Headline News

Virgin fights loss of West Coast franchise to First Group; North American A4s start their journey home; Rail fares to rise by average 6.2%; Mass security screening plan for passengers; More Met steam planned before ‘150’ event; Rail ale troubles in Yorkshire, Railways praised for Olympic victory.

Track Record

64 Steam & Heritage
Mallard in black - for a few days only; Severn Valley steam crisis eases; Steam trio at Mid-Suffolk.

74 Railtours
Fun & games at Llandudno; Untold story of Royal Train plan; 46233 fails to clear Olympic hurdle.

80 Traction & Stock
Class 56s back in favour; Plan to cut third-rail shoe failures; Arriva prepares for loco-hauled changes.

86 Traction Update
Scrapped, withdrawn, sold or painted. Full details here.

88 Network
£200million upgrade plan for South Wales; Protected status for Brunel structures; Crossrail news update.

88 Freight

91 Narrow Gauge
Marchlyn debut at Threlkeld; Steam returns to Penrhyn after 50 years.

94 Metro
Gogar construction view; T68 trams to go by 2014.

96 Classic Traction
‘Hymek’ opens WSR triangle; ‘French’ Class 20 in traffic at Barry.

100 World
New Zealand’s EE EMUs bow out; Korean VAL line opens.

102 Operations News
A round-up of news from the train and freight operating companies.

Regulars

16 Multiple Aspects

16 Railways in Parliament

32 Readers’ Platform
The letters page where YOU?have your say.

40 Subscriptions Offer

44 Readers’ Platform Extra

61 Meetings
Details of railway society meetings near you.

61 100 Years Ago
A look back to what Britain’s senior rail title was reporting 20, 50 and 100 years ago.

109 Heritage Diary
A comprehensive listing of dates when heritage railways and steam centres will be open.

113 Reader Services

114 Prize Crossword

114 Where Is It?

Features

18 Half-a-century of Class 47s
Paul Bickerdyke concludes his review of 50 years of Class 47 operation by looking at the class at work during privatisation.

26 Beauty: It’s in the eye of the beholder
Andrew Dow, former National Railway Museum chief tackles the controversial subjects of both attractiveness and ugliness of locomotive design.

34 Arthurian Legends
Keith Farr concludes his analysis for Practice &?Performance of the Southern Railway’s N15 ‘King Arthur’ locomotives.

45 The Last Up ‘Pines’
September marks the 50th anniversary of the last ‘up’ Pines Express, and Peter Smith, aged just 24, was at the controls. Mike Arlett tells the story.

53 England’s worst rail disaster
60 years on, Peter Kelly looks back at the Harrow rail crash that claimed 112 lives.

57 The ‘Turbomotive’
The LMS’s unique ‘Turbomotive’, newly rebuilt to conventional form as Princess Anne, was the victim of the Harrow disaster 60 years ago. Our feature includes the first view of a new painting of the loco by top artist John Austin.