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Sam Hewitt

  • FORTY YEARS OF IRELAND’S ‘BIG’ GMs

    FORTY YEARS OF IRELAND’S ‘BIG’ GMs

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    This month marks the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the General Motors Class 071s in the Republic of Ireland. The ‘Big’ GMs (as they became known) went on to transform the nation’s loco-hauled services. Four decades later, they remain wholly intact as an operating class, as Gary Boyd-Hope explains. THE date is Thursday, September…

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  • Mastering the Mendips

    Mastering the Mendips

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    This year marks the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Somerset & Dorset (S&D) line, and in the first of a two-part Practice & Performance Keith Farr looks at LMS locomotives that worked the famous and arduous route. The Nottingham to Bournemouth Saturday ‘extra’ was battling with the climb into the Mendip hills, the…

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  • Redundant Douglas Horse Trams auctioned

    Redundant Douglas Horse Trams auctioned

    by

    Sam Hewitt

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    SIX Douglas Bay Horse Tramway trams were sold by auction on August 27 for a combined total of £9,200, reports Cliff Thomas. The sale was announced, at short notice, by Douglas Borough Council, with removal from Strathallan Depot by purchasers required by September 30. The trams, not currently in use and all needing restoration, were…

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  • The Who frontman reopens Dungeness station

    The Who frontman reopens Dungeness station

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    ROGER Daltrey, lead singer in legendary rock band The Who, opened Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway’s rebuilt Dungeness station with RH&DR board chairman, Sir William McAlpine, on August 2, reports Cliff Thomas. The 15in gauge line’s station at Dungeness, located on a National Nature Reserve, was closed for renovation in winter 2015. The project hit…

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  • Partial bridge collapse disrupts Midland Main Line

    Partial bridge collapse disrupts Midland Main Line

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    THE partial failure of the parapet of a two-arch brick bridge over the Midland Main Line closed the line north of Leicester on August 1 for just over 24 hours. Passengers were bussed between Leicester and Loughborough. Grove Lane bridge at Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, provides access to the station. The exact age of the bridge is…

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  • Long-running Southern dispute over DOO continues

    Long-running Southern dispute over DOO continues

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    THERE seems no end in sight for the long-running dispute on Southern over driver-only operation (DOO) after further talks with the RMT union and the conciliation service Acas broke up without agreement. Recognising passengers are frustrated by the ongoing dispute, Southern has vowed to move forward with its modernisation plans. In a statement, Southern’s passenger…

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  • Carving out a niche

    Carving out a niche

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    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. During2015, there became a noticeable increase in the number of empty stock trains moving around the network for repair, refurbishment, or to be…

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  • Time to axe the rail fare increase formula?

    Time to axe the rail fare increase formula?

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    AUGUST is bad-news month for rail passengers. It is the month that the retail price index (RPI) for July is announced, which then triggers the base figure for next January’s rail fare rises. From next January regulated fares will rise by an average of 1.9%, and with many overcrowded trains, delays and ongoing industrial disputes,…

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  • Industry needs 35 miles of sidings to store redundant rolling stock

    Industry needs 35 miles of sidings to store redundant rolling stock

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    A ROLLING stock storage crisis is looming that could get worse towards the end of the decade as more than 30 miles of sidings will be needed for surplus stock. Orders for many new trains of various types are now under construction, or soon to begin, and by the end of Network Rail’s CP5 in…

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  • £28m chord averages less than two trains each day!

    £28m chord averages less than two trains each day!

    by

    Sam Hewitt

    –

    Nuneaton’s multi-million pound north chord is being used by an average of less than two trains every day. The chord, just under a mile long, was opened in November 2012 at a cost of £28million. It was constructed using finance from Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the European Union’s TEN-T programme to allow…

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