Sam Hewitt

DERBY’S Rail Operations Group is to take the last two main line-certificated Class 31s on a festive jaunt from King’s Cross to the Mid-Norfolk Railway’s winter diesel gala on December 30. The ‘One Last Task’ tour is being operated in conjunction with Vintage Trains. It will feature Devon & Cornwall Railways’ No. 31452 working together with…

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TALYLLYN Railway’s ex-RNAD Trecwn 99hp Baguley Drewry diesel No. 12 St. Cadfan (3779/1983) was officially named by The Bishop of Bangor, the Rt Revd Andrew John, on October 30. Saint Cadfan established a Christian community in Tywyn 1,500 years ago and the ceremony formed part of this year’s celebrations marking that event. Bishop Andy, as he…

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By Keith Fender c2c introduced the first two of its six new Class 387/3 EMUs on November 14. Sets 387301 and 387302 will operate the 07.43 service from Thorpe Bay to London Fenchurch St. The same units had been used for a first passenger special, working from Southend to Barking and back on November 11,…

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LONDON Luton Airport has announced a revised scheme to connect the airport with Luton Parkway station via a Mass Passenger Transit (MPT) system. The news comes as the airport recorded a year-on-year passenger growth for October of more than 18% to 1.3million. The MPT idea is being developed to encourage passengers to travel to and…

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SEVERN Valley Railway-based Class 50 Alliance (C50A) has bought No. 50007 Hercules from Neil Boden. The purchase was made possible by means of a loan from Phil Swallow and a small number of shareholders, and has to be repaid over the next two years. Hercules is a main line operational loco currently based at Washwood Heath,…

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A RAFT of improvements for customers across the Northern and TransPennine networks have been scheduled for a phased introduction from the end of next year. All part of Northern Programmes – the largest railway upgrade in the north of England since the Victorian era – Network Rail, together with TransPennine Express (TPE) and Northern, has…

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ONE of the UK’s most iconic stretches of railway is to benefit from an additional £10million Government investment in an effort to help strengthen its resilience and ensure its future as a key transport artery. The funding for the line from Exeter to Newton Abbot via the Dawlish sea wall was announced on November 17,…

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NOVEMBER 2 marked the end of an era for Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) when at 21.00 the signal cabins at Derry/Londonderry and Castlerock were switched out for the last time. The switch off is part of a £46million signalling upgrade, with the line in future being controlled from a new signalling centre within the station…

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THE ‘Santa Special’ season may be the traditional end-of-year curtain call for the Ribble Steam Railway, but there will be no rest for the line’s workshop team during the January-February closure as further restorations and overhauls continue. Two of the railway’s resident Pecketts have been the subject of a considerable amount of work, particularly on…

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FIFTY years of the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (NELPG) was marked in appropriate fashion when all of its operable engines gathered for a celebratory gala. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway hosted the trio of NELPG-owned motive power, which ranged from a brutish Raven 0-8-0 to a diminutive Worsdell 0-6-0 tank engine. The in-house trio…

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