Sam Hewitt

NETWORK Rail took advantage of the four-day Easter weekend to undertake engineering work at more than 200 sites across the country. More than 13,000 staff worked on a range of projects, from the Ordsall Chord in Manchester to smaller improvements such as the completion of a new passenger subway at Hackney Wick, in east London.…

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A FLEET of 30 Siemens Class 707 EMUs will not be retained by the new operator for the South Western franchise, First/MTR. The fleet cost £210million and has not even entered service with South West Trains. First/MTR is planning a fleet of 90 new trains (750 carriages) for the Reading and Windsor routes plus other…

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VIVARAIL has repaired the damage to DMU No. 230001 and introduced a number of modifications. It has also used the opportunity to give the set a new livery. The work follows an engine fire that caused minor underfloor and smoke damage to the unit on December 30 last year. Gone are large panels of green livery,…

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IMPRESSIONS of how the livery might look on its HST fleet have been released by ScotRail. The majority of the ScotRail fleet is in the saltire livery, but the HSTs will be different with a pale grey bodyside and a silhouette of Scottish landmarks under the carriage windows. The power cars have a more prominent…

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RAILWAY history will be made on October 14 when the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland runs its next diesel-hauled railtour. Agreement has been reached with Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail for the ‘Munster Double’ to feature two Class 071 locomotives working in multiple throughout, something never before seen on the network. Multiple working was once common with…

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THE Fife Heritage Railway’s Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Forth was formally rededicated during a special ceremony on April 15. The ex-Granton Gas Works No. 10 (1890/1926) returned to steam last August and even worked trains during the autumn, but its paintwork was still incomplete and awaited the final touches to its ‘Wemyss Coal Company’ livery, applied in…

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SOMETHING of a surprise addition to stock for the West Somerset Railway is Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 Fireless Boots No. 1 (1984/1930). It has been acquired on loan from the Foxfield Railway by Ryan Pope of West Somerset Restoration, Williton, where it arrived on March 28. The locomotive spent its working career with Boots the Chemist…

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TWO days of very different operations kept the Chasewater Railway’s working fleet busy during its Industrial Gala on March 18-19 when the line’s various ‘small but perfectly formed’ four-wheeled types came to the fore. The Saturday was a day of experimentation, with a specially written timetable giving the three steam locomotives – Andrew Barclays Rosyth…

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PECKETT ‘M5’ 0-4-0ST Whitehead was the star of the Ribble Steam Railway’s Industrial Steam Gala on May 1-2. It had travelled north for the weekend from its home at the Midland Railway-Butterley. The one-time Cefnstylle Colliery engine shared duties during the weekend with Bagnall 0-6-0ST Courageous (2680/1942), Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0ST Linda (3931/1938), and Grant, Ritchie…

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FORMER Courtaulds Textiles (Preston) Peckett ‘OY’ 0-4-0ST Caliban (1925/1937) will steam again in the city where it spent its pre-preservation career once the overhaul by the Furness Railway Trust is completed at the Ribble Steam Railway. Caliban had worked at Courtaulds’ Red Scar Mill from new and became a familiar sight at Carnforth’s Steamtown centre…

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