Sam Hewitt

Working with ‘Grids’

by

Sam Hewitt

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19th August 2016

Steve Morris recounts his time on British Rail’s Western Region in the 1980s, trying to get the newly introduced Class 56 fleet up to scratch. THE Class 56 fleet was born out of the need to move more coal to Britain’s power stations following the 1973 oil crisis. The country had become reliant on imported…
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A new generation of engineers

by

Sam Hewitt

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19th August 2016

Young volunteers are becoming involved in railway preservation, and the recent ‘Deltic’ tour to Tweedbank saw an 18-year-old among the support crew. David Russell reports. THERE are many people who believe the average age of volunteers involved in railway preservation is rising and that there is very little ‘new blood’ getting involved in the hobby.…
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New stock boom

by

Sam Hewitt

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19th August 2016

THERE is a mention on our Time Traveller page this month of the infamous three-year hiatus in the mid-1990s when no new trains were ordered while the privatisation of British Rail was being sorted out, and even then it was a modest new build of 12 Class 168 DMUs for Chiltern Railways. Step forward to…
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