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Rail Express December 2011


jonathan452

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My monthly fix as bought from the WH Smiths in Waterloo last night.

 

I'll leave it up to others to give a more comprehensive review of the contents but do I detect a typo on the front cover concerning the voltage used on the Southern Third Rail?

 

Nice photo of a Freightliner Class 90 crossing the viaduct west of Colchester proving that eastern England is not (entirely) flat.

 

Hoping that some of those Cargo D coaches find a new home.

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got a copy of this yesterday and dont think i should have bothered. How can it be justified that there is only one picture from scotland in a magazine that is aimed at Britain. I have always said that there must be a mix of things in a mag for it to sell and can say right now there are many people i can think of that will not buy this for the simple fact there is only one scottish picture.

Missed market perhaps?

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Indeed - what a strange comment! I got my e-edition a couple of days ago, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet - something for the train journey to/from Warley I expect!

 

Anyway I am sure there will be something in there that sparks an interest - there generally is in Rail Express even if it is just the news section which I normally enjoy.

 

Cheers, Mike

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Does it need to have a picture of Scotland in it to be a useful mag? Puzzling! And I am from Scotland as the name sort of hints at! Will go and hunt it out in WH Smiths and see if anything catches my attention, but I won't discount it just because its content is mainly from over the border!

 

where exactly did i say it wasnt a useful magazine?!!

My point was it would be nice if there could be a mix of shots from both north and south of the border.As a scottish reader i like to see things from scotland, i dont there is anything wrong with that.

Everyone is entilted to their own opinion and that is mine, i did not ask you to agree!!!!

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Well, from their website:

 

Contents

 

6 News

Arriva gains East Coast foothold by buying loss-making Grand Central. RSSB suggests converting Southern Region third rail to 25Kv.

 

16 Trunk hauling

Rail Express takes a trip on a growing freight business – the transport of biomass (pelleted wood) from Tyne Dock to Drax Power Station.

 

24 Preservation

‘Deltic’ Gordon Highlander is set for a main line return as appeal is launched and two more locos move to Nemesis’ Burton depot.

 

29 Time Traveller

A reflective look back at this month over five decades. Ten years ago, Virgin painted four Class 47/8s in heritage colours.

 

30 Railtours

Cargo-D goes bust and Rail Blue Charters, its railtour arm, is no more. Plus full railtour listing for December.

 

32 Retro Freight – Chemicals from Runcorn

Runcorn was a major centre for the chemical business which provided the railways with a huge amount of traffic – alas no more.

 

Centre – Rail Express Modeller

Top reviews, including the Hattons/Heljan Class 28 Co-Bo, plus a first definitive look at wagon bogies from heavy plate to low track forece.

 

40 Power by the Hour

Direct Rail Services has dispensed with a further seven members of its Class 66 fleet as the lease on 66414-20 came to an end.

 

43 Reviews

There’s so many publications and DVDs on offer and Rail Express tells you if they are worth investigating.

 

44 Powerscene

Backed with tremendous imagery, Rail Express brings you a comprehensive coverage of all the fascinating and unusual workings.

 

56 Shunter Spot

Top news this month is the transfer of GB Railfreight’s two Class 09s to Manchester for use on the Barton Dock container traffic.

 

58 Unitary Authority

There has been a mass exodus of Class 150 ‘Sprinters’ away from Birmingham as the new Class 172 takes over. Full details.

 

62 Coach Corridor

What’s going to happen to Cargo-D’s huge fleet now it has gone into administration? Full fleet list provided.

 

63 Wagons Roll

The ‘Lowliner’ wagons built by W H Davis are in the news this month as they take to the rails, carrying containers requiring no gauge enhancement.

 

64 Irish Angle

It’s the end of an era in Northern Ireland as the last of the DEMU ‘Thumpers’ makes its farewell run after 37 years of service.

 

 

EDIT: Given the last piece I expect all the surplus copies north of the border will be shipped to Ulster to satisfy demand there :huh:

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Well, there obviously aren't any of the Waverley, so our friend's guidance has saved me the bother :angel:

 

EDIT: saying that, there'll be moneyshot after Cumbriashot of the BURCo road-railer trials at Longtown, a Class 50 passing Harker, Stainton S/B with a Class 27 on 2S52 and more.

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I haven't had a chance to sit down and read my copy yet (purchased at Smiths in Liverpool yesterday), At first glance, though, it looks pretty good. The main articles are 7 pages on GBRf's Port of Tyne to Drax biomass operation (3 full-page photos) by Paul Shannon; 3 pages on Runcorn chemical traffic by Dave Ratcliffe; and 4 pages in the modelling section on bogie designs by Gareth Bayer. All of these look well worthwhile, as far as I can see. All the normal newsy bits etc., a couple of other photo features. Overall, I'm quite looking forward to settling down for a couple of hours with it.

 

Jim

 

<edit> I forgot to add: the cover picture reveals that Network Rail have managed to make a Dellner-fitted Class 57 look even worse than it already did, by the addition of their almost-but-not-quite-the-same-as-warning-panel-yellow yellow livery. Dear God...</edit>

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Spotted at the bottom of the editorial is the following regarding their attendance at Warley is the following;

 

" We also plan to announce a very exciting new product at the event ........ We can't give away too much at this stage, other than to say that it is something that REM readers have been requesting from us for years. We're very pleased to finally be able to meet this demand."

 

Hmm, I wonder.. Mk II aircons??? Re-tooled 25???

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Picked up my copy today... the underside stuff on Elcott rd looks useful; thanks Simon... these are the bits I need to swat up on. And all in all some really good reads will be had when time permits. That back cover ad from Hattons is pure 1950s nostalgia (or so it appears)... a good issue!

Not enough deltics though :no:

J

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Announcement at Warley? Gareth is to do a "bookazine" on train formations along the lines of the collection of articles that have made it into REM over the years. If up to the same standard as the articles this should be superb - await with interest (due spring I think they said).

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In scotland presumably?

Mike, to be honest I meant in the mag :onthequiet: But anywhere really would be nice.... especially if they were to find their way this far south B) Not knocking the content though... a good read. I'm taking a break from 55s now... moving to the 47 as promised; by the time that's finished maybe Dapol will have a 52 available to turn to :rolleyes:

Best regards Jon

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Spotted at the bottom of the editorial is the following regarding their attendance at Warley is the following;

 

" We also plan to announce a very exciting new product at the event ........ We can't give away too much at this stage, other than to say that it is something that REM readers have been requesting from us for years. We're very pleased to finally be able to meet this demand."

 

Hmm, I wonder.. Mk II aircons??? Re-tooled 25???

 

 

 

Does anybody know what the annoucement was, if i have missed it already?

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The announcement was the bookazine on train formations - see post 20 above. Sorry re-reading my post I realise this wasn't clear. I was surprised tho' that nothing was on their stand about it and I had to ask.

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An observation.... some errors have crept in to this mag. The captions for the photos of 9016 and D335 on pages 24 and 25 identify that they were taken at the ELR deltic weekend... and judging by the sunshine and blue sky, I'd say they were taken on the Saturday, despite the sunshine breaks that we did get on the sunday... but this was Octobe 15th/16th, not the 20th as both photos are captioned. There was another error somewhere, that I spotted, but annoyingly I now can't find. Found the pic of Jim S-W's new street advertising Scaleforum back in September a bit odd... a bit late, but a good excuse to show the trackwork. One area that disapointed was the lovely selection of photos of Alex Carpenter's Red Stripe locos... the title text suggested that here he described some weathering projects... which I mistook for an explanation of how the results were achieved ... which it didn't. The blue paint showing through on the 47 looked great... wish we could get an explanation... a "how to" sometime?!?

Otherwise... as I've already said... a good read, again. Still nice print reproduction on good quality paper too... which maked it stand out, IMHO.

Jon

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