June 2006

04 News
Virgin Trains to bid for new Cross Country franchise and wants faster and longer ?Pendolinos?; More Locomotive-hauled ATW services - Fishguard trains to return.

14 News pictorial
?Cromptons? reach Barmouth and Cramer for first time, EWS loses the South-West Serco haulage contract and a ?08? takes over at Machen Quarry.

12 Reviews
RAIL EXPRESS has the tip on what?s new and worth seeing or reading. The Nostalgia Collection?s post-1968 coal by rail book is comprehensively reviewed.

14 The Pennine Way
It?s all change on the Trans-Pennine route as the Siemens Class 185 ?Desiros? take over under the control of TPE - read the full story of the transformation.

20 Steetley rail freight remembered
David Ratcliffe recalls the interesting flow of dolime taken to Steetley, Hartlepool, from Thrislington to make magnesium, which sadly ended in 2004.

26 Preservation
EWS offers its five ?heritage? diesels (31110,37175,37906,47004 and 47306] for sale and a German railbus is to star at Liangollen Railway?s DMU gala event.

28 Traction & Rolling Stock ?
All your favourites in the following 15 pages: Power by the hour, Powerscene, Shed talk, Spectrum, Name game, Shunter spot, Units. Coaches, Wagons & Irish!

44 Railtours
Oh dear! Punters who lost out on last year?s iLl-fated Pwllheli trip (Pathfinder Railtours? Snowdonian? railtour) are being asked to ?cough up? for the re-run.

47 Time traveller
Turn the clock back 5, 10,20,30 and 40 years ago! Two decades past, InterCity began cross-London services and March TMD was slated for closure.

48 ?Crompton? commuter
Philip Sutton recalls the Class 33-hauled London Bridge-East Grinstead commuter services which ended 20 years ago this month.

49 Mess room
A lighthearted page with some of the more amusing incidents including a Freightliner being despatched south... with the wrong boxes!

Modeller

III Comment: Modellers forgotten?
You?d be forgiven for believing that R-T-R manufacturers do not care for peopLe that would actually like to build models based upon their products. We ask the question why?

IV Reader offer: Limited edition ?60?
RAIL EXPRESS launched its latest limited edition model in RE12O. No. 60081 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in GWR green delivery is sure to be popular, so get your order in quickly!

V News: Trade developments
Heljan release early development pictures of its 7mm scale Class 47 and Electra Railway Graphics moves into 4mm with new transfer sets for Wessex Trains? Class 153s.

VI Layout: East Lodge
Strap yourself in because REM hits the backwards button on the time machine to visit East Lodge, a superb EM? gauge East Anglian layout which recalls the green diesel era.

XII Research: Fertiliser traffic
David Ratcliffe looks at 30 years of this modeller-friendly freight commodity, which was a heavy user of BR?s Speecilink network and is still transported today in block form by EWS.

XXI Serial: Mostyn
Work is progressing on recreating the busy Sulphur traffic that was imported via the docks. Yorkshire Engine shunters are under construction and new wagons are on the horizon.

XXII Exhibitions: Diary
The exhibition scene starts to quieten down in the run up to summer but there are still notable events of interest to the D&E era modeller in Burton-upon-Trent and Chatham.

XXII Spanner: In the works
RAIL EXPRESS Modeller?s acerbic columnist, SS3, has been out and about again, and appears to have tracked down the prototype behind Hornby?s original Class 37 model.