August 2017
August 2017   


The Railway Magazine - August 2017

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Contents
August 2017. No. 1,397. Vol 163. A journal of record since 1897.

Headline News

Mindless attack: Vandals cause thousands of pounds worth
of damage to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s lovingly
restored set of LNER Gresley teak coaches. NYMR
Government cancels three electrification schemes in
favour of bi-mode trains, £6.6bn HS2 contracts awarded
and Phase 2b routes confirmed, Vandals attack NYMR
Gresley teak set, Two new high-speed lines open in
France, Mail Rail museum launch, Electric Railway
Museum to close in October.


On the cover


COVER: Fuel oil traffic
returned to the West
Highland Line in
July on a trial basis,
hauled by Colas
Class 56s – the first
time the Type 5s
have been seen on
the route. No. 56302
passes County March
summit with the
southbound empties
to Grangemouth on
July 24.
JAMIE MCEWEN

Track Record The Railway Magazine’s monthly news digest
66 Steam & Heritage
Southern steam galas draw huge crowds, Gwili
extension open, first train on Alnwick branch for almost
50 years, Bluebell SECR O1 back in traffic.
71 Industrial Steam
73 Steam Portfolio
75 Narrow Gauge
79 Heritage Trams
80 Metro
82 Irish
84 Freight
86 Traction & Stock
CAF starts work on Northern Class 331 EMUs, new look
for ROG ‘47’, SWT Class 707 deliveries suspended, Class
319 ‘Flex’ bi-modes for Northern and Arriva Trains Wales.
89 Stock Update
91 Traction Portfolio
93 Railtours
97 Network
Derby set for £200m rebuild in 2018, PM opens new EMU
sidings at Maidenhead, Waterloo closures in August, GCR
Catesby Tunnel to become aerodynamics facility.
100 Classic Traction
103 Operations
108 World

Regulars
12 Multiple Aspects
With Lord Berkeley.

12 Railways in Parliament

28 Subscription Offer
Subscribe today to receive your monthly copies of
The Railway Magazine from only £20.

50 Readers’ Platform

52 Meetings
Railway society meetings near you – all the details.

60 Panorama
Our monthly gallery of the best railway photography.
64 From The RM Archives
Find out what The RM was reporting 20, 50 and 100
years ago.

112 Heritage Diary
Details of when Britain’s unique collection of heritage
railways and railway museums are open.
122 Prize Crossword and Where Is It?

Features
14 The Big Bird That Flew Too Far – Part 2
Robert Humm completes the story of the unique
4,000hp Hawker Siddeley diesel prototype with
a fascinating insight into its export behind the
Iron Curtain to the Soviet Union and the mystery
surrounding its demise.

22 Electrics, Diesels and Electro-Diesels
John Heaton continues his Caledonian Sleeper
experience with a journey from Aberdeen to
Edinburgh in the cab of a re-engineered GBRf
Class 73/9.

30 Nottingham Victoria – Part 2
Nottingham waved farewell to its Great Central
station in September 1967. Robin Stewart-Smith
looks back at the final two decades of its life, and
the steady decline in status from GCR showpiece to
unstaffed halt.

38 Restoring Thornbury Castle
Gary Boyd-Hope talks to Jonathan Jones-Pratt about
his plans for the unrestored BR-built‘Castle’and his
other locomotive, Kinlet Hall, which is currently being
restored at Tyseley.

45 Rebirth of the Corris Railway
In the latest of The RM’s studies of‘Lazarus Lines’, Cliff
Thomas visits a famous Welsh narrow gauge railway,
that first saw use by steam in 1878 and is being
resurrected almost seven decades after it was closed
by British Railways.

54 Tornado hits Cornwall
In a Practice & Performance special, Keith Farr rides
behind A1 No. 60163 Tornado on an epic 305-mile
journey from London to Penzance that also marked
the first visit of the class to Cornwall.





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