Headline News
100mph Pacifics united for Barrow Hill Roundhouse
reopening, Edinburgh-Glasgow wiring complete, South
Yorkshire tram-train carries first passengers, Talgo to bid
for British train contracts, Eurostar starts Amsterdam
tests, first ‘refreshed’Virgin ‘Pendolino’ unveiled,
Loughborough GCR bridge installed

 On the cover
COVER: No. 50040
Leviathan hurries
the 09.20 Liverpool-
Paignton out of
Whiteball Tunnel on
July 30, 1983.
JOHN CHALCRAFT

INSET: Three decades
of Railfreight sector
grey livery.

INSET: Famous
guests at Old Oak
Common open day.

INSET: New livery for
Virgin ‘Pendolino’.

Track Record The Railway Magazine’s monthly news digest

66 Steam & Heritage
Repton and Bluebell star at Severn Valley Autumn Gala,
Dartmouth ‘4MT’ to visit West Somerset, ELR plans major
redevelopment for Rawtenstall.

72 Industrial Steam

74 Steam Portfolio

76 Irish

78 Narrow Gauge

80 Metro

82 Heritage Trams

84 Network
Merseytravel starts work on new Maghull North station,
London Bridge revamp ‘in home straight’.

86 Traction & Stock
ScotRail receives first HST set, TransPennine Express
Class 68 and Class 397 break cover, Class 700s complete
Thameslink takeover.

89 Stock Update

91 Traction Portfolio

93 Classic Traction

98 Railtours

102 Freight

104 World

107 Operations

Features
14 20 Years of Virgin West Coast
Former Virgin Rail PR manager Steven Knight
reflects on the high-profile ups and downs of two
decades of Virgin operations on the WCML.

20 Practice & Performance: WD 2-8-0s
John Heaton considers the merits of the Riddles
‘Austerity’ 2-8-0s built during the Second World
War and later acquired by British Railways.

26 Building for the Future
Ben Jones visits Bridgnorth to see how the
Severn Valley Railway is investing at the station
to accommodate increasing visitor numbers.

30 Railway Children
TheRMis backing the Railway Children charity’s
campaign to protect vulnerable young people
both in the UK and abroad - our October 7
railtour to Glasgow will raise money to support
that campaign.

36 Farewell to Old Oak Common
September 2 saw a final gathering of iconic Great
Western Main Line trains at the West London
depot before it is closed to make way for a new
facility and High Speed 2 interchange.

40 30 Years of Railfreight Sectors
In October 1987 BR relaunched its Railfreight
business with a bold new image that remains one of
the most popular and successful of the
pre-Privatisation period. Ben Jones looks back at
how and why it was done.

48 50 Years of Hoovering
Celebrating a half century of these cult English Electric
Type 4s, Ben Jones considers their controversial
introduction and the recent main line revival of the class.

Regulars
12 Multiple Aspects
With Lord Berkeley.

12 Railways in Parliament

32 Subscription Offer
Subscribe today to receive your monthly copies of
The Railway Magazine from only £20.

46 Reviews

56 Meetings

58 Readers’ Platform

59 From The RM Archives
Find out what The RM was reporting 20, 50 and 100
years ago.

60 Panorama
Our monthly gallery of the best railway photography.
100mph Pacifics united for Barrow Hill Roundhouse
reopening, Edinburgh-Glasgow wiring complete, South
Yorkshire tram-train carries first passengers, Talgo to bid
for British train contracts, Eurostar starts Amsterdam
tests, first ‘refreshed’Virgin ‘Pendolino’ unveiled,
Loughborough GCR bridge installed

112 Heritage Diary
Details of when Britain’s unique collection of heritage
railways and railway museums are open.

122 Prize Crossword and Where Is It?