WORTH VALLEY
JUBILEE
50 years of diesels on the KWVR
CLASS 710
LAUNCH
First look at new units for London Overground
Essential reading for today’s rail enthusiast
LOCO-HAULED FOR NEXT CRO CROS CROSSCOUNTRY?
RAIL EXPRESS No. 267 AUGUST 2018
as other operators plan to take on spare Mk.4s
MODELLING SECTION ■ Heljan Class 25
‘OO’ gauge 'Rat' announced
■ EMU conversion
Making a 2-HAP from a 2-EPB
■ Fleet survey
Departmental bogie bolsters
ON SHED 4 Covering purposebuilt depots in the South-East and Wales
CONTENTS
Issue No. 267 August 2018
THE BRANCH LINE SLEEPETH: This is a view of Haworth on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in the summer of 1963 – a year after it was closed by British Railways but still five years away from reopening as a heritage line. Happily, that happened on June 29, 1968 and the line has gone from strength to strength since then, recently celebrating its golden jubilee (see news and feature on pages 19-23).
FEATURES
NEWS
16
8
19
26
33
WINDERMERE ‘DIESEL GALA’
Loco-hauled trains returned to the branch for two weeks at the end of June.
KWVR AT 50
How diesels have featured over the last five decades on the West Yorkshire heritage line as it celebrates its golden jubilee.
ON SHED PART FOUR
Surveying purpose-built depots in East Anglia, the South-East and Wales.
75
0-60: CLASS 221
78
Putting a Virgin ‘Voyager’ on test.
REGULARS 24
SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS
35
TIME TRAVELLER
76
REVIEWS
76
EXPRESS MAILBAG
82
The best ways to get Rail Express every month.
News from the past five decades.
East Coast Pullmans; Railway woes.
MODELLING
Departmental bogie bolster wagons get an in-depth focus this month, while there’s news of a 4mm Class 158 and Class 50 in both ‘N’ and ‘O’ gauges – plus we review Heljan’s Class 07, Bachmann’s coal subsector ‘37’ and Kernow’s exclusive ‘31s’.
HEADLINE NEWS
CrossCountry revamp plan to combat overcrowding; GNWT to use Mk.4s; No Mk.3s for TPE; More Wales & Borders plans revealed; East Midlands changes ahead; CAF and HitachiBombardier to bid for HS2 fleet; Improvements at Northern but GTR faces losing franchise; ‘50s@50’ event shaping up nicely; First look at London Overground Class 710 EMUs.
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LU WORLD
Siemens to build new Tube trains in Goole.
RAILTOURS
Including a full diary of tours for August.
PRESERVATION
NRM begins review of its diesel and electric fleet; Final EMUs leave Coventry; 125 Group launches depot appeal; Diesels replace steam.
86
POWER BY THE HOUR
88
POWERSCENE
96
UNITS
99
SHUNTERS
GBRf acquires Class 56 fleet; Coals ‘Tugs’ sold in surprise deal.
Notable workings from around the country.
‘Networkers’ enter service with ScotRail.
RSS helps out at Ketton.
100 COACHES
ERS acquires Caledonian Sleeper coaches.
101 WAGONS
First ‘production’ HRAs enter service.
102 IRISH ANGLE
Cross-Border development plan announed.
CrossCountry Class 220 and 221 ‘Voyagers’ have been in service since 2001, but growing passenger numbers mean they now struggle to cope and the next franchise could see a return to loco-hauled workings (see page 8). This is CrossCountry's four-car No. 220019 at Banbury on May 15, with a working from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth.
Editor’s Comment PRINT & DISTRIBUTION
Newstrade & distribution Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU. 0203 787 9001 Printed by William Gibbons and Sons, Wolverhampton Published Third Friday of every month This issue July 20, 2018 Next issue August 17, 2018 Advertising deadline August 3, 2018 ISSN No 1362 234X
Paul Bickerdyke Rail Express Editor
© Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Locos back in fashion
T
HOSE that were around before the turn of the century will likely remember a time of widespread diesel loco-haulage. In fact they were pretty much everywhere until the mid-1980s and the ‘Sprinter’ revolution, when second generation DMUs began to replace traditional hauled stock on many long-distance routes. But it was not until 2002, when CrossCountry withdrew its last loco diagrams, that a nationwide network finally came to an end. Since then there has slowly been something of a revival – such as the Arriva workings between North and South Wales; the former Wrexham & Shropshire’s trains, which morphed into Chiltern’s Main Line workings; Greater Anglia’s ‘short set’; and Northern’s Cumbrian diagrams. Very soon now we will have the prospect of loco-hauled sets entering service across the North of England with TransPennine Express. A planned preview service using ex-‘Pretendolino’ Mk.3s will not now happen, but it won’t be long until we get to sample the new Mk.5s with DRS Class 68 power. Now with the CrossCountry franchise due for renewal next year, there are indications
that loco-hauled stock could be reintroduced as a solution to overcrowding. CrossCountry is not only one of the biggest networks, in terms of geographical coverage, but also one of the most used by leisure travellers, and so has to cope with seasonal peaks in demand to holiday destinations that fixed-formation ‘Voyagers’ cannot handle. For the enthusiast, CrossCountry locos would restore a degree of national coverage sorely missed, linking in with many of the other loco-hauled routes. Add in the Cornish and Scottish overnight sleepers, which have always used diesels, a commitment to locos in Wales by taking on Mk.4s cascaded from the East Coast Main Line, plus a question mark over what will be used on the Midland Main Line post-2020, and it could be something like old times again. Paul Bickerdyke
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Power by the Hour Shunters Name Game Spectrum
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Preservation Units Coaches
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‘Industry Witness’ News Writer
‘HOOVER’ HEAVEN: Pathfinder Tours’ ‘Mazey Day Cornishman’ on June 23 took
two Class 50s back to their spiritual home in Devon and Cornwall. The tour started at Tame Bridge Parkway behind No. 66149, but Nos. 50049 Defiance and 50007 Hercules (renumbered and renamed on one side as Nos. 50011 Centurion and 50006 Neptune respectively) took over at Worcester Shrub Hill for the run through to Penzance. No. 50007 headed the return trip, which is seen looking the business at Cockwood Harbour heading towards Exeter. Both these locos will be in action at the Severn Valley Railway’s Class 50 gala in October – see page 13 for more details. Phil Chilton
HEADLINE NEWS
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CrossCountry revamp plan to combat overcrowding
The next franchise could see route changes, new stock and even loco-hauled trains in an effort to overcome the limitations of the current fleet of fixed-formation Class 220/221 ‘Voyagers’. By ‘Industry Witness’ A NEW CrossCountry franchise is to be awarded with operations commencing in December 2019, and the Department for Transport has commenced public consultation about the future pattern of train services. The main challenge is to counter overcrowding, which is caused by two factors. One is that passengers often use long-distance services for short distance journeys as they are quicker than the alternative stopping trains, and the other is the large summer peak in travel to holiday destinations. The use of CrossCountry services for leisure purposes is its largest market with 64% of users; commuting makes up 24% and business travel 13%. Some 40 million passengers are carried annually, which is 28% higher than in 2010.
NETWORK CUTBACKS
If overcrowding is to be avoided just by using the existing fleet of ‘Voyagers’, the options include concentrating on express services that cease to call at many intermediate stations, and/ or cutting back geographic reach by terminating trains short of their current destinations.
Reducing the size of the network would, however, bring a requirement to change trains to reach some destinations in Scotland, the South Coast and the West Country. Changing trains is not an attractive proposition for many passengers, particularly in the leisure market when travelling with luggage, and the reliability of connections has always been an issue. So it is likely this idea will be rejected, as it is at odds with high-level policy to improve connectivity between population centres rather than see it diminished. Stakeholders are also pressing for an extension to the destinations served to include cities such as Liverpool, Bradford and Swansea. One idea to retain the benefit of intermediate station calls is to use the ‘pick up’ or ‘set down’ only practice to prevent trains being crowded out by passengers making local journeys. There is a query as to how this would be controlled in practice, as ticket barriers would accept tickets as valid and, in any case, it is difficult to prevent
passengers from joining or alighting at the stations concerned. It has been acknowledged that the CrossCountry franchise has generally been well run by Arriva since 2007, with a good record for performance and customer satisfaction. However, the recent innovation of allowing advance ticket purchase on the day of travel, which is available until 10 minutes before departure time, has resulted in quality of service issues. This occurs when passengers have occupied an unreserved seat at the start of the journey, but find they are required to move to make way for users holding late-booked advanced tickets. This is not good practice and it is suggested that short notice advance ticket sales should not include a reserved seat so that passengers occupy vacant seats as if they were ‘turn up and go’ customers.
“The return of locohauled stock to TPE may be a pointer to more suitable resources for West Country services”
REPLACING ‘VOYAGERS’
There are issues with the design of the ‘Voyager’ trains in use where electrical
control equipment is mounted on the roof and cannot operate on the route through Devon to Cornwall during times when high waves impact on the sea wall at Dawlish. With the evident current shortage of capacity, replacing these trains with alternative vehicles so they can be used to strengthen other services elsewhere would be a sensible direction to take. The imminent return of locomotivehauled rolling stock to TransPennine Express services may be a pointer to the provision of more suitable resources for West Country services, where there would be the advantage of the ability to add more carriages at busy times. Fixed formations have been the favoured operational style in recent times, but they have the drawback of lacking flexibility to cater for peaks in demand. The availability of bi-mode locomotives for haulage would also allow a reduction in the use of diesel traction over long sections of electrified route. However, this would need a more powerful traction unit to be fitted to the current Class 88 type of loco, which has a 12-cylinder engine limited to a 950hp output rather than the 16-cylinder 3,750hp unit installed in the diesel-only Class 68. E
GNWR to use Mk.4s on West Coast GREAT North Western Railway has been given the go-ahead to run open access services between Euston and Blackpool North. The company will run six return trains on weekdays, five on Saturdays and four on Sundays. It will use four trainsets formed of a Class 91+six Mk.4s+DVT displaced from the East Coast Main Line by Hitachi IETs. Rights have been given from May 2019 to December 2026 – ending just before HS2 is due to start operations. Virgin Trains currently operates four return trips between Euston and Blackpool, meaning there will now be up to 10 trains a day to and from the Lancashire resort. GWNR says it will differentiate its service with a different calling pattern (Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Preston, Kirkham & Wesham and Poulton-le-Fylde) and discounted fares in both First and Standard Class. GNWR had been given the go-ahead in 2015 to run services using mini-‘Pendolinos’, but these could not be procured in time and the approval ran out in June 2017. While the ‘91s’ and Mk.4s are non-tilting stock, proposed stops at Crewe, Tamworth and Lichfield Trent Valley have been taken out of the application to keep overall journey times down.
8 RAIL EXPRESS August 2018
NO MK.3 SETS FOR TPE: TransPennine Express has announced it will not now use trains formed of ex-Virgin
‘Pretendolino’ Mk.3s in public service, only for staff training purposes. Two sets of Mk.3s were due to enter service this summer ahead of the new Mk.5s currently being delivered, but this has been scuppered following discussions with the Department for Transport and Rail North Partnership. It is understood to be because the carriages do not meet current disability regulations. Staff training continues, however, and a set is pictured on June 7 ‘top and tailed’ by Nos. 68020 and 68027 at Euxton (Lancashire) working from Crewe to Carlisle. Jack Taylor
HEADLINE NEWS
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How the CAF DMUs for Wales & Borders could look.
More Wales and Borders plans revealed p
Ex-East Coast Mk.4s will feature in Wales alongside new build stock. By ‘Industry Witness’ MORE details have emerged about the future rolling stock to be provided by KeolisAmey during the new 15-year Wales and Borders franchise, which begins on October 14. There will be something old and something new, but mostly the latter. To list the old, Mk.4 coaches displaced from LNER by Hitachi IETs will be transferred in for the North-South Express service, which is to have three
rakes of four vehicles. Twelve Class 170 DMUs are also to be acquired for the Ebbw Vale line, which will come from Greater Anglia when they are displaced by new rolling stock, and there will be five additional single-car Class 153s transferred from GWR for use on rural services.
NEW TRAIN ORDERS
A partial solution for the low-cost replacement of ‘Pacers’ has seen a commitment to acquire five three-car
Stadler ‘Flirts’ will feature a diesel ‘module’ between the passenger cars.
LNER ‘AZUMA’: A driving car from Hitachi-built IET No. 800107 was displayed at the Great Exhibition of the North in Newcastle from June 22 to July 2 wearing LNER logos – the company which has taken over from Virgin Trains East Coast – and retaining the ‘Azuma’ branding (meaning ‘East’ in Japanese). While the driving car has since moved on, the free exhibition continues at the Discovery Museum until September 9, featuring other rail-related exhibits such as the original Stephenson’s Rocket. Hitachi
Class 230 units from Vivarail. These ‘D-Trains’, converted from former London Underground stock, will operate local services in North Wales such as the Blaenau Ffestiniog branch. The headline element of the new fleet will be 36 three-car tramtrains to be supplied by Stadler for use on newly-electrified Core Valley Line routes. These will allow services to be extended to run on proposed light railway tracks in the Cardiff Bay area. They will use hybrid power –
conventional 25kV overhead wires, diesel engines and battery power. The cost of electrification is to be reduced by using battery power where any restricted clearances would involve costly work to install catenary. New trains will also be procured to replace older DMUs, with a total of 313 cars built by CAF using the ‘Civity’ platform and by Stadler using the ‘Flirt’ platform. Trains will be made up of two, three and four-car formations made up into 112 sets.
Vivarail is to supply five Class 230 conversions for North Wales.
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HEADLINE NEWS IN BRIEF HYDROGEN-POWERED ‘321’
ALSTOM and Eversholt Rail are to convert a Class 321 EMU to run on hydrogen, with entry to service expected by 2022. This matches the plans Alstom has to introduce hydrogen-powered units to Germany. The ‘321’ will be fitted with gas tanks, the hydrogen combining with oxygen to produce electricity that will charge fuel cells. Eversholt owns 107 four-car Class 321s operated by Greater Anglia and Northern, but all are due to go off-lease by the end of 2019.
SCOTRAIL TO GET DEDICATED BIKE AND LUGGAGE CARRIAGES
FIVE Class 153 units are to be transferred to ScotRail to carry bulky luggage, camping equipment and bikes on the scenic West Highland route. The single cars are expected to be formed in the centre of Class 156 sets and will be deployed on services from Glasgow to Oban, Fort William and Mallaig. The five DMUs, Nos. 153305/70/73/77/80, are currently in temporary use with Northern, having transferred from GWR. They are expected to begin use in Scotland in summer 2019.
‘385’ WINDSCREENS APPROVED
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East Midlands changes ahead Three bidders will have to solve the thorny rolling stock problem. By ‘Industry Witness’ THE invitation to tender for the next East Midlands franchise, which will commence in August 2019, was published by the Department for Transport on June 7. The main problem faced by the three remaining bidders – Stagecoach (the current operator), Arriva, and Abellio after a bid proposed by a consortium made up of First Group and Trenitalia failed to materialise – will be what rolling stock to use. Previous assumptions that the route would be electrified beyond Bedford to reach Nottingham and Sheffield were abandoned by the Government in 2017 due to rising cost estimates and the transfer of express services to HS2 in 2033. The extension of wiring to Corby was retained, which will allow a new hourly semi-fast service to be established from December 2020 using EMUs. The intention of these is to serve
intermediate stations that have seen an erosion of service frequency following the start of the May 2018 timetable, which has provided more paths for Thameslink services south of Bedford.
TRICKY GAP TO FILL
There is a requirement by 2023 to replace the current HST fleet on services to Nottingham and Sheffield with bi-mode rolling stock, which allows the benefit of using electric traction where overhead wires are available. This leaves something of a guessing game to assess what will happen in the interim, however, as the HSTs either have to be withdrawn or modified by December 2019 due to their lack of compliance with mobility legislation. A change in the current pattern of services will see through trains between Norwich and Liverpool discontinued. These will instead run as far as Nottingham with the likelihood of a different operator providing the onward service. The issue has been there
A NEW flatter type of windscreen has been approved for use on the Hitachi-built Class 385 EMUs, which will work on the newlyelectrified lines across the Central Belt in Scotland. Problems occurred earlier this year during testing, when drivers reported a fishbowl effect from the initial curved windscreens that could lead to seeing double signal aspects. The units should have been in service by the end of 2017, but their role has been filled temporarily by ex-Great Northern Class 365s. The new windscreens will be fitted to all 70 ‘385s’, with the first expected in passenger service by the end of the summer.
FIRST TPE BI-MODE ARRIVES: No. 802201
was unloaded at Southampton Docks on June 11, after travelling from the Hitachi factory in Japan via Panama, it being one of 19 five-car sets due to enter service with TransPennine Express next year. These ‘Nova 1’ trains will be joined by 12 five-car EMUs from CAF (‘Nova 2’) and 13 five-car sets that will be powered by Class 68 locos (‘Nova 3’). Hitachi
HIGHLAND RESIGNALLING
NETWORK Rail has awarded Siemens a £20 million contract for resignalling sections of the Highland Main Line, which will replace many of the semaphores still in use along the route. Work will include significant resignalling at both Aviemore and Pitlochry – two of just over 40 signal boxes in the whole of Scotland that still operate semaphores. The project will also see three private level crossings near Pitlochry upgraded as well as further work at Inverness, Kincraig and Slochd. This phase of work on the Highland Main Line is scheduled to be completed next March ahead of the introduction of the new timetable in May 2019.
Hitachi-Bombardier and CAF join list of bidders for HS2 train fleet
MAGNULL NORTH OPENED
LIVERPOOL Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram officially opened the new station at Maghull North on June 22 (four days after services began), hailing the benefits that improved rail links will bring the local community. The new station is located between the existing Maghull and Town Green stations on the Ormskirk branch of Merseyrail’s Northern Line. Operated by Merseyrail, it is the 68th station on their network.
10 RAIL EXPRESS August 2018
is a much greater demand between Nottingham and Liverpool than between Nottingham and Norwich, leading to inefficient use of rolling stock. Commercial aspects have not been ignored, as the DfT is looking for innovation in ticketing options, including barcodes, print-at-home, and smart cards. Delay compensation is to be enhanced, with eligibility for payments as a result of late arrivals set at 15 minutes rather than 30. ■ The Department for Transport will ask the builder of HS2 to electrify a 15-mile section of the Midland Main line from Clay Cross (south of Chesterfield) to Sheffield so that HS2 trains can serve the city via a connecting spur line. This means the electrification gap on the MML will be just 80 miles between Kettering and Clay Cross – but the Government’s decision to cancel this work in July 2017 means the inter-city route will have to make do with bi-modes or older diesel-powered trains rather than a new fleet of electrics. E
FIRST NORTHERN CLASS 195 ARRIVES: No. 195001 was unloaded at Royal
Portbury Docks, Bristol, on June 25 – the first of 55 ‘Civity’ DMUs being built for Northern by CAF (25 two-cars and 30 three-cars). The unit was then moved by road to Edge Hill to undergo finishing works on Merseyside before testing begins later this summer. CAF is also building 43 Class 331 ‘Civity’ EMUs for Northern (31 three-cars and 12 four-cars), the first of which should arrive shortly. Northern
SPANISH firm CAF is to compete to build the HS2 train fleet to ensure there is sufficient competition from a newly-announced joint venture bid from Hitachi and Bombardier. The latter two companies have already worked together to build the 400kph Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed trains for Trenitalia. Alstom, Siemens and Talgo are also bidding for the contract. The HS2 deal will be worth £2.75 billion for a minimum of 54 trains to run on Phase 1 between London and the West Midlands. The fleet will be compatible with Network Rail lines, meaning they can go beyond HS2 to serve destinations such as Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The tendering process is due to start later this year with contracts awarded in late 2019.
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GBRf’s No. 66732 powers south through Banbury on May 18 with the 6M04/13.22 Kineton-Bicester MoD working. Paul Bickerdyke
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SOUTHERN ‘07’ FROM HELJAN
No. 172 DIESEL AND ELECTRIC ERA MODELLING
A SOUTHERN
HAPPENING
5
Newsdesk: Latest developments
In a bumper month for news, there have been new announcements from Heljan, Accurascale and Dapol while Bachmann has at long last released the first image of its new 4mm Class 158. Pre-production Class 50 samples have also appeared in both ‘N’ and ‘O’.
12
Modelling: Southern 2-HAP EMU
Although Bachmann has announced its intention to produce the 2-HAP in ‘OO’ gauge, this is still some way from release. This issue therefore details how to go about converting the existing 2-EPB model into one of the closely-related outer suburban Southern EMUs.
19
D&E Files: Departmental bolsters
Following revenue use, a large number of bogie bolster wagons were transferred into departmental service. David Ratcliffe illustrates a variety of types and loads.
26
Reviews: Heljan Class 07 shunter
31
Reviews: Bachmann sub-sector ‘37’
The latest addition to Heljan’s collection of ‘OO’ gauge shunters is the Ruston & Hornsby Class 07, 14 examples being built for use in Southampton Docks.
Converting a HAP from the Bachmann EPB
ON THIS COVER The BR design 2-HAPs were constructed in several batches with detail differences between them. However, the defining features were the presence of a first class section and two lavatories in the driving trailer car, as shown by No. 6109 in classic BR Rail blue.
Another Railfreight triple grey Class 37 has been released by Bachmann in the shape of Coal sub-sector No. 37049 Imperial. Also reviewed are several new items from the Airbrush Company, including the latest design of compressor and airbrush.
Simon Bendall
33
A breakdown of our Express rating system
Reviews: Kernow exclusive Class 31s
Now available from Kernow Model Rail Centre are two new Hornby Class 31s, these spanning the decades in depicting the experimental golden ochre and BR Research liveries. There is also a new book taking a pictorial look at British Rail coaching stock.
RAIL EXPRESS MODELLER EDITOR REMeditor@mortons.co.uk
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