TRACTION issue 251

[steverabone]

TRACTION issue 251 is published on Friday 5th April.

 

I’m sure that I am not alone in being fascinated with what happens on the railway network during the hours of darkness. So when I read Andy Armitage’s account of his time working at Euston Power Signal Box in the 1970s I was delighted to hear about the intriguing events that took place during the night hours. This was a time when Euston dealt with large numbers of mail, parcels, newspaper and sleeping car trains every night of the week. Andy reveals how these complex workings were handled and I believe this is a story which hasn’t been told before.

Whilst the Class 31 was not the most glamorous of locomotive types, they were a good solid workhorse handling much of BR’s freight and parcels traffic. However, over the years they also played a not insignificant role hauling passenger services and it’s this side of operations that Michael Fox recounts in his article. Many enthusiasts have happy memories of the ‘31s’ criss-crossing the country with short four or five coach trains before they were replaced by ‘Sprinters’.

David Hayes obviously has something of a soft spot for that most underused electric locomotive, the Class 92. Living in the West Midlands he was able to use his knowledge of freight operations to photograph the locomotives working Enterprise services.

Moving across the Channel, Colin Boocock begins a two part article contrasting the post-war development of German electric locomotives in both West and East Germany. It is a fascinating story and had some unexpected consequences in which types proved to be the most long lasting. In this issue he concentrates on the standard West German locomotives.

Gavin Morrison’s photo feature in this issue is about the days when mail trains were a common feature across the network. Andrew James returns to consider the performance of the Class 45s on the Midland Main Line between St. Pancras and Leicester.

Industrial locomotives were once a common feature of freight operations and in this issue the products of the Yorkshire Engine Company are examined by David Ratcliffe. Staying with freight traffic, Geoffrey Allen concludes his article about the potash traffic on the Boulby branch, this time looking at the 1990s.

TRACTION MODELLING looks at two contrasting layouts. The first is the magnificent and atmospheric Walford Town, an EM Gauge layout set in East London in Network South East days. On a much smaller scale is Drewry Lane, a micro shunting layout which can be operated in either the steam era or early diesel years.

Edited April 4, 2019 by steverabone