The Railway Magazine

WHAT a weekend August 17/18 turned out to be for rail enthusiasts helping to celebrate 50 years of electricity generation at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. Drax is one of the generation of power stations built in the 1960s and 70s to be larger and more efficient that before, fuelled by long rakes of Merry-Go-Round wagons bringing coal from nearby collieries that was loaded and unloaded automatically, and with loop lines at either end of the circuit that avoided the need for locomotive shunts. Today though – and unlike most of its contemporaries, including nearby Aire Valley neighbours at Eggborough and Ferrybridge – Drax has avoided closure and reached its Golden Jubilee year by evolving from being coal-fired to one fuelled by biomass. Thankfully, the sheer volume of the…

THE 50th anniversary of Drax Power Station was marked over the weekend of August 17/18, with a series of events that together raised more than £37,000 for the Martin House Children’s Hospice charity. The weekend began with two photoshoots on the afternoon and evening of August 17, featuring past and present locos and wagons involved with the movement of coal and biomass to power stations. Nos. 20118 Saltburn-by-the-Sea+20132 (evening only), 37901 Mirrlees Pioneer, 56098, 59202 Pride of Ferrybridge, 60076 Cross Fell, 66004, 66301 and 70004 were positioned in and around the power station’s now disused coal delivery bunker. The National Wagon Preservation Group’s HMA wagon No. 355798 and Chasewater Railway’s HDA No. 368103 (which had arrived separately by road in early August), Freightliner’s specially-cleaned HTA bogie coal wagons Nos. 370188+370227,…

THE new Government is sending mixed messages about future rail policy, which at a high level promises decarbonisation and a green agenda, but also the Restoring Your Railway initiative has been axed. When the fund was launched in 2020, MPs, local councils and community groups across England and Wales were invited to propose how they could use it to reinstate axed local services and closed stations. The £500 million fund was split into three categories to support projects in different stages of development. The first was the Ideas Fund, where the DfT would provide 75% of the cost to undertake economic studies to create a business case to indicate the benefit of restoring lost connections. 141 proposals were received in this category and 10 successful bids were announced in May…

HEADLINE NEWS THE newly rebuilt line between Bletchley and Bicester via Claydon was handed over to Network Rail on August 25, making it available for use as part of the national rail network, signalled from Claydon workstation within Rugby ROC. Certain operating restrictions currently apply, but paths for empty stock runs between Oxford and Milton Keynes are already in the timetable for December onwards, making public services possible in late 2025. Ahead of the handover, No. 37418 An Comunn Gaidhealach and inspection saloon No. 975025 Caroline made several runs over the new line, the photo being a driver’s view looking west over the flyover at Bletchley High Level platforms on August 8. PHIL MARSH…

HEADLINE NEWS GREAT Western Railway is understood to be preparing for the arrival of former Transport for Wales Class 175 diesel multiple units, in readiness for staff training. The company has yet to officially confirm any plans for the Alstom-built trains (the last of which were withdrawn by TfW in October 2023, having been displaced by new Class 197s ordered from CAF), but The RM has seen a GWR-branded map indicating “planned operating territory” for the Class 175s. It suggests they could be regularly used on the routes between Exeter St David’s and Penzance, Barnstaple and Okehampton and occasionally on Truro-Falmouth services. Taunton-Castle Cary and Castle Cary-Exeter St David’s would be diversionary routes. Exeter St David’s to St Philip’s Marsh depot in Bristol is highlighted as a regular path for…

A PILOT scheme by ScotRail in which peak fares were temporarily withdrawn in a bid to encourage more use of rail has been scrapped, writes Chris Milner. The scheme, which was intended to entice drivers and passengers from their cars, began on October 2, 2023 and will end on September 27 this year. Analysis of the project has shown there has been a limited increase in patronage, and the intention of a modal shift from road to rail has not been met. Scotland’s Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The pilot primarily benefited existing train passengers and those with medium to higher incomes. Although passenger levels increased to a maximum of around 6.8%, it would require a 10% increase in passenger numbers for the policy to be self-financing. “The pilot will…