RAILDATE 2023.10.22

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Your editor's holiday is over and Raildate can resume ...

There are sections on:

• UK Rail News
• International Rail News
• Other Transport Modes

UK Rail News

East Midlands

• Beeston: Plans for new lifts at Grade II listed railway station

Isle of Man

• Plan for emergency demolition of Victorian tram building in Douglas
• IoM Heritage Railways 2024 Dates

London

• The 'Inside The Circle Line' Tube Challenge
• A brief history of the Jubilee Line
• You Can Play With This Miniature Tube Train At Hounslow West Underground Station
• Network Rail must tackle ‘disgusting’ Shenfield pigeons say Brentwood council
• Signalling failure at Euston
• Fox retreived from station toilets at Euston
• Chiltern Railways trains on Met line move to leaf fall times
• Still no compensation for landlord who saw his pub flattened for HS2 works that now aren't even in needed
• Dining in a repurposed  Victoria line coach
• Book Review: London Railway Atlas – 6th Edition
• Charles Henry Driver’s decorative London Bridge railway arches to be restored
• Delayed but Expanded: Victoria station upgrade set for March 2024 completion
• London Underground celebrates a decade of labyrinths with two new additions to the tube network
• Midweek commuter surge sees Elizabeth line have its busiest day yet
• The Elizabeth line has been testing new train departure displays
• Third of tube stations now using brighter lights that consume 60% less electricity
• HAZCHEM incident at Stewarts Lane Depot
• Improvement notice issued for Euston crowding by ORR
• Naming ceremony for c2c class 720 unit
• No timeline' for when work will start on Woodford bridge
• The genius of John Betjeman’s Metro-Land

Midlands

• Walsall rail projects to resume after contractor collapse
• Metro extension will go to Brierley Hill High Street as funding confirmed
• Accessibility works start at Ludlow railway station
• Update on Bridgnorth cliff railway
• SPAD at Stafford
• SVR Branch Lines October
• Sale of HS2 land to lose £100m of taxpayers’ money
• Black Country railway stations back on track after contractor takeover
• Work on £24 million Dudley Interchange to begin in new year

North East

• Emergency repairs to Plessey viaduct near Cramlington
• Plessey viaduct repairs will take until November to complete
• Historical images show how Ashington railway station looked prior to its closure in the 1960s
• Cab view of failed Plessey viaduct

North West

• Rudyard Lake railway up for sale
• Buxton Spa Express steam train passing through High Peak will travel on viaduct
• Leek and Rudyard Railway listing
• Report on Pettril Bridge cement train derailment
• Cumbrian road bridge reopens after £125k worth of concrete removed
• All lines blocked at Salford Crescent due to trespass incident
• Service between Manchester and Leeds reduced by Trans Pennine Express
• Staffordshire miniature railway for sale due to owner’s retirement

Scotland

• Washout near Dunblane
• Plans to ‘upgrade’ popular railway walk path
• RAIB notes on 60103 collision at Aviemore
• Cairntorm funicular works to continue into November
• Walk-out by staff and volunteers at Highlands heritage steam railway
• Bad weather closures in Scotland on Saturday
• Troon station building work begins
• A modest Scottish rail freight terminal is an industry pathfinder
• Flying Scotsman cleared for mainline operations
• Scotrail services shut down due to approaching storm Babet

South

• Swanage Railway steam locomotive returns after 75 years
• T3 563 returns to service after 78 years
• Planning permission request for Customer Information screens at Brading

South East

• The Elizabeth Line really has put Reading on the ma
• Car park fire closes Luton Airport
• Trespassers pose for photo on Calcot Mill level crossing
• Bluebell Times issue 50
• Chiltern Railways investigation lands fare dodger in court
• Fatality at Pooley Green level crossing
• As HS2 gets cut back, just what has been the impact on Kent of HS1 – the UK’s only high-speed rail link?
• Petersfield SB to be retained as a Network Rail training facility
• HS1 rail improvement manifesto
• Rail maintenance firm extends long-running contract with Southeastern

Wales

• How five new railway stations for Wales could look

West

• Track renewals between Yeovil Pen Mill and Dorchester
• Train failures due to spray along Dawlish sea wall.
• Network Rail looks to the next stages of south Devon railway resilience as rockfall shelter is completed
• Dawlish rockfall shelter
• Salisbury - Yeovil Jn to be closed for 16 days in November for earthwork and structures repairs

Yorkshire

• White Rose railway station takes major step forward
• Dog rescued from railway near Shipley
• Restoration of coal drops at Penistone
• Bubble car returns to operation on Wensleydale Railway

National

• How rail station upgrades can drive wider urban change
• FirstGroup hails success of Lumo Edinburgh London rail link
• The reasons behind moquette seat coverings
• Railfreight options restricted by HS2 decision

International Rail News

Australia

• Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
• To cope with sleeper train travel, you need balance

Belgium

• Expansion plans for Belgian Railways

Canada

• Last surviving crew member sees documentary about a locomotive lost overboard from a barge in 1947
• Vancouver Skytrain tunneling progress

Europe

• Competitor to Eurostar purchases rolling stock
• Solution in sight for London-Amsterdam Eurostar train services

France

• EU parliamentarians make accidental stop at Disneyland
• Leaves on the line: SNCF’s Strategy to Avoid Train Delays

Germany

• The Go-Ahead Group agrees sale of its German rail business to Austria’s ÖBB
• DB Schenker will be sold as a complete business
• Arriva (part of DB group) sold to an American investor
• Germany’s terrible trains are no joke for a nation built on efficiency

Hong Kong

• Airport Express option explored after thousands stranded by typhoon

Japan

• Price surges for JR Pass for 1st time; railways not worried

Kenya

• The railway to nowhere in Kenya

Madagascar

• Train is victim of success
• FCE derailment

New Zealand

• New Zealand's oldest working steam locomotive celebrates its 150th birthday

USA

• Truck driver killed when train derailment collapses Colorado bridge, spilling coal cars onto highway
• Chehalis-Centralia Railroad partners with Oregon railway to resume excursions
• Sacremento orders more low floor reams
• Long Island Rail Road order new track inspection car
• AMTRAK Surfliner running on recycled vegetable oil

Uzbekistan

• Skoda to supply 30 electric units to Uzbekistan railways

Other Transport Modes

Air

• Ural Airlines Is Preparing To Fly An Airbus A320 Out Of A Field
• Light aircraft crash in Chilliwack , BC.
• Titan Airways A321 flies with missing windows
• Vulcan XH558 permitted to do ground displays in 2024
• Avro Vulcan XL426 High Speed Taxy Run (
• Behind The Collection: National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force

Bus

• Bus crashes into café in Manchester
• London Transport Lost Property office moving from Baker Street to West Ham bus depot.
• Routemaster RM843 returns

Marine

• Red Eagle out of service for a day
• Finding shipwrecks and planes lost at sea around Northern Ireland
• Corran Ferry to return to service later this month
• The Bizarre Backstory Of Croatia’s Yellow Submarine Nightclub

Road

• Impact of 20mph speed limits on the viability of bus services
• We Found ABANDONED Sports Cars in A Disused Warehouse!

Please let us know if you can identify the location of the disused warehouse in the video above. It has rails but doesn't look like a loco or carriage shed.

Credits

Thank you to this week's contributors.

• Andrew Nummelin
• Andrew Rushworth
• Barry Knapper
• John Grimley
• Ken Holway
• Mike Price
• Neil Kearns
• Nick Wheat
• Paul Hopper
• Paul Tambini
• Richard Buckby
• Richard Maund

The Weekly Poser: Where is this?

Your editor's holiday was in the western USA. This railroad museum has a fleet of diesels from the 1950s and three steam locos, all of which supported a now-closed copper mine. Where is it?

Last week's Where is this?

A theatre overlooks the former site of a GWR railway station. It closed to regular services in 1987 but saw the occasional charter until 1999. The platforms are still in situ but the buildings previously on the right have gone. Where is it?

Answer: Weymouth Quay. Congratulations are due to the following for their correct answers: Richard Whitbread, Dave Goodyear, Lee Bumstead, Andrew Treves, Ian Lowe, David Mant, Neil Kearns, Andrew Twynham, Simon Wass, Bryn Pitcher, Dave Winter, Peter Tisdale, Paul Hopper.

Street running brought passengers for the Channel Islands ferries to the quayside. Electrification from Poole to Weymouth in 1987 did not include the harbour link, leading to boat trains being withdrawn. The ferry terminal subsequently relocated to Poole but, despite several attempts at reopening the line as a tramway, it was not until 2020 that track removal became significant. Even now, there are vestiges that will probably survive.

The Pavilion Theatre is little changed from when John Courtney Haydon captured Class 1366 Nos 1367 and 1369 on Waterloo boat trains at Weymouth Quay on 5th August 1961. There are many more examples when you search for "Weymouth Quay" in the RCTS Collection.

Several readers sent in photos and reminiscences - thank you.

33114 on 8 Jul 1979 and 33113 on 23 Oct 1980. Image credits: Neil Kearns.

D2086 and D2179 29 Jan 1971. Image credit: Dave Mant.

Class 12 shunter 15230 was working the boat train and 15232 was on a freight, both 18 Jul 1968. Image credits: Dave Winter.

SMALL PRINT

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©  Matthew Shaw 2023