Sam Hewitt

SWT Class 707s enter traffic – at end of franchise

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Sam Hewitt

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20th September 2017

TWO Class 707 EMU sets were released for public service on the penultimate weekday of the SWT franchise. The development comes more than eight months after the first ‘707’ for South West Trains arrived in the UK. Of the 30 five-car sets ordered (RM August), 10 are in the UK, based at Wimbledon, where they…
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Gaelic football matches see Dublin services at their peak

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Sam Hewitt

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20th September 2017

PASSENGER services on the former GNR(I) main line between Dublin and Belfast were at their peak on August 5 as both Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) and Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) worked to take supporters to Dublin for the GAA Football All-Ireland Championship quarter-finals at Croke Park. The matches between Armagh and Tyrone and Dublin against Monaghan…
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‘Jeep’s’ return to Whitehead leaves Dublin without steam

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Sam Hewitt

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20th September 2017

THE Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s LMS-NCC ‘WT’ 2-6-4T No. 4 has returned to the society’s Whitehead engineering base for boiler repairs, after leaking tubes ruled it out of the ‘Slaney’ railtour on August 6. The ‘Jeep’ had been booked to work the seven-coach excursion from Dublin Connolly to Enniscorthy and Wexford, and no issues had…
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Double Bagnalls at Chasewater September gala?

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Sam Hewitt

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20th September 2017

TWO 14in-cylindered Bagnall 0-4-0STs are set to star at the Chasewater Railway’s Summer Gala on September 9-10, just days after this issue of The RM goes on sale. Making its formal debut at the event will be ex-Royal Ordnance Factory, Burghfield, Bagnall Dunlop No. 6 (2842/1941), fresh from being repainted into full Dunlop green livery. The…
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Middleton sets 2020 target for Swanscombe No. 6 return

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Sam Hewitt

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20th September 2017

A £60,000 APPEAL to complete the overhaul of Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Swanscombe No. 6 has amassed its first few thousands as the Leeds line bids to have the loco back in traffic during 2020. The chunky saddle tank (3860/1935) spent its entire working career at the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers’ Swanscombe Cement Works in Kent,…
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HERITAGE UNDERGROUND: Mail Rail – the story of London’s little-known narrow gauge underground line

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Sam Hewitt

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20th September 2017

Keith Fender visits the latest and most unusual tourist attraction to open in the capital. THE Post Office Railway (named Mail Rail in 1987) was a 6½-mile (10.5km) long, 2ft- (610mm) gauge automated electric railway that opened in 1927 to move mail between central London sorting offices and Liverpool Street station (the sorting office at…
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Barrow Hill Roundhouse gearing up for spectacular celebrations

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Sam Hewitt

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20th September 2017

WORLD famous steam locomotives Flying Scotsman and Tornado (pictured) have arrived at Barrow Hill Roundhouse ahead of this weekend’s celebrations to mark the reopening of the iconic visitor attraction following its £1.2million refurbishment. Sir Peter Luff, chairman to the board of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund, will visit Barrow Hill Roundhouse…
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TOC in focus – Carving out a niche

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Sam Hewitt

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18th September 2017

Having held an operating licence for less than 18 months, Chris Milner catches up with the Rail Operations Group, which has created a niche business moving rolling stock for repair and refurbishment. DURING 2015, there became a noticeable increase in the number of empty stock trains moving around the network for repair, refurbishment, or to…
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Painters ‘lined’ up for Wightwick Hall as cladding work nears conclusion

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Sam Hewitt

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13th September 2017

FINAL painting of ‘Modified Hall’ No. 6989 Wightwick Hall will soon begin at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre as the last pieces of the Hawksworth 4-6-0’s cladding are completed. Most of the work has now been finished with just the ‘elephant ears’ that cover the top corners at the front of the firebox still to finish (RM…
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‘Standard 5’ and Bulleid Pacific take West Somerset to Bath and beyond…

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Sam Hewitt

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13th September 2017

BLUEBELL Railway-based Riddles ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No. 73082 Camelot and Jeremy Hosking’s Bulleid ‘West Country’ No. 34052 Lord Dowding (a.k.a No. 34046 Braunton) will be helping the West Somerset Railway rekindle memories of the iconic Somerset & Dorset (S&D) route this autumn. The visiting pair will star at the WSR’s Bath & Beyond gala on October 5-8, which is…
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Sam Hewitt

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