An open day at DRS’s Carlisle Kingmoor depot on July 6, saw more than 1500 people attend. Over £65,000 was raised for charity, which included the auction of 17 former Class 37, 66 and 68 namplates. Eighteen locos were on show (Nos. 57309, 66421/424/4

THE Office of Rail & Road has received a formal appeal from Avanti West Coast against an improvement notice it issued to the operator concerning the lack of an automatic speed supervision system on its new Hitachi-built Class 805 and 807 ‘Evero’train

The crossword winner and two runners-up can choose books worth £50 and £25 respectively from the extensive Nostalgia Collection. Visit us at www.mortonsbooks.co.uk £100 worth of Nostalgia Collection books to be won 7 and 8 Former S&DJR station, and‘

THE new Labour Government wasted no time in publishing proposals on July 18 for legislation to take back direct control of passenger services rather than use private company franchises or National Rail Contracts. This is not a far reaching change to

SELF-PROPELLED or autonomous wagons are fairly unusual, with only 14 currently in use. Balfour Beatty has two YJA-F power wagons (Nos. DR 78701/702, dating from 2004) for use with Harsco Track Technologies’New Track Construction (NTC) machines. An ea

A DECADE-long overhaul reached fruition on July 27 when GNR S Class 4-4-0 No. 171 Slieve Gullion made its first movements under its own steam since 2002. No. 171 was lit up the previous morning at the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s main en

PARIS expanded its rail, metro and light rail network for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with events being held at locations across the city. The automated Metro Line 14 has been extended at both ends as part of the Grand Paris Express progra

THE star of this year’s Talyllyn Railway (TR) Anything Goes gala was the Corris Railway’s (CR) new-build Falcon 0-4-2ST No. 10, which operated alongside the TR’s former Corris Falcon 0-4-2ST No. 3 Sir Haydn. This came after No. 3 returned to the Corr

THE former Head Of Steam museum in Darlington has reopened as an enlarged heritage site renamed Hopetown Darlington following completion of a two-year, £37 million upgrade. The new site brings together a previously disparate group of buildings under

DEFEATED Southport MP Damien Moore had asked in his last House of Commons question what steps the Department forTransport (DfT) planned to take to increase public awareness of the potential impact of changes in the responsibilities and role of Great

WHAT is expected to be the last delivery of coal to Ratcliffeon-Soar Power Station in Nottinghamshire was made by GB Railfreight on June 28. Owned by the German energy company Uniper, the power station is the last operational coal-burning example in

THE construction and development of the British railway network was well featured in the Railway Observer and, as late as 1938, the map was not yet finished as the Southern Railway suburban network was still under construction. A new branch line thro

KERR’S Miniature Railway (KMR) locomotive Loch Lee, the main engine used on the railway until its closure four years ago, has been loaned to the Scottish Deer Centre & Wildlife Park near Cupar in Fife, where a 273 yard-long line has been created. The

Ten Voyager units, Nos. 221107/10-18, have now been handed over to CrossCountry with AWC retaining eight units, Nos. 221101-06/08/09, until December, six for daily service with two as spare or on maintenance. Realtime Trains shows that on Saturday, J

THE Great Western Railway mechanics, with their wives and families, numbering in all 29,000, constituted the biggest excursion in the world when they entrained at Swindon recently for their annual holiday. Some 19,000 adults and 10,000 children were

Allocations 66032 WBAT-WBVT66143 WBAT-WBVT66187 WBAT-WQBA66200 WBVT-WBAT66206 WBVT-WBAT93002 newly delivered HQ/MBEL Liveries Colas: 43257DB Cargo red: 66207FL orange: 08530GBRf: 66305/14InterCity Mainline: 31452Railfreight Metals: 37901Two-tone gree

CONSTRUCTION of HS2’s NortholtTunnel in NorthWest London passed the halfway point in July, and work is now under way on a system to extract the four Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) when they reach the midsection ventilation shafts. Northolt Tunnel will

THE need to replace the ageing Class 325 postal units has led Royal Mail to announce that the traffic will be transferred to road from October 10, writes ‘Industry Update’. The 16 dual-voltage EMUs were built at Derby in 1995/6, and were technically

THE fog was so thick outside Leeds City Junction signalbox, it was impossible to see what moves were taking place except by observing the operation of the track circuits shown on the large diagram above the lever frame. Noel Proudlock, still in his t

THE Network SouthEast Railway Society (NSERS) has announced ambitious plans to restore its ‘4-CIG’electric multiple unit No. 1753 to main line standard. Society president Chris Green (who launched Network SouthEast in 1986 as the brand name for Briti

FIFTY years of electricity generation by Drax power station is to be marked over the weekend of August 17/18, when the Branch Line Society (BLS) has organised a series of special trains. The Society has planned a number of charity trains which will v

WITH the end of the peak summer operating period on the horizon, several heritage railway venues are preparing themselves for the traditional autumn gala season. Two visiting main line steam locos are to be among the attractions at the Pontypool & Bl

PORTERBROOK has told The RM it expects to hand over two of the Class 769/9 multiple units originally destined for Great Western Railway to a freight operator next month, for use on parcels movements. Hauled during May from Long Marston (where they ha

TWO Blackpool trams dating from the 1930s had significant roles to play on their respective home tramways on June 15. Modified English Electric ‘Balloon’ car No. 700 became the first tram from the Blackpool Heritage Trams fleet to operate a tour on t

THE excavation of an underground box that will accommodate the HS2 platforms for the new‘super hub’station at Old Oak Common in West London has been completed after three years of work and removal of 1.3 million tonnes of London Clay. Creation of its

Pennine Railway Society. Doncaster Town Fields Sports Club, Bennethorpe, Doncaster DN2 6AA. 19.30.‘Pick and Mix: A selection of the slides of Peter Fox, Alan Lovecy and Andy Barclay’: Andy Barclay. Sutton Coldfield Railway Society. St James’Church Ce

ANDY Bagnall, chief executive of passenger and freight trade body Rail Partners, said:“To change the railway for the better, we must correctly understand the causes of the current challenges to get the right solutions – and full nationalisation is a

FOLLOWING its announcement in March of plans for the interior refurbishment of all of its Class 158 and 170 diesel, and Class 360 electric multiple units, East Midlands Railway has released images of how it expects the revamped vehicles to look. In t

A BR Standard brake van that was visible from trains heading from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and Cardiff for many years, has been returned to its former glory at Cambrian Heritage Railways (CHR). BR Standard 20 ton brake van No. B 955055 was stabled f

PHOTOGRAPHER and RM contributor Jack Boskett has an exhibition of his photographs on show at Tetbury Goods Shed, Gloucestershire, from August 14 to September 21. Jack had his first photo published in The RM in 2005 while still at school, but has been