News

THE National Railway Museum has begun a condition review of its entire diesel and electric fleet to decide the way forward for each of the vehicles in the collection. A Conservation Management Plan will be drawn up individually for each item of rolling stock which will look at: the condition of the vehicle now; what…

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THE KWVR was one of the first standard gauge heritage lines in the country, running its first official trains on June 29, 1968 – a few years after the Bluebell Railway (1960) but ahead of its nearby neighbour the Middleton Railway in Leeds (1969), as well as lines such as the North Yorkshire Moors Railway…

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FOUR-car EMU No. 710261 became the first of the class to be delivered to its new future home at Willesden depot, North London, when it was hauled there ‘top and tailed’ by Nos. 57305 and 37884 on June 13. The unit was then used for the press launch on June 20, giving the first chance…

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THE Class 50 Alliance has confirmed the latest  additions to the line-up for the Severn Valley Railway’s Class 50 Golden Jubilee gala event on October 4-6. Garcia Hanson’s No. 50008 Thunderer, Neil Boden’s No. 50017 Royal Oak and No. 50050 Fearless, and Paul Spracklen’s No. 50026 Indomitable are the latest to join this one-off event…

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MORE details have emerged about the future rolling stock to be provided by KeolisAmey during the new 15-year Wales and Borders franchise, which begins on October 14. There will be something old and something new, but mostly the latter. To list the old, Mk.4 coaches displaced from LNER by Hitachi IETs will be transferred in…

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  BOTH Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Arriva Trains Northern (ATN) have been heavily criticised since the May 20 timetable change as they have been unable to deliver the promised new services, with hundreds of services cancelled each day. Both operators have suffered from Network Rail project overruns, which have prevented the necessary driver training…

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SO, the Accurascale adventure has begun. Having already helped revolutionise modelling across the Irish Sea, the team behind the highly acclaimed Irish Railway Models brand have now made their debut in the UK market with the release of the sister company’s first ready-to-run ‘OO’ gauge model. Announced less than five months ago, the subject is…

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THEY came, they saw, but they did not conquer. Sixty years ago in 1958, 22 four-wheeled railbuses from five different manufacturers were trialled on rural lines in England and Scotland with the aim of reducing costs and thus saving the lines from closure. The idea was noble, a brave attempt by British Railways to hang…

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