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Sam Hewitt

  • Class 50s at fifty: Half a century of Hoovering

    Class 50s at fifty: Half a century of Hoovering

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    It is 50 years since BR took delivery of its last mixed traffic Type 4 diesel design. Ben Jones looks back at the early life of the English Electric ‘D400s’ and the recent main line revival of the surviving machines. IT COULD be argued the Class 50s are the diesel equivalent of Oliver Bulleid’s famous…

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  • Bridgnorth station: Building for the future

    Bridgnorth station: Building for the future

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    Ben Jones visits Bridgnorth to discover how the Severn Valley Railway is investing in new facilities to cope with ever-increasing visitor numbers. BRITAIN’S railways are busier than they’ve ever been, and our world-class heritage lines are no exception. From miniature railways to extensive standard gauge operations such as the Severn Valley Railway (SVR), more and…

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  • Virgin celebrates 20 years at helm of West Coast rail franchise

    Virgin celebrates 20 years at helm of West Coast rail franchise

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    In the 1990s Virgin saw a future in UK railways and secured one of the highest profile rail franchises. 20 years on it has transformed travel but for the first 10 years it was a tumultuous ride. Steven Knight, who for more than 12 years was part of Virgin Rail’s media, staff and stakeholder communications…

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  • The unexpected history connecting railways and music

    The unexpected history connecting railways and music

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    The link between railways and music is extremely strong, as our best-selling souvenir issue on the subject revealed three years ago. Now, British folk singer Billy Bragg has produced an album of popular railroad songs with a difference – they were recorded not in a studio, but on trains and stations during a 2,728-mile journey…

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  • First tram-train starts public service in Sheffield

    First tram-train starts public service in Sheffield

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    THE first Class 399 tram-train sets entered service on the Sheffield Supertram network on September 14. The fleet will be initially restricted to the tram network until the connection to Rotherham Parkgate via Network Rail metals is completed in 2018. No. 399202 was chosen for the first run, which ran empty from the depot at…

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  • OBITUARIES

    OBITUARIES

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    DAVID SHEPHERD CBE, FRSA, FGRA 1931-2017 THE art and railway worlds are mourning the death of David Shepherd, who died on September 19. He was 86 and had been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. After leaving school, David travelled to Kenya with aspirations of being a game warden, but was turned down. He faced further rejection by an…

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  • Tunnel collapse closes key European route

    Tunnel collapse closes key European route

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    By Keith Fender FOLLOWING the collapse on August 12 of a new railway tunnel being built under the German town of Rastatt, the Karlsruhe to Basel main line railway (above the new tunnel)was badly damaged, with significant track deformation leaving it closed to all rail traffic for at least eight weeks. This two-track section between…

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  • South Western Railway formally launched at Waterloo

    South Western Railway formally launched at Waterloo

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    AFTER a low key start to the new South Western Railway (SWR) franchise the new era was formally launched at London Waterloo on September 4. SWR took over from South West Trains on August 20. The offical launch was delayed until platform extensions at Waterloo were completed. First Group and MTR jointly operate SWR, and…

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  • Long wait over as Great Central gap is finally bridged

    Long wait over as Great Central gap is finally bridged

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    DECADES of campaigning and fundraising finally came to fruition during the early hours of September 3 when the Great Central Railway’s new bridge over the Midland Main Line at Loughborough was lowered into position. The £2.5million structure represents the most significant piece of the GCR’s Bridging the Gap project, which will ultimately see the northern…

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  • Trial to simplify fares behind schedule, but progressing

    Trial to simplify fares behind schedule, but progressing

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    By Steven Knight THE Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has confirmed to The Railway Magazine that plans to simplify rail fares (RM June 2017), announced in February, are still being progressed. Despite the RDG and the Department for Transport (DfT) initially suggesting the three-fares projects would go live by May this year, the earliest start date…

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