Features

For more than 80 years, ExxonMobil and its predecessors used rail to move oil products from the Fawley refinery, but all traffic ceased in September. Nick Lera charts the history of this Hampshire industrial site. Born of the oil industry and now discarded by it, the 9½-mile Hampshire branch from Totton to Fawley has stopped carrying…

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Every year, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes data showing the number of entries and exits for each UK station. While London stations generally make up most of the top 10 busiest, spare a thought for the stations at the bottom of the list that see very few passengers. The RM has compiled…

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Robin Stewart-Smith concludes his historical review of Tuxford, a town that once had a railway works and three railway stations. On New Year’s Day 1907, the LD & ECR was absorbed by the Great Central Railway. Negotiations had begun with the GCR some two years earlier after talks with the GNR failed. The LD &…

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In the 50th anniversary year since the closure of the Somerset & Dorset railway, Keith Farr concludes his performance analysis by looking at the Bulleid and BR Standard classes that worked the route to its final day. PART one of this article (RM September) focused on ‘2P’, ‘7F’ and ‘Black Five’ performance over the Somerset…

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It is close to 65 years since an order for North American-built diesel locomotives was placed by East Pakistan. Richard Gennis takes a brief look at the Bangladesh Railways EMD ‘B12’ diesel class that is still working today. Back in 1952 when East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) decided it was going down the diesel route, I…

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On September 6, 2015 the £300million Borders Railway opened to much acclaim. Since then the line has seldom been out of the headlines. A year on, Chris Milner talks to Campaign for Borders Rail (CBR) chairman Allan McLean – a former Virgin Trains press officer – to see if the first year’s expectations have matched…

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For three days in September, steam locomotives were given responsibility for heavy goods trains in Germany, including a 550-ton steel train bound for the French capital. Plandampf is alive again, but for how much longer? “Here I stand, I can do no other.” Those were the immortal, defiant words of Papal rebel Martin Luther, who…

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On November 8 this year the Class 313 EMUs will have been in service for 40 years. Originally designed for one short line, with unusual requirements, their versatility and durability has meant that they have all survived and have seen redeployment elsewhere, as Quentin Williamson explains. Although British Railways had greatly extended electric traction since…

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In its heyday, Tuxford boasted three stations and a locomotive works. In the first of a two-part feature, Robin Stewart-Smith charts the rise and fall of this forgotten railway town. The north Nottinghamshire village of Tuxford lies on the East Coast Main Line between Newark-on-Trent and Retford. Historically, it was a small market town in an…

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Marking the 50th anniversary of a non-stop ‘Western’ run from Paddington to Penzance, John Heaton FCILT travels on a Class 52 railtour that commemorates that 1966 achievement. Peering from the window of my local train as it approached Paddington station early one spring Saturday, I found ‘Western’ C-C Class 52 No. D1058 Western Nobleman picture-perfectly framed,…

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