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Sam Hewitt

  • Blackpool electrification delayed

    Blackpool electrification delayed

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    NETWORK Rail has blamed poor weather and engineering train failures for pushing back the reopening of the Preston to Blackpool North line until April 16. Services were due to restart on March 26 after a five-month blockade of the route, having been suspended since November 11 to allow electrification work, resignalling and track replacement to…

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  • HST strikes rail obstruction

    HST strikes rail obstruction

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    AN INVESTIGATION has started after a Virgin East Coast HST hit the end of a 129m-long section of surplus rail at Cradlehall, south of Inverness, that was fouling the rail head. The train was working the 07.55 Inverness-King’s Cross ‘Highland Chieftain’ and was travelling at 53mph. The rail had been left in this position following…

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  • Testing at Velim for TPE Mk5 set

    Testing at Velim for TPE Mk5 set

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    THE first completed TransPennine Express Mk5 set with a passenger driving trailer has arrived at Velim, Czech Republic for testing with two Class 68 locos that have arrived from the UK (see p98). The smart-looking five-carriage set was built in Spain and shipped to Bremerhaven, Germany. It is seen passing Königstein, Germany, close to the…

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  • Centenerian cameraman: Ron Buckley – Britain’s Oldest Railway Photographer

    Centenerian cameraman: Ron Buckley – Britain’s Oldest Railway Photographer

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Chris Milner meets centenarian Ron Buckley, a railway photographer with a fascinating past, who took his first railway picture in the 1930s, but also spent more than 40 years employed by both the LMS and BR. Most of us hope for a long and fruitful life and for centenarian Ron Buckley that wish has certainly…

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  • Practice & Performance: HOMEWARD BOUND – York to Huddersfield in the 1970s

    Practice & Performance: HOMEWARD BOUND – York to Huddersfield in the 1970s

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    For this month’s instalment of Practice & Performance, John Heaton FCILT, recalls some of his commuting journeys from York to Huddersfield behind four types of diesel synonymous with the trans-Pennine route. IT IS a summer evening in the early 1970s on the flat farmland west of York, next to the four-track main line from the…

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  • Going beyond the call of duty

    Going beyond the call of duty

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    THERE was plenty of warning of the snow and freezing temperatures that the storm dubbed the ‘Beast from the East’ (and its successor a couple of weeks later) was to bring to Britain. No matter how Network Rail and the train operators planned for the worst, there were some areas of the country where services…

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  • HST line-up marks 40th anniversary

    HST line-up marks 40th anniversary

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    A CELEBRATION of 40 years of the InterCity 125 high-speed train was marked with an open day at St Philips Marsh depot, Bristol, on May 2. The event, which attracted more than 5,000 visitors, was organised by GWR and its depot staff. Part of the depot was used, with the other half remaining operational, although…

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  • Ex-Grand Central HST named after Nottingham fire heroes

    Ex-Grand Central HST named after Nottingham fire heroes

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    EAST Midlands Trains has named one of six power cars transferred from Grand Central in tribute to the support and response from the emergency services when Nottingham station caught fire on January 5. Power car No. 43467 carries a slightly modified version of the East Midlands Trains livery and was named Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service…

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  • First Class 365s sent for secure storage in East Anglia

    First Class 365s sent for secure storage in East Anglia

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    THE first two Class 365 ‘Networker’ express units have moved to storage in Papworth Sidings, Ely. Another pair were expected to join them by the end of February. On February 15, debranded unit Nos. 365501 and 365505 were hauled by Rail Operations Group from Hornsey to Ely, using DRS Class 57 No. 57301. Class 365s were built…

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  • InterCity brand is back on Scottish HST power cars

    InterCity brand is back on Scottish HST power cars

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    ABELLIO has revived the famous InterCity brand to promote its new HST services between Scotland’s seven largest cities. The InterCity brand was introduced by British Rail in the mid-1960s. Permission has been gained from the Department for Transport, which holds the rights to the name, meaning ScotRail Alliance has started to apply ‘Inter7City’ branding to…

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