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Sam Hewitt

  • August 2017

    August 2017

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Headline News Government cancels three electrification schemes in favour of bi-mode trains, £6.6bn HS2 contracts awarded and Phase 2b routes confirmed, Vandals attack NYMR Gresley teak set, Two new high-speed lines open in France, Mail Rail museum launch, Electric Railway Museum to close in October. Track Record Steam & Heritage Southern steam galas draw huge…

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  • Preserved line focus – Amerton’s attractions

    Preserved line focus – Amerton’s attractions

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    The first sod for the Amerton Railway was cut in 1990 in a field alongside a farm east of Stafford. The land it ran on was bought in 2012 by the Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society, whose members embarked on a number of improvements, as Mark Smithers discovers. FORMED in 1987, the objectives of the…

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  • West of Whitland

    West of Whitland

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    The railway system in West Wales is a curious mix of single and double track with freight lines. Stuart Warr looks at this pocket of the network that is off the beaten track. THE three surviving railway lines west of Whitland are largely within the county of Pembrokeshire, a county with a population of 122,400,…

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  • Drilling work blamed for MML bridge collapse

    Drilling work blamed for MML bridge collapse

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    A REPORT by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has blamed contractors for triggering the partial collapse of a bridge over the Midland Main Line at Barrow-upon-Soar on August 1, 2016. Engineers from a Network Rail contractor, performing core sampling work to investigate recent subsidence on the bridge’s footpath, disturbed a pressurised water main, causing…

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  • Heathrow loses battle over Crossrail fees

    Heathrow loses battle over Crossrail fees

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    TRANSPORT for London (TfL) will not have to pay millions of pounds a year to the owner of the Heathrow airport rail link after the High Court upheld a ruling over track access charges for Crossrail trains. Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) challenged the Office of Rail and Road’s May 2016 decision that the airport owner…

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  • Midland Main Line realignment work starts

    Midland Main Line realignment work starts

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    MARKET Harborough’s station car park is being relocated in the first phase of work to realign the Midland Main Line and eliminate a severe speed restriction through the Leicestershire town. A new 500-space car park will be built east of the current site, releasing land required for the straightening of the double track MML and…

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  • ‘Highline’ park plan for disused Camden viaducts

    ‘Highline’ park plan for disused Camden viaducts

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    LONDON could soon have its own elevated linear park to rival New York and Paris if a proposal to transform disused North London Line viaducts in Camden gets the go-ahead. The 800-metre ‘Camden Highline’ would link Camden Town and King’s Cross, providing a new, elevated garden route for pedestrians and cyclists. The disused railway line…

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  • Coal down, construction up as UK railfreight drops by 5%

    Coal down, construction up as UK railfreight drops by 5%

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    FREIGHT train movements in the UK dropped to 224,000 in 2016/17, a reduction of 5% over the previous year. A 39% collapse in coal traffic, a result of stricter carbon emissions targets and the closure of coal-fired power stations, is the major factor behind the decrease. In 2016/17, the total amount of freight lifted in…

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  • Busy summer for West Coast ‘Jubilees’

    Busy summer for West Coast ‘Jubilees’

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    STANIER ‘Jubilees’ Nos. 45690 Leander and 45699 Galatea are seeing plenty of use on West Coast Railway Company railtours this summer, with ‘Royal Scot’ No. 46115 Scots Guardsman about to be withdrawn for overhaul. As well as the Carnforth operator’s regular ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ and ‘Fellsman’ trains, the pair of ‘5XP’ 4-6-0s are working various trains…

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  • Cardiff Champions League extras

    Cardiff Champions League extras

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    JUNE 3 saw the UEFA Champions League final take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. As well as a significantly enhanced GWR service to/from the Welsh capital, two charters were operated using Belmond’s ‘Northern Belle’ set and West Coast Railway Company First Class/Pullman dining vehicles. DRS Nos. 68018 Vigilant and 68017 Hornet top-and-tailed the 15.30 London Paddington-Cardiff…

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