News

GB RAILFREIGHT has objected strongly to new and increased network charges on freight traffic proposed by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), and cast doubt on the organisation’s commitment to developing railfreight. GBRf argues increased charges on commodities such as power station coal and the introduction of new charges for biomass trains will endanger…

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DESPITE its recent turbulent history, there are around 40 surviving steam locos in Colombia. The majority surviving are American-built, along with a selection from various European builders, but two British-built locos survive. Colombia’s railways were built from the 1860s onwards by a variety of private companies and only unified as a national operation in the…

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DUTCH preservationists have brought back to the Netherlands an American-built diesel loco that was involved in the liberation of Europe at the end of the Second World War. The Whitcomb type 65DE19a loco was found by Dutch enthusiasts from the Stoomtrein Goes Borsele (SGB) heritage railway, Netherlands, after several years of research at the Lehigh…

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AUSTRIAN Federal Railways (ÖBB) is rapidly withdrawing its remaining Class 1142 electric locos, replacing them with new Siemens Desiro ML ‘Cityjet’ EMUs. The remaining locos are largely concentrated around the Linz area of western Austria working push-pull regional trains, although they may still be found in use elsewhere in smaller numbers. The loco design was…

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ARICA, located on the Pacific coast in the north of Chile, is the terminus of two railway lines to neighbouring countries; both lines have seen passenger services restored recently after years without regular services. Arica was formerly in Peru when that country gained independence from Spain in 1821 and the first railway from Arica, north…

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CLASS 47 No. 47579 James Nightall GC arrived at Alresford station on the Mid-Hants Railway by low-loader from the Mangapps Railway, Essex on November 23. The off-loading was assisted by Class 33 No. 33202 Dennis G. Robinson, which is also currently visiting the MHR from the Mangapps Railway. It had been hoped No. 47579 would…

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Weardale Railways CIC ran ‘Trains to Christmas Town’ during late November and throughout December, in lieu of the copyrighted ‘Polar Expresses’ in the past. The first trains, at least, were all powered by Class 31s, of which the railway now has several examples. Train operation was supported by Weardale Railway Trust volunteers. Trains consisted of…

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ONE of the first large items to be removed from the now-closed Electric Railway Museum, Coventry (RM Nov, p9 and 84) was LAB 4 Hastings, No. RDB975386. This remarkable vehicle started life as Class 203 ‘Hastings-gauge’ DEMU buffet car No. S60750. When it became surplus to requirements it saw various uses including a paint store,…

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THE large end section of Class 47 No. 47738, used for educational purposes at Plymouth, was removed from the Regional Interactive Safety Centre (RISC) building on November 2 (RM Dec, p82). This building, next to the station, had been converted from the old Royal Mail docking station and contained various rail-themed scenarios for training staff…

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THE East Lancashire Railway’s DMU gala on November 4-5 (RM Oct, p94) was a particularly notable event. Combined with The Railcar Association’s (TRA) annual convention it saw no fewer than three DMU sets returned to traffic after overhauls. Star of the show was the Class 105 Cravens unit, which worked its first passenger train on…

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