News

NETWORK Rail will be tackling one of the biggest challenges of the Great Western Main Line electrification programme from September 12 when it takes full possession of the Severn Tunnel for a full six weeks until October 21. This will allow engineers to work ‘24/7’ in order to make the 130-year-old tunnel fit for a…

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COMMUTERS using London Bridge station were able to make use of the first two-thirds of the all-new concourse from August 29 after the newly built platforms 7 to 15 came into use together with the associated new retail units and station exits. The new concourse, when it opens in 2018, will be the largest in…

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STEAM tours into Cornwall are feasible again with the revival of fortunes of the turntable at St Blazey, Par. The 65ft table has been in and out of use over the past couple of years, but a Railway Heritage Trust and Railway Touring Company-funded initiative enabled it to be repaired by Cambrian Transport and volunteers…

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ORENSTEIN & Koppel 90hp 0-6-0WT Pedemoura (OK10808/1924) entered Leighton Buzzard Railway (LBR) service on July 17 – the first time it had hauled fare-paying passengers. Pedemoura arrived new at Minas de Peãjo, Portugal in February 1924, its name deriving from Pedorido coal mine in the Douro Valley. Repatriated in 1972, it initially went to Pleasurerail’s…

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A COLLECTION of industrial narrow gauge and monorail equipment, amassed over 40 years by Rich Morris at Blaenau Ffestiniog, started its relocation to a site near Oswestry in late July, writes Peter Nicholson. The equipment, sited on land adjoining Mr Morris’s former home, was subject to an eviction notice, giving only weeks for its removal.…

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THE most northern US State Alaska has two rail systems operated by separate companies on different gauges – and both are experiencing a boom in passenger numbers. The systems offer stunning scenery and run multiple passenger trains daily in summer, catering mainly for passengers on cruise ships, which call at the ports of Skagway and…

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THE reconstruction of Ecuador’s 1,067mm gauge rail network is now largely complete and much of it is now regularly visited by the new ‘Tren Crucero’ (‘Train Cruise’) tourist train. Following years of decline, exacerbated by damage from bad weather, most of the network was out of use only a decade ago, with tourist trains operating…

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SIX Douglas Bay Horse Tramway trams were sold by auction on August 27 for a combined total of £9,200, reports Cliff Thomas. The sale was announced, at short notice, by Douglas Borough Council, with removal from Strathallan Depot by purchasers required by September 30. The trams, not currently in use and all needing restoration, were…

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