The Railway Magazine - February preview

RAIL OPERATIONS ORDERS CLASS 93 TRIMODES

BRITAIN’S BEST-SELLING RAIL TITLE February 2021

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE

ROYAL TRAIN ■ Eurostar at the

brink of collapse

■ Pandemic further

restricts services

BORDERS RAILWAY: TO HAWICK AND BEYOND

LOCOMOTIVES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

GREATER ANGLIA ‘FLIRTS’ IN FOCUS

CURTAIN FALLS ON ISLAND LINE’S 1938 TUBE STOCK

Contents

February 2021. No. 1,439. Vol 167. A journal of record since 1897.

Headline News

On the cover

MAIN IMAGES: Class 67 No. 67005 Queen’s Messenger stands at Machynlleth on March 1, 2006 – St David’s Day – waiting to convey The Duke of Edinburgh to Wrexham.

GEOFF GRIFFITHS

Class 483 set No. 006 arrives at Ryde St Johns on January 3 with the final passenger working on the Island Line of the 1938 Stock. PAUL BEAZER

Consultation begins on Manchester rail performance, Rail Operations orders 30 Stadler Class 93s, £794m Government funding for rail projects, Isle of Wight 1938 Stock bows out, Great Northern Atlantic returns to Doncaster, Eurostar on brink of collapse.

INSET 1: Extending the Borders Railway to Hawick and beyond.

INSET 2: A study of the German and Allied steam locomotives of the Second World War. INSET 3: Greater Anglia ‘FLIRT’ performance analysis.

Track Record The Railway Magazine’s monthly news digest 54 Steam & Heritage

Wightwick Hall returning to Battlefield Line, appeal to complete Bodmin Prairie, KESR ‘Terrier’ for Isle of Wight anniversary gala, new ‘Grange’ to steam by September.

58 Industrial Steam 60 Narrow Gauge 62 Irish News / Metro 64 Heritage Trams 66 Freight 68 Classic Traction 70 Network 72 HS2 News 74 World 76 Railtours 80 Traction & Stock

Class 387s take over HEX, European Class 66s for GBRf

Class 20 No. 20228 leaves Barry on a low-loader heading for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway on December 18. MARTIN TURNER

fleet, Grand Central Class 90s return to Crewe, LNER Class 91s stood down, Freightliner ends Class 86 workings.

83 Stock Update 84 Traction Portfolio 86 Operations No. 6989 Wightwick Hall passes Congerstone on the Battlefield Line with the 11.30 ‘Santa Express’ service to Shenton on December 14, 2019.

GRAHAM NUTTALL

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42 Years Apart 44 Reviews 46 Readers’ Platform 48 Panorama 52 From The RM Archives 66 Railways in Parliament 78 Subscription Offer

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94 Classifieds 97 Reader Services 98 Crossword & Where Is It?

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Class 71 No. 71002 awaits departure from London Victoria on September 17, 1974, heading the 02.55 newspaper train to Maidstone. BRIAN MORRISON

Like us facebook.com/ TheRailwayMagazine Follow us @railwaymagazine

The Severn Valley Railway’s Ivatt ‘4MT’ Mogul No. 43106, commonly known as the ‘Flying Pig’, departs from Bewdley with the last train of the day for Kidderminster on December 28 as ‘57XX’ 0-6-0PT No. 7714 simmers alongside. JACK BOSKETT

Features

14 Operating the Royal Train

In the first part of an exclusive feature for The Railway Magazine, former Royal Train manager Geoff Griffiths provides a fascinating insight into the meticulous planning involved in operating the Royal Train whenever it goes out.

remaining section of the former Waverley Route from Scotland to England is to ever re-open as an extension of the Borders Railway.

26 Steam Engines of WWII in Europe

Ashley Butlin looks at the challenges and compromises that will need to be faced if the

Philip Horton tells the story of the many thousands of steam locomotives built by Germany, Britain and America in order to move troops and supplies during the preparations for the Second World War.

ROYAL APPOINTMENT: Running the Royal Train – p14

CARLISLE OR BUST: Borders line extension – p20

20 To Hawick and beyond

34 Little Town FLIRT

The order from Greater Anglia for a large fleet of ‘FLIRT’ trains was a first for the UK. Having taken over many East Anglian routes, John Heaton analyses their impact.

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‘FLIRT’ FOCUS: Practice & Performance – p34

February 2021 • The Railway Magazine • 5

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