TRACTION issue 242

[steverabone]

 

TRACTION issue 242 is published on Friday 5th October. Read about the contents below.

 

The North & West line, or the Welsh Marches line as it is sometimes called, is one of the slightly neglected main lines of Britain. In TRACTION 240 we looked at the section of the line south from Shrewsbury, but in this issue we take a look at the route further south in David Hayes’ article ‘The North & West through Herefordshire’. In the first of a two part article David looks back at passenger and parcels traffic in the 1980s and early 1990s with a selection of photographs by Phil Baldwin. In our next issue David will look in detail at freight operations on the line.

 

Deanne Baker returns with another account of his school’s railway society outings; this time they venture into Eastern Region territory visiting locations in the Fens and East Anglia.

 

David Ratcliffe presents another selection of images of industrial locomotives, featuring the products of the Scottish firm of Andrew Barclay.

 

Continuing the Eastern Counties theme Mark Brammer recalls the days of Class 31s in the distinctive ‘red stripe’ livery in the Fens around March. Many enthusiasts, including your editor, felt that the locomotives looked really smart in these colours.

 

A locomotive that began its life in East Anglia was the first of the English Electric Types 3s, D6700. Alex Fisher traces the life of this pioneer which of course went to have an interesting career being renumbered first 37119 and then 37350.

 

In this issues main photo feature Gavin Morrison takes us to Cornwall in the late 1970s and 1980s when china clay and clay slurry were conveyed in greater quantities than today.

Colin Boocock continues his series of articles about the attempt by British Rail to improve productivity in its maintenance methods. Many of the techniques he helped to implement are a vital part of present day railway operations.

 

In this issue we start a series of articles by Michael Watkins looking at the electric locomotives of the Swiss railways, which will reveal the incredibly long lives that many classes of locomotive had.

 

Returning to Cornwall, Phil Barnes takes a look at the operation of the Chipman’s weed control train on the Gunnislake and Looe branches in 1987.

 

TRACTION MODELLING has an N gauge focus this issue with a superb layout by David Phillips based on Prestatyn on the North Wales Coast Line. This really does take you back to the days of Rail Blue and summer holidays!

 

Andy Gibbs continues the construction of his Kensington Olympia layout with attention moving on to the streets and buildings beyond the railway fence.

Edited October 5, 2017 by steverabone

[jbqfc]

got mine today great issue

thanks john

[acg5324]

Looking forward to mine......

[porkie]

Wow, that's now a great reason for me to pop in to town tomorrow