World
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Ffestiniog Travel: Go east for an Asian Rail Adventure
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INTEREST in rail tours to far-flung places continues to be popular as train travel offers the means to see as much of a country as possible in the timeframe of a holiday. Specialist rail tour operator Ffestiniog Travel is capitalising on this trend by going east and combining exotic destinations, interesting cultures and sightseeing with…
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Braking trials pave way for ‘Q’ class 70mph running
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A series of braking trials for the RPSI’s Great Northern Railway (Ireland) ‘Q’ 4-4-0 No. 131 were completed during the early hours of April 7, which could clear the loco for 70mph running in Northern Ireland. The tests took place on the Antrim line, near Templepatrick, where the loco and train of Mk2 stock was accelerated…
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‘071s’ keep the West awake on RPSI diesel special to Ballina
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MULTIPLE working was the order of the day for the RPSI’s ‘West Awake’ railtour on April 13. Class 071 Nos. 075 and 082 worked the eight-coach (required for braking purposes when multiple worked) train from Dublin Connolly to Claremorris, where retro-liveried classmate No. 071 took the train forward to Ballina. During the late afternoon the…
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A railway in BARBADOS AGAIN
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The tiny independent nation of Barbados has an operating railway once more after a gap of more than 80 years. Keith Fender and Glen Beadon look at the Caribbean island’s troubled railway history and the development of the latest venture. BARBADOS’ first female Prime Minister, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, opened a rebuilt railway on the…
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The ‘Big Boy’ returns in style!
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Michael Rhodes reports on ‘Big Boy’s steam comeback after a 60-year hiatus, as the famous locomotive spearheaded the ‘Golden Spike’ celebrations in Utah.
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Vossloh delivers new ‘DE18’ locos across Europe
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LOCOMOTIVE builder Vossloh, which opened a new factory in Kiel-Suchsdorf in northern Germany last year, is building up to 50 new diesel locos a year. Currently, all those being built are its new four-axle ‘DE18’ design. Unlike previous Vossloh designs these are diesel-electric locos and incorporate an MTU 12V 4000 R43L engine. Many have been bought…
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Boston’s historic high-speed line cars to be replaced?
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THE long-term future of Boston’s Mattapan to Ashmont high-speed line Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) tramcars is in doubt. They were built in 1945/46 and are the oldest passenger vehicles in continuous regular public transport service in the USA. Boston area transport authority MBTA is now consulting on possible replacements for the vehicles, which are almost…
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American freight locos rebuilt in Estonia
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AMERICAN manufactured diesel locos, once used in the USA, are being completely rebuilt in Estonia for use there and also in Ukraine. Estonian state-owned rail freight company Operail inherited the former US Class 1-operated diesel locos which were imported during 2002/03 when the business was run by private company Baltic Rail Services – trading as…
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Italian Caimano to lose passenger work
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ITALIAN Railways (Trenitalia) has been slowly withdrawing its Class 656 Bo-Bo-Bo locos for several years. The 4,200kW 3kV DC locos were officially nicknamed ‘Caimano’ (after caiman or alligators), and 461 were built between 1975 and 1989. Around half were later converted to freight-only Class 655. These are also now being replaced by more modern locos.…
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Ethiopia’s metre-gauge survivors
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DESPITE opening a new electrified main line in 2016, parts of the old metre-gauge Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien still appear to have some operational trains, although passenger services on the full route ceased in 2008. The metre-gauge line was opened between Addis Ababa and Djibouti in stages from 1902, and completed in 1917. It was…
