Written by enthusiasts - for enthusiasts. Superb features and regular columns.
6 News
A GBRF ‘Bluebird’ is wrecked in West Highland crash; ScotRail sleeper services to be hived off and Northfleet terminal on the Thames officially opened.
15 Time Traveller
We turn back the clock to past decades: forty years ago, a sleek experimental train made its debut – the APT-E.
16 Box to Box: Leicester-Peterborough Pt.1
This new series continues with a look at the doomed signalboxes along this important cross-country route with pictures old and new.
22 LU World
Business is booming on the Underground – plus a Metropolitan coach built in 1892 is renovated for the Underground’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
24 Railtours
Our railtour scribe rather likes Cornwall and headed off twice to sample the famous fare – not pasties but a ‘Deltic’ and Class 37s!
26 The Welsh dimension
Passenger numbers are on the increase in Wales, with lines being reopened and electrification soon to march to Cardiff – all aided by the pro-rail Welsh Assembly Government.
36 Preservation
Shortage of steam traction sees the NYMR hire a ‘Deltic’ to cover; The Great Western Society’s steam railmotor No. 93 is set for main line action.
40 Power by the Hour
The first two newly overhauled Class 37/4s 37419 and 37425 enter traffic but two more DRS ‘37s’, 37087 and 37510, are switched off to become spares donors.
42 Powerscene
It’s been another busy month and we bring you all the interesting loco movements from around the country in a bumper 16 page section.
59 Shunter Spot
The former Severn Tunnel rescue shunter, 09017, has a new lease of life and owner – the National Railway Museum, York. Plus news from the other operators.
60 Unitary Authority
The last of the FGW Class 180 ‘Adelante’ units, 180102, is sent to Kilmarnock for renovation: All the news of individual classes with superb imagery.
64 Coach Compartment
A start has been made on scrapping the long-stored Mk.2 carriages stabled at Dalton airfield in North Yorkshire. Plus the first rebuilt ex-HST buffet cars leave Kilmarnock for FGW.
66 Irish Angle
The recession is hitting Irish Rail and, with reducing subsidy, cut-backs are on the way. We have all the traction news from both IR and NIR.
Rail Express Modeller
IX Newsdesk: Latest developments
With the Class 47s hitting 50 years of service, Bachmann and Modelzone announce new model releases. Also new from Judith Edge Kits is the diminutive Southern electric DS74.
X Modelling: Silver Fox Class 89
Alex Carpenter builds the Silver Fox Models kit of this much-liked machine, withdrawn from British Rail service 20 years ago this month, in both of its InterCity liveries.
XIII D&E Files: 89001 Avocet
Intended as the forerunner of a fleet of electric locomotives for the East Coast Main Line, 89001 ended up as a prototype without a purpose. Its turbulent history is detailed here.
XIV Reviews: Bachmann
There’s a corporate era theme to this month’s selection of goodies from Bachmann, encompassing a three-car Class 108 and a number of Mk.1s, including more Pullmans.
XV Review: Hornby ‘Van B’
Hornby has a decent record of producing non-passenger coaching stock built by the Southern Railway. The latest, the bogie ‘Van B’ which lasted well into the 1980s, is now out.
XVII Reviews: Graham Farish
Among the latest batch of products in ‘N’ gauge is the all new Mk.1 First Corridor while the Class 37/0 gets the Network Rail yellow treatment as a departmental
Class 97/3.
XVIII Exhibition diary
It might be summer but there’s still plenty of exhibitions to tempt modellers out of the deck chair, including the D&E focussed Stormex event and Midland Railex at Butterley.
XIX Review: TMC Mk.1 Horse Box
Produced by Hornby Dublo many years ago, there is now a new version of the Mk.1 Horse Box thanks to the Bachmann model commissioned by retailer TMC.
XX Modelling: Safeway containers
The forerunner of today’s containerised services run for the likes of Tesco and Asda, the Safeway swapbodies brought a freight revival to the Far North in the early 2000s.
XXII Modelling: HST barrier coaches
Ever since the HSTs were introduced, there has been a requirement for barrier coaches to move vehicles around. Mick Bryan builds a pair of present day Mk.1 BG-based coaches.
XXIV Serial: Elcot Road #19
It is time to start the scenic work on our ‘P4’ layout project with construction of the road bridge scenic break and creation of the overgrown bank along the backscene.
XXVI Review: Dapol MRA tippers
The five-vehicle MRA side-tipping ballast wagon sets are among the most distinctive of Network Rail’s new generation engineers’ fleet, the new Dapol model is assessed here.
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