December 2009

4 News
National Express hands back the ECML, WCRC buys ?Blue Pullman? set and Network Rail and the Government clash over electrification.

6 News special: ?Powerhaul? hits the UK
Freightliner and General Electric unveiled the first pair of 3,700hp Class 70 locos to arrive in the UK at an event at Newport Docks.

12 News extra: DBS/Stobart ?Fresh Express?
DB Schenker and its subsidiaries in France and Spain begin operation of a 1,100-mile refrigerated container service for haulier Stobart Rail.

18 Reviews
A book on the rarely covered subject of international freight stock is our main review. Plus a round-up of the rest of the month?s releases.

20 Retrospectrum: British Steel and Corus
Both British Steel and its later incarnation as Corus have seen locos painted in their house colours. We provide the full livery history here.

27 Time traveller
20 years ago, the Channel Tunnel was hitting its construction targets, while three decades ago the first refurbished Class 50 was released.

30 Preservation
A private donation of nearly ?6,000 provides a big boost to the NRM?s overhaul of 55002. CTLS ?Chopper? 20227 is back on the main line!

34 Railtours
October was a bad month for railtour operators as loco failures and poor availability saw Spitfire and Pathfinder charters affected.

38 Traction & Rolling Stock
Advenza?s former Class 66/8s all go to good homes, with First GBRf and Colas Rail dividing up the fleet. DBS slashes Class 60 fleet to 12!

58 Mess room
The world?s second richest man buys the huge US railroad BNSF, while there is controversy over the design of GE?s ?Powerhaul? locomotive.

Rail Express Modeller

V Comment: Early Christmas?
With Hornby?s brand new ?Javelin? EMU now available, could we be spoilt for choice over the festive season?

VII Newsdesk: Trade developments
Heljan announces a D59xx ?Baby Deltic? in ?OO? for 2010 while the D82xx BTH appears to be almost complete.

VIII Reviews: Dapol ?N? Class 153
It looks like Dapol is hitting back in the smaller scale DMU market. Is the new Class 153 another winner?

XI Reviews: Dapol ?OO? MBA/MCA
Dapol lands the first punch in the EWS Thrall-built box wagon battle. Do these new items measure up?

XII Detailing: Class 56 upgrade
The third and final part of our epic upgrading project sees the two locomotives finally painted and detailed.

XIV Pictorial: Bachmann progress
A first look at our DB Schenker Class 37 limited edition plus a progress report on the JPA and MBA wagons.

XVII Serial: Mostyn
With wagon building on-going, the team looks to provide a free BR diagram drawing resource via its website.

XVIII Spanner in the Works: Exhibitions
December show listing plus our mystery columnist takes a pop at recent Heljan and ViTrains models.