The Railway Magazine November 2014

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READ ALL ABOUT IT!

The station bookstalls story

DOUBLEHEADED ‘STREAKS’ (FOR THE FIRST TIME?)

■ CLASS 87s IN

AFTER 17 YEARS...

59003 IS BACK HOME BULGARIA ■ SECRET PASSENGER LINE ■ RAILWAY DETECTIVES

Contents

November 2014. No. 1,364. Vol 160. A journal of record since 1897

Headline News

On the cover MAIN IMAGE: East Coast’s moving tribute to those who died in conflict. Class 91 No. 91111 has been vinylled and named For the Fallen, and is seen at Newcastle Central on October 14. See p8.

CHRIS MILNER

Steam back at Corwen on the Llangollen Railway - see p11.

Abellio wins ScotRail franchise; First order for Hitachi AT200 EMUs; HS3 gets Government nod to connect northern cities; First offered Great Western franchise extension; Chiltern plans services to Cowley; UK’s share of Eurostar to be sold.

INSET 1: A4s doubleheading on the East Lancs Railway. See p9.

EDDIE BOBROWSKI

INSET 2: The exiled Class 59 returns.

See p77. BOB SWEET

Track Record The Railway Magazine’s monthly news digest 79 Traction Update

Scrapped, sold, renumbered, repainted? Full details here

81 Traction Portfolio 84 Network

Upgrade for Nottingham-Lincoln line; All-year Sunday service on Bittern Line; Damaged points cause chaos.

87 Railtours

Abellio plans Scottish steam expansion; Ruling expected soon in steam row; Leander returns to the main line.

90 Classic Traction

Severn Valley diesel gala sell-out! Tunnel rescue train is rescued; Bluebell’s 4-Vep to be refurbished.

95 Narrow Gauge

£2m investment for Nottingham-Lincoln line - see p84.

62 Steam & Heritage

Major celebrations for Talyllyn‘150’; Romney focus on level crossings; Eight steam at Leighton Buzzard.

97 Metro

Lottery support at last for‘Cinderella’J21; Wainwright‘C’ gifted to Bluebell; Wheels cast and bearings ordered for P2.

Manchester Airport line opens early; Final cost of Edinburgh system was £1billion; New Tube train designs are unveiled.

72 Steam Portfolio 74 Freight 76 Traction & Stock

Record number of new trains at Innotrans; Sri Lanka restores Jaffna line; Some Eurostars for scrap?

GBRf’s first repowered Class 73 hauls passenger train; Class 59 comes home; Class 90s to replace Class 92s?

98 World

100 Operations

News from the train and freight operating companies.

18 Multiple Aspects 18 Railways in Parliament 27 Location, Location This month’s location is Old Sodbury, east ofYate.

A superb centre spread that rolls back the years.

107 Meetings Details of railway society meetings near you.

BOB SWEET

The Railway Magazine’s audited circulation of 37,853 copies per month makes it by far the

UK’S TOP-SELLING RAIL TITLE!

Regulars 32 Subscriptions Offer 34 Readers’Platform 45 Reviews and Christmas gifts 58 Panorama

THE Virgin Trains’Railway Magazinebacked charity special‘The Welsh Warrior’threads its way along the North Wales Coast at Penmaenmawr behind DRS Class 57 No. 57305 Chad Varah on October 25. The train was a farewell tour promoted by The RM and other Virgin Trains partners to mark the end of service of the Mk 3 “Pretendolino”set with Virgin Trains and to raise money for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.

Jaffna line reopened in Sri Lanka - p99.

109 Heritage Diary A comprehensive listing of dates when heritage railways and steam centres will be open.

113 Reader Services 114 Prize Crossword and Where Is It?

Subscribe today and save money on every issue.

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Features

14 Bridging the Generation Gap

Paul Appleton explains how the Severn Valley Railway is facing up to the shortage of staff with steam-age engineering skills with its own apprenticeship scheme.

16 Longer railways for future engineers to work on?

Michael Blackburn puts forward a suggestion that certain heritage railway extensions should be officially supported by the Government to help expand the nation’s transport network.

OVER THE TOP: ModerntrainsoverBeattock-p20

20 The Battle of Beattock

In Practice & Performance, Keith Farr analyses the efforts of diesels and electrics over Beattock bank.

28 Read All About It!

The name of W H Smith is synonymous with station bookstalls. Nick Pigott traces the history of Smith’s and their competitors on Britain’s railway stations.

38 Chasing ex-pat Class 87s

After years of sterling service on the West Coast Main Line, Class 87s are enjoying a new life behind

EXTRA! EXTRA!: Thestoryofstationbookstalls-p28

the former Iron Curtain. Andy Mason reports.

42 Secret Passenger Railway

Peter Nicholson discovers a passenger-carrying line that has managed to remain secret for 25 years!

52 Ten questions, ten minutes

Steve Knight quizzes locomotive owner Les Ross

53 The Railway Detectives

Greg Morse explains the work of RAIB – the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

ESCAPE TO THE CONTINENT: EnglishlocosinBulgaria-p38

November 2014 • The Railway Magazine • 5

SEVERN VALLEY ENTERPRISE

BRIDGING THE

GENERATION GAP One of the great fears of the preservation movement is that traditional engineering skills will run out as older volunteers retire or die – but that’s now less of a worry at the Severn Valley Railway, where a new scheme is ensuring a constant supply of trained steam engineers. Paul Appleton reports.

T

HE biggest concern facing heritage railways is the very real possibility that the specialist skills so vital to keep them running will simply die out.

Many of those who helped launch the preservation movement have passed on or ‘slowed down a bit’ and there are fewer and fewer ex-professional railwaymen around to show the younger generations how it used to be done.

Of those who are still with us, an increasing number are content to merely lend support from the comfort of an armchair, having played their part over the years.

Even the volunteers and paid staff who grew up at preserved railways in the 1970s and 80s and learnt much of what they know from those senior ex-railwaymen are getting close to their own ‘sell by-date’. So what happens next?

One railway that has decided to do something about it is the Severn Valley Railway.

Over the years, the SVR has benefited from training schemes, Government-sponsored or otherwise, and a number of its senior workshop managers are former apprentices, but this time the SVR is taking a different approach.

Recognising the disturbing signs that the nation is facing a traditional skills ‘meltdown’, it has launched its own Heritage Skills Training Academy (HSTA). The first apprentices were recruited in September 2013 and this year the railway held an open day, to which it welcomed youngsters (and their parents) interested in starting a career in railway engineering.

Potential recruits were able to see the facilities at first hand and have their questions answered by members of the SVR’s engineering team. Having allocated funds for its recent £2million share issue for the scheme, the railway 14 • The Railway Magazine • November 2014

Could the young engineers featured on these pages see Severn Valley Railway trains crossing the River Severn on this bridge one day, as well as those the heritage railway already uses? GWR 9400 class pannier No. 9466 crosses Ironbridge, a few miles north of the SVR, with a main line railtour, on November 3, 2007. On pages 16/17, we examine the potential of linking the two systems. ROBIN STEWART SMITH

Above: Young Severn Valley apprentice Chris Bird.

Right: A general view of Bridgnorth boilershop, in which many of the new apprentices will be learning their trade. The large boiler on the left is that from ‘West Country’ Pacific No. 34027 Taw Valley.

Both pictures: PAUL APPLETON

Far left: Each of the youngsters has an experienced mentor to offer help and support when it is needed.

Picture: SVR

has now filled its initial allocation for 10 new apprenticeships. For the first two to three years, the youngsters spend two days a week on the railway and the other three at Telford College, learning theory and basic engineering skills, and if they successfully navigate that period, the next two years comprise just one day a week at college and the rest in the locomotive department at Bridgnorth or the carriage & wagon department at Kidderminster.

The works manager at Bridgnorth is 40-year-old Ian Walker, who says things are very different today compared with his own apprenticeship in the 1990s. “We received good hands-on experience but there was no college.

We had to ask the railway’s management for extra theory training and had to go to night school to get it.”

One of the new intake is 17-year-old Max Green, who joined the railway straight from school. “They gave me a carriage door lock to assemble as a sort of practical initiative test, which wasn’t too challenging for me, but I noticed a couple of the other guys got the plate on before the lock assembly. I guess that’s why they didn’t make it, but it wasn’t as if we weren’t given a plan to follow.”

At college, Max has learned so far about milling, turning, welding and hand fitting – skills he is now able to put into practice in the workshops.

Max is hoping to complete his pre-apprenticeship training a year early: “It is adaptable, depending upon how you progress.

You start at NVQ level 2 and move on to Level 3 and there is the chance of doing a more theory-based B-tech and even a railwaysponsored Foundation Degree as well.”

The chances for promotion are good, too.

Will Marsh joined the railway on a work-experience scheme in 2005 and is now ‘acting chargehand – mechanical’ in the railway’s workshops, also taking a turn on the shovel when needed. “Many of the full-timers

Apprentices are put to work in either the locomotive workshops at Bridgnorth or the carriage & wagon repair facility at Kidderminster, coupled with visits to Telford College for theory lessons. Picture: SVR

and apprentices are also volunteers,” Will explains. “There is a good social scene and you get to work in an interesting and friendly environment.”

He thinks the new HSTA scheme is a great idea. “Something needs to be done to bring younger people in, so this is great,” he said.

“Work hard and you will be rewarded. You start out doing some of the horrible jobs, but look, I’m only 24 and I’m acting chargehand already!”

Apprentices are shadowed by a skilled member of the engineering team so that there is always someone on hand to help and answer

questions. Full training is always given at every stage and only when an apprentice is deemed competent are they left to their own devices, with regular support from their mentor.

The line’s boiler shop and locomotive hire manager is Duncan Ballard, 34. He came through the ranks just after Ian in the 1990s. “I can’t fault the training we had, except that you really were dropped in at the deep end,” he said, “but these youngsters have the best of both worlds, they can learn a lot at college and then put what they learn into practice here in our workshop.”

Nineteen-year-old Chris Bird began his SVR apprenticeship in January. He had been a volunteer in the locomotive department at the Churnet Valley Railway and knew he wanted a career in railway engineering. “I’m actually interested in diesel engines and they don’t come much bigger than those in railway locomotives,” he told The RM. “Steam technology is a basic version of the same thing and it is really helpful to get a good grounding in steam, but I can’t wait to get my hands on some big diesels!”

Chris’s advice to new recruits is to “keep a notebook on everything you do. It could come in handy later”.

Ian Walker added: “We’ve got a lot of decent equipment on the railway, so the youngsters could be reaming, drilling and tapping holes in a boiler, or using the radial drill or milling machines in the workshops, making stays on the CNC (computer numeric control) machine, helping skilled workshops staff to change locomotive springs or carrying out carriage buckeye exams, machining components for brake rigging and carriage bogies. There is a broad spectrum of tasks that are guaranteed to give them a solid grounding in railway engineering.”

“This new scheme should take us to another level and keep the supply line of young, skilled engineers coming through. The investment the railway has put into the engineering works, November 2014 • The Railway Magazine • 15

STATION STATIONERS

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

e story of railway bookstalls e name W H Smith is synonymous with station bookstalls. Nick Pigott, who bought his first railway journal on Grantham station in 1957, charts the rise of Smiths and its competitors on the platforms of Britain.

F

OR me, it was a copy of Trains Illustrated Summer Annual (The Railway Magazine had sold out!) and by the time we’d reached King’s Cross a couple of hours later, I had devoured it from cover to cover and was hooked on rail publications. Shortly afterwards, I badgered my mother to return to our local bookstall on Grantham station and treat me to my first Ian Allan ABC booklet – an Eastern, North Eastern & Scottish edition.

As she handed her 2s 6d over the counter, little did she know what she was setting in train!

As my interest began to spread to platform-ends and linesides, I met more and more young enthusiasts who had reason to be grateful to station bookstalls for introducing

Where it all began for The RM’s editor... the W H Smith bookstall on Grantham’s up platform. In this April 1964 view it was boasting a healthy stock of papers and comics, including The Beezer, Valiant and Lion. CEDRIC A CLAYSON

them to the subject. Far less intimidating than a large high street shop or bustling corner store, they were friendly, accessible and usually had the latest rail journals and books on view for the benefit of their captive audiences.

Little wonder then that, well over half a century later, I still find myself drawn as if by magnetism towards W H Smith stores on stations even though, these days, the combined

volumes are far more likely to have been replaced by confectionary volume!

Railway magazines still stare proudly from the shelves of all but the smallest stores, of course, but only large outlets in popular rail centres such as York seem to stock booklets and other titles of train interest as well.

It’s all a far cry from 1841 when London newsagent William Marshall had the bright

W H Smith senior, who was in charge of the company when it won its first railway station contract in 1848.

W H Smith junior, who had exactly the same first names as his father – William Henry.

Under his leadership, the company expanded into a national enterprise and he also won a seat in Parliament.

What is believed to be Britain’s first station bookstall was opened at the London & Blackwall Railway’s Fenchurch Street station by William Marshall in 1841. This was the scene in 1932, by which time W H Smith was in control. NRM

28 • The Railway Magazine • November 2014

W H SMITH: The ‘Big Three’ in the latter half of the 20th century were Smiths, Menzies and Wymans, the relationship between which is detailed in the main text. Here is WHS’s Manchester Victoria bookstall in August 1988. LES NIXON

‘Paper boys’ wearing W H Smith caps and badges were once a common sight on the platforms of large stations.

idea of encouraging passengers to read en route rather than stare out of the window for hours on end. He secured a contract to open the very first purpose-built bookstall at the London & Blackwall Railway’s newly opened Fenchurch Street station. His son, Horace, followed with several more in the Midlands and South Wales, while Walkley & Son signed a similar deal with the Bristol & Exeter Railway.

In those days, newspaper sales at other stations were either run by local newsagents or by retired or disabled railwaymen as a form of pension-in-kind, often using nothing more sophisticated than a trestle table on the platform.

Remarkable

One such vendor, a former messenger by the name of Gibb, had for some years been selling papers on the platform of the London & Birmingham Railway’s Euston station, but after the newly amalgamated London & North Western Railway took over in 1846, it didn’t take the new company’s general manager, Captain Mark Huish, long to ascertain that Gibb was making a profit of more than £1,000 on an annual rent of just £60. The autocratic Huish immediately decided to terminate the contract and put the sole bookstall rights out to tender, not only for Euston but for stations all over the LNWR system.

The contract was won by W H Smith & Son with a bid of £1,500, which, given the profits Gibb had been making at Euston alone, seems remarkably low. The firm was run

by William Henry Smith and had been established in the wholesale distribution of national newspapers to the provinces by train since 1837, but his 23-year-old son, also

JOHN MENZIES: Originally strong in Scotland, Menzies expanded southwards and gained several prestigious stations, including Euston, Liverpool Lime Street and Birmingham New Street before being taken over by Smiths in 1998.

named William Henry, was keen to expand the railway side of the business. Among the unsuccessful bidders who lost out to the Smiths were William Marshall and the railway timetable printers Bradshaw & Blacklock.

The LNWR gave Gibb notice to quit Euston by November 1, 1848, but he refused to go and had to be forcibly removed by police before the new team could formally start trading from a shop situated by the main departure platform (later No. 6).

Just a fortnight later, WHS secured another lucrative bookstalls contract, this time with the Midland Railway for a rent of just £350 per annum.

The firm had several existing contracts and contacts with local agents in the provinces and those helped it establish a widespread structure with many of the vendors simply switching to the Smiths’ payroll. In addition, the firm had a small army of uniformed newsboys whose job was to carry baskets of papers and issue the famous cry “Read All About It”! as they sold directly to passengers on platforms and through the windows of trains.

So successful did the business become that station bookstalls began to double-up as small sorting and packaging warehouses for the distribution of books and papers to surrounding towns and villages. They also began to diversify, selling food, bottled beer, toffees and even candle lamps to aid legibility in the dim gaslit carriage compartments.

It wasn’t long, however, before the

WYMANS: The third major player was Wymans, whose territory once included Birmingham Snow Hill. 5700 class pannier tank No. 3782 was the station pilot in this early 1960s scene. D MABEY/COLOUR-RAIL.COM

dubious and apparently near-pornographic nature of some of the ‘literature’ the firm was selling at stations began to attract criticism and The Times launched a brave attack on its main distributor when it thundered: “There is poison in the literary refreshment rooms… stuff whose deleterious effects 20 doctors would not be sufficient to eradicate.”

The LNWR, which was keen to portray itself as ‘the premier line’ at the time, asked the stationers to improve the quality of literature offered to passengers and W H Smith the younger responded so zealously that he was soon being referred to as the ‘North Western November 2014 • The Railway Magazine • 29

A beam of sunlight penetrates the storm clouds as A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa heads past Burrs, on the East Lancashire Railway, during a 3P20 Parcels Group photo-ch

58 • The Railway Magazine • November 2014

harter on October 15. The train conjures up memories of Aberdeen to Perth parcels trains, which were frequently hauled by the class in the later BR steam era. NIGEL VALENTINE

November 2014 • The Railway Magazine • 59

Traction & Stock Track Record COMPILED BY

CHRIS MILNER

Call: 01507 529589 email: cmilner @mortons.co.uk

Your reports and pictures are most welcome.

Highly-competitive rates are paid, especially if exclusive to The RM.

Schenker to replace Class 92s with 90s?

DB Schenker is considering whether to replace its Class 92 locos on non-HS1 workings with Class 90s.

The rethink stems from First Group’s loss of the ‘Caledonian Sleeper’contract to Serco. DBS is contracted to supply five Class 90s to First, but Serco will use Class 92s sourced from GB Railfreight. In addition, the cessation of the Virgin Mk 3 loco-hauled operation has made another 90 surplus.

The RM understands that the cost of operating a Class 92 is four times that of a 90, but as the latter are less powerful, long, heavy trains would probably result in them being double-headed.

The situation is not helped by the fact some spare parts for the complex Class 92s are not off-theshelf items and have to be specially manufactured.

One DBS freight diagram has already been switched from a 92 to a 90.

DBS has 24 Class 90s on its books, but 11 of those were in store at Crewe electric depot last month, and reported to be for sale.

With two 92s in Romania and three in Bulgaria (see p52), other UK examples are likely to end up abroad too.

Free wi-fi for Class 333s

COMMUTERS on electrified West Yorkshire routes are set to benefit from the decision to install free wi-fi on the fleet of 16 Class 333 EMUs. The equipment should be installed on all of the units by the end of the year, and is part of a plan to provide free wi-fi in public areas in the Leeds and Bradford conurbations.

The move is a collaboration involving Northern, Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The Class 333s operate on the Airedale and Wharfedale routes in West Yorkshire.

GBRf’s‘Type 3’Class 73 hauls its first passenger services THE first of GB Railfreight’s ‘re-power’ conversions, No. 73961, has hauled its first passenger trains.

The run, on the Great Central Railway with a Class 45 on October 18, followed several weeks of solo testing and running with a Class 31.

The railway announced two workings of the loco via its web page, GB doing the same through its Facebook page.

The electro-diesel – which has been fitted with a 1,600hp MTU power plant in place of its former English Electric 600hp engine, putting it into the Type 3 diesel power category – worked the 11.00 and 13.00 departures from Loughborough to Leicester North, double heading with ‘Peak’ No. 45041 Royal Tank Regiment, before spending the afternoon shuttling between Quorn and Rothley.

During the day, engineers from Brush Loughborough were on the trackside at Quorn conducting sound tests as part of the certification procedure.

GBRf Class 73 No. 73961 hauls its first passenger train, the 11.00 Loughborough Central-Leicester North on October 18, seen running with ‘Peak’ No. 45041, near Woodthorpe. CHRIS MILNER

The 73 not only handled the trains with aplomb but ran extremely quietly. One characteristic audible feature it has retained is the sound from its roof-mounted horns.

GBRf has previously said that only this first conversion would be tested at the GCR, so its appearance attracted a number of extra passengers and plenty of lineside photographers.

A further four Class 73s are at Brush in various stages of the conversion process ahead of Serco starting work on the ‘Caledonian Sleeper’ service from April 1, 2015.

LM Class 350/3 units launched two months early

LONDON Midland’s new fleet of 10 Class 350/3s was formally launched into traffic on October 6, two months earlier than planned.

The launch took place at Siemens’King’s Heath depot, Northampton, where all the LM Class 350s are maintained.

The additional units – taking LM’s total number of Class 350 vehicles to 308 – will be used to strengthen existing services, some of which have become grossly overcrowded.

From the launch date, the 06.18 Northampton-London Euston, 07.15 Bletchley-London Euston, and the 08.26 TringLondon Euston have all be extended from the current eight-car formation to 12 cars, providing a total of 690 seats on each service.

The 15.49 London EustonNorthampton service will increase from four cars to eight, providing an extra 230 seats, and the 18.29 London Euston-

Northampton train will now be a 12-car formation.

The 350/3 EMUS are now regarded as the backbone of LM’s services from London to Northampton, the West Midlands, Crewe and Liverpool, and some of them were used in the summer to strengthen TransPennine Express Manchester to Scotland services during the time the Commonwealth Games was being held in Glasgow.

The Government has stated it is investing £62million in the new units, but in reality, Angel Trains is financing them.

The Class 350/1s have already proved themselves one of the country’s most reliable EMUs. Internally, the 350/3s have more popular 2+2 seating, like the 350/1s, with the 350/2 having the less-liked 3+2 style. In standard class, there are power sockets to charge laptops and

Class 350/3 No. 350370 inside King’s Heath depot, Northampton, at the formal launch of the sub-class into service with London Midland on October 6. JAMES NORTHWAY

phones, plus extra litter bins.

The units are numbered 350368-377, the individual numbers following on

Class 142‘Pacers’heading for scrap yard?

SUGGESTIONS that Class 142 ‘Pacer’ units might be put through a modification programme to fit them with an accessible toilet and comply with new, forthcoming disability regulations from 2020, could be wide of the mark.

Instead, Angel Trains chief executive Malcolm Brown has

76 • The Railway Magazine • November 2014

confirmed that the company plans to scrap the 94 units the company owns (188 vehicles) unless stakeholders say otherwise.

The modification rumours stemmed from a Department for Transport statement to a north of England newspaper .

Mr Brown’s view is that the place of the 142s could be

filled by cascaded Class 15X and16X units once the many ongoing electrification schemes are operative.

With the first Class 142 unit approaching 30 years of age, the Class 142s are said to have a greater degree of corrosion than the Class 143/144 units owned by Porterbrook, which might indeed be modified.

consecutively, regardless of sub-class. The other sub-class units are Nos. 350101-130 and 350231-267.

No electric stickers on new Class 68s A NUMBER of eagle-eyed readers have noticed that none of the new Class 68s have electrification stickers on the front or side of the cab. Direct Rail Services has told us they are no longer needed, the orange cantrail stripe being sufficient warning.

Have you got a story for us? Email: railway@mortons.co.uk

Class 59 returns to UK... at last!

GB RAILFREIGHT’S latest acquisition – No. 59003 Yeoman Highlander – arrived back in the United Kingdom on October 10 after a protracted journey from Germany.

Plans to move the Class 59 via the Channel Tunnel were thwarted by a paperwork issue after it had reached the German/French border at Saarbrucken. GB thus put‘plan B’ into action by getting the loco hauled across Germany to Cuxhaven for shipping to Immingham.

From there, it was hauled by Riviera’s No. 47815 on October 13 to Barrow Hill, where a loco change was undertaken, HN Rail Class 20 Nos. 20311 and 20314 completing the journey to Eastleigh Works via Birmingham.

At Eastleigh, Arlington Fleet Services will remove the loco’s European safety equipment and fit it with TPWS, AWS, GSM-R radio and OTMR data recording equipment. It will be given any

Tribute to Cambridge signalbox

On SEPTEMBER 10, GB Railfreight named Class 66 No. 66733 Cambridge PSB. The naming recognises the work undertaken by the power signalbox, which opened in the city 30 years ago.

Seen with the presentation plate are John Smith, GBRf’s managing director, and Richard Schofield, Network Rail

route managing director.

Guests were given a tour of the signalling centre before the ceremony.

The box covers the routes from just north of Stansted to King’s Lynn, as well as the CrossCountry route from Manea to Chippenham Junction.

Picture: BOB SWEET

Back on British metals: No. 59003 is hauled through Dorridge station

by HN Rail Class 20s Nos. 20311 and 20314 on its journey from Immingham Docks to Eastleigh Works on October 13. BOB SWEET

other modifications deemed necessary before being repainted into GBRf livery.

GB has given no indication how long the safety work will

take, nor when the loco will join the fleet, but indications are that it will retain its cast numberplate, and for the time being, its name.

It last ran in the UK in 1997.

Colas 37s make their mark as RHTT season begins

Storming up the Lickey incline on October 8, Colas Type 2 Nos. 37219 and 37175 approach Blackwell, returning from Swindon on a diagram that included Worcester, Gloucester and Oxford. BOB SWEET

THE annual rail head treatment train season is well underway on many diagrams from bases across the country.

The Colas Rail diagram out of Kings Norton, Birmingham, has been working with two Class 37s. In a situation that is becoming all the more

NAMINGS

common, Nos. 37219 and 37175 have been bought from preservation, refurbished and reliveried (in this case in Colas branding) and returned to the main line.

The indications are that because of stringent EU emission rules, effective from

30 years of‘Highland Chieftain’ A MILESTONE in the history of the ‘Highland Chieftain’ service was marked on September 29 when power car No. 43308 was named Highland Chieftain just before its 07.55 departure from Inverness.

The naming stemmed from a newspaper competition.

Introduced by British Rail in 1984, the 580-mile service form Inverness to King’s Cross is the longest in the East Coast timetable, the northbound departing from King’s Cross at

12.00, with a journey time of 8hr 6min.

The up train takes slightly less at 7hr 56min and should pass the down train in York at around 13.50.

Seen with the distinctive nameplate are Deputy Provost of Inverness, Coun Jean Slater; competition winner, John Duncan; Directly Operated Railways chairman, Doug Sutherland; and East Coast managing director Karen Boswell.

Picture: EAST COAST

the end of this year, more preserved and stored locos will return to the main line, the cost being between a quarter and a third the price of a new loco.

A further two Class 37s – Nos. 37116 and 37421 – are being prepared at Washwood Heath Works for Colas.

Special branding for Craigentinny centenary EAST Coast has marked the centenary of Edinburgh’s Craigentinny depot with the unveiling of a specially branded power car and a re-naming.

Craigentinny was originally opened by the North British Railway as a carriage stabling and servicing point, but now plays a key role in the day-to-day maintenance of both the East Coast and CrossCountry HST fleets, having done so since the introduction of East Coast Main Line HSTs. Electrification of the ECML saw a further string added to the depot’s bow with Class 91 and Mk 4 sets serviced there. Class 220/221‘Voyagers’are also serviced and fuelled there.

More recently, the depot has been undertaking maintenance, repair and enhancements that would previously have been undertaken in a main works, a tribute to the skills and

Abellio loco makes the headlines

Power car No. 43300 as 43100 with its new branding.

dedication of the workforce.

To mark the centenary, power car No. 43300 undertook its former identity of 43100 just for one day and was emblazoned with a special vinyl logo.

The power car was re-named by the two longest-serving members of staff – Peter Laycock and Jimmy Borthwick – with the vehicle gaining a thistle shield above the nameplate.

The crest with the thistle has been added above the Craigentinny nameplate.

Both: PETER STARKS

ABELLIO Class 90 No. 90011was named East Anglian Daily Times - Suffolk & Proud at Ipswich on October 13 by David Wilson and Paul Elmer, who have long links with the newspaper. The naming coincided with the Daily Times’ 140th anniversary. ANTONY GUPPY

November 2014 • The Railway Magazine • 77

Freight Track Record DBS begins hauling UK’s largest ever containers

THE longest containers to be hauled by train in the United Kingdom are being moved by DB Schenker.

Measuring 50ft in length, they are just 3ft shorter than the largest boxes handled by railways in the USA. DBS beat off opposition from DRS (Direct Rail Services) in April to operate a W H Malcolm intermodal flow from Daventry to Mossend and, from August 31, began a new service for the same customer from Daventry to Grangemouth.

W H Malcolm believe that the new containers, which are no less than 25% longer than normal ones, will be a‘game changer’in the logistics world.

The flow with the larger containers is on behalf of a number of high profile retailers and manufacturers, and is a seven-day-a-week operation.

■ DB Schenker’s delivery of logistics for Novelis has earned it the Freight & Logistics Achievement of the Year award at the National Rail Awards.

Port of Sunderland to be rejoined to network

WORK to reconnect Sunderland docks to the national rail system has been started by Network Rail.

The line to the south docks was taken out of service in 1995 and disconnected two years later.

The overgrown branch, along with its sidings and junction at Ryhope Grange, south of the city,

are to be upgraded in a project predicted to take six months.

The first trains are expected to run during the first quarter of next year.

Two Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0 diesel-electric shunters used by the port were mothballed many years ago, but might return to service.

Sunderland south dock formerly had a major BR loco depot housing main line traction, but it was demolished in 1993. n In another boost for the North East, South Tyneside Council is applying for Government funding to help it build an international advanced manufacturing park.

New GB Gypsum flow GB Railfreight has begun a new flow of gypsum from West Burton power station.

The new diagram started in September and is for 22 wagons.

It is due to operate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, leaving West Burton at 03.56, running via the Robin Hood Line to access the Erewash Valley line at Pye Bridge Junction. It is then routed via Toton, Tamworth and Gloucester, where the train is booked to recess.

Unusually, the wagons being used are former Freightliner MJA wagons, which are of the open

74 • The Railway Magazine • November 2014

This would be home to automotive, offshore and other high-tech businesses, which between them are expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.

It is hoped that this development will lead to an increase in import and export activities at the port of Sunderland.

VTG buys Swiss wagon lessor

GBRf No. 66707 works the new gypsum flow, heading towards Sutton-in Ashfield on September 26. DEREK WILSON

type rather than the closed container wagons used on other gypsum services.

GB serves other gypsum

manufacturers at Newbiggin (Northumberland) and Mountfield (Sussex) with product that originates from West Burton.

THE major wagon-leasing company VTG has acquired Swiss-based wagon-hire company Ahaus Alstätter Eisenbahn Holding (AAE).

The move strengthens VTG’s position as the largest private wagon-hire company in Europe, increasing its fleet from 50,000 to 80,000 vehicles.

VTG says that the main focus of the newly acquired fleet is combined or intermodal wagons, filling a gap in its portfolio.

VTG has been active in the United Kingdom for many years, leasing out a variety of wagons.