RAILWAY HISTORY
Join us and delve into the archives to discover the stories of locomotive classes large and small, learn how the railway worked, and why it was built in this amalgamation of the popular Reality Check and Railway Realism sections from Hornby Magazine.
A4’s in Preservation
It is now 57 years since the last of Sir Nigel Gresley’s famous ‘A4s’ were taken out of service yet six survive, with one still active on the main line. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the preservation years of what will always be remembered as the ‘Streaks’.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Great Eastern Jazz Trains
Intensive suburban passenger workings are a feature of many great stations, but perhaps one of the most efficient in steam days were the ‘Jazz Trains’ of the Great Eastern Railway’s London Liverpool Street terminus. These intensive steam workings established a frequency of service that many thought impossible to achieve, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES describes.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Developing the diesel shunter
Amazingly, the diesel shunter has been around now for more than 90 years. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at its development and shows how it can be incorporated into layouts set from pre-nationalisation days onwards.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Billinton LBSCR ‘E4’ 0-6-2T
Throughout the history of the railway many locomotive classes have made an invaluable contribution to providing services, yet have remained largely out of the limelight. One such design was the Brighton built ‘E4’ 0-6-2T, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relates.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
BR Liveries: Sectorisation to Privatisation
In the 1980s British Railways was coming under considerable pressure from the country’s politicians to stem its losses. One of the most radical changes made was the splitting of the railways into sectors and the abandonment of regional boundaries. The changes lead to an explosion of new liveries, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relates.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The GWR ‘64XX’0-6-0PTs
The Great Western stood alone amongst the railways of the British Isles in its widespread use of ‘Pannier’ tank locomotives. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES takes a close look at the ‘64XXs’, and finds out what made this small class different from the rest.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
RAILWAY REALISM: The British Royal Trains
The coronation of a new king in May will bring to the public’s attention one of the more unusual trains on our network, the Royal Train, which has been transporting our monarchs around the country now for almost 200 years. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks into its history.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Direct Rail Services Class 37s
Although they were one of the earliest British Railways diesel classes which could well have faded into history by now, Cumbrian operator Direct Rail Services has used them for many years. Now though, their seemingly charmed existence looks to be coming to an end, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES reports.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Class 08 Diesel Shunters
The Class 08 diesel shunters are amongst the most successful locomotives ever to run on Britain’s railways – yet they are often ignored by enthusiasts and modellers. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES argues this is a situation which should change.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
REALITY CHECK: Western Region Blue Pullmans
Remembered by many as the high point of the 1950s modernisation of British Railways, the Blue Pullman trains set new standards of comfort and design, yet had a short and unhappy life, with much of it spent by necessity on the Western Region. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains all.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Heritage traction on the main line
Trains operated by individuals or small private companies have, for more than 50 years, provided a welcome variation to what we can normally see in everyday service. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at how these workings came about and explains how they could provide variety on almost any post-1960s layout.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Development of the ‘Pacific’ steam locomotive
For enthusiasts and modellers one of the best-known types of steam locomotive is the ‘Pacific’, a design that once dominated express services in Britain and produced the fastest steam locomotives ever to run on our tracks. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES investigates how the 4-6-2 developed and why it was to prove so successful.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Great Central Railway ‘A5’ 4-6-2T
Built originally for heavy suburban traffic out of London Marylebone station, the ‘A5’ 4-6-2Ts spread their wings to all corners of the London and North Eastern Railway’s system. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks into the history of this long extinct class.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Beeching – reshaping the railway
While the Beeching report of 60 years ago is best remembered for the closure of a third of our railway network, it proposed investment and improvement in some areas, particularly freight and long-distance passenger services. Some of these proposals were then seen as radical, but were they as original as generally thought? EVAN GREEN-HUGHES set out to find out.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Scotland’s last steam locomotive: the LNER ‘J36’ 0-6-0
Throughout the Victorian era there was a requirement for sturdy goods locomotives of the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, with one of the most successful and long-lived designs being the North British ‘J36’, a type which gave no less than 79 years continuous main line service, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES discovers.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Class 90 electrics
One of the most successful locomotives to have operated on Britain’s railways in recent years has been the Class 90, a second-generation electric design that has racked up millions of service miles. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES reviews its story.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: The Gresley 'A3' class 'Pacifics'
One of the most famous locomotive designs ever produced was the LNER’s ‘A1’ (later ‘A3’) ‘Pacific’. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks back at the story of these iconic 4-6-2s which changed the face of rail travel on the East Coast Main Line.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Collett GWR '1366' 0-6-0PTs
The Great Western looked far back to its past in 1934 when it needed new lightweight shunting engines, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES discovers.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Mk 5 carriage story
Although locomotive-hauled coaches are largely a thing of the past, there has been one fleet of new-builds in recent years - the Mk 5s operated by Caledonian Sleeper and TransPennine Express. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks into the background of these interesting vehicles.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Beeching Report - 60 years on
Many people speak as if Dr Beeching was the man who single-handedly destroyed our railway system. In reality, he was merely the culmination of a process that had been under way for more than half a century. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES delves into the background of route closures.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
LNWR Webb ‘Coal Tanks’
One of the longest-lived products from Crewe works was the remarkable ‘Coal Tank’ of the London & North Western Railway. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the history of these Victorian locomotives, which could be handled everything from heavy coal trains to lightweight push-pull passenger services in their long careers.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Flying Scotsman at 100
Billed as the world’s most famous steam locomotive, how has Flying Scotsman captured the public’s imagination in a way nothing else has? Author ANDREW RODEN explains why it is so important.
ANDREW RODEN
The heavy freight Class 60
One of the most recognisable locomotives on the modern railway is the Brush Class 60, a design that brought to an end to almost 200 years of freight locomotive construction in the UK, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES describes.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: The Peckett 'W4' 0-4-0STs
In the days when almost every factory had its own railway system there was a massive demand for shunting engines, with one of the most prolific suppliers being Peckett & Sons of Bristol. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at one of their popular products, the ‘W4’.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: Peppercorn’s ‘K1’ 2-6-0
The period immediately before and just after nationalisation produced a great number of competent but short lived locomotives. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the Peppercorn ‘K1’, which despite being very successful in main line service lasted less than 20 years.
Metropolitan Vickers Type 2 Co-Bo
In the rush to modernise the railways in the 1950s many diesel designs were ordered straight off the drawing board. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the chequered history of one of the least successful, the Metropolitan Vickers Co-Bo.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
RAILWAY REALISM: Winter on the Line
Winter brings special challenges for the railway, with snow, ice and fog making operation particularly difficult. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES examines how the system coped in the past and today, highlighting some of the special equipment used.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Beattie '0298' 2-4-0 Well Tanks
Many steam locomotives were given second lives in industrial and heritage railway service but seldom did this happen on the main line network. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES takes a look at the Beattie well tanks, which first escaped the scrapman 116 years ago!
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: The North British D600 ‘Warships’
Although much is known about the Western Region’s famous ‘Warship’ diesel-hydraulics, British Railways owned another set of locomotives with the same description and mechanical layout - but these were rather unreliable and made an early exit, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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