Features

In Practice & Performance, John Heaton FCILT looks at how trains lose and gain time, but also how slack operating can result in late running even on easy schedules. STREAMLINED Gresley ‘A4’ No. 60028 Walter K. Whigham stands resplendently at the head of the nine-coach ‘Talisman’ in King’s Cross station one September afternoon in 1958, ready to depart on the non-stop run to…

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In Practice & Performance, John Heaton FCILT looks at how trains lose and gain time, but also how slack operating can result in late running even on easy schedules. STREAMLINED Gresley ‘A4’ No. 60028 Walter K. Whigham stands resplendently at the head of the nine-coach ‘Talisman’ in King’s Cross station one September afternoon in 1958, ready to depart…

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Having spent more than 60 years trainspotting, railway author John Stretton’s book about his first 30 years in the hobby has been well received. With memories galore, we present an abridged version of his exploits that also encompass his interests in music, sport and, of course, girls. IT’S 1950 and for my seventh birthday I…

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IN THE APRIL 2017 ISSUE The Labour Party has pledged to bring train operating companies back into public ownership if it wins the next election – and will encounter fewer legal obstacles in that task once Britain has left the EU. But is taking the nation back to the days of British Rail sensible or…

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For the past 50 years Tyseley has been a key player in the continued operation of main line steam in the UK, as well as one of the premier engineering centres serving the heritage sector. Gary Boyd-Hope examines the proposals that will safeguard Tyseley’s future as part of Birmingham’s cultural heritage, and talks to Michael…

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Greensand Railway Museum Trust (GRMT) was formed in 2000 and completed restoration of Baldwin 4-6-0T WDLR No. 778 to steam in 2007 – the only operational Baldwin class 10-12-D in Britain, indeed the world, in as-built steam locomotive form. Now, the GRMT has its eyes firmly fixed on another ‘war veteran’ restoration project as chairman Cliff…

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Just eight days after a major accident on the newly electrified West Coast Main Line at Stechford, Birmingham, there followed another tragic event. Fraser Pithie looks back at what was, in its immediate aftermath, one of the most mysterious railway accidents of modern times. The incident involved a Class 55 ‘Deltic’ hauling an express passenger…

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800 Fowler, Stanier, Fairburn and Riddles 2-6-4Ts were built for the LMS and BR between 1927 and 1956. Keith Farr looks at performances of these Class 4 mixed traffic locomotives. IN THE January issue we followed the progress of a Fairburn 2-6-4T piloting an ailing ‘Britannia’ from Oxenholme to Shap Summit. But how did these…

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