Contents

April 2015. No. 1,369. Vol 161. A journal of record since 1897
On the cover

MAIN IMAGE: Two generations
of Eastern motive power race
along the East Coast Main Line
at Tallington, north of
Peterborough, on March 12 as
125mph Class 91 No. 91106
overtakes 75mph limited B1
No. 61306 Mayflower. The
electric had been rebranded
with Virgin vinyls just 10 days
earlier, while the 4-6-0 was
running on the ECML for the
first time in the ownership of
David Buck. NICK BRODRICK

INSET 1: The first Hitachi Class 800 SET arrives in the UK from
Japan. See Headline News. CHRIS MILNER
INSET 2: LNER J15 re-emerges as GER Y14.
See pages 50/51. NICK BRODRICK

Headline News
Stagecoach/Virgin take over East Coast franchise; First
Hitachi Class 800 unit arrives; Landslip line reopens early;
Abellio orders 70 new EMUs for Scotland; Exciting rail plans
for the north unveiled; Riot scenes at London Bridge;
Government sells Eurostar stake.

Track Record The Railway Magazine’s monthly news digest

62 Steam & Heritage
NRM snubs Waterman over‘Super D’; Llangollen’s mega-gala

74 Traction & Stock
Class 68s better than expected; Northern Class 319s
enter service; DRS to sell off Class 47s.

77 Traction Update
Scrapped, sold, renumbered, repainted? Details here.

78 Traction Portfolio

83 Network
New St demolition work ends; Bridge deck replaced on
Scarborough line; Honeybourne link to be reconsidered.

85 Freight

86 Metro News

87 Railtours
Steam Dreams and RTC to share Flying Scotsman; Youngest
steam driver follows in father’s footsteps.

90 Classic Traction
East Lancashire Railway enters service on ELR; FGW ‘Gronk’ for
Epping Ongar; Nene Valley confirms diesel gala.

93 Narrow Gauge
First steaming for Barber at South Tynedale; Russell to return
to Talyllyn for ‘150’; Golden Valley buys Ffestiniog carriages.

96 Miniature

98 World
New locos and electrification for Buenos Aires; Amtrak
withdraws older electrics; Uganda set for rail revival?

100 Operations
News from the train and freight operating companies.

Regulars

24 Multiple Aspects

24 Railways in Parliament

27 All Change
A look at how the railway has changed at Carlisle.

28 Subscription offer

36 Readers’Platform
Our Off the Beaten Track feature generated an immense
volume of correspondence, with a selection printed here.

42 Grass Roots

48 Reviews

52 100 Years Ago

55 Panorama

107 Meetings
Details of railway society meetings near you.

109 Heritage Diary
Opening times of steam centres and heritage railways.

113 Reader Services

114 Prize Crossword

114 Where Is It?

Features

14 The Grand Old Man of Steam
Nick Pigott interviews R H N (Dick) Hardy, a former
LNER premium apprentice and one of the most
highly respected personalities of the steam era.

20 First TransPennine: In Control
Practice & Performance compiler John Heaton
spends time in the Control office at TransPennine,
finding out how they keep the intensive service on
track.

30 What happened to these diesels?
Following our exclusive revelation of incorrect
steam disposal records, errors have been found in
diesel disposal records too, as Peter Hall explains.

44 The world’s greatest marshalling yards
Britain dispensed with its marshalling yards many
years ago, but there are many still active around the
world, as Michael Rhodes reveals.

50 Goodbye J15, Hello Y14
Nick Brodrick takes a look at the Midland & Great
Northern Joint Railway Society’s project to
back-convert an LNER J15 0-6-0 into a Great Eastern
Y14 in ultramarine livery.

52 10 Questions, 10 Minutes
This month, Steve Knight’s interview spotlight falls on
Charles Horton, chief executive of Govia Thameslink
Railway Ltd.