TRACTION 241

[steverabone]

 

TRACTION issue 241 is published on Friday 4th August 2017. Read on for details of this issue's contents.

 

I’m sure that most railway enthusiasts would love to be able to go back in time to experience a day watching past railway operations. For me, without a shadow of doubt, that would be Carlisle at night in the 1970s and 1980s, when the railway was full of mail, newspaper, parcels and sleeping car trains as well as freight traffic. David Hayes decided that he’d probably like to return to South Wales as it was in the late 1990s. His superb images accompany the article about what he saw and photographed.

 

In TRACTION 238 Colin Boocock recalled his time in Western Region management and referred to his unhappiness about the closure of Newton Abbot Diesel Depot. Alex Fisher follows up this theme with his in depth look at the rise and fall of one of the West Country’s major depots.

 

Continuing our look at the West Country, a fifteen year old Steve Randall continues his bike tour along the route of the former Great Western Main Line in search of Class 50s and former GWR signalboxes. He didn’t quite make it to Newton Abbot, turning back for home near Dawlish, but nevertheless clearly had an amazing time.

 

Simon George is building an incredible O Gauge layout based on Heaton Lodge Junction in the 1980s. In the first of what we hope will be a series of articles about the layout, the scene is set with a look at the actual junction both before and after rationalisation.

 

Colin Boocock takes us into the world of maintenance of rolling stock and explains how new management techniques allowed British Rail to dramatically improve both the productivity of workshops and the reliability of motive power.

 

The humble electric multiple unit doesn’t often get much attention from enthusiasts, but Nick Ross has fond memories of the Class 304s (or, as they were originally called, the AM4s) and their time spent working local services in the North West and West Midlands.

 

Gavin Morrison takes us on a trip along the Penistone Line in his latest feature. The line between Huddersfield and Penistone is probably one of the least known railways in the North of England but, with its numerous tunnels and spectacular viaducts, deserves to be better appreciated.

 

In TRACTION MODELLING Andrew Butler describes how his multi-location layout can be changed to represent a station on the West Highland Line. In its BR diesel format, Tulloch Bridge manages to convey much of the atmosphere of the line.

 

Detailing of locomotives is a popular subject among many readers, so Jeff Nicholls has returned to show how he personalised his Dapol Class 08 shunter.

 

The next issue of TRACTION, issue 242, will be on sale on October 6th.

Edited August 1, 2017 by steverabone