Sam Hewitt

CONFIRMED locos for the Mid-Norfolk Railway’s Winter Warmer diesel gala on December 29-30 include Class 50 No. 50026 Indomitable, on its last runs before leaving the railway following an extended stay. Indomitable will be backed up by residents Class 37 No. 37688 and Class 47s Nos. 47367 and 47596 Aldeburgh Festival. It is hoped a main line loco…

Continue reading »

BRIAN Stabler named his 88DS class 4wD No. 46 (Ruston & Hornsby 242868 of 1946) Heather, in honour of his wife, on October 15. He bought the loco in 2015 and moved it from the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway to the private site at Finmere station (ex-GCR), Oxfordshire, in 2016, following completion of restoration. It…

Continue reading »

THE star attraction at South Devon Railway’s (SDR) November 3-5 diesel gala was the Diesel Traction Group’s sole-surviving Class 17 ‘Clayton’ No. D8568. It is based on the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway, but came from its Gloucestershire debut at the Dean Forest Railway’s September 15-17 event (RM November, p83), making an equally welcome debut in…

Continue reading »

THE Nene Valley held a major event on October 13-15 to commemorate the entry into service of the first Brush Type 2 No. D5500 (31018), on October 13, 1957. This loco is now part of the National Collection on static display at York, and the only surviving Class 31/0. To mark the occasion, the gala fielded…

Continue reading »

THE Bodmin & Wenford Railway Trust has secured one of the two much sought after Class 121 ‘Bubblecar’ single-unit DMUs used by Chiltern Railways until May 19. They were the last first-generation DMUs in passenger use on the national network, having been modified to comply with present-day main line safety standards, and were used on…

Continue reading »

A NEW connection between Central Asia and Europe opened on October 30 when the 849km-long Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway opened. The new 1435mm-gauge section of line comprises 76kms, connecting the Turkish network with Kartsakhi in Georgia via a 4.4km-long tunnel under the mountainous border itself, and a further 29km of 1,435mm-gauge line in Georgia to connect…

Continue reading »

ABBEY Wood’s striking new station building opened on schedule on October 22. It was delivered by Network Rail as part of the Crossrail project. The new building and concourse are the first part of an important new interchange between Southeastern suburban routes and the Elizabeth Line, opening in December 2018. Work continues to complete the…

Continue reading »

CONSTRUCTION work continues on Kenilworth’s new £13.6million station, with Warwickshire County Council still expecting it to open in December, writes Fraser Pithie. The single line was realigned towards the new platform at the end of October, but the second platform, stairs and lifts will be mothballed until the Milverton Junction to Kenilworth section of line…

Continue reading »

MID-November saw Network Rail install its first new overhead line masts on the Midland Main Line since the ‘BedPan’ electrification of the early-1980s. Around 40 masts were erected between Kettering and Corby, bolted to cylindrical steel piles, which were installed earlier this year. The installation follows preparatory work undertaken by NR in recent months, including…

Continue reading »

ENGINEERING consultant WSP has suggested London’s open-air rail routes could provide a solution to the capital’s housing crisis. WSP believes ‘boxing in’ around 10% of the city’s 1,142km of surface railways could create enough space to develop around 250,000 new homes – enough to satisfy demand for five years at current levels of growth. Since…

Continue reading »