Rail Express Editor Richard Clinnick shares what you can expect to read in the March issue of Rail Express.
In the new issue of Rail Express, we have an exclusive interview with Direct Rail Services looking at its traction plans. Not unexpectedly the Class 37s have only a short-term future, but I was surprised to hear discussions are being held regarding the Class 68s, although no decision is being made just yet about what could happen to them. It was also refreshing to hear yet another freight operator is looking to take the plunge for electric locomotives (well, it seems, bi-mode traction).
There is also a visit behind-the-scenes at Haymarket in the second part of our coverage of my trip to Scotland (pages 82-85). It was great to see how the iconic HSTs are being maintained, and while we know that at least one fleet is doomed (the Castles) and questions remain over the CrossCountry fleet, we should be able to enjoy the Inter7Citys for a while yet.
Finally, it’s also nice to be able to cover not one but two new fleets entering traffic. First into service was Transport for Wales’ Class 231s on January 18, followed on January 23 by Merseyrail’s Class 777s. You can read about these on pages 8-9.
Rail Express Modeller is also full of high-quality content too. Class 37s dominate Bachmann’s latest ‘OO’ gauge announcements and Heljan’s ‘O’ gauge ‘73’ livery samples are evaluated. There’s a Scottish theme too with various products investigated for modelling the current ScotRail livery, Accurascale’s Mk. 5 stock and a Bachmann ‘158’ are reviewed, and we ask how good is Rapido’s Class 28?
You’ll also be pleased to hear that we have even more exciting interviews and visits lined up to bring you, the reader, closer to the railway.
As ever, if you have any feedback, drop me a line at [email protected]
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