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  • REVIEWS: Monorails of the Early 20th Century

    REVIEWS: Monorails of the Early 20th Century

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By Adrian S Garner Published by Lightmoor Press www.lightmoor.co.uk 208 pages, black & white, 283 x 220mm, hardback. £25.00 THIS amazing piece of work is a follow-up to the author’s 2011 book that covered monorails in the 1800s, moving on to detail those built from 1900 to the end of the Second World War –…

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  • DRS ‘68s’ BREAK NEW GROUND

    DRS ‘68s’ BREAK NEW GROUND

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    CLASS 68s Nos. 68023 Achilles and 68025 Superb ‘top and tailed’ UK Railtours’ ‘Rose of the Shire’ charter on February 10, which ran from London Victoria to Claydon Junction (Buckinghamshire) formed of the Northern Belle set. This is believed to be the first railtour to run from Oxford to Aylesbury via Claydon since the line was…

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  • Inside the first ‘D’ Stock RAT

    Inside the first ‘D’ Stock RAT

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Christopher Westcott gets a first look at the future of London Underground’s Rail Adhesion Trains. THE first of London Underground’s ‘D’ Stock trains were withdrawn from the District Line in mid-January 2015 as replacement ‘S7’ Stock trains arrived from Bombardier in Derby. While the majority of ‘D’ Stock cars were snapped up by Vivarail for…

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  • Battersea bound!

    Battersea bound!

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Tunnelling is set to begin on London Underground’s Northern Line extension from Kennington to Battersea, as the two boring machines have been lowered into place at the former power station site. TUNNEL boring machines Helen and Amy have been lowered into place at Battersea ready to start construction of the two-mile (3.2km) twin-tunnel route to…

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  • Highland observations

    Highland observations

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    The 1980s and early 1990s saw a renaissance in the use of observation saloons on the Kyle of Lochalsh route, this culminating in the conversion of a Class 101 DMU car. To mark the release of Bachmann’s model of this vehicle, Simon Bendall profiles the last 15 years of loco-hauled passenger trains on the scenic…

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  • Class 68 makes an impression

    Class 68 makes an impression

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Dapol’s highly anticipated 4mm scale re-creation of the Vossloh machines has arrived but it is not without some controversy. SO, at last, the wait is over with the first batch of Class 68s making it to the UK and onto retailers’ shelves in mid-February. Not that many of the models had time to get acquainted…

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  • HONG KONG BATTERY LOCOS

    HONG KONG BATTERY LOCOS

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    I SAW the shot of a Brush/Wabtec-built battery loco for the Hong Kong Metro in your February issue (RE249). It reminded me of this photo taken in 1989 of one (No. L60) of the previous batches built by Brush for Hong Kong. These 1500V DC locos are used to haul maintenance trains. Phase 1 (Nos.…

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  • Performance: 0 to 60!

    Performance: 0 to 60!

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Just how nimble are today’s locos and units, and what’s the quickest off the mark? A Virgin ‘Pendolino’ is this month’s target for Neville Hill in the shadow of the Jodrell Bank radio telescope. COULD Britain’s most sophisticated squadron service InterCity set, the Class 390 ‘Pendolino’, challenge the EMU leaders of our 0-60 table? Well…

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  • STORM DORIS BONUS

    STORM DORIS BONUS

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Disruption caused by Storm Doris across the country on February 23 led to some additional loco-hauled services in East Anglia. Both the Norwich-based ‘short sets’ were pressed into service on the main line instead of their usual trips to Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Nos. 37423 and 37419 are pictured arriving at Colchester with the 15.30 from…

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  • CHILTERN ‘BUBBLES’ TO GO

    CHILTERN ‘BUBBLES’ TO GO

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Class 121 DMUs Nos. 121020 and 121034 are to be withdrawn by Chiltern Railways when the timetable changes in May. The first generation DMUs are the oldest still in passenger service on the main line, and are used for off-peak services between Aylesbury and Princes Risborough. It is understood the units need new tyres, but…

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