DOUGLAS BLADES

The great ‘Whistle-Up’!

This year’s Railway 200 celebrations kicked off in style on January 1, as heritage lines large and small across the country took part in the simultaneous midday ‘Whistle-Up’.

Mixed fortunes

THE course of railway history sometimes runs straight,

Freight firms fear being crowded off the network

A combination of track access charges and capacity constraints make freight operators concerned about hitting the Government’s rail freight growth targets.

Five manufacturers shortlisted for new Northern trains

Alstom, CAF, Hitachi, Siemens and Stadler will compete for the deal, the first phases of which will see ‘Sprinters’ replaced.

Post-pandemic passengers up but revenue shortfall continues

THE latest statistics issued by the Office of

Swietelsky acquires Harry Needle Railroad Company

Austrian rail infrastructure firm says the deal allows it to expand its UK market presence.

Man’s track fall went unnoticed, says RAIB report

A RAIL Accident Investigation Branch report into a

DIARY

£2 COIN MARKS 200 YEARS: The Royal Mint

Get ready for The Greatest Gathering

Three-day summer event at Alstom Derby promises to be a standout highlight of the Railway 200 celebrations.

Stockton & Darlington replica train

The S&DR replica train, including a Locomotion No.1

GWSR launches Railway 200 gala weekend

THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway has added a Railway

Railways in Parliament

DfT Operator plans NORTH East Hertfordshire MP Chris

Siemens wins HS2 contracts with a combined value of £560 million

The company has announced four deals, one of which will enable semi-automatic train operation on the high speed route.

BOX STRUCTURE PROGRESS

A total of 120 concrete beams, ranging in

Sushila completes its two-year, five-mile London tunnel boring journey

Tunnelling team members celebrate the breakthrough of tunnel

joined up thinking

As more railways were built after the opening of the Stockton & Darlington in 1825, the benefits of linking them together soon became apparent, as Bob Gwynne describes

Northumberland Phoenix

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

The blame game

The investigation into a plain line derailment on the Blyth & Tyne route in 1982 highlighted the problem of fragmented responsibilities that would later trouble the early years of rail Privatisation, as John Heaton FCILT recounts.

Ashington by ‘Paddy’

Dedicated ‘Paddy Trains’ for local miners had ended the year before, but a 1967 railtour to the Ashington area made use of the National Coal Board’s veteran passenger stock.

Sixty years… and still waiting

In 1964, Blackpool Corporation lobbied British Railways to close the town’s Central station and release the land for redevelopment. With the bulk of the site still awaiting transformation, Graeme Pickering examines the impact of a gamble that is yet to pay-off.

Keeping the skills alive

Karen Richardson visits the trimming team at the Bluebell Railway to see how traditional skills, techniques and materials are being used to give an authentic feel to historic carriage seats.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6 Bath Rly Soc. Museum of

From the archive

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The RCTS: then and now

Britain’s leading Railway Society

PANORAMA

A showcase for the best in railway photography

Yorkshire Railways from Steam to Modern Traction

A PHOTO album of railways in Yorkshire is

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RAIL STAYS

THE LONG VIEW: FEBRUARY

HEALTH & SAFETY? Standards were clearly different

CROSSWORD & NEXT MONTH

£100 worth of Nostalgia of Collection books to

TRACKRECORD

The Railway Magazine news digest

KWVR industrial loco fleet grows

An Avonside 0-4-0ST and vertical-boilered Sentinel move to Haworth.

Final push for ‘N2’ overhaul

Funding scheme launched to complete five-year overhaul.

Beachy Head charter sells out in less than 72 hours

NEW YEAR STEAM: Renishaw Ironworks No. 6 (Hudswell

‘Greyhound’ progress

THE 563 Locomotive Group, based on the Swanage

Newstead return is close

Once-thought scrapped Hunslet should return to traffic in 2025.

Swanage line 1972 closure marked

CLOSED by British Rail on New Year’s Day

Flying Scotsman to visit Nene Valley this month

With a new custodian in place, the celebrity ‘A3’ is beginning a new period of operations.

DFR Small Prairie bows out

THE 1928-built GWR Small Prairie No. 5541 ran

Marcia returns after 40 years

NEW Year’s Day saw Peckett 0-4-0T Marcia (works

£1.3 million grant to repair East Lancs Railway viaduct

ONE of the East Lancashire Railway’s most photographed

SIDELINES

Hunslet appeal THE Friends of Wheldale (Hunslet

DIARY

FEBRUARY 15 Peak Rail: Railway 200 – The

LNWR covered goods wagon to be refurbished in Shropshire

Bishop’s Castle Railway Society seeks help in restoring and piecing together the full history of the Diagram 88 van.

Roof repairs on Duke of Sutherland’s saloon undertaken at Beamish

BEAMISH Museum is hoping to return the Duke

SIDELINES

Russell to return to WHR metals before withdrawal

Ffestiniog Railway to mark 70 years of preservation

Merddin Emrys back in early green, and 200 wheels on the Cob!

Appeal for donations is renewed as plans for new Gowrie 0-6-4T’s boiler revised

THE Gowrie Locomotive Trust has had to revise

Trustees aim to return DHR No. 19 to steam in 2026

THE design for a new boiler for the

Shed extension gives more covered storage for VoR’s historic loco collection

THE Vale of Rheidol Railway (VoR) is constructing

Restoration of ex-Manx Northern Railway carriage progresses

THE Vale of Rheidol Railway has rebuilt the

Appeal donations pour in for TR project

But ‘Orchard’ site ruled out for Pendre redevelopment.

SINGLE LINES

■ CORRIS Railway’s (CR) 2005-built Kerr, Stuart ‘Tattoo’

SINGLE LINES

■ A NEW ‘summer car’ is being constructed

DIARY

FEBRUARY 8-9, 13-23, 28-29 Lappa Valley Steam Railway:

Storm Darragh hits Santa season

Corris Christmas trains a complete write-off after power cuts and damage.

Ex-Pen-yr-Orsedd Hunslet Una at Boston Lodge for overhaul

THE components of ex-Pen-yr-Orsedd Hunslet 0-4-0ST Una left

STEAM PORTFOLIO

BATTLEFIELD TANK: Ex-GWR Pannier tank No. 1369,

Hydraulic testing completed on overhauled 4-4-2 Blacklock R

Saltburn Miniature Railway’s only steam locomotive is prepared for a return to traffic after major work.

SIDELINES

Key appointments made at Crich GRAHAM Bennett

‘Real possibility’ of completing Chester car No. 4 later this year

Team appeals for help with funds as it continues to work on the refurbishment of the city’s last surviving electric tram.

Gateshead No. 10’s crimson and cream colour scheme

FURTHER work will take place during the first

Simulator plan for Plym Valley HST

New lives for ex-GWR power cars.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

‘Deltics’ were built with steam heat boilers (and

Cab removed as part of Caley ‘25’ restoration

CALEDONIAN Railway-based Class 25 No.25083 has had its

Body work repairs for SVR’s ‘101’

COLAS ‘70’ GUESTS AT BO’NESS: T he Bo’ness

Air-braked ‘03’ arrives at Dean Forest for store

CLASS 03 No. 03119 has arrived at the

BLS to run weekend charity tour with ‘top-and-tailed’ Class 50s

Three-day programme in the North West of England features No. 50008 Thunderer and will cover a number of routes which rarely see loco-hauled passenger trains.

Pathfinder to run five more Cambrian excursions

BLUE/GREY ‘THUMPER’: H astings Diesels’ Class 201 ‘short’

‘Jacobite’ dates released

WEST Coast Railways has released the operational dates

Six locos to feature in ‘Chopper Quartet’

UK Railtours‘Chopper Quartet’, a one-way positioning tour on

SIDELINES

Coal fleet repurposing under way A TOTAL

String of deals confirmed for ‘iWagon’ technology

VTG Rail UK announces new order and leases for vehicles which will employ the remote monitoring system.

Aggregate Industries extends GB Railfreight contract

MORE than five million tonnes of material is

SIDELINES

Temporary fix for flyover TYNE & Wear

NET operator reports ‘continued recovery’ despite large deficit

Tramlink Nottingham recorded a £26.3 million loss in 2023-24, less than half that incurred for the previous year.

Kentish Town Tube station reopens after completion of 18-month-long revamp

HAVING been closed since June 2023 for refurbishment,

Hungerford Bridge over River Thames to be refurbished

Work on the 161-year-old structure, which links Waterloo East to Charing Cross station, is expected to take nearly three years.

Road under ‘bashed’ bridge to be lowered

A RAIL overbridge once tagged as ‘Britain’s most

East Kilbride line closed until May

An artist’s impression of the new station at

Twelve-week vegetation management project on Heart of Wales line

NETWORK RAIL has begun a £1million vegetation management

Investment in place for new Salford Crescent platform

A computer-generated image of how the new platform

Preparations begin to replace rail bridge over M6

NETWORK Rail has begun preparations to replace Clifton

Atherstone services disrupted after landslide

TIMBER AND GLAZING OVERHAULED AT STOKE: As part

Transpennine route upgrade progress

FURTHER phases of upgrade work across multiple sites

SIDELINES

Setback for Leicester facelift plan A £22

ScotRail aims for December 2026 replacement of its HST fleet

Operator launches procurement process, setting out requirements for rolling stock which will supersede its ‘Inter7City’ sets.

Southeastern announces mid-life ‘extensive refresh’ for Class 376s

Southeastern Class 376, No. 376023 at Cannon Street

LNR hangs onto additional Class 350/2 pair for capacity

LONDON Northwestern Railway has confirmed to The RM

SIDELINES

HVO for Class 99s DUE to enter

Refurbishment of South Western Railway Class 458s completed

A total of 28 trains were modernised at Alstom’s Transport Technology Centre in Widnes.

Wagon Report

GREENBRIER Europe continues to build the bulk of

STOCK UPDATE

LOCOMOTIVES Allocations 66054WBRT-WBAT 66060WBRT-WBAT 66066WBRT-WBAT 66067WBRT-WBAT 66083WBRT-WBAT 66109WBRT-WBAT

The network’s notable moves

Now with Northern, but still carrying the livery

Countdown on to Scottish show

THE first of the major set-piece events on

Heavy snowfall disrupts Iarnród Éireann services

The weather conditions were widespread, with Tipperary, Limerick, North Cork and Kerry among the areas particularly affected.

Dublin’s Loop Line track renewed over Christmas and New Year

MAJOR track renewal was completed by Iarnród Éireann

€70 million Galway redevelopment on target for 2026

WORK continues on the €70 million redevelopment of

Locomotive variety aplenty on the railway in Cameroon

Traction new and old continues to be found on Camrail passenger and freight services.

Pioneer railway celebrates 70 years

THE Cottbus Parkeisenbahn (Cottbus Park Railway) celebrated its

SIDELINES

Metro for Ho Chi Minh City THE

Passenger work for new rack locos

SWISS 800 millimetregauge mountain railway the Wengernalpbahn (WAB)

Seville expands light rail fleet

One of the new Urbos trams No. 3050

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Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 - "Tom Parry"