News

THE Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s eight-day 50th anniversary gala culminated in a diesel day on July 1. Visiting were GBRf Class 66 No. 66784 Keighley & Worth Valley Railway 50th Anniversary 1968-2018, DRS Class 37 No. 37401, Class 50 No. 50035 Ark Royal, and ‘Deltic’ No. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier. The Class 55 is seen powering up to…

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THE North Norfolk Railway’s (NNR) June 15-17 event was changed from a diesel event to a mixed traction day because of a shortage of available home fleet diesels, which became apparent in late-May. Three visiting locos included the Bury Hydraulic Group’s ever-popular and much-travelled ‘Warship’ No. D832 Onslaught. This was the first appearance of the type…

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CLASS 04 No. D2289 makes its debut at the Heritage Shunters Trust (HST), Peak Rail, Rowsley South, on August 18, following repatriation from Italy (RM June, p82). The Drewry shunter was shipped to Italy with other BR locos in 1972. First admissions for the one-off event are at 11.00, continuing until 15.00. Visitors are asked…

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THE passenger service operated by Weardale Railway Heritage Services Ltd (WRHSL) now includes Bishop Auckland West on its timetable, until October 28. The last scheduled passenger trains to run there were operated by Weardale Railway CIC, which operated services between 2010 and 2012. WRHSL is a subsidiary of the Weardale Railway Trust, a voluntary body…

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FORMER National Collection Class 50 No. 50033 Glorious arrived at the Severn Valley Railway on May 31. It is owned by Vintage Trains, Tyseley, but currently in the care of the Class 50 Alliance. Glorious is on an initial three-year lease, and receiving considerable attention in the Kidderminster diesel workshops to restore it to working condition.It…

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THE East Lancashire Railway’s (ELR) ‘summer diesel spectacular’ was intended to be for three days, July 6-8. However, the long spell of hot weather resulted in a high level of lineside fire risk with a steam ban imposed from July 1 until further notice. An all-diesel service was run during this period, for which the…

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NETWORK Rail undertook major engineering work around Oxford between June 29 and July 23, including complete closure of Oxford station between July 6 and 23. The blockade was part of the final phase of the Oxford Corridor project to increase capacity and improve the flow of trains through the city. Work included track and S&C…

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EAST Midlands Trains will service a number of trains each night at UK Rail Leasing’s depot in Leicester during the 79-day closure of Derby station, which started on July 22. The ex-BR diesel locomotive depot has been tidied up in readiness for this role, and new walkways installed for cleaning and maintenance staff.On July 10,…

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NETWORK Rail has released new computer-generated images showing how the bigger and brighter Glasgow Queen Street station concourse will look by spring 2020. Scotland’s third busiest station is being transformed in a £120million project to create more space for the growing number of passengers it serves and to extend platforms to accommodate eight-carriage electric trains.…

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TWO heritage signalboxes at Runcorn and Halton Junction on Merseyside have been decommissioned under Network Rail’s Weaver to Wavertree resignalling scheme, writes Richard Horner. Runcorn ’box was built by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway to an Air Raid Precaution design (LMS Type 13), with a 36-lever Railway Executive Committee frame, and featured 14in-thick blast…

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