News

THE Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s Dublin-based team is hoping that a new source of coal could be the answer to the shy steaming tendencies experienced by ex-DSER 2-6-0 No. 461. The society’s loco representative in Dublin, Gerry Mooney, ordered a trial batch of coal from the north-east of England for the first weekend of the…

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THE first train that will be eventually used on Elizabeth line (Crossrail) services has been delivered to Ilford depot, east London. ‘Aventra’ set No. 345002 was delivered from Bombardier’s Derby works by DB Cargo’s No. 67013 on December 9 and is one of 66 EMUs destined for service on Crossrail. Because the Crossrail route is not…

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ANOTHER two Class 373 Eurostar sets were despatched to the scrapyard during December. Half-set Nos. 3019/20 made the trip from Temple Mills to EMR Kingsbury on December 3 and were followed on December 15 by Nos. 3003/4. The exact number of sets to be scrapped has still not been confirmed, but expected to be between 17 and…

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By Keith Fender GREATER Anglia operator Abellio, together with industry partners Eversholt, Wabtec and Vossloh Kiepe, launched the first of the production batch of ‘Renatus’ (Latin for ‘born again’), refurbished Class 321 EMUs, on December 16. The first train – No. 321304 – is fully internally and externally refurbished, but not yet using the new traction…

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MAJOR changes at Govia Thameslink Railway’s Hornsey depot have been completed with the modernised depot ready to take on three new fleets of trains worth £1billion. Hornsey will be one of two new locations to maintain the Class 700 Thameslink trains when they operate from Peterborough and Cambridge through Blackfriars and beyond. The upgrade is…

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  IN early October Botswana’s main copper and nickel mining company Bamangwato Concession Limited (BCL) was put into liquidation, with depressed global prices for metals being blamed. The Selebi-Phikwe copper mine was closed and more than 4,200 workers and several steam locomotives now have a very uncertain future. BCL has operated a variety of steam…

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THE only rack railway in Greece – Diakoftó to Kalávryta on the Peloponnese Peninsula – celebrated its 120th birthday last year. And for the first time in a decade one of the original steam locomotives was restored for use and operated special trains. The 750mm-gauge Abt rack-equipped line opened on March 10, 1896 after four…

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FRENCH Railways SNCF bought hundreds of diesel locos in the 1960s and 70s to replace steam on lines that were not electrified. Several types were introduced, but the majority of those which have remained in use into the 21st century, operating passenger services, are the BB67400 Bo-Bo design, once found all over France; 232 were…

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EASTLEIGH Lakeside Steam Railway’s new 10¼in-gauge loco – re-built Bulleid ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35004 Cunard White Star – was officially named on December 3. A small ceremony was attended by the deputy mayor of Eastleigh, Coun Sollitt and her escort, Roy Sollitt; guest of honour Paul Atterbury, an expert on BBC TV’s Antique Roadshow; and members…

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