On Shed - December 2009

[Peter S Lewis]

“Preserving the steam locomotive legacy…and more.. on film”

December 2009 edition.

Passing trains at Winchcombe(GWR) (Peter S.Lewis) Contents: Site news and editorial Christian Wolmar: "Fire and Steam!" CW at The Friends of Leamington Station annual event On This Day.....
Spotlight On: Charles Collett
Spotlight On: GWR King Class locomotive.
Weston-super-Mare...and the railway link.
Railtube Network News Digest


What an interesting and exciting month this has been for Steamtube!(to 31st October 2009) Our membership on Steamtube has increased (from 104) to 118 .. and we now have a total across the network of 1,123 videos and 6,091 photos, significant increases from last month. Thank you all for your continued support.!
Thanks go to those of you who manage to upload their videos on the day of filming …it is really appreciated . If we’re not very careful we shall start to get a reputation! Mainline workings and heritage line events and galas can provide us with a rich vein of material. Keep on filming!

Steamtube endorses “responsible railway photography”, so it is useful to be able to read Network Rail’s own published guidelines (reproduced in November’s newsletter..) and thus eliminate any antagonism between the genuine photographer and railway officials and employees going about their daily business. Please read the guidelines carefully….
Lewis Mitchell (30/07/09 upload at London St Pancras) makes this comment about the clip… “we nearly missed it because we had to 'Sign In' at the station Management!”
Its all about good relationships and making it easier for others! Thanks for the good example, Lewis!


You will likely have noticed that we now have a Shop facility! So get your railway books and DVDs here! Steamtube merchandise is also available! A range of hats,T-shirts, jacket, a “Steam Chaser” bag, and badges, all featuring the Steamtube logo.

It is quite likely that you have some very worthwhile suggestions that would be helpful for us to keep Steamtube growing. Please feel free to make these known to either TFC or the Shedmaster. We will take your suggestions and comments seriously.

In the meantime, enjoy the newsletter…please tell us what you think of the content etc…we don’t mind constructive comments , advice and help. If you would like to make a contribution to the newsletter, please feel free to send it to Steamtube….we’ll make every effort to include it in the next newsletter.


Site News
It will not have escaped your notice that ”The SMJ” website has been included in the RailTubeNetwork Family! This site..Andy Thompson’s creation…was the site that led to Steamtube (in association with Peter S.Lewis) and its sister sites DieselTube, ElectricTube and DisusedTube. We surely are a growing family!

New members: As of today ( 31st October 2009) we have 118 members on Steamtube, 52 on DieselTube, 32 on ElectricTube, 30 members on Dis-usedTube, and 49 members on the SMJ site. Please feel free to extol the virtues of these…your..sites…and invite friends, family and acquaintances to join! Your contributions and involvement with the sites is gratefully acknowledged…please continue to upload your video clips and photographs…and feel free to make encouraging comments on other uploaded contributions.



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A word about embedding and copyright. When embedding from other video sharing sites, it is well to be courteous with the original uploaders ! Try to get their consent to upload to our sites before we embed…Common courtesy goes a long way in building good relationships….who knows, they could well join us when they appreciate the kind of ambience our site promotes!
And please be aware of copyright issues if uploading third party material…..
In the last 4 weeks, we have had over 10,000 page views on Steam Tube alone - about 23,000 page views for the whole network! Please continue to spread the word!



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Video highlights: The quality of members’ uploads continues to impress. We particularly like the “Steamtube” trailer which Sean Dudden put together and shows on his Youtube Channel.


http://steamtube.ning.com/video/steamtube-the-home-of-steam-on
And some of you go to great lengths to be in the right place at the right time to get your shots. Well done, and thank you!
There are now 682 videos on Steamtube..of a total 1,123 across the network.


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Photographic highlights:
Currently, we have 2,504 photos in the SteamTube gallery with a further 1,318 in DieselTube, 486 on ElectricTube , 923 on Disused Tube and 860 photos on the SMJ site.
Neil Herapath’s black and white images, especially the Evercreech Junction shots are particularly evocative of the era. Thank you, Neil.
So, why not get out and capture those railway images ..there is probably a disused railway near you! Or an event! Or a mainline steam running! Tell us all about the galas, and specials that run during december and into the new Year! You never know, we may well get the opportunity to film some steam and snow!

Adrian Vaughan in the signalbox! Listen as AV explains signalling and his attraction to the GWR
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mf314
Best locations: As a possible future project, perhaps , as individual photographers, we would like to share with others the best locations for videos and photographic opportunities. Send the details to the Editor, and then a useful list of locations will be included in future newsletters.


Page views to our sites….4 weeks to 31/10/09
DieselTube: 2,647 ElectricTube: 1,042 DisusedTube 1,337 SteamTube: 10,702, SMJ : 6,827
"On Shed" 532 Total:23,087

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Christian Wolmar is the leading UK commentator on transport , especially rail issues. He often appears on leading TV network news programmes. As a writer, he has many books to his name. “Fire and Steam, How The Railways Transformed Britain “ is available in the Steamtube shop. Get your copy now!
Recently CW gave a talk at Leamington Spa…for the “Friends Of Leamington Station”…it was their annual fund raising event. Steamtube was there to capture his talk.. and a summary ,(of the second part of his talk) including responses to Questions from the audience ,appear below…

Christian Wolmar at Leamington Spa 21st October 2009



“The car did not have much impact until 1st World war period.
The Highland Railway was one of two most used railways in that period (along with London and South West (running to Portsmouth and Southampton). Serving the fleet at Scapa Flow accounted for this increased usage.
The duplication prior to this period worked to advantage during the WW1… what with troop and supplies movements.
Women began to be employed on the railways..(railways were not a reserved occupation during WW1 )but they were not treated well afterwards. They came into their own especially on the hospital trains..
It could be argued that the railways enabled the wars……even the stalemate of WW1. (This is the subject of a forthcoming CW book entitled “Engines of War”
Railways poorly treated after the war and were effectively semi nationalized with the 1923 grouping into the Big 4. (GWR, LMS, LNER, Southern)
But they were still in the private sector and there was competition especially between LMS and LNER over the routes from London to Scotland.
The most successful of the Big 4 was the Southern. It had a rolling programme of electrification….(3rd rail choice perhaps not the bes)t …under the direction of Herbert Walker..
There followed difficult times for the railways..the1926 strike and a couple of bad accidents due to staffing issues…

And they were hampered ( when trying to compete for traffic with road transport) by the fact that they had to carry everything and anything..(the rule book was enormous!) The lorry ( often owned by a demobbed soldier who had bought an old army lorry) could pick and choose. The railways should have been looked on as a real national resource.

Railways came up trumps during 2nd World War…evacuation…transport troops etc. When tracks were bombed, they were quickly repaired (its very difficult to destroy a railway…as in Korean War….very difficult to do permanent damage to them)
Attempts were made during WW2 to put people off using the railways for their weekend seaside trips…posters urged people to remember that they (the railways) were needed for other matters!!
1945 Labour Government promises to nationalize and eventually , they were, in 1948.
600,000 were employed on the railways in 1945 - down to 120,000 by privatization in 1996/7…i.e.10,000 less employees per year….can’t blame BR for not trying to become efficient..
But there were 50 standard loco designs…!! And One billion££s was put into railways in 1950s…However, lots of money squandered - marshalling yards- 40 or 50 types of diesels….then the terrible reversal of policy with Dr Beeching…which Harold Wilson took on…and more…even ending the Oxford-Cambridge line.
The thinking was that the age of the railway had gone, that we would all use our cars to get into town…
The APT was killed off …now have HST..and Virgin’s tilting trains.
Now have a changing climate..

But then a government ,with no real knowledge of railways, engaged in policy of privatization ..strange named companies..resulting in announcements like this at Cambridge “The first train is the ONE train, and the second train is the FIRST train”

Now, in Lord Adonis, there is the best railway minister since Barbara Castle. And there is a railway renaissance…worldwide.

Questions and answers:
Are we too small a country for High Speed lines .. better to spend money on improving existing….takes two hours between London to Leeds, Manchester already. Increase capacity to 4 track, electrify, and you get increased capacity for less cost. Sceptical about getting more people to travel even if times reduced…
We are not into cheap railways…expensive.

Why costs of trams etc so high?
All costs of moving utilities fall to the railways…
Over engineer…. Elsewhere in Europe, trams bought off the shelf, whereas here different trams for different cities.
John Prescott promised 25 new tram systems…only 1 delivered!

Cost of rail travel expensive compared to air.
No system for European ticketing…..airlines get various helps which make their costs lower…

Big mergers going on…. Is it good for the railway to be dominated by 3 main groups, and will it kill the franchise process.?
Only new competitors are German railways (state owned,) French Railways, (state owned) etc…but not possible for the UK…
Originally, it was hoped that other companies would want to run franchises such as Tesco,…Stobart and others.

Is there an over cautious use of track….?
The system is under used.
A signalling system to allow better utilisation… (Cambrian railway trials at the moment) called the European Traffic Control System is under development, but it is very expensive.
HST could then run at 16 per hour….
The other way to increase capacity -get rid of 1st Class…

Reason for electrifying to South West and Wales rather than main line.?
Lord Adonis is like a one man BR. He is thinking about the WHOLE network
The proposed South West and Wales network has a busier commuter network, and rolling stock considerations were behind the thinking….although he has not ruled out electrification on the Midland mainline..(Editor: See news item below "Network Rail to Electrify Midland Main Line")

End.

And his most recent book, “Blood, Iron and Gold” widens the scope of the subject. Another book is in the pipeline “Engines of War”

Do you agree with Christian’s views? Perhaps you have some views of your own. Please feel free to write. A selection of your replies will be included in the next available edition of “On Shed”


For Adrian Vaughan’s view on privatisation…listen again to “The Greatest Railway Blunder” ( a latest AV book) at (hopefully!): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mf314

On This Day

01/12/1990:
Tunnel links UK and Europe
Construction workers have drilled through the final wall of rock to join the two halves of the Channel Tunnel and link Britain to France
The Channel Tunnel was first formally proposed in 1963 although the concept had long been under discussion.
Its cost ballooned to £12bn - more than double original estimates and construction finished a year late in 1994.
Original expectations of public enthusiasm for the project proved over-optimistic and Eurotunnel, the tunnel operator, unveiled a loss of £925m in 1995 - one of the biggest in UK corporate history.
A fire in the tunnel which lead to freight traffic being suspended for more than six months in 1996 added to its woes.
It eventually caught on as a mode of transport and Eurotunnel announced its first net profits in 1999.

12/12/1988:
35 dead in Clapham rail collision
Up to 35 people have died and 100 others have been injured after three trains were involved in a collision during morning rush hour in south London.
Two commuter trains carrying an estimated 1,300 passengers between them collided shortly after 0800 GMT at Clapham Junction - Europe's busiest railway junction.
A third empty train later ran into the wreckage killing some passengers who had survived the first crash.

16/12/1977:
Queen opens 'tube' link to Heathrow
The Queen has formally unveiled a £71m underground link from central London to Heathrow's terminals - the first of its kind in the world from a capital to its major airport.
Commuters and tourists can now travel from the centre of the capital to the airport direct on the Piccadilly Line in just 40 minutes.
The Queen, whose great-grandfather opened the "tuppenny tube" in 1890, paid tribute to underground staff as she unveiled the new service.


23/12/1964:
Beeching to leave British Railways
The chairman of the British Railways Board is to part company with the organisation and return to his post at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).
Dr Richard Beeching was appointed chairman of the newly formed British Railways Board in June 1961 by the Minister of Transport and during that time the system has seen a radical overhaul with many thousands of track being closed.


28/12/1979:
Tay Bridge rail disaster remembered
Many passengers will be retracing the fatal journey to mark 100 years since gales plunged a railway bridge and passenger train into icy waters killing 75.
The disaster occurred on the Tay Bridge over the Silvery Tay, near Dundee, which collapsed after the central spans gave way.

Spotlight on…. (A series of profiles of railway’s great contributors)
No 6: Charles Collett
(10 September 1871 - 5 April 1952) was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1922 to 1941. He designed (amongst others) the GWR's 4-6-0 Castle and King Class express passenger locomotives.

In 1922 Churchward retired, and Charles Benjamin Collett inherited a legacy of excellent standardised designs. But, with costs rising and revenues falling, there was a need to rationalise the number of pre-grouping designs and to develop more powerful locomotives. Collett was a practical development engineer and he took Churchward's designs and developed them - the Hall from the Saint class, and the Castle from the Star. He was also responsible for more humble locomotives, such as many of the pannier tank classes. He has received criticism by contemporary engineers and later railway historians for undertaking very little innovation in his designs, instead sticking with Churchward's style in every case. Arguably this meant that by the time Collett retired the superiority of Great Western locomotives was lost to more modern designs, particularly those of William Stanier, who worked at Swindon before moving to the LMS in 1932, and took Churchward's style with him but developed it in line with the progression in steam technology.
In 1926, something bigger than the Castle class was required to haul heavy expresses at an average speed of 60mph. Great Western's General Manager Sir Felix Pole told Collett to proceed with the design and construction of a "Super-Castle". The result was the King class 4-6-0 design which emerged from Swindon works in June 1927. This had dimensions never previously seen, and represented the ultimate development of Churchward's four cylinder concept. It was the heaviest (136 tons), and had the highest tractive effort (40,300 lbs.) of any 4-6-0 locomotive ever to run in the United Kingdom. Because of its weight, the King class was restricted to the main GWR routes.
(Source:Swindon Web)

Charles Benjamin Collett, the son of a journalist, was born on the 10th of September 1871. The family lived close to Paddington station and it is likely that the GWR trains running nearby had an influence on young Charles. He received his early education at Merchant Taylors School in London, before studying at The London University and later becoming a pupil at the works of Maudslay, Sons and Field of Lambeth, the famous marine engine builders .May 1893 saw Collett move to the GWR when he entered the Swindon drawing office as a junior draughtsman. Within four years he was given charge of the section responsible for buildings and a year later, in 1898, the post of Assistant to the Chief Draughtsman came his way. In June 1900 he was made Technical Inspector at the Swindon Locomotive Works and a few months later became Assistant Manager there. Another twelve years elapsed before the managership of the Works became his. During that intervening period and the succeeding seven years in the manager's chair, he developed an attitude towards the manufacturing side which was to play an important part in future Great Western locomotive production. He was appointed Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer in May 1919 .

Together, Churchward and Collett proved a valuable team. The Churchward standard designs met the companies foreseeable needs and so a locomotive designer was not required. A good works man would bring production facilities into the twentieth century just as Churchward had brought design.

And so,in January 1922, Charles Collett was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway.
Unlike all of his predecessors, Collett took very little interest in the affairs of the town and his only public post was that of magistrate from 1921 to 1928. He had received the OBE for his efforts of producing munitions during the First World War, but the troubles he had to endure and the behaviour of the Ministry of Labour whilst he was Locomotive Works Manager, influenced his later attitude. K. J. Cook, Works Manager during World War Two, suffered similar problems. Collett's memory did not allow him to forget his early treatment and when the second conflict broke out, he was very reluctant to allow the GWR workshops to undertake any munitions work. Eventually, under pressure from Paddington, he agreed to work being produced but made his displeasure known that if the GWR rolling stock fell into disrepair due to lack of facilities or materials, he would point the finger at others. In view of the appalling state of the railways at the end of the war, his cautious attitude appears to have been correct.

There was a need during the early years of the 1920s for a more powerful locomotive than the 'Star' class and so Collett set about designing an updated version to the weight limit allowed on the West of England line. An enlarged boiler with a greater evaporative rate and increased diameter cylinders brought the nominal tractive effort to 31,625 lbf, making the 'Castle' class the most powerful British locomotive. Head office at Paddington was delighted and made the most of the coup when 'Caerphilly Castle' was displayed alongside Gresley's 'Flying Scotsman' at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924.

The 'Castles' had been designed to the maximum permitted axle loading of 19½ tons and Collett considered such a limit to be a disadvantage, indicating to Sir Felix Pole that if the limit had been 22½ tons, a more powerful machine could have been produced. This led to the King Class!



It is true that his locomotive designs were just extensions of Churchward’s designs. But Collett refined the designs, introduced good workshop practice (which cut costs) and developed a standard bogie for the carriages…thus replacing the 7 different bogies then currently in use.


Just short of his 70th birthday, Collett retired from the GWR and moved to Wimbledon, but sadly eleven years later Collett died, on the 5th April 1952. His funeral was attended by a small gathering which included Hawksworth, Stanier and Pole.



Locomotive profile: King Class
Designer Charles Collett Build date 1927–1930 Configuration 4-6-0
Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading wheel size 3 feet 0 inches (0.914 m) Driver size 6 ft 6 in (1.981 m) Length 68 ft 2 in (20.78 m)
Locomotive weight 135 long tons 14 cwt (304,000 lb/137.9 t) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 6 tons
Water capacity 4,000 imperial gallons Boiler GWR Number 12 Boiler pressure 250 psi Heating surface: Tubes 2,008 sq ft (186.5 m2)
Heating surface: Firebox 194 sq ft (18.0 m2) Superheater area 313 sq ft (29.1 m2)
Cylinders Four Cylinder size 16.25 in × 28 in (413 mm × 711 mm)
Tractive effort 40,300 lbs

With the design of the 'Kings', the concept of a big four-cylinder 4-6-0 had reached its zenith. MacIntosh found this with his big-boilered inside-cylinder locos culminating in the Cardean class - superb to look at, heavy on coal and incapable of further development. Certainly the 'Kings' were at the limit although modifications in the 1950s gave them a completely new lease of life and they staged a brilliant Indian summer with the end of steam on the Western.

The basic 'King' as built in 1927 carried a boiler pressure of 250 pounds per square inch, an advance of 25 pounds over Swindon's practice at the time, and had a driving wheel diameter of 6 feet 6 inches - a reduction of 2½ inches from the 6 feet 8½ inches standard for GWR express passenger engines. The valve gear was the standard Churchward adaptation of the Stephenson link motion set between the frames, with the outside cylinders worked by rocker arms. Careful attention was paid to free steam flow to and from the large 16¼ inch by 28 inch cylinders and, like the 'Castles', they had very long-lap valve travel. The 'Kings' were heavy engines with a 22½ ton axle loading and as a result their route availability, Double Red in GWR terms, was restricted: for instance, they were not allowed west of Plymouth, or north of Shrewsbury (in theory), or on the Oxford to Worcester route. On the other hand, their great attribute was their sure-footedness, probably the best this country has ever known and a fact vividly illustrated by the way number 6018 'King Henry VI' stalked through the tunnels out of Kings Cross in the 1948 Locomotive Exchanges. One visual difference of the 'Kings' to other GW locomotives was in the bogie design with outside bearings for the leading axle and inside bearings for trailing to give adequate clearance on curves.

The first 'King' locomotive, number 6000 King George V was completed in June 1927 and shortly afterwards it was shipped to America to participate in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad centenary celebrations. There the engine was presented with a bell and plaques to commemorate its contribution and these are still carried by the locomotive today. When King George V returned to Britain it was affectionately know as 'The Bell' until its withdrawal.

Extract from “The Great Western Archive” Copyright © by John Daniel 2002.

King Edward 1 approaches WSM with the Torbay Express 20th September 2009




http://steamtube.ning.com/video/hd6024-king-edward-i-torbay


Weston-super-Mare

As a small boy I have two precise memories of Weston-super-Mare.
So precise, in fact, that I cannot remember the years……but they would have been late 1950s.

My late father was a farm worker (cowman), and the only “holidays” we ever had, or could afford, was a week with an aunt and uncle in Welwyn, or occasional seaside trips…like the two (consecutive years, I think) to Weston-super-Mare…by train, from Stratford-upon-Avon.
I do not remember the route, but I expect it would have been towards Cheltenham along the “Honeybourne Line” and Bristol… and finally into Locking Road, Weston-super-Mare.

All I can remember was that the first trip was on a beautiful summer’s day…and the sea was out!! And the second trip was marred by being a typically wet English summer’s day…and the sea was in!!

And I have a memory that Dad took my next youngest brother and me to the front of the train to say “Thank you” to the driver……I don’t think Dad was much enamoured by the lack of response to two small boys.

So, on a recent stay at Weston, I determined to take a closer look at the railway facilities of this much maligned (can it help it that it is on an estuary…) town……

A first view I had was from Dove Road bridge, looking towards the station…

The view ahead shows the line passing under Hildesheim Bridge before curving left into the station…. promising a thriving location
On a couple of occasions I ventured into the station itself…..

Station Sign, by night and
the station approach.

And , of course, there was opportunity to get on the platform and watch the night time activity…mainly 3 car sets and the 9 car First Great Western from Paddington terminating at Weston.

Night scene on Platform 1, Weston-super-Mare Station.

But the approach did not fulfill its promise…admittedly by night, but it seemed quite a dreary place, whatever my childhood recollections imagined.

So, naturally, some research and investigative work needed to be done on the history of WSM, in rail terms, that is.

The railway (Bristol & Exeter Railway) arrived in Weston-super-Mare in 1841 -
a single-track branch line from Weston Junction railway station, mid way between the present day Worle and Uphill junctions, which terminated at a small station in Regent Street close to the High Street.

After closure, the land was eventually gifted to the town and planted with trees, giving rise to its unofficial name of "The Plantation". A floral clock was built on the site of the station building. Although the mechanism has not worked for many years, the raised flower bed is still planted each year to commemorate a local or national event. Next to this is a scale replica of North Star, a 2-2-2 broad gauge locomotive (introduced between November 1838 and November 1841), and the first locomotive to run on the GWR.

Replica of North Star, a 2-2-2 broad gauge locomotive

On 20 July 1866 a large passenger station was opened adjacent to the new goods facilities which were opened on the junction side of Locking Road in 1862. This allowed the closure of Brunel's 1841 station.

A new station were opened in March 1884 consisting of three platforms – two through platforms and an east-facing terminal bay.

A new terminal station was opened in 1914 to deal with excursion traffic in 1914, being known as Locking Road station( closed 6th September 1964) The site is now a Tesco superstore. The main station known as Weston-super-Mare General was refurbished in 1986 with a new booking office.

Stopping trains from Bristol Parkway railway station that terminate at Weston-super-Mare, and semi-fast services from Cardiff Central railway station to Taunton combine to give two trains each hour between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare for most of the day during the week.

Additional services superimposed on these local trains include through services to London Paddington, and a few services that link Weston-super-Mare with Birmingham New Street and the North. A few trains continue west of Taunton to destinations such as Exeter St Davids and Plymouth..

During our September visit the 9 car set that terminated at WSM from Paddington
in the mid-evening returned ECS (to Bristol?)



Railtube Network News Digest
Industry Development News

Source(unless otherwise stated) www.railway-technology.com

UK and Republic of Ireland
October 30th 2009
Network Rail to Electrify Midland Main Line
UK rail operator Network Rail has announced plans to electrify the Midland Main Line following a year-long study.

The study concluded that electrification of the line, from London St Pancras to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield, would increase capacity, improve travel times, and cut costs and carbon emissions.

The project would also result in a 50% cut in train operating costs, a 33% cut in maintenance costs and up to 30% fewer CO2 emissions – savings that could pay for the project within 60 years.



October 29th
National Express Named UK's Most Improved Operator
National Express East Coast has shown the highest improvement among all the rail operators in Britain, according to a new survey.

Results of a survey conducted by the Office of Rail Regulation showed that nearly 90.4% of the rail operator's trains arrived on time in the first three months of 2009, an increase of 4.3% over the same period in 2008.

The jump is the biggest for any British train operator, according to the quarterly National Rail Trends survey.

National Express East Coast is nationalised, after its former parent company National Express was forced to give it up following a $1.7bn debt. National Express is up for takeover.

In the same survey, c2c, which operates trains between London and the Essex coast, was named as Britain's most punctual train operator with a 96.7% punctuality rate.



October 2nd 2009 :
AmeyColas Chosen for UK Track Renewal
UK rail operator Network Rail has chosen AmeyColas for a £250m contract to operate and maintain its high-tech, high-output track renewal systems.
The five-year contract, with the Amey Rail and Colas joint venture, includes renewal and replacement of over 1,600 miles of track, which forms nearly 30% of Network Rail's total renewals workload.
The contract covers the operator's four high-output systems, three existing and one to be delivered in December 2010, consisting of high-output ballast cleaners, high-output track renewals trains and other support machinery and plant.
The high-output systems can replace between 400 and 600m of track and ballast within eight hours, reducing costs and reducing passenger and freight delays.
The contract begins from January 2010.


07 October 2009
UK Begins Installing Environmentally Friendly Rail Tracks
UK rail operator Network Rail has begun a £21m track replacement project on the Boston-Skegness rail line using fully recycled materials.
The project involves renewing the three decades-old 32 miles of track with 100% recycled rail, sleepers and ballast.
The ongoing Phase I of the project, to replace the first 12 miles of track, is expected to finish in early November.
The project's second phase, to replace the remaining 20 miles, is expected to finish by March 2010.
The project will provide a smoother train ride due to shift from jointed track to continuously welded rail as well as provide access for different types of trains, increase trains speeds and make the railways greener.


08 October 2009
Thales to Upgrade CIS for UK Rail Operator
Thales UK has won a contract from rail operator Southeastern to upgrade and integrate the Customer Information System (CIS) making it manageable from a central location .
The CIS provides real-time audible and visual information to passengers at stations using a clock, train movement information and a scheduled timetable.
The company will upgrade the existing CIS for the operator's new stations at Ebbsfleet, Stratford and St Pancras.
The company will further upgrade the system for all southbound trains when they begin services in 2009 and after the new Thameslink rail route upgrade.
Under a separate third contract, the company will upgrade the system for the new East London Line.
Southeastern operates services in Kent, Sussex and South East London and will operate the country's first domestic high-speed service on High Speed 1, scheduled to enter service in December.



09 October 2009
GE Delivers Two PowerHaul Locomotives to Freightliner
US firm GE has delivered the first two of 30 freight locomotives to UK rail freight operator Freightliner.
The 129t PowerHaul Series diesel-electric locomotives feature new V16-cylinder, 3,700-horsepower engine, AC individual-axle traction-control technology and dynamic braking.
The low-emission locomotives generate more horsepower and tractive effort as well as reducing fuel use by nearly 9% compared to current operating fleet averages, the company says.
The remainder of the fleet is scheduled to be delivered in November.
The order, placed in 2007, is the largest for freight locomotives by Freightliner and marks GE's first foray into the UK and Europe.


13 October 2009
EC Warns Member States over First Railway Package
The European Commission (EC) has given the final warning to member states on their failure to properly implement the 'first railway package', aimed at opening up the rail freight market to competition.
The EC says that even after issuing a formal notice in 2008, many of its 21 member states have modified national rules to comply with the EU directives but the majority still do not fully comply with the relevant directives.
The EC has now sent 'reasoned opinions' to members directing them to proceed with railway reforms.
Major issues include the lack of independence of the infrastructure manager in relation to railway operators, insufficient implementation of the provisions of the directive on track access charging and the failure to set up an independent regulatory body with the necessary powers to remedy competition problems in the railway sector.
The members have been given two months to solve the relevant issues before the EC initiates legal proceedings.


15 October 2009
Skanska to Build 400m Railway Viaduct in London
Swedish firm Skanska has won a $94m (SEK660m) contract from UK rail operator Network Rail to build a railway viaduct in the south east of London.
The viaduct is part of the operator's Thameslink rail programme and involves building a 400m-long viaduct over the Borough Market food market in south-east London as well as demolishing works.
Work will begin immediately and is scheduled to finish in August 2012.
The company had previously assisted Network Rail in planning and developing the project.


16 October 2009
UK's Channel Tunnel Rail Up for Sale
The UK Government is planning to sell off the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, also called High Speed 1, as part of its plans to raise £16bn to cut the public deficit.
The 109km rail line, built at a cost of £5.8bn, was opened in November 2007 and links Paris, Lille and Brussels to St Pancras station in London.
The details of the sale, including the worth of the assets, have not been disclosed but it is estimated that the line could be sold for £3–4bn.
Eurotunnel, the operator of the rail link between the UK and France, has already expressed interest in buying the railway.


20 October 2009
Cosmen-CVC Bid Collapses, Stagecoach Enters Scene
UK transport operator Stagecoach has proposed a £1.7bn all-share transaction to troubled rail operator National Express.
The new proposal has come after joint bidders, Spain's Cosmen family and UK's CVC Capital Partners, withdrew their £765m bid last week.
The new Stagecoach offer says the National Express shareholders would hold no more than 40% of the group.
National Express said it will consider the proposal while continuing to progress with its plans for an equity fundraising.
Stagecoach has also proposed terms to National Express under which it would be prepared to enter into talks over a possible partnership.
National Express has been up for takeover since July when the government said it could be stripped of its East Coast rail franchise following a funds crunch.


Railtube Network Heritage News Digest
As reported last month, the national network connection at Bishop Auckland has finally been completed. The resleepering and reballasting of the line between Wolsingham and Bishop Auckland is also now almost complete making it possible to travel the length of the line. Although there is much to be done before Bishop Auckland can see a regular service, we have this encouraging item of news:
FIRST PASSENGER SPECIAL FROM BISHOP AUCKLAND (WEST) STATION TO STANHOPE
It is planned to run a special train, using the 141, from a temporary wooden platform west of the existing Network Rail platform at 4.30pm on Monday 26th October, conveying Board members to Stanhope after the Board meeting earlier in the afternoon. A visiting Iowa Pacific Manager, travelling from Doncaster, will arrive on the connecting 4.24pm Northern Rail service from Darlington ,making it the first through passenger since the Sunday specials finished in the early 90s.



Editor note: Does anybody have any video of this event? Please upload if you have!


Railtube Network International News Digest

www.railway-technology.com

October 30th 2009
China's Bullet Trains to Impact Aviation

China's high-speed rail network will impact over 80% of the country's domestic aviation market when it enters service, according to a top airline executive.

China Southern Airlines chairman Si Xianmin said that at least 518 flights are expected to face a 50% decline in traffic by 2020 when the network is fully operational.

"The competition from high-speed trains is already on the rise. Weekly traffic has dropped by 30% on the Shanghai-Wuhan route and by 60% on the Beijing-Taiyuan route," Xianmin said.

Expansion of the country's high-speed train network is a national priority and has been designated as a core component of the government programme to stimulate the economy.


02 October 2009
Chinese Province Opens First Rail Network

The Chinese province of Yunnan has opened its new $669m (4.55bn yuan) rail line connecting Dali to Lijiang.
The opening of the 162km rail line marks a major step in the province's plans to expand its rail connectivity to the country's interior areas as well as south and south-east Asia.
The rail line will cater to nearly five million people from Dali, Lijiang, Diqing and Nujiang in western Yunnan.
Covering 47 tunnels and 76 bridges, the rail line's construction took nearly five years to finish.
The rail line will also link to the south-east Asian rail network through an under-construction 350km rail line between Dali and Sino-Myanmar border city Ruili.
05 October 2009
Beijing Metro Line 4 Opens
China’s capital Beijing is trialling its $2.2bn Metro Line 4, the city’s first public-private railway partnership with Hong Kong.
The 29km underground line runs from Gongyixiqiao, on the South Fourth Ring Road, to Anheqiaobei, in the north-western Haidian district, via Xizhimen.
The rail line covers 24 stations and is expected to cater to nearly 700,000 people daily.
The line was built by Beijing MTR Corporation, a joint venture company comprising MTR Corporation, Beijing Infrastructure Investment and Beijing Capital Group.
The build-operate-finance contract was awarded by Beijing Municipal Government in 2006.



15 October 2009
China Builds 4.6km Rail Bridge

China has completed the construction of the $1.61bn (CNY11bn) Tianxingzhou Bridge on the Yangtze River in the city of Wuhan.
The 4,657m-long and 30m-wide cable suspension bridge, claimed to be the world's first bridge with four rail lines, connects the Beijing-Guangzhou Passenger Line and the Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu Railway express passageway.
The bridge has been built to high-speed railway operation standards, with the capacity for trains to pass over at a speed of up to 200kmph.
The bridge spans 504m over water, has a load capacity of 20,000t and a permissible train speed of 250kmph.
Chief engineer Qin Shunquan said the bridge is significant as the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is 52 years old and cannot meet the high-speed standard at present.
"The second reason is that Wuhan is the only way for trains [to travel] from Shanghai to Chengdu; the bridge helps to ease the load burden [due to] its perfect location," Shunquan said.
The builders also claim the bridge to be the biggest and widest highway-railway bridge in the world as it incorporates six traffic lanes.
The bridge is expected to be a key part of China's rail network, making Wuhan a key rail transport hub after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.


RailwayGazette.com
30th October 2009
FRANCE: A framework contract for the supply of up to 1 000 low-floor trainsets to operate regional services was signed in Paris on October 27 by SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and the President of Alstom Transport Philippe Mellier. Within the overall package, orders were confirmed for an initial build of 100 trains which will be delivered from 2013.
At a ceremony for regional representatives and invited guests, Pepy emphasised that he was signing the deal on behalf of the Association des Régions de France, a consortium of regional authorities led by Martin Malvey, President of Midi-Pyrénées. SNCF had been co-ordinating a joint tender for the regions over the past two years, he explained, but the individual regions will specify and procure the trains to meet their own requirements.


Railwaygazette.com
07 October 2009Itino clean diesel unveiled

Itino C.L.E.A.N. demonstrator at Jönköping
SWEDEN: Bombardier Transportation unveiled its first Itino diesel railcar equipped with C.L.E.A.N. diesel technology at the Elmia Nordic Rail exhibition in Jönköping on October 7, conducting a series of demonstration runs with the prototype train at Jönköping station. The first production trainsets equipped with the Catalyst based Low Emission ApplicatioN diesel engines are expected to enter service in both Sweden and Germany later this year.
According to the manufacturer, the C.L.E.A.N. Diesel Power Pack is the first low-emission 500 kW traction package able to meet the European Union’s Stage IIIB exhaust emission regulations which are due to come into force in 2012. It forms part of the Bombardier ECO4 portfolio of technologies for sustainable mobility, energy saving and operational efficiency.
Developed as part of a research programme that began in August 2006, the C.L.E.A.N. powerpack has undergone extensive type-testing, which has demonstrated a reduction in exhaust emissions of up to 83% compared to earlier engine types. Total mass of the powerpack and exhaust system has been reduced by 20%, contributing to lower energy consumption. A focus on minimising maintenance and repair time is expected to bring benefits in terms of increased fleet availability.
Bombardier is currently assembling four Itino trainsets with C.L.E.A.N. diesel technology for Fahma-Fahrzeug Management in Germany, and the first of these is expected to enter service in the Odenwald region near Frankfurt-am-Main later this month. A further 13 trainsets have been ordered by various operators in Sweden, with the first of these due to be delivered to Västtrafik in December 2009.


28 September 2009
China orders 380 km/h Zefiro high speed trains
CHINA: The Ministry of Railways has awarded a contract for 80 more high speed trains to the Qingdao-based Bombardier Sifang joint venture. The 27·4bn yuan order covers 20 eight-car and 60 16-car trainsets, designated Zefiro 380. Deliveries are expected to start in 2012 and run until 2014.
With a maximum design speed of 380 km/h, the trainsets are intended to boost Chinese Railways' high speed fleet as more of its new Passenger-Dedicated Lines come into service. At present CR has 5 455 km of new line under construction which is scheduled to open by 2012, plus a further 11 345 km at the planning stage.
Bombardier Transportation President & Chief Operating Officer Andre Navarri described the deal as 'a landmark order', which he said was 'the result of a positive and productive, long-term relationship'. The order covers a total of 1 120 vehicles, which will be assembled in Qingdao. Design, project management and component manufacture will be shared between Chinese and European plants.
Established in 1998, Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd is a joint venture between Bombardier and CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd. It has delivered more than 1 000 passenger vehicles for the Chinese market, including both high speed trains and loco-hauled coaches.
The joint venture is currently delivering 20 sleeping car trainsets of 16 cars, which are designed for 250 km/h operation, together with a similar number of 250 km/h trainsets with conventional seating for 1 300 passengers. These follow two earlier builds of wide-bodied eight-car trainsets, designated CRH1 by the operator.

25 September 2009
Freightliner and Xstrata sign Australian coal contract
AUSTRALIA: Freightliner Australia announced a 10-year haulage agreement with Xstrata Coal on September 25. Trains will start in late 2010, carrying 10 million tonnes of coal a year between Hunter Valley mines and the port of Newcastle.


21 October 2009
Austrian Railways to Invite Bids for €2.3bn Tunnel Project
Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG) will invite bids in November for the second stage of the €2.3bn Koralm tunnel, a key feature of the under-construction Koralm line between Graz and Klagenfurt.
The 20km-long section forms the central stage of the 32.9km twin-bore Koralm tunnel. Construction is expected to begin by the fourth quarter of 2010.
The tunnel's first stage on the Graz side has been underway since 2001 and the third stage on the western side will be put to tender in 2010.
The tunnel forms the last section of the €5.1bn 130km Koralm rail line, expected to open in 2020.
The 200kmph rail line will shorten travel times between Graz and Klagenfurt from the current nearly three hours to less than an hour.
The Koralm tunnel is also part of the trans-European transportation corridor VI stretching from Poland's main industrial area to northern Italy.







Events and Railtours
Space constraints…(and it would take an age to compile!!.) .mean that events and railtours can be accessed through the following links……


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Railtours
For a comprehensive listing of mainline steam activity for 2009, this site has it all

http://www.uksteam.info/tours/trs09.htm

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Events And for a listing of heritage railway events……visit….
http://www.heritagerailways.com/events.html



So, you’ve reached the end of the newsletter! We hope that you have found it an interesting and stimulating read!
Till next month!


Peter S.Lewis (Shedmaster) “On Shed” Editor