TRACTION 256

[steverabone]

 

This issue of TRACTION is a little unusual as we have three articles about one railway centre.

 

Focusing on Warrington, the changes in freight train operation at this once busy junction start with an article by Jeff Nicholls about coal traffic to the large power station at Fiddlers Ferry, which has recently closed. David Clough examines what he considers to be the forgotten route between Manchester and Liverpool which was once busy with a variety of freight flows. David Ratcliffe reminds us of the years when Warrington was a major Speedlink yard with trip freights from across the North West arriving throughout the day.

 

The days of long distance coach tours to locomotive depots are recalled in an article by J. Crosse who led a tour from the North East to depots in the London area in the 1970s.

 

Elliot Hopewell returns with another tale of his train spotting days when he spent holidays in Cornwall in the days of the Class 50s and how he eventually managed to see the last one he hadn’t seen before.

 

It’s easy to forget just how much the physical railway scene has changed over the years but Chris Cole’s photo study of changes at Sandy documents one such changed location.

 

Mick Humphrys returns with the second part of his article in which he recalls some of experiences driving the first generation of AC electric locomotives on the West Coast Main Line out of Euston.

 

Colin Boocock is intrigued by the introduction of the new Stadler bi-mode Class 755s in East Anglia with their small diesel power unit vehicle located in the centre of the train. He points out that having such a separate power unit is not a totally new idea.

 

Steve Woodhouse has long been a fan of the Class 40s and visited the Manchester area many times to see them in action on passenger trains out of Piccadilly station in their final years in service.

 

Gavin Morrison’s contribution this issue is a series of images taken on the Settle and Carlisle in winter conditions, when he required considerable determination to reach the locations where he wanted to photograph the trains.

 

In TRACTION MODELLING this issue we feature two superb diesel era layouts in different scales. The first is Oldham King Street in Gauge O with its emphasis on parcels traffic and DMUs. The second is that marvellous 4mm scale layout Charwelton. The members of the CBM Diesel Group re-worked an existing layout based on the now closed Great Central Main Line station and brought it into the BR blue period imagining that the line had stayed open.

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by steverabone

[blueeighties]

Excellent issue, really enjoying it.