THE first loco which I ever drove on shed (under supervision)was No. 47973 Derby Evening Telegraph, which for a young trainman just starting out, was a real thrill. It was also quite fitting, as it had been the Derby Evening Telegraph where I had seen Trainman (D) vacancies advertised in late 1989, a vacancy I had applied for and subsequently come to occupy.
Class 47s represented a good proportion of our shed work. They would arrive from all over the country, requiring attention after a hard day’s labour. Although I was brought up with the traditional BR blue livery, I thought the new InterCity colours looked particularly smart. To see the wind tunnel (fuel and inspection point) at night occupied exclusively by InterCity ‘47s’ was an impressive sight. I found them fascinating; where had they come from? What trains had they hauled? What sights had they seen along the way?
I do not think there were many who shared such a romantic view of them, but it was difficult not to like such a faithful class of locomotive and attribute some sort of personality to them. But this was quite easy really, especially when they were taking on water. Once their header tank was full, and without any regard to nearby personnel, they would blow the excess water through an overflow valve in their roof, just like a whale. The fitter would receive a cold shower if he was close, but it was almost as if the loco was trying to say ‘I’ve had a long hard day and I’m tired. Turn that bloody hose off and put me to bed!’ I could see how Reverend W Awdry had got some of his ideas. Human beings built these machines after all, why would they not display some of our characteristics too?
Denne historien er fra February 2020-utgaven av Rail Express.
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Denne historien er fra February 2020-utgaven av Rail Express.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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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.
