Trackside
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Big Pacifics dominate RTC autumn/winter tours
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THE Railway Touring Company’s regular summer operations are over for another year, but there is a tempting selection of railtours for the autumn and winter months. October 12 sees one of its regular ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ trips from Euston to Carlisle, utilising electric No. 86259 Les Ross as far as Carnforth, where one of the West…
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Tornado set for ‘Great Britain’ debut
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CONTINUING co-operation between West Coast Railways and The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust means Peppercorn ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado will make its debut on the ‘Great Britain’ landcruise train in 2020. The 13th edition of the Railway Touring Company’s grand tour of England, Scotland and Wales will roll out of London King’s Cross behind the ‘A1’ on…
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Five locos add even more power to Turkish open access operator fleet
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TURKISH open access freight operator Körfez Ulaştırma (KU) took delivery of five DE36500 Wabtec (formerly GE Transportation) ‘Powerhaul’ locos this summer. KU is the rail freight subsidiary of Tüpraş, Turkey’s largest oil refinery. The locos were ordered in 2018 and assembled by Wabtec’s Turkish partner Tülomsaş, in Eskişehir. They will be used alongside five similar DE36000…
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Belgian heritage line hosts gala weekend
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BELGIAN national rail enthusiasts’ group Patrimoine Ferroviaire et Tourisme (PFT) held its annual gala weekend on the Chemin de Fer du Bocq heritage line from Ciney to Bauche in mid-August. A wide variety of visiting diesel locos, from several operators, visited the line, along with preserved ex-Belgian State Railways Canadian-built (Montreal Loco Works 74511/1945) 2-8-0…
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Leaked draft confirms Oakervee support for full HS2 route
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An early draft of the Oakervee Report – leaked to national media in November – confirms the expert panel will recommend High Speed 2 (HS2) should proceed, despite worries the revised £88billion budget could be exceeded. Supporters had been concerned that parts of the ‘Y’-shaped route could be scrapped to save costs, but the draft…
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Washington to New York non-stop
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AMTRAK has announced plans to introduce a non-stop ‘Acela’ high-speed train pair between New York and Washington DC from September 23. The non-stop trains will take 2hr 35min, with the current fastest ‘Acela’ services taking just under three hours, stopping in major cities such as Philadelphia and Baltimore en route. Read more News and Features…
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Coast-to-coast African passenger train with Rovos Rail
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SOUTH AFRICAN rail cruise operator Rovos Rail ran the first through passenger train between Tanzania, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Angola in July. The journey took 15 days, with an eastbound train following the same route in reverse in August. While the train made the entire journey, passengers disembarked for safaris and…
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New Chinese coaches enter service in Cuba
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NEW passenger coaches entered service in Cuba in July, operating on the Havana to Santiago de Cuba route. The vehicles are the first of 240 carriages to be supplied by Chinese firm CRRC from its Tangshan plant. Historically, Cuban Railways have used a wide variety of older rolling stock, including second-hand carriages from European operators.…
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North Tyneside 03 prepared for Gateshead shunter reunion
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CLASS 03 No. D2078 has been repainted in BR blue and now carries its TOPS number, 03078. It is based on the North Tyneside Steam Railway (NTSR) and Stephenson Museum. The repaint inspired the September 29 diesel day to be become a Gateshead TMD-themed diesel shunter gala over two days, 28th and 29th. For the first…
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Cranmore marks Sentinel 60th anniversary
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THREE Sentinel-type diesels are seen outside the Sentinel Diesel Locomotive Preservation Group’s shed at Cranmore, East Somerset Railway, on August 20. This follows the completion of repainting of Rolls-Royce 10199 of 1964 in 1970s British Steel Corporation Teesside green livery with large cabside number. Although never a BSC loco, this commemorates the 60th anniversary of…
