The Railway Magazine: Modern and steam - the whole rail scene in one magazine.
September 2015. No. 1,374. Vol 161. A journal of record since 1897.
On the cover
MAIN IMAGE: Carrying ‘The Royal Duchy’
headboard,‘Battle of Britain’ class No. 34067
Tangmere passes Sprey Point, Teignmouth, on
August 2 with the charter from Bristol Temple Meads
to Par. The loco later came to a halt on Hemerdon
bank. DAVID HUNT
INSET 1: Eurotunnel Tri-Bo No. 9704, one of Britain’s
most powerful locos. See page 16. EUROTUNNEL
INSET 2: Coming to a railway near you? Vivarail’s re-working
of former Underground stock could cut the costs of
operating rural lines. See page 91. CHRIS MILNER
Headline News
Queen to open Borders Railway; Wolverton Works to be
demolished; Contractor pulls out of Blackpool electrification
project; Derailment closes G&SW line for 16 days;
Nottingham tram extensions open; Charity charter raises
more than £25,000; Network Rail fined £2million.
Track Record The Railway Magazine’s monthly news digest
80 Steam & Heritage
‘Merchant Navy’ P&O moves in steam; A4 dismantled at
South Devon after hotbox; 8F and ‘Scot’ for Barrow Hill?
88 Steam Portfolio
91 Traction & Stock
First Class 700 Thameslink train arrives; Vivarail shows off
D-Train; More loco failures on ‘Caledonian Sleeper’.
94 Traction Update
Scrapped, sold, renumbered, repainted? Details here.
96 Traction Portfolio
99 Network
Borders Railway could be catalyst for more openings;
Next phase of London Bridge developments announced.
102 Freight News
103 Metro
105 Railtours
110 Classic Traction
D9000 runs as Pinza; Diesel days at Worth Valley end;
‘Hymek’ runs in Gloucestershire.
115 Narrow Gauge
Penrhyn commemoration at Threlkeld; Carriages and
battery loco at South Tynedale; Tracks re-laid at Teifi
Valley.
118 World
Largest steam loco in southern hemisphere in action; Unique
postal TGVs withdrawn; Traction change for‘Blue Train’.
120 Operations
A round-up of news from the train and freight operating
companies.
Regulars
12 Multiple Aspects
12 Railways in Parliament
22 Barrow Hill preview
A preview of the forthcoming Barrow Hill steam gala.
44 Subscription offer
53 Readers’Platform
60 Reviews
64 Panorama
Our monthly gallery of the best railway images.
68 100 years ago
What The RM was reporting 20, 50 and 100 years ago.
77 Heritage Diary
Opening times of steam centres and heritage railways.
126 Meetings
Details of railway society meetings near you.
129 Reader Services
130 Prize Crossword
130 Where Is It?
Features
14 The best job in the world
Looking forward to retirement in this, his final issue,
Nick Pigott reflects on 21 years in what he says is ‘the
best job in the world’.
16 Shuttle Diplomacy
Eurotunnel’s electric locos are the country’s most
powerful, but they spend most of their time
underground. Chris Milner looks at their life and
times.
20 Statfold readers’ day
Cliff Thomas reports on a sun-blessed RM readers’
day at the Statfold Barn Railway.
24 Britain – back on the boil
Nick Brodrick looks at how British engineers are
rediscovering the skills of boiler-making.
28 River deep, mountain high
In this month’s Practice & Performance, John Heaton
rides DMUs in the Welsh Valleys and Class 37s on the
Heart of Wales line.
34 Clayton: A British success story
Clayton Equipment Co, which built some of Britain’s
early diesels, is still making and refurbishing
locomotives, as Nick Pigott discovers.
38 A half-century of railway photography
Contributor Les Nixon reflects on the highlights of
50 years of railway photography.
49 Wrong kind of open access
The rail industry loses £240million through fare
evasion or fraudulent travel. Edmund West reports.
56 Britain’s biggest diesel and electric depots
Following on from the allocations at Britain’s biggest
steam depots, Ian Richardson looks at the allocations
of the country’s biggest diesel and electric depots.
61 Wires over the Western
Electrification out of Paddington and King’s Cross is
nothing new; Both were thought about the best part
of 100 years ago! Greg Morse and Nick Pigott explain.
70 Cheers!
Colin J Marsden rides the Napa Valley railway that
runs through California’s wine-producing region.
73 New loco at the Vale of Rheidol
Cliff Thomas tells the story of Margaret, a Quarry
Hunslet that has escaped the scrapman - twice!
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