CAS Weekly 09/01/15

January 9, 2015August 23, 2016Andy Carter Leave a comment

Image from the BBC & London Green Party

Modelling

A pre-production example of the DJ Models’ J94 has been published by eHattons.

UK Rail

Yet more disruption at one of the capital’s main termini. This time it’s London Bridge…
…TheMurkyDepths also looks at how Southeastern services are about to undergo hidden changes!
Former Transport Secretary calls for TfL to absorb all of South London’s rail network into The Overground brand.
The Department for Transport release a report covering the capacity and demand figures for the East and West Coast Mainlines.
A disused siding could be turned into an elevated parkway in Peckham.
Embankment, Charing Cross, Strand, Trafalgar Square: All used at one point to describe the same station. Geoff Marshall from The Londonist helps to unravel this mess with a helpful video…
…They also tell you when and where your best chances of a guaranteed seat on the tube.
Like Modernist Buildings? Check out this wonderful blog from Daniel Wright on some of London Transport’s finest.
…And The National Railway Museum remembers Winston Churchill’s last journey.

World Rail

Rail Freight enjoys huge growth in the U.S. in 2014…
…and in California construction of a new high-speed line begins.

(Featured Image by MattBuck).

CAS Weekly: 19/12/14

December 19, 2014August 23, 2016Andy Carter Leave a comment

Croxley Green Station by Nigel Cox

Modelling

Hornby announce new 2015 range.

UK Rail

Network Rail are offering unique tours to the top of the Forth Rail Bridge next March to mark the bridge’s 125th anniversary.
The Londonist’s Secrets Of The Underground DVD by Geoff Marshall is now shipping.
Derailed train travels at 100mph as passengers report bumpy ride! Network Rail to investigate.
Diamond Geezer takes a trip to abandoned Croxley Green station.
UK Rail Freight is in boom.
Northern Rail’s Guide Bridge station gets major revamp…
…whilst South West Trains’ The Island Line gets a £2million boost to help repair recent storm damage.
Manchester Metrolink trams are to be kitted out with free wifi.
and an impromptu Erasure sing along breaks out at Kentish Town Tube Station.

World Rail

Poland’s first high-speed train, an Alstom Pendolino, entered service on Sunday.
Have you seen CTA Chicago’s Christmas Train? Time Out want TfL to introduce something similar in London.

Image by Douglas Rahden

* * * Merry Christmas from Calling All Stations * * *

CAS Weekly: 12/12/14

December 12, 2014August 23, 2016Andy Carter 1 Comment

It’s my intention to start curating a weekly wrap of interesting railway based news (of a both real and modelling persuasion). So here’s this weeks interesting stories:

Modelling

Pendolino in N have set up a ground funding website to make an N-Gauge model of the Virgin Pendolino 390’s.
Loco Yard are running their traditional Advent Calendar feed…
…as are OO Rail.
A man has created the best (or worst?) Christmas jumper which includes a working model railway as seen in The Metro.

UK Rail

The Londonist have created a Medieval Tube Map of Ye Olde Ancient London destinations.
They’ve also ran a pole on who should get the armrest on trains…
London Bridge Station is to start an extensive 3 year remodeling program over the Christmas period. Expect Disruption.
London Reconnections are running a challenging transport themed Christmas Quiz! Entrants could win limited edition 1:120 models from the Corgi Railways Legends collection.
TfL have announced their ‘Ticket Hall Transformation Schedule.’ (Or job cuts to you and me).
Geoff Marshal takes a sneak peak at the ongoing work to revamp Tottenham Court Road station for Crossrail.
A petition to save Ashburton Station is on 38 Degrees.
The UK Rail network continues to get busier…
…and more expensive.

Review: Bachmann Class 20 – GBRf and London Transport

June 10, 2014October 8, 2014Andy Carter 2 Comments

A special double review for you today – two Bachmann Class 20’s!

Overview

Image by Dave Hitchborne

228 Class 20‘s were designed by English Electric and built between 1957 and 1968 in Newton and Darlington. They were initially intended to service light mixed freight work and were fitted with the English Electric’s 8 SVT Diesel engines capable of producing 1,000 horse power and a top speed of 75mph. For today’s standards the Class 20 is unusual in the fact it has a single cab at the rear of the loco giving the driver poor visibility in the ‘forward’ direction. Despite this, English Electric’s design proved more successful than their competitors of the time: Both the Class 15 and 16 by Thompson-Houston and North British Loco Company respectively featured off-set central cabs giving poor visibility in both directions; and although the Clayton Class 17’s (of which I reviewed last week) had better visibility, their reliability let them down. BR therefore continued to order the ever reliable class 20’s coupling them nose-to-nose in multiple to solve the visibility problem. This practice effectively gave you 2,000hp of tractive power enabling the 20’s to be utilised in heavier freight duties. Some were also retrofitted with train heating and were deployed on passenger routes in the Scottish Highlands.

Continue reading →

Side Tracked: The Forgotten Strike

February 11, 2014October 8, 2014Andy Carter Leave a comment

UPDATE 15:06pm: It is confirmed both unions have suspended strikes this week.

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UPDATE 12:17pm: Shortly after publishing this, one of the unions taking part in the strike (TSSA) have agreed to call off the walk-out planned for 21:30 tonight. It is unclear at the moment whether RMT have also agreed to call off their strike. If they have – it is almost certain the bellow Revenue Strike will also not go ahead. It’s still worth a read though..

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The tube strikes last week, and the 2nd set planned for tonight, have been widely covered by the media. The strikes have caused transport misery in the capital this February with commuters queuing hours for buses and forcing swathes of people to walk to their destinations. Some reports however suggest lines were running near empty services as customers deserted the tube in large numbers.

In conjunction with the station staff walk-out there has been a 2nd, less well publicised, type of strike happening over the last two weeks.

It’s called a Revenue Strike and took place last Friday (7th) and yesterday (10th) and is planned to happen again this Friday (14th).

At certain times of the day RMT workers will open ticket gates, shut up ticket offices and machines and refuse to sell tickets or issue penalty fares. So what does that mean? Free ride right? Well I certainly wouldn’t be condoning that would I… but the information and details of when ticket gates will be opened can be found here on the 2nd page of this official RMT strike leaflet.

Customers would still be encouraged to tap in at the start of their journey incase the gates are not open at the end of their journey for whatever reason. (Remember not everyone is in the unions). You could always claim that nobody was able to sell you a ticket be it paper or oyster top up.

With the general public struggling to back the strike this may be a type of walk-out that generates more support with commuters. Especially as such a small amount of union members turned out to vote in the strikes.

– Andy Carter