LNER puts remaining ‘91s' into warm store

The ongoing pandemic restrictions and major engineering works have resulted in the complete withdrawal of the last remaining ‘Electras’ from passenger service, although the plan is to resurrect them in the summer.

Mk.1 Restaurant-Buffet (RBR) cars

A SURPRISING number of Mk.1catering cars have survived to see service on the privatised railway, in private operator and charter trains. They may turn up on anything from an enthusiast special to higher-end dining trains and have been formed in trains as prestigious as the locomotive-hauledBlue Pullman’ set, the ‘Great Britain’ tours operated by West Coast Railways and the ‘Northern Belle’ tour train.

Powerscene

Our authoritative class-by-class review of newsworthy locomotive workings.

End for Freightliner Class 86/6s

The company’s Class 86/6 fleet down to just two examples as seven locos are stored.

Service reductions as Covid cases increase

An increase in Covid-19 cases in early January saw the governments in Ireland and Northern Ireland impose stricter lockdown measures that impacted on public transport.

East West Rail funding go-ahead

Although it was expected, £760 million of funding has now been confirmed to build the Western Section of the East West Railway scheme.

Travellers-Fare with Hornby's Mk.1 Restaurant-Buffet car

Hornby expands its range of retooled ‘OO’ gauge Mk.1 coaches with a brand new tooling for the Diagram 24 Restaurant-Buffet car (RB) and the Diagram 33 refurbished version (RBR). It models the vehicles in both original form, finished in BR maroon and Southern Region green, together with the RBR refurbished coaches. They remained in frontline service well into the 1990s, including Cross-Country workings.

Class 92 revolution

Despite its complex shape and high detail ratio compared to other modern six-axle locomotives, Revolution Trains chose the Class 92 to be its first 'N' gauge locomotive model.

Bottling it!

A dig into the Rail Express archive has revealed some rarely-seen photographs of the former rail-connected Express Dairy bottling plant in South West London, which today is the site of a large mosque.

1990s ‘N' gauge Class 950

Work on the ‘N’ gauge Class 950 Track Recording Unit project, a conversion based on a standard Graham Farish Class 150/1 model, is concluded by finishing the model in 1990s condition.

New Rules For Channel Tunnel Operation

Britain’s exit from the EU means new safety and interoperability procedures are required.

Woodhead's first electric

The first of what was to become British Rail’s Class 76 fleet emerged 80 years ago this month in the midst of the Second World War.

Powerscene

Our authoritative class-by-class review of newsworthy locomotive workings.

LSL Mk.3 fleet in focus

David Russell profiles the Mk.3 coaches belonging to Locomotive Services.

‘2024 Stock' design due soon

Cab and body mock-ups of the Piccadilly Line’s new train fleet should be released by Siemens in March.

Letting the train take the strain

Car-carrying Motorail services were an everyday feature of British Railways’ timetables from the 1950s, but were eventually killed off by the growing motorway network.

End for Harrogate line token working

Semaphores remain but, as David Russell reports, a switch to tokenless signalling on the York to Harrogate line should make it more efficient for operations.

EMR retires its final VP185-powered HSTs

The final Paxman-engined Class 43s are removed from passenger service on the Midland Main Line, but happily 11 still remain active with other operators.

Belmond Grand Hibernian quits Ireland

Owner of luxury train has new plans in store for it.

The BSC PTA family

Brand-new ‘OO’ gauge models of the British Steel Corporation(BSC) PTA iron ore tippler wagon (and derivatives) have caused a lot of excitement in the D&E modelling community.

‘Aventras' enter service with Greater Anglia

It is all change in East Anglia as the first ‘720s’ enter service, ‘360s’ are transferred away, and ‘317s’ go for scrap.

Transport review will promote levelling up

The Union Connectivity Review will look at improving links between the four countries that make up the UK

Graham Farish late-condition ‘Goyle'

Three late-condition (refurbished) Class 31s are part of the latest batch of six ‘N’ gauge Class 31 models to be released by Bachmann under the Graham Farish label. New toolings have been employed to create this version of the ‘Goyle’ which dates from the 1980s.

Powerscene

Our authoritative class-by-class review of newsworthy locomotive workings.

Swansong of the ‘483s'

With the Island Line’s veteran Class 483 EMUs counting down to their withdrawal on January 3, Christopher Westcott talks to two drivers who have operated the trains on London Underground and the Isle of Wight.

Accurascale iron ore tipplers

British Steel Corporation (BSC) PTA wagons were originally built for iron ore traffic until the decline of steel making and demand for iron ore widened their use and modelling appeal. They have been redeployed on freight flows as diverse a coal, aggregate and sand tra together with JSA conversio for carrying semi-finished steel, models of which are due early in 2021.

125 Group acquires second HST power car

Porterbrook releases HST for preservation.

Budget BR blue GUVs

Lima and Hornby ‘OO’ gauge Mk.1 General Utility Van models are basic, but enjoy some excellent detailing and is useful rebuilding and repainting material.

100 up for Freightmaster

January 2021 sees the very last printed edition of the popular Freightmaster publication after 25 years and 100 editions. Publisher and managing editor Martin Buck describes how a chance meeting led to the enthusiast’s guide to rail freight services, and what now lies in store for the future of the product.

Hornby's Yellow Trains

In the past, transfer to departmental use has saved a lot of redundant revenue stock from the scrapyard and that holds true today in the era of Network Rail. From Mk.2 air-con coaches to former Mk.1 BGs, the frequent Network Rail test and measurement trains continue to provide an interesting variety of rolling stock, not to mention traction, a fact not missed by Hornby.