News
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Island Line Tube stock stored at Ryde pending future disposal?
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THE modernisation of the 8½-mile Island Line between Ryde Pierhead and Shanklin should have commenced at the start of 2019 but the Department for Transport extended its own deadline until the end of March to determine what shape the modernisation will take. When South Western Railway was awarded the franchise it was mandated to propose…
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Class 88s visit Great Eastern Main Line
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DRS Class 88 Nos. 88007 Electra and 88008 Ariadne made a rare visit to the Great Eastern Main Line on January 18. The pair worked from Willesden Brent Sidings to Ipswich (East Suffolk Jct) having come south from Crewe Gresty Bridge the previous day. The visit was in connection with filming as part of the…
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Bombardier to fit ETCS kit on Heathrow Express ‘387s’
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PORTERBROOK has signed a contract with Bombardier Transportation to fit ETCS digital signalling equipment to Great Western Railway Class 387 EMUs, which are being converted for Heathrow Express services. The investment by Porterbrook is valued at £11million. GWR is having 12 Class 387s converted for the airport express work, with No. 387140 having already been…
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Late start for new trains puts ‘Pacer’ withdrawal months behind schedule
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PLANS to withdraw the first Northern Rail ‘Pacers’ at the end of September 2018 have missed their scheduled date by four months. The plan, published by the DfT, was for five two-car Class 144s to start the ball rolling on the withdrawal programme back in September, with all two-car sets out of traffic by January…
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Christmas disruptions caused by pantograph collapse
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Services across the city were maintained by the diversion of many services over the Second City Crossing via Exchange Square.
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New owners’ expansion plan for Alaska’s White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad
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ALASKAN three-foot gauge operator White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad (WP&YR) is planning to expand its tourist train services during 2019 and is even considering reopening the closed section of its historic route. The development follows its sale for $290million in mid-2018 to a consortium that includes Carnival Cruise Lines. Three of the iconic GE…
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Kiwi Rail’s ‘Coastal Pacific’ back after 2016 earthquake
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KIWI Rail’s ‘Coastal Pacific’ passenger train between Christchurch and Picton (for connection with ferries to Wellington) restarted operations on December 1. This development follows a two-year suspension after the Kaikoura earthquake on November 14, 2016, which destroyed sections of the line. The RM has previously reported the line’s reopening for freight services after large-scale reconstruction…
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Product Review: KPF Zeller rolling road for O gauge
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How do we test large-scale locomotives submitted for review such as the Heljan 43XX Class locomotive? With a workbench rolling road, of course! Large-scale models are collected by a lot of modellers who don’t have a layout on which to operate them, and that sometimes applies to the compilation of reviews here in the studio.…
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What’s in the Shops: Cavalex Models aims high with Redland PGA wagon debut
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A well-detailed OO-gauge Redland PGA aggregate hopper wagon has given the brand new Cavalex Models range a flying start, writes Nigel Burkin. Cavalex Models, a new name in diesel and electric modelling in OO and N gauges, has a number of wagon models in development that have never been produced in any scale as ready-to-run…
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What’s in the Shops: Triple-pack treats from Accurascale
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Nigel Burkin reviews Accurascale’s triple-pack TOPS ‘HUO’ and NCB internal-user OO-scale HOP24 wagons. New packs of the widely acclaimed Accurascale BR HOP24 hopper wagons were released last November, providing 1970s and 1980s modellers with TOPS coded versions of the wagons. Each of the six packs has three individually numbered wagons in unfitted grey livery with…
