The performances of locomotive-hauled trains serving the route fell to unacceptable levels, with regular failures causing significant disruption to services, especially over the single-track sections of the route west of Salisbury, despite drafting in additional locomotives from other areas including Class 47/4s and Class 47/7s.
A permanent solution was sought by Network SouthEast management, which considered various options, including new locomotives and stock; electrification or replacement of existing equipment with long-distance Inter-city standard diesel multiple units.
In the event, the solution presented itself by Regional Railways, which was taking delivery of its Class 158 fleet at the time. Under construction at Derby since 1989, the Class 158 had entered service and was settling down following issues with cracks in the aluminium bodyshells and issues with the brakes.
An economic downturn prompted Regional Railways to review its need for Class 158s and it decided to curtail its order with BREL Derby, with Network SouthEast taking up the option for the remaining Class 158 vehicles, the number of which correlated with the need for West of England services.
Built as Class 158s
A total of 22 three-car Class 158s were built at BREL Derby to Regional Railways specification, which was deemed to be inadequate for the long distance Waterloo-Exeter route that was seen to have considerable growth potential.
No agreement could be reached with BREL Derby to change the specification of the units. They were dispatched to Babcock Rail at Rosyth for refitting with better seating, the installation of a First Class saloon with comfortable two plus one seating; improved sound-proofing and other modifications after being released from BREL Derby.
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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.
