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.
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
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
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 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
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
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
Class 92 Electrics
Throughout the history of Britain’s railways there have been many locomotives and trains with troubled histories, with amongst the most recent the Class 92 electrics - a design that has struggled to find its rightful place on today’s railway despite its immense capability, 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
The Southern Railway 'Lord Nelson' 4-6-0s
During the 1920s the Southern Railway identified a requirement for a powerful yet fast locomotive for use on its continental boat train services, and this was to lead to the development of the ‘Lord Nelson’ class, a design that perhaps never really lived up to its full potential. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES takes up the story.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
TRACKSIDE EQUIPMENT - PART 3
In the final part of his series looking at lineside equipment, SIMON PALEY turns his attention to the all-important signs which provide vital information.
BARROW HILL ROUNDHOUSE
The circular engine shed, or roundhouse, was once one of the most common structures on the railway but over the years hundreds have been demolished, leaving the one at Barrow Hill in Derbyshire as the only example still working and in anything like original condition, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES describes.
MODERN TRACKSIDE EQUIPMENT - PART 2
In this second installment exploring lineside equipment on today’s railway, SIMON PALEY focuses on track mounted infrastructure and outlines how you can model it.
KEEPING TRAINS MOVING
Although trains run on what is usually termed the permanent way, in fact it is anything but permanent and requires constant attention and replacement. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at how track is maintained and how that process has changed over the years.