Essential reading for today's rail enthusiast

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Sarah Wilkinson

  • Class 88s stopped for modifications

    Class 88s stopped for modifications

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    IN an unexpected development, September 1 saw the entire Class 88 fleet removed from traffic for modifications. By the afternoon of this date, TOPS was showing all ten locos as ‘awaiting maintenance’, with indications that an upgrade to the OTMR data recording equipment was the cause of the blanket stoppage. That morning had seen No.…

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  • Back from the brink

    Back from the brink

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    The Bury to Manchester Victoria line, now part of the city’s Metrolink tram network, is just under 10 miles in length and was opened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in September 1879 to provide an important link to the growing residential communities of North Manchester. The L&YR was an early advocate of electrification and…

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  • 40 years of pain and pleasure

    40 years of pain and pleasure

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    IN 1977 the much loved Class 52 ‘Westerns’ bowed out; the first North Sea gas was pumped ashore at Easington; HM The Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee; Labour’s James Callaghan was the Prime Minister; the Ford Fiesta made its debut . . . and two blokes walked across a field in Northamptonshire with their dog.…

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  • New ‘loco’ takes shape

    New ‘loco’ takes shape

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    WORK is progressing on DVT No. 82113 at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway to convert it into a test bed for a new form of traction. The project, funded by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and Artemis Intelligent Power, will see the DVT fitted with a JCB engine, backed up by hydraulic accumulators…

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  • ScotRail gets first mini-HST as IEPs reach Waverley

    ScotRail gets first mini-HST as IEPs reach Waverley

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    THE first HST set to be taken off lease for transfer to ScotRail departed Plymouth Laira for Bristol St Philip’s Marsh on August 31, power cars Nos. 43021 and 43132 having lost their nameplates and branding. The early hours of September 1 saw the set continue north as the 5E23/01.00 working to Doncaster West Yard,…

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  • Old Oak hosts ‘Legends’ open day

    Old Oak hosts ‘Legends’ open day

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    MORE than 7000 visitors took the opportunity to have a last look round Great Western Railway’s Old Oak Common depot on September 2, which featured no less than 39 locos and units, representing more than a century of development of Western Region traction. The depot is due to close next year to make way for…

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  • Hertford hardship

    Hertford hardship

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    YOU may be aware that Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is currently consulting on the detail of their revised timetable for the addition of Peterborough and Cambridge services to the Thameslink network next year. Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, will be one of the principal beneficiaries of these changes, with direct links to central London, Farringdon, Gatwick, Brighton…

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  • Cement from Clitheroe

    Cement from Clitheroe

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    THE Ribblesdale Cement Company’s works at Clitheroe, which opened in 1937, is situated at the end of a short branch just north of the station on the Blackburn to Hellifield line – a branch that was then already serving the Horrocksford Lime Company. Outgoing cement was initially dispatched in bags, but in the 1950s, British…

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  • ‘Clay Tigers’ and the Potteries

    ‘Clay Tigers’ and the Potteries

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    IT was great to read David Ratcliffe’s feature in the July issue on PBA ‘Tiger’ wagons, which were used predominantly on clay workings from the West Country to the Potteries. I am very familiar with these distinct wagons and services, as they passed through my home town of Wednesbury using the Dudley line for at…

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  • Modelling the HST DVTs

    Modelling the HST DVTs

    by

    Sarah Wilkinson

    –

    DURING 1987-89, eight HST power cars (Nos. 43013/14/65/67/68/80/84 and 43123) were modified to act as surrogate Driving Van Trailers to allow the new Class 91s to be tested and then introduced into passenger service as the construction of the new Mk.4 coaching stock was running rather behind schedule. The modifications included the removal of the…

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