ON June 30, 1989 – 51 years to the day since London Underground’s1938 Stock entered passenger service on the Northern Line – the first two-car set destined for the Isle of Wight emerged from overhaul at Eastleigh Works, Hampshire.
The vehicles had been converted from fourth to third-rail power and redesignated Class 483 EMUs. The first unit No. 483001 (formed of car Nos. 121 and 221) undertook test runs on the main line to Winchester and back, before being transferred to nearby Fratton depot and then shipped from Portsmouth to Fishbourne during the early hours of July 5.
The unit arrived via road at Ryde Depot on July 6, 1989, then operated various training runs to introduce train crews to the ‘new’ stock from that same day. But it was not until a week later – on Thursday, July 13 – that it was shown off to guests at Ryde Pier Head station, breaking a banner stretched across platforms 2 and 3 before operating shuttles along the pier to Ryde Esplanade.
Three months later on October 7, 1989 – when units Nos. 483002 and 483003 were also available – the ‘483s’ started public services along the full length of the line to Shanklin. The island’s predecessor Classes 485 and 486 (former Underground Standard Stock built from 1923-34) operated for the last time on May 13, 1991 – the two cars that made up the last unit (Nos. S28S and S31S) then being 66 years old.
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Denne historien er fra January 2021-utgaven av Rail Express.
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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.
