News
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Italian Caimano to lose passenger work
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ITALIAN Railways (Trenitalia) has been slowly withdrawing its Class 656 Bo-Bo-Bo locos for several years. The 4,200kW 3kV DC locos were officially nicknamed ‘Caimano’ (after caiman or alligators), and 461 were built between 1975 and 1989. Around half were later converted to freight-only Class 655. These are also now being replaced by more modern locos.…
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Ethiopia’s metre-gauge survivors
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DESPITE opening a new electrified main line in 2016, parts of the old metre-gauge Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien still appear to have some operational trains, although passenger services on the full route ceased in 2008. The metre-gauge line was opened between Addis Ababa and Djibouti in stages from 1902, and completed in 1917. It was…
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Bahamas booked for Tyseley Open Weekend in June
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In conjunction with its Tyseley Open Days, Vintage Trains is running four return trains per day between Birmingham Moor Street and Dorridge.
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‘Crompton’ performs well to ease Bodmin problems
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The week of April 1-5 was an operations manager’s nightmare at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway as the only serviceable steam loco failed with a hot axle box on March 31.
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Virgin Trains launch legal action against government over West Coast route
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Virgin, Stagecoach and SNCF say that the Department for Transport breached its duties in barring them from tendering.
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Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr acquires its own ‘Gronk’
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THE Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway (L&MMR) received Class 08 No. 08795 on March 22 from the Great Western Railway, Landore depot, Swansea (87E, latterly LE), which closed in December 2018. No. 08795 requires some attention before being launched into traffic at an event later in the year. Read more in the May 2019 issue of The…
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Highs and lows at the West Somerset
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THE West Somerset Railway reopened on March 30 after a three-month winter closure. There was much celebration, but a lot of work is required and money spent to bring the railway back its former glory. Weight restrictions have been introduced, down-grading the line to a GWR Blue route (17.9T axle loading). This follows advice from…
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GKN-liveried Jessie enters Blaenavon line service
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Former Cardiff resident Hunslet 0-6-0ST Jessie (1873/1937) joined the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway’s (P&BR) operational fleet on April 19 following overhaul and conversion back to its original guise by owner Mike Pearce at the Barry Tourist Railway. As reported (RM April), Jessie has been stripped of its former ‘Thomas’ guise, losing the side tanks, and…
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Mid-Norfolk Railway gala showcases new sidings
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THE Mid-Norfolk Railway’s April 5-7 diesel gala started in glorious sunshine, but the number of passengers was low. Trains ran between Dereham and Wyndham only, but a problem with the signalling installed in connection with the new storage sidings at Kimberley Park led to delays, amounting to about 40 minutes by the end of the…
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Donations to Market Deeping Model Railway Club appeal soars to £100k
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Market Deeping Model Railway Club lost years of work after intruders got into a school in Stamford on Saturday.
