Class 59 heavy-freight diesel history
More than three decades ago a small fleet of Class 59 diesel locomotives arrived in this country, and immediately proved themselves far superior to anything that we already had on our railways, starting a revolution that would, in time, see hundreds of similar locomotives brought to our shores, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
North Eastern Railway pioneer electrics
While electrification is very much in the news these days, the release of a model of a pioneering North Eastern Railway locomotive reminds us that such schemes have been around for more than 100 years. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES has the story.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The final HST wind down
British Rail’s Inter-City 125 is one of the most recognisable and successful trains in railway history but is now reaching the end of its operational days. Some units, however, are enjoying a second life, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Railway Realism: The BR High Speed Train story
On October 4 1976, exactly 40 years ago, a train that revolutionised rail travel in the UK first entered public service. Since then the High Speed Train has gone on to be one of the most iconic and well-known ever to run on our rails, as Evan Green-Hughes relates.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The LNER’s elegant ‘B12’ 4-6-0
At the turn of the 20th century, many British railways developed more powerful passenger locomotives, and amongst the most elegant were the Great Eastern Railway’s long-lived ‘B12’ 4-6-0s, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES describes.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Railway Realism: Chinley
Once the centre of a busy railway network Chinley, in Derbyshire, is now but a shadow of its former self. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the rise and fall of this important railway landmark.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: GWR ‘Kings’ - the ultimate 4-6-0
Widely regarded as the ultimate development of the Great Western 4-6-0, ‘Kings’ were locomotives of great beauty and extremely powerful workhorses as well, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relates.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: The ‘Electric Scot’ - BR’s Class 87s
For many years the premier express locomotives on the West Coast Main Line were the Class 87s, but they have now fallen from grace though surprisingly many are enjoying a second but rather less glamorous career, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: Stanier’s ‘Duchess’ class 'Pacifics
Although eclipsed in the public’s imagination by engines from rival railways the LMS ‘Duchesses’ were the most powerful passenger locomotives of their time and given other circumstances might have even held the world steam speed record, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Crosti ‘9Fs’ - a bold experiment
One of the most easily identifiable of the ‘standard’ classes was the small group of Crosti boilered ‘9F’ 2-10-0s, a peculiar design which had the chimney halfway down the boiler and which was anything but a success.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES