impressions of an English Railfan

FOLLOWING up on the author’s collection of photographs

Pier Railways and Tramways

ONE hundred archive photographs are featured in this

The Glorious Years of the Southern Railway

THIS is a first-class addition to coverage in

D7017: Fifty Years of Hymek Preservation The Longest Serving Locomotive on the West Somerset Railway

THE Diesel and Electric Preservation Group has produced

The NOSTALGIA Collection

SILVER LINK PUBLISHING LTD FAST AND PRESENT PUBLISHING

Coming up next month...

RAILWAYS AND COMPUTERS It is now 50 years

P2 boiler arrives at Darlington

Largest single component delivered for new-build 2-8-2 ‘Mikado’ loco.

GER ‘Coffee Pot’ steamed at Liverpool Street station

Former GER ‘Coffee Pot’ 0-4-0ST No. 229 on

The unstoppable Duke of Gloucester

NOT even an incident with some buffer stops

Restoration of 4MT 2-6-0 suffers further setback

Complications found during repairs of the ‘forgotten Standard’.

Water shortage hits Spa Valley

RESIDENTS and businesses in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were

SOUTH-EASTERN

A rare sight on the West Coastway route

Decision time for GCR’s unrestored ‘Black Five’

A forlorn-looking No. 45491 in the GCR shed

GCR reunification progress...

Anticipation is high for the Great Central Railway’s decade-long project in 2026, with two key steps set to be taken.

... and at the Rother Valley’s Robertsbridge station

AS the proposed deadline for opening looms ever

EUSTON ‘BLACK FIVE’

No. 44871 was used on ‘Polar Express’ trips

SIDELINES

Shuttlewood reprieve FACED with rising costs and the

DIARY

JANUARY 22-25 Great Central Railway: Winter Steam Gala

Appeal launched to fund cosmetic restoration of 0-4-0ST Uppingham

The 114-year-old Peckett R2 class locomotive is based

Crane Tank restoration progresses

THE Bahamas Locomotive Society is progressing steadily with

‘MIDDY’ VISITOR

The Mid-Suffolk Railway hired in Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST

Plym Valley Railway recovers three vehicles from Tavistock Junction Yard

Preserved Sentinel shunter used to retrieve MTA wagon as part of the operation.

New home at Embsay for Great Northern Railway Observation Saloon No. 3087

GREAT Northern Railway Observation Saloon No. 3087 is

CARRIAGES & WAGONS

The departure of GNR Observation Saloon No. 3087

Conservation and upgrades at Boston Lodge

ALTHOUGH the major National Lottery Heritage Fund supported

New-build Glyn Valley Tramway loco project officially starts

THE frames for the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust’s

New permanent homes are announced for locomotives

Armistice moves to Bressingham as B&WLR further slims down its collection.

AUTUMN LIGHT

The Ffestiniog Railway’s Double Fairlie James Spooner arrives

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway launches £50,000 Axe overhaul appeal

THE Lynton & Barnstaple Railway has launched a

‘New’ diesel at Perrygrove Railway

Perrygrove Railway’s Joyce pictured on December 3 while

Passenger rides now possible after stock arrivals at Blythburgh

THE Halesworth to Southwold Narrow Gauge Railway Charitable

New MRT museum ‘topped out’

The interior of the MRT’s new museum at

B&WLR presses on with restoration of Garforth footbridge

THE Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway is progressing

Hopes of 2026 completion for replica 1863 Mountaineer locomotive

IT had been hoped by 1863 Mountaineer Locomotive

SIDELINES

■ THE Corris Railway anticipates its 2005-built near-replica

Merddin Emrys overhaul in progress

THE Ffestiniog Railway’s Double Fairlie 0-4-4-0T Merddin Emrys

No 2026 season for Pecorama

PECORAMA – home of the Beer Heights Railway

Trains return in miniature form to Wingfield station

A dual gauge line set in the grounds of the North Midland Railway building will operate for special events.

‘Momentous point’ reached in Beamish’s long-running overhaul of Gateshead No. 10

The tram has been put back on to its bogies for the first time in almost a decade.

Decks of Glasgow No. 488 reunited in East Anglia

A LORRY-MOUNTED crane was used to lift the

ALMOST DONE

The overhaul of Amsterdam No. 474 is nearing

SIDELINES

Second extension for popular heritage tours HERITAGE trams

First and last ‘313’ heads to Wales

THE final Class 313 EMU to be withdrawn

DIARY

Please check with railways before travelling to events.

Second ‘Whistler’ to join LSL main line diesel fleet

Move raises the prospect of a pair of Class 40s on the main line.

BADGER’ TEST RUN

The unique Class 89 No. 89001 Avocet made

‘WESTERN’ AT REST

Timeline Events staged a photo charter at Didcot

‘Deltic’ power unit started after 44 years out of use

THE Deltic Preservation Society is celebrating after its

Network Rail donates rails to Plym Valley Railway

Clearance at the end of October 2025 on

Chiltern and Branch Line Society to hold Mk.3 farewell charity trip

The February tour will include routes regularly worked by the stock as well as track on which they have been a less familiar sight in passenger use.

SPEEDING SOUTH

A Railway Touring Company charter from Norwich on

Inaugural excursion run of Romic’s HST set will be with UK Railtours

UK RAILTOURS has secured the inaugural passenger excursion

‘CASTLE’ WORKING

HARD: A very dramatic picture of No. 5043

MIDLANDS

‘PACIFIC’: Vintage Trains has hired-in No. 60163 Tornado

Playing a blinder... Norwich and back with a ‘Peak’

THE first UK Railtours excursion for 2026 will

Two ‘50s’ to East Lancs in March

UK RAILTOURS is taking bookings for a tour

Waterloo hub trial proves its potential

A FREIGHT hub trial at Waterloo station has

TPE to apply for licence to move parcels

A SUCCESSFUL trial involving the delivery of medical

Freight firms review data from Class 93’s intermodal debut

Journey from Daventry and Grangemouth demonstrated the potential of the Stadler-built tri-mode locomotives to handle container trains.

Knorr-Bremse and VTG Rail UK sign wagon digital technology agreement

KNORR-BREMSE Rail Systems UK has signed a long-term

King Charles opens the South Wales Metro’s Taff’s Well depot

The £100 million facility will maintain 36 Class 398 ‘Citylink’ tram-trains.

Adult long-distance single fares cut on Supertram

Siemens-Duewag Supertram No. 109 at the Valley Centertainment

SIDELINES

Metrolink extension via Denton proposal TRANSPORT for Greater

£60 million railway bridge ready for installation over the M6

The steel structure has been built alongside the West Coast Main Line and the motorway near Penrith in Cumbria.

Station Gateway Project receives Department for Transport funding

FUNDING worth £13.5 million from the Department for

Hinckley’s A5 bridge regains its title as the ‘most bashed’ in Britain

THE infamous railway bridge at Hinckley, Leicestershire, which

Artefact missing for 25 years was for sale on eBay

The restored plaque is located on platform 10

Million-pound upgrade to Harwich International station completed

GREATER Anglia has completed a £1 million investment

RAIB investigates another ECML overspeed

RAIL Accident Investigation Branch inspectors have undertaken a

Contactless ticketing for Stansted Airport delayed

PLANS for an extension of contactless pay-as-you-go ticketing,

SIDELINES

CrossCountry ends ‘Turbostar’ catering CROSSCOUNTRY has ceased catering

SIDELINES

Two Class 717s put ETCS signalling to the

Muted atmosphere for ‘Aurora’ entry into service

Low-key introduction for East Midlands Railway’s first Class 810 bi-mode unit.

THEN THERE WERE FOUR

GB Railfreight Class 99 Nos. 99003 and 99004

Train refurbishment facilities open at King’s Heath depot

East Midlands Railway Connect Class 360 No. 360107

First Class 376 modernisation completed

SOUTHEASTERN Class 376 No. 376027 has become the

SWR’s ‘Hotshot’ Class 450 EMU has electrical problems in its sights

A SOUTH Western Railway Class 450 electric multiple

The network’s notable moves

A charity photoshoot in aid of Great Ormond

STOCK UPDATE

Transport for Wales DVT No. 82220 is pictured

Stadler can proceed with order for new fleet of Enterprise trains

An injunction brought by rival bidder CAF was overturned by the High Court in Dublin.

MAIN LINE RETURN FOR SLIEVE GULLION

Making a triumphant return to main line steam

STRADBALLY SANTA STEAM

Former Bord na Mona Well Tank steam locomotive

Projects delayed as a result of National Development Plan Review

SEVERAL major urban rail schemes have been pushed

High-speed line running deep under the Alps opens in Austria

The 127km-long route connects Graz and Klagenfurt.

Dutch debut for new tour operator

Rail Adventure electric loco No. 1611, originally used

Melbourne ‘Metro Tunnel’ now in use

MELBOURNE’S 9km ‘Metro Tunnel’ opened on November 30,

Illinois museum expands its collection

The first production diesel loco in America to