Sam Hewitt

SCOTRAIL started running electric trains between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street on December 10, although diesel units will continue to operate well into 2018. ScotRail introduced two seven-car sets of Siemens Class 380 EMUs from its fleet following the completion, approval and testing of the delayed electrification project over the last few weeks. The…

Continue reading »

THE Great Central Railway’s management has been left stunned after the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) board of trustees informed them on December 13 it will no longer be supporting the project for a new railway museum at Leicester North. The HLF earmarked more than £9.5million for the museum project in 2015, which was to be…

Continue reading »

The Rail Camera Club (RCC) is holding an exhibition at Locomotion Shildon from January 20 to March 4. The Rail Cameramen exhibition features images from 36 RCC members. It has material from past members, including W J V ‘Bill’ Anderson and Eric Treacy. Some original Eric Treacy prints will be displayed, in addition to his…

Continue reading »

FROM the moment Tyseley unveiled its newly overhauled flagship locomotive No. 7029 Clun Castle at the end of October, fans of the Collett 4-6-0 began to ask when the famous BR(W) ‘Castle’ will double-head with sister No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe on the main line. The answer could be regarded as bitter-sweet, as the two ‘Castles’…

Continue reading »

One Business, Two Brands’ is Abellio’s tagline for its new West Midlands Trains operation, which took over Govia’s London Midland franchise on December 10. Outer-suburban, long-distance and semi-fast services between London Euston and the West Midlands via Northampton and between Birmingham, Crewe and Liverpool will be operated under the London Northwestern Railway (LNR) brand, reviving…

Continue reading »

THE crash of tram No. 2551 on a bend at Sandilands, Croydon on November 9, 2016 was, in all probability, caused by the driver suffering a micro-sleep during a 49-second period when the tram was passing through three consecutive tunnels in the hours of darkness. That is the view of investigators from RAIB (the Rail Accident…

Continue reading »

VIVARAIL is progressing well with the first production ‘D-Train’ set – No. 230002 – at its Long Marston base in Warwickshire. Unlike the prototype, No. 230001, the three-car diesel unit, will feature AC rather than DC traction motors, and is fitted out in what Vivarail calls its ‘City’ configuration, similar to the District Line ‘D Stock’, with…

Continue reading »