HPMRS RAILDATE 23 Nov 07

News

RAILDATE: the weekly newsletter of the Hursley Park Model Railway Society: http://www.ibmhursleyclub.org.uk/ss/hpmrs/

BOOK NEWS

A Pictorial Guide to Southern Wagons and Vans by Terry Gough

In the 1960s, Terry Gough realised that the traditional goods wagon was rapidly disappearing from British Railways, so he set out to measure, photograph, draw and eventually model as many wagons as he could find. To augment these early observations, Terry continued to gather information from the many wagons that have been preserved in the intervening years. The result is a comprehensive survey of wagons used on the Southern Region of BR that had survived from the pre- and post-grouping eras.

For each wagon, there are full details, dimensions, livery details, variations and conversions together with excellent photographs of the prototypes and 4mm scale drawings produced especially for the book. Diagram numbers are also included to aid reference to previous published works on SR wagons, and where examples of wagons can still be seen on preserved lines, full location details are given.

This book is not intended to replace the existing standard works on the wagons of the Southern Railway and its constituents, but builds upon them to present a large selection of freight vehicles that could have been seen from the 1900s, through to the BR years, and in many cases to the present day in preservation.

Hardback with jacket: 160 pages with b/w illustrations throughout 297 x 210mm ISBN 978-1-905505-04-3 Price: £25.00 Full details: http://www.kestrelrailwaybooks.co.uk

NETWATCH

Winchester News Extra, 15th November 2007

Plans for Viaduct

A GROUP campaigning to save a historic railway structure has been relaunched in Winchester. The Friends of Hockley Viaduct hopes to make the 2,014-foot bridge more accessible to the public. It is forming months after Winchester City Council agreed to spend £500,000 over the next 12 years - preventing the viaduct from deteriorating.

The Friends of Hockley Viaduct (FoHV) was officially relaunched at Peter Symonds College on Monday (12th November 2007). It is seeking members with an interest in railways and the countryside to help safeguard the historic viaduct and make it more easily accessible for walkers and cyclists.

The viaduct, now next to the M3, was built in 1891 to carry the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway across the Itchen Valley. The Friends along with WARG, the society for Winchester archaeology and local history, will organise work parties to control the vegetation and minimise future damage. Other supporters of FoHV are the City of Winchester Trust and the Winchester Residents' Association.

In launching the FoHV, founder member Chris Webb, said: "It is now time for citizen action to help Winchester City Council with their work. There are those that talk and those that do: we must now do."

Hockley Viaduct is unusual in that, although the visible structure is brick, the columns are made of concrete, and it is probably one of the earliest and largest such structures in Wessex. It played a vital part in the build-up to D-Day in 1944, when more than 16,000 trains crossed the viaduct with valuable stores and equipment.

South Today item: http://www.bbc.co.uk/southtoday/content/articles/2007/11/12/tell_tom_hockley_feature.shtml

Island Publishing railways section: http://www.island-publishing.co.uk/railways.htm

Trevor Stone has posted some shots of Eurostars during their last week on "the juice rail" on YouTube. Included are some shots at Wandsworth Road on the morning of the last day: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2k6jL5TR4

Ian Jenkins has compiled a list of sites featuriong class 33s: http://www.biglowe.freeserve.co.uk/Crompton/CromptonFrames.htm http://class33.fotopic.net/ http://33064xehg.fotopic.net/ http://www.martinbray-ukloco.com/locomotivepicturegallery.htm http://www.therailwaycentre.com/ http://tony-watson.fotopic.net/list_collections.php http://stevekempsbritishtransportphotos.fotopic.net/c809927.html http://jdsrailway-photos.fotopic.net/

The RAIB has released its report into a derailment of a freight train at Washwood Heath on 09 June 2006: http://tinyurl.com/2cff3m

Some pictures of the official launch of East Midlands Trains are on Paul Bigland's site: http://paulbigland.fotopic.net/c1406870.html

(Spotter: Richard Buckby)

The 2008 SEmG Calendar, compiled by Peter Richards, has been uploaded to the site: http://www.semg.org.uk/calendar/2008/calendar.html

Ralph Rawlinson points out that Barry Doe's website Directory of Bus and Rail Timetables, Web Sites & Enquiry Officesis a mine of information for bus and rail travel: http://www.barrydoe.plus.com/

Hidden away under Rail Operators in the British Isles is his National Rail Passenger Operators' map. The seventh edition, showing the November and December changes, is now available for downloading. It shows routes operators will use from December 2007, but not what some will eventually use from December 2008. Grand Central is included whilst an eighth edition in a few months will add, for example, Ebbw Vale once the route opens. The direct link is: http://www.barrydoe.co.uk/railmap7.pdf

Obituary for one of the very finest railway modellers, Guy Williams, in the Times: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2871447.ece

Gert van der Pijl's additions to Trains of Europe include 75 pictures of American trains, stations, metro and railway museums, trains in art, trains on paintings by Monet, new railway music: http://www.trainsofeurope.nl

Starting a two-mile long freight train with over 15,000 tonnes trailing weight on a 1 in 50 uphill gradient: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BZvV3QucW6M (Spotter: Richard Buckby)

An American organisation - the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills: http://www.spoom.org/

IN THE NEWS

Ken Livingstone to bid to take control of all commuter trains: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2903879.ece

Report on St Pancras from BBC East Midlands Today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastmidlandstoday/latest_stories/ (click on the link, bottom left)

Ebbsfleet opens to passengers: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7101240.stm

Eurostar line sell-off confirmed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7104538.stm

Chichester getting public transport hub: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7102621.stm

£18m development plan for Derby station: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/7101947.stm

Disabled fears over station plan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7107484.stm

South Devon Railway regulations for children: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7101226.stm

Increase forecast in Welsh use of railways: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7105264.stm

French trains "hit by sabotage": http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7105045.stm

Koreas agree daily train service: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7106825.stm

Heathrow expansion plans announced: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7106524.stm

Hydrogen powered buses for London to be built by Wrights of Ballymena: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7101716.stm

Spotters: Neil Kearns, Reg Nerps, Nick Wheat

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