The Dorsetway Line – The Friendly Line! _Page 12

On Thursday 24th June 1982, 33113 awaits departure from Wool with 2W02, the 08:01

Weymouth to Bournemouth service.

Peter W Cooper

Stephen rabone Editor tel: 07794 773697 e-mail: steverabone@hotmail.com editorial postal address: 120 Churchill Road, Middlesbrough TS6 9NS

Regular Contributor: colin boocock andy coward

It’s not often that news reaches us that two new types of main line diesel are soon to be at work in Britain, but that is what has happened in the first few weeks of 2012. The first of these was the arrival of ten former Cargo Net (Norwegian State Railways freight division) Di8 Bo-Bo diesels to work on Teesside at the reopened Redcar blast furnace.

The first five locomotives arrived in December, with the second batch reaching Britain in February. Their new owners GBRf have won the contract to operate all internal works for the SSI, the Taiwanese owners of the Redcar plant. Whilst the Di8s are too large to work on the National Rail network, it will be possible to see them at work from public roads around the Lackenby and Redcar area. In fact the maintenance depot is clearly visible from the main Middlesbrough to Redcar road. It’s expected that the locomotives will be repainted in GBRf colours but when I saw Di8 716 a few weeks ago it was still in the red and yellow Norwegian colours.

Whilst the Di8s will be confined to the private steelworks network the next new type of locomotive that will be appearing on Britain’s railways will be able to roam much more widely. Direct Rail Services (DRS) have ordered fifteen of the Vossloh Espana ‘Eurolight’ Bo-Bo diesel locomotives with the intention of using them on its key intermodal and passenger train services. The ‘ Eurolight’ locomotives are already in service in Germany and will have 3750hp Caterpillar c175 engine and ABB AC traction equipment delivering a top speed of 100 mph. The ‘Eurolight’ has an appearance similar to the Class 67 and it is expected that the first will be delivered in late 2013.

Turning now to the contents of issue 203 of TRACTION that well respected photographer, Gavin Morrison, has been dipping into his archive for this issue’s Gallery feature on diesel multiple units in East Anglia. His images range from black and white photographs taken in the 1970s, with not an overhead wire to be seen, through to the early days of the ‘Sprinter’ revolution now nearly twenty years ago.

In the second part of his article about operating 55022 Royal Scots Grey on the main line, Martin Walker describes what happens when the locomotive is out on a typical working. Colin Boocock, in his article about the five types of Crossley powered locomotives, contrasts the experiences in Australia, mainland Britain and Ireland and asks whether they were a brave innovation or simply an unmitigated disaster.

Peter Cooper clearly has a great affection for the Dorsetway Line from Bournemouth to Weymouth and made extensive notes about what he saw in the 1980s, before electrification and the decline of Summer Saturday holiday trains. He found the railway staff particularly helpful and calls it the “Friendly Line”. Paul Fuller, from the Class 58 Locomotive Group, begins a series of articles about this distinctive class of freight locomotives by looking at the reasons for their introduction and their work during the British Rail years.

In one of the most moving accounts I’ve ever read about the job of a locomotive driver, Bob Dunn recounts his experiences working on the West Coast Main Line when the overhead catenary failed not once, but twice, and he received minor injuries. ‘This is an emergency call’ will change your perceptions as to what it can be like at the ‘front end’.

In TRACTION MODELLING Paul Lunn takes a detailed look at the possibilities opened up by the various models of footbridges and the incredible variety to be found on the railway network. In his second article this issue Paul delves back into the records of 1960s and 1970s to look in some detail at the mysteries of the four character train identification system that used to be displayed on locomotives and multiple units. This was a ‘golden age’ when it was possible to identify trains by their head code. For the editor, 1S68 will always be the down ‘Thames-Clyde Express’! Finally, I’ve been getting out my models of diesel motive power to run on my distinctly steam era ‘Hellifield’ layout.

Railtours from a locomotive owner’s perspective _Page 20

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All rights reserved. Material is only accepted on the understanding that there are no copyright restrictions. Although every care will be taken, all materials submitted are at the owner’s risk and Atlantic Publishers cannot be held responsible for loss or damage however caused. Copyright on all materials in this magazine remains vested in the Authors and Atlantic Publishers. Reproduction of the whole or any part is forbidden without the relevant permissions. Atlantic Publishers and the Editor cannot be held responsible for any error that might occur in text or advertisements. Reliance placed upon the contents of the magazine is entirely at the reader’s own risk.

©atlantic publishers Ltd. 2012 Contents news

Current mainline and heritage traction developments

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The Class 58 story and Railfreight _Page 32

the Dorsetway Line –

the Friendly Line! Peter W Cooper remembers operations on the Bournemouth to Weymouth line in the 1980s

12

Railtours from a locomotive owner’s perspective –

Part two

Martin Walker, the owner of 55022

Royal Scots Grey describes what happens when the locomotive is out on the main line

20

Cover 50049 and 50044 make the Huddersfield stop at 22:11 to set down passengers on the return leg of Spifire Railtours ‘Edinburgh Explorer II’, 1Z33, the 17:37 Edinburgh to Preston on Saturday 19th November 2011. Jonathan Dye

TRACTION is published bi-monthly by Atlantic Publishers.

next Issue No.204 JUL/AUG on sale 1st JUN 2012

ISSN: 1354-2680

the Crossleys – a brave innovation or unmitigated disaster? Colin Boocock describes how different railways overcame the problems these locomotives presented

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46

48

tPo Your letters and photos to the editor

Reviews The latest books and DVDs

This is an emergency call _Page 38

www.atlanticpublishers.com

Publisher: Trevor Ridley editor: Stephen Rabone

Design & Production: Juliet Arthur

Advertising: Bob Handley Tel: 0845 2260477 – Fax: 0845 2260377 Email: bobh@media-shed.co.uk

Distribution: News Trade, Warners Distribution – Tel: 01778 392417 Model Trade, Warners Trade Sales – Tel: 01778 392404

Printed by: Warners Midlands plc east Anglian diesel multiple units Gavin Morrison delves into his archives to show the changing face of East Anglian railways and its DMUs

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52

the Class 58 story and Railfreight – Part one the British Rail days Paul Fuller begins a new series

32

about this distinctive class of freight locomotives

56

this is an emergency call

Bob Dunn, a West Coast Main Line locomotive driver, describes what happens when the overhead wires come down on his train

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Contributions to tRACtIon We are always interested in receiving contributions for TRACTION to allow us to make the magazine even more interesting. If you can write about your experiences as a member of the railway’s staff, or as an enthusiast, we’d really like to hear from you. We need interesting articles on any subject related to the diesel and electric traction, as well as features for those interested in model railways. Text can be in typed or digital formats. We can accept photographs in colour or black and white, and in any format; prints, negatives, slides or digital.

tRACtIon MoDeLLInG

4PID Paul Lunn looks in detail at the Four Position Train Identification System used by British Rail and explains how it can be modelled

Footbridge Focus Paul Lunn delves into the incredible variety of footbridges to be found on Britain’s stations and suggests ways of replicating them in miniature

Hellifield enters the diesel era Stephen Rabone turns his steam era layout of Hellifield over to early diesel traction

Modelling news • The MREmag & RMweb Wishlist Poll – 2012 • Exhibitions www.atlanticpublishers.com

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