March 2023

Rail Express

Essential reading for today's modern rail enthusiast

Rail Express2 min read
Coming Up In This Issue
There is simply no way to begin writing this page other than to say thank you for the feedback for RE321, which was my first as Rail Express editor. I have been blown away by the support we have received for the changes made so far, and I hope you co
Rail Express4 min read
Merseyrail Class 777s Finally Enter Traffic
MERSEYRAIL Class 777s finally entered passenger service on January 23, after an agreement was reached with drivers’ union ASLEF the previous week that allowed their introduction. No. 777049 was the first of the four-car trains to carry passengers on
Rail Express2 min read
Rail Express
PRINT & DISTRIBUTION Newstrade & distribution Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PTPrinted by Acorn Web Offset Ltd, Normanton, West YorkshirePublished Third Friday of every monthThis issue February 17, 2023Next issue Ma
Rail Express5 min read
GBRf Withdraws Class 69 Fleet From Service
GB Railfreight has withdrawn its active fleet of Class 69s from service after the discovery of issues with the six used in revenue-earning traffic so far. The locomotives are being converted from redundant Class 56s by Progress Rail at its Longport f
Rail Express4 min read
Transport For Wales Introduces Class 231 Fleet
TRANSPORT for Wales No. 231007 made the fleet’s passenger debut on January 18, when it formed the 2P00 05.46 Cardiff Central-Penarth. The four-car diesel electric multiple unit, built by Stadler, was the first of the 11-strong fleet to enter traffic.
Rail Express5 min read
Eurostar Launches New Brand
EUROSTAR Group, which incorporates mainland European operator Thalys and cross-channel operator Eurostar, launched its new brand in Brussels on January 24, and announced plans to carry 30 million passengers per year by 2030. In 2022, Eurostar carried
Rail Express4 min read
Liverpool Street Rebuild Planned
LONDON Liverpool Street station could be rebuilt with a new building above it as part of plans revealed in a public consultation held in mid-January. The scheme from Sellar, which developed London Bridge Quarter and Paddington Square, and MTR, follow
Rail Express3 min read
‘769/9’ Options Explored
PORTERBROOK has told Rail Express that it is looking into alternative leasing options for 19 tri-mode Class 769/9s due to return from Great Western Railway this April. The four-car trains were ordered in 2018 and first delivered towards the end of 20
Rail Express7 min read
Class 47 Scrapping Begins On-site At WCR’s Carnforth Base
TWO Class 47s have been cut up onsite at West Coast Railway’s Carnforth headquarters, by Rotherham-based scrap merchant Ron Hull Junior. Nos. 47194 and 47368, were the first ‘47s’ to be scrapped since the remains of former GW150 celebrity No. 47500 w
Rail Express3 min read
West Coast Railways acquires Riviera Mk.1s
HAVING stopped its Mk.1 set after the ‘North Eastern Christmas Markets’ tour with No. D345 (40145) on December 3, Riviera Trains has sold off 11 coaches to West Coast Railways. These were moved to their new base on January 10. The vehicles concerned,
Rail Express6 min read
‘Chopper’ Re-enters Preservation
AFTER more than 10 years in the ownership of Harry Needle Railroad Company, No. 20166 has returned to preservation, after being purchased by a member of the Caledonian Railway Diesel Group. The ‘20’ arrived at its new home from the Wensleydale Railwa
Rail Express4 min read
Ex-Grangemouth TTAs Heading Into Preservation
THE National Wagon Preservation Group’s ‘Project Petroleum’ fundraising scheme (see RE321) raised a significant five-figure sum during December and January, allowing the team to purchase nine two-axle TTA tank wagons from the batch of 22 that moved s
Rail Express7 min read
‘Dusty Bins’ Declining Fast
THE continued introduction of new Class 720 Aventra units resulted in Greater Anglia handing back more Class 321s to Eversholt Rail in January. Two sets, Nos. 321304/317, formed the 5H72 12.48 Clacton-Wembley Yard on January 13. They join Nos. 321301
Rail Express3 min read
London’s Underground Railway Celebrates 160th Birthday
JANUARY 10 marked the 160th anniversary of the first passenger services on the London Underground network. The original 3.5-mile section, the world’s first underground railway, was built between Paddington Praed Street and Farringdon station and was
Rail Express3 min read
Shunter Exchange At Cardiff Tidal
WITH the movement of main line shunters in a post-festive lull, the most significant action came at Cardiff Tidal in mid-January. On January 18, No. 08630 returned to South Wales following a 10-month stay at Burton Wetmore for fitting of new wheelset
Rail Express6 min read
Winter Mini Diesel Gala Proves Successful
A mini diesel gala was held at the Downpatrick and County Down Railway (D&CDR) on January 7, in conjunction with the Irish Traction Group (ITG). Such events may be a regular feature at heritage railways in mainland Britain, but they are very uncommon
Rail Express12 min read
Powerscene
DIRECT Rail Services No. 37419 Carl Haviland 1954-2012 was used to move a two-element IPA cartic on the 6Z60 12.08 Gresty Green-Garston on January 23. No. 37418 An Comunn Gaidhealach ‘top and tailed’ No. 50008 Thunderer on the Branch Line Society’s ‘
Rail Express3 min read
50 Not Out For Peter Watts!
PETER Watts, the founder of Pathfinder Tours, celebrates five decades of railtouring on June 10, with ‘The Golden Jubilee’ running in his honour. The Class Forty Preservation Society’s No. D345 (40145) will haul the train from Burton-on-Trent, with p
Rail Express9 min read
Modernising The DRS Fleet
CHANGE is in the air in the rail industry, and this is certainly the case at Direct Rail Services. A reliance on older traction has been replaced by a desire to use more environmentally friendly and reliable traction. Popular with enthusiasts they ma
Rail Express8 min read
Inside Haymarket – The Home Of Scotland’s ‘43’ Fleet
ICONS of sport grace the Murrayfield stadium that looms large behind Haymarket depot, yet in the foreground it is the icons of the railway that call the area home. ScotRail is now the largest operator of the High Speed Train. They may no longer opera
Rail Express2 min read
0 to 60!
THE Class 318s pre-date their Class 320 cousins by four years, so it might be expected that they would have been inferior. At 36 and 32 years old respectively it might also be thought that the classes would be showing their age. Under the solebar per
Rail Express6 min read
Key Decisions Now Set To Shape Rail’s Future
There has been speculation that a decision would be taken to terminate HS2 services at Old Oak Common, forcing passengers to change trains and use the Elizabeth Line to reach central London. This was discounted by the Government in a statement issued
Rail Express5 min read
Bessie’s Bulletin
Freightliner shunt driver Bessie Matthews appreciates No. 66587 and the colour it brings to her night shift. IT’S no secret that I am obsessed with Southampton Maritime and the stories that come from within. I’ve been fully passed out as a shunt
Rail Express2 min read
Heljan ‘O’ Gauge Livery Prototypes
AS REPORTED in REM225, Heljan seemed to be heading for a very busy 2023, and the company has started the year by revealing the livery prototypes of two brand-new ‘O’ gauge models. The Class 73/1 appears as decorated samples with GB Railfreight No. 73
Rail Express3 min read
The Modelling Potential Of Modern ScotRail: Are The Manufacturers Missing A Trick?
CONSISTING of a plain blue base colour with silver grey doors, it is the vinyl embellishments (or spots) that lifts Saltire livery. Very little exists in the way of off-the-shelf models for modelling ScotRail in its post-2008 form, particularly the s
Rail Express4 min read
Bachmann’s Spring Time Class 37s
BACHMANN appears to be concentrating on its newest models this spring, with new issues for the ‘OO’ gauge Class 37 dominating the programme, coinciding with the imminent release of a similar product. It comes on top of a busy 2022 for Bachmann in whi
Rail Express4 min read
Accurascale ‘Bedz’
THE ORIGINAL number of coach types proposed by Serco Caledonian Sleeper was reduced to four when the proposal for sleeping pods was dropped following safety concerns, a development which reduced the tooling required to model the trains. A sleeping po
Rail Express3 min read
ScotRail, ‘SpotRail’ Class 158
SCOTRAIL’s original fleet of Class 158s (1587xx) was 46 units which remained intact for a short time in privatisation with National Express. As the Class 170 was introduced on long distance services, six ScotRail Class 158s were transferred to other
Rail Express6 min read
Pilot Scheme diesel in ‘N’: The Metro-Vick Type 2 Co-Bo
MODELS of small classes together with the BR Pilot Scheme locomotives are usually more risky undertakings, with fewer liveries and generally more restricted areas of operation making them less attractive commercially. A model of the Metro-Vick Type 2
Rail Express2 min read
C-Rail Intermodal KTA Pocket Wagon
RAUTARUUKKI of Finland constructed the first 35 KQA/KTA wagons for lease by Tiphook in 1997. A second batch of 40 wagons by the same builder was added to the fleet in 1998 with newly fabricated Y25 bogies, the first batch using recovered bogies from
Rail Express3 min read
Conflat P in ‘N’
CONDOR has been credited as being one of the forerunners to BR’s internal Freightliner services proposed in the Beeching report and operational by the mid to late 1960s. The Condor express Anglo-Scottish freight service ran overnight between Hendon o

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