Sam Hewitt

DRS Class 20/3s have returned to active service on the seasonal Rail Head Treatment Trains, having spent most of the year in store. This year it’s just three back in traffic unlike 2016 when five were reinstated. Nos. 20302/303/305, having been at Barrow Hill, ventured out initially on September 29. Two will be used on…

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DELIVERIES of Class 707s for use on South Western Railway (SWR) services saw Nos. 707011/012 arrive in the UK on September 16, followed by 707013/14 on September 29. Then on October 14 Nos. 707028/029 were delivered to Clapham yard, however, the reason for the sequence jump is not clear. It may be related to how…

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HITACHI Rail Europe rolled out the first UK-built Class 385 EMUs for ScotRail on October 12. Sixty of the 70 sets on order will be completed at HRE’s Newton Aycliffe assembly plant, with the other 10 coming from Hitachi’s Kasado facility in Japan. Initially, a mix of three-car Class 385/0s and four-car Class 385/1s, the…

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THIS year has seen a renaissance of diesel loco-operated trains in different parts of Poland. The trains have been working both regional and intercity services because of major engineering work in two different locations. Work at Gorzów Wielkopolski, in western Poland, has meant the regional service from Kostrzyn, on the border with Germany, and Piła,…

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After a lengthy restoration Pichi Richi Railway’s 2-6-0 Yx141 underwent test runs in late August before re-entering service. Yx141 was built by James Martin and Co, of Gawler (South Australia), in 1892, and was one of several ‘Y’ class 2-6-0s based upon Beyer Peacock designs used by South Australian Railways (SAR). It was rebuilt to…

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FULLY restored ‘Slim Princess’ 4-6-0 No. 18 (Baldwin 37395 /1911) worked its first passenger train in 63 years at the Laws Railway Museum in Bishop, California, over the weekend of September 22-24. SP No. 18 was built for the Nevada California Oregon Railroad (NCO – Reno, Nevada to Lakeview Oregon) as No. 12 and worked on the NCO…

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OFFICE of Rail and Road (ORR) statistics highlight another drop in the volume of UK railfreight traffic in the first quarter of 2017/18. A total of 18.7 million tonnes was lifted by the seven freight-operating companies active on the British network in Q1, a drop of 3% over the same period in 2016/17. The total…

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THE Department for Transport has given the green light to a £60.4million programme of improvements to increase capacity on the Felixstowe branch in Suffolk. The project will see a second track installed between Trimley and Grimston Lane foot crossing, allowing an extra 14 freight trains to run each day. This will take the maximum capacity…

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SEPTEMBER 30 saw the long-awaited return of rebuilt ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35018 British India Line to main line passenger service. Freshly repainted in BR lined green, the Bulleid Pacific worked ‘The Lune Rivers Trust’ tour from Carnforth to York via Skipton. Unfortunately, the day did not go entirely to plan as the West Coast Railway…

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RAIL Operations Group (ROG) operated a special charter train from Derby to Moreton-on-Lugg on October 8, writes Keith Fender, taking an indirect route, which included a visit to Peak Rail at Rowsley. ROG’s Nos. 37884 and 47848 were in charge, with the ‘Lickey Incliner II’ running to the Tarmac loading sidings at Moreton-on-Lugg, near Hereford. It…

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