Essential reading for today's rail enthusiast

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Essential reading for today's rail enthusiast

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Sam Hewitt

  • ‘C’ Stock added to LTM collection

    ‘C’ Stock added to LTM collection

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Farewell tour driving car saved for posterity. The London Transport Museum board has decided to accept the withdrawn ‘C’ Stock driving car No. 5721 into its permanent collection. In the words of a museum representative: “It is a major decision to collect something so big and commit to keep it forever.” The car was saved…

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  • Final main line ‘03’ enters preservation

    Final main line ‘03’ enters preservation

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Hornsey depot’s celebrity shunter has been acquired by the Rushden Transport Museum. Andy West and David Russell report. THE sale of former Hornsey pilot No. 03179 Clive has been concluded, and the loco moved to its new home in preservation at the Rushden Transport Museum in Northamptonshire on July 19. The ‘03’ was the last…

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  • Crossrail Class 345s shown off in Derby

    Crossrail Class 345s shown off in Derby

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    The first of the 66-strong fleet for the new cross-London Elizabeth Line has started testing at Bombardier’s factory in the Midlands. UNIT No. 345001 was shown off to the press at manufacturer Bombardier’s factory in Derby on July 29. The EMU is the first of 66 that will form the Crossrail, now Elizabeth Line, fleet…

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  • Testing begins on first Class 707s for SWT

    Testing begins on first Class 707s for SWT

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    TRAIN builder Siemens has begun testing the first Class 707 EMUs at the test track in Wildenrath, Germany. Thirty five-car sets are being built for use by South West Trains on the route from Waterloo to Windsor, allowing Class 458/5s to concentrate on the Reading line and thus freeing up Class 450s to strengthen services…

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  • Northern announces dates for rundown of ‘Pacer’ fleet

    Northern announces dates for rundown of ‘Pacer’ fleet

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By David Russell Class 142 and 144 units due to be handed back from September 2018. The planned hand-back dates for Northern’s fleet of Class 142 and 144 ‘Pacers’ have been revealed. The Class 144 units will be eliminated first, with the two-car sets being removed from service by January 5, 2019, and the 10…

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  • GWR receives first Class 387s

    GWR receives first Class 387s

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    STAFF training has begun on Great Western Railway’s Class 387 EMUs after the first two units arrived on July 28. Europhoenix Type 3 No. 37800 brought Nos. 387130 and 387131 from Bletchley to North Pole depot, West London, and No. 387130 made its first appearance at Paddington in the early hours of the next day.…

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  • NR plans for growth in Scotland

    NR plans for growth in Scotland

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    Major changes are needed to accommodate longer and more frequent services – including extra platforms, tracks and a new tunnel at Edinburgh Waverley – as the number of passenger journeys continues to rise. Network Rail has developed plans to cope with rising passenger growth in Scotland, where the number of journeys has doubled over the last…

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  • British Rail Diesels

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By Mick Hymans Subtitled ‘The lives of the early diesels in photographs’, this book sets out to catalogue every British Railways diesel type from Class 15 to Class 55 plus shunters and prototypes resulting from the 1955 Modernisation Plan. To attempt this in only 160 pages means that each class does not receive more than…

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  • HS2 NEEDS INTERMEDIATE STATIONS

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    I READ with interest the article on why the former Great Central Route between Marylebone and Nottingham could not realistically be used as a low-cost alternative to HS2 (August issue). One of the main criticisms of the GCR was that it did not really serve any sizeable centres of population south of Leicester – famously…

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  • Derby Trainman: Like a limestone cowboy

    Derby Trainman: Like a limestone cowboy

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    One of the toughest, but most tedious, jobs for a 1990s Derby trainman was the stone train to Washwood Heath, as Tim Helme explains. “WHOA!” came the urgent shout, crackling through the walkie-talkie wedged on the driver’s desk of the lead Class 37. This partially garbled transmission had issued from our guard, having just set…

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