Rail Express

RAIL EXPRESS is Britain's favourite modern rail enthusiast title. Undoubtedly the best for modern traction photography, the magazine keeps readers informed and entertained with undiluted coverage of Britain's railways in the diesel and electric era. First produced in 1996, RE has set a new standard for the hobby, with a clean design, high quality paper and the best reproduction. January 2008 saw the magazine relaunched in an innovative 'supersize' format, showing off the ground-breaking contents to the best advantage. Every issue includes news and analysis covering the present day railway scene, plus the latest preservation developments. Also inside: RAIL EXPRESS Modeler - Diesel & Electric era modeling magazine

Rail Express

Labour’s nationalisation plans in place

Royal Mail to abandon ‘325s’

Class 345 order details revealed

Class 175s set for Great Western Railway

First Class 90s scrapped • After almost two decades in store, the end has come for two of the electric locomotives.

DBC at Stoke restarts ‘Stegasaurus’ programme • Having completed the latest batch of BYA slab carrier conversions at its Potteries wagon works, DB Cargo UK has commissioned a further batch of the angular coil carrying rebuilds.

Cross-City ‘730’ workings increase • More Aventra diagrams introduced on Birmingham Cross-City line.

West Coast Railways hires Riviera ‘air-cons’ • Riviera Trains Mk.2s head to Fort William.

Power scene • Our authoritative class-by-class review of newsworthy locomotive workings.

Seven ‘Teddy Bears’ reunited for 60th anniversary • Class 14 event draws the crowds.

Belfast Lanyon Place station bids farewell to Enterprise service • Uncertainty about when Grand Central Station will open may yet see Lanyon Place used on a temporary basis for the Cross Border service.

GB Railfreight receives Class 18s • The Clayton hybrid shunters have begun to be delivered to Network Rail yards.

How much longer can the TRV remain in service? • Since the late 1980s, London Underground has used a three-car unit to assess the condition of track across the network, but how much longer can it last in traffic?

Revolution Trains enters the ‘TT:120’ world

GM giants in ‘OO’ gauge • Love them or hate them, you cannot deny that the Class 66 translates well into model form. Has Accurascale hit the mark with its revamp of the Hatton’s Originals model?

Bachmann’s technology-rich Class 31 • ‘Goyles’, ‘Peds’ or ‘Brians’? Whatever you call a Class 31, the brand-new model from Bachmann is no slouch and comes fully loaded with features.

‘OO’ ‘Fabnpps’ aggregate wagon by Revolution Trains

CIÉ/Bulleid ‘Triangulated’ open wagons • Humble open wagons kick off a new range of freight wagons from Irish Railway Models, based on Bulleid’s standard triangulated underframe or chassis.

Testing the TXS Class 50

Modelling double junctions • One of the trickiest track formations to incorporate into layout design is the double junction. How do they affect layout operations?

Celebrating Stadler’s transformational trains • Greater Anglia recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of the introduction of its Class 755 fleet. Richard Clinnick reports from the event.

‘People only see opportunities in the UK, not the world’ • High Speed Trains exported to Central America and West Africa certainly caught the attention last year. Richard Clinnick meets Robert Coleman, the chairman of Romic Consulting Limited, the company behind these deals, and looks at the potentially interesting future awaiting HSTs (and other fleets).

TPE ‘802’ alternative power trial – batteries are included! • Trials using a TransPennine Express Class 802 fitted with batteries are underway. TPE...