Sam Hewitt
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Northern choose Doncaster and Preston for ‘195’ and ‘331’ launches
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NORTHERN Rail’s Class 195 DMU and Class 331 EMU were due to be launched on June 26 and June 28, at Preston and Doncaster, respectively. CAF is building 58 Class 195 (25 two- and 33 three-car) and 43 Class 331s (31 three- and 12 four-car) units for Northern. Their introduction, on a rolling basis, will…
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GBRf has 91 Class 66s after Swedish purchase
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Former Cargonet Class 66 No. T66.403 – already with its GBRf number of 66790 – is hauled from Immingham to Longport EMD past North Stafford Junction on June 3 by No. 66741 Swanage Railway. At Longport the loco will get the necessary modifications and safety equipment to work on Network Rail lines. GB has bought two other…
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Disruption after Strawberry Hill depot derailment
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South Western Railway Class 456 No. 456021 was derailed entering the sidings at Strawberry Hill depot on the evening of May 29-30. It blocked access, leading to several services on May 30 being cancelled or delayed. Recovery teams worked to re-rail the set. The other sets attached to the ‘456’ are Nos. 455917 and 455741. JAMIE SQUIBBS…
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Stadler 755/4 approved for use by ORR
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THE Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has approved the use by Greater Anglia (GA) of the Stadler ‘Flirt’ Class 755 four-car bi-mode multiple units. These are the first Swiss trains to be built for the privatised railway, with testing only starting in January. GA has ordered 24 four-car sets (and also 14 three-car, which…
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Class 91s facing sidelines as Mk4 stock goes for store
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THE first Class 91 locos are expected to be withdrawn by LNER from July. They are becoming surplus to requirements as diagrams for the Hitachi ‘Azuma’ sets increase every week, and with LNER now announcing a start of services from Edinburgh on August 1. LNER has already ceased use of DB Class 90s and the…
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GWR InterCity 125s bow out in style
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GREAT Western Railway said farewell to long-distance InterCity 125 operation on June 1 with an epic railtour visiting many parts of the GWR network. The first and last production HST power cars – Nos. 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange and 43198 – powered standard eight-car set LA72 on an itinerary embracing Bristol, Paddington, Oxford, Hereford, Carmarthen and…
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BLS tour brings Class 31 back to the main line
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JUNE 9 saw a Class 31 return to main line action after a gap of several months. Nemesis Rail’s No. 31128 Charybdis, currently the only Brush Type 2 authorised for use on Network Rail metals, powered the Branch Line Society’s ‘Sunday Yicker’ tour in top-and-tail formation with West Coast Railways’ No. 37668 and just four WCRC Mk1…
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Manchester’s mayor pushes for local control
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Tram-train routes proposed as Burnham calls for London-style control over local railways.
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On the hunt: Class 40s
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In an extract from his new book, Chasing Trains, Martin Buck recalls the lengths he went to tracking down his last ‘Whistlers’ for sight and haulage. A QUESTION I am often asked is: “Why Class 40s?” Well, some people like to drive fast cars, experience the acceleration, how fast will it go, and the ‘revs’…
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More private-owner colour from The Wagon Yard
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The Wagon Yard, a small family business based in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, commissions limited-edition wagons in N and OO scales from Peco and Dapol and plans to expand into other gauges in the coming months. Everyone behind the enterprise is a model railway enthusiast with a particular love of wagons and rolling stock. The…
