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Chairman Secretary Editor John Clark Tony Wright David Hinxman 17 Beckett Close 43 Pyotts Copse, Old Basing 2 Dean Close Basingstoke Basingstoke Winchester RG23 8HS RG24 8WE SO22 5LP 01256 350329 01256 331002, 01962 861233 jeclark71@hotmail.com secretary@bdrs70d.com bdrsnewsletter@yahoo.co.uk

Meetings to be held on Wednesdays at 7.45pm at the Wote Street Club, Basingstoke: 8 FEBRUARY: A PASSAGE THROUGH INDIA - Colin Brading returns to show us his travels through India in 1985 and 2000 and includes a range of lines and gauges as well as the vibrant life of this country. 22 FEBRUARY: THE HILL RAILWAYS OF GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND INDIA - Alex Green, the brother of Chris, worked for Regional Railways before privatisation. He now works for Great Rail Journeys and here will discuss the differences between these railways from the perspective of a tour manager. 8 MARCH: MANAGING REGIONAL RAILWAYS: Theo Steel, a former manager of Regional Railways before privatisation, describes the formation and the development of this sector of BR during the 1980s. 22 MARCH: STRICTLY STRALSUND: Honorary Member Richard Green returns fto show members what the overseas group saw on their 27th annual overseas trip, this time to Stralsund in North Germany.

We would be pleased to hear from anyone who could give a railway-based presentation. This Newsletter is produced by the Basingstoke and District Railway Society and is issued free of charge and for the interest of its members and of the Society’s friends

Visit us at : www.bdrs70d.com February 2017 Vol.45 No.2

Snapped by Membership Secretary Graham Lambert at Clapham Junction when he

was en route to watch West Ham United play Manchester United on 2 January 2017.

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EDITORIAL SUBSCRIPTIONS 2017 A reminder from our Membership Secretary, Graham Lambert. At the Society's AGM held on 25th January Members approved the Committee's recommendation that the annual subscriptions remains at £4.00 for Adults and £2.00 for Juniors. In order to maintain your Membership you should pay your subscription at the earliest opportunity and certainly by the end of March. If you are unable to attend a meeting in February or March please send your subscription cheque, payable to BDRS, to me at "Crillon", 54 Waltham Road, Overton, Hampshire, RG25 3NE. Thank you. National Express to sell c2c to Italian railways

National Express is set to sell its last British rail franchise to Italy. Trenitalia, part of FS Italiane Group, will acquire the c2c franchise for some £70 million. The deal is subject to the consent of the Department for Transport and existing c2c management and staff are to be retained. It will also mark the exit of National Express from the franchised rail sector in Britain, although it still has the concession to operate Midland Metro trams.

Funding for D-Train trial withdrawn after engine fire Trials of a converted Underground train on a London Midland route have been put on hold indefinitely, and public funding for the trial service has been withdrawn.The D-Train, developed by Warwickshire-based Vivarail, uses diesel engines to generate traction current for the existing motors, but a test run had to be halted when a fire broke out in one of the engines as the three-car set passed through Kenilworth on 30 December 2016. Vivarail has launched a full investigation and said it did not expect the incident to have any long-term effect, but the West Midlands Combined Authority has withdrawn financial support because there 'is no longer enough time' to include D-Train proposals in imminent bids for the next West Midlands franchise. It had been hoped that the first D-Train, now known as Class 230, could have entered trial public service between Coventry and Nuneaton next month. Traxx AC3 locomotives for Germany's HSL Logistik For members with an interest in European railways I can report that Hamburg-based rail freight operator HSL Logistik has ordered four Traxx AC3 locomotives from Bombardier Transportation. The company is one of the largest privately owned rail freight operators in Germany, operating around 300 trains a week last year. It currently has a fleet of 37 locomotives, plus 7 shunting locomotives. The new AC3s will allow the company to ramp up services to 380 trains a week in 2017. Bombardier will deliver the new Traxx locomotives, which are being built in Kassel, sometime around the end 2017 and start of 2018. RAIB releases safety digest after Toton derailment The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has issued a safety digest after an incident in Nottinghamshire last October in which a train ran away from its driver and travelled almost a kilometre along an independent goods line before coming off the rails.The Class 70 Colas Rail train ran down a gradient at Toton sidings while it was being prepared to be coupled to another train, leaving the driver and shunter unable to stop it. The train eventually travelled about half a mile along the independent goods line before hitting trap points and derailing. The RAIB has said that the incident demonstrates the importance of drivers ensuring that a rail vehicle is secured and making sure that drivers are appropriately trained to perform processes they would only perform occasionally. The train had just arrived at Toton when it ran away after the driver started the train’s engine and intended, but failed, to reinstate the parking brakes, accidentally isolating them instead. As the driver did not secure the train by scotching the wheels before it was

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uncoupled, the train ran away before it could be secured to the new bogie. Unfortunately the shunter who climbed into the cab in an attempt to stop the train found himself unable to do so because the driver had isolated the brakes. The RAIB said that the need to ensure that trains are appropriately secured when working on their braking systems, such as by using scotches, had been covered in its report of a similar incident in 2014 when a train ran away from Quorn station and collided with stationary vehicles. As the old saying goes, you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink. A First for DB's 92015 The first container train travelling between China and the UK arrived at Barking in east London on 18 January after making a journey across Asia and Europe before arriving in Britain via the Channel Tunnel through which it was hauled by Class 92 locomotive no. 92015.The train, comprising 34 wagons carrying 68 containers, brought textiles and other consumer goods. It was operated by the InterRail Group on behalf of China Railway subsidiary CRIMT, and DB Cargo was responsible for working the final section from Duisberg to London. The starting point was Yiwu in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. The train reached London around 18 days later, making it twice as fast as transport by sea. Is the start of a new chapter in the history of this centuries old trading route? Britain is the latest destination added to the China–Europe rail link, and London is one more international connection for the InterRail Group, along with Duisburg, Madrid, Afghanistan and Riga, on the "One Belt – One Road" corridor, an initiative of the Chinese government. DB has collaborated with its partners since 2011 to operate weekly container trains on the world's longest railway which connects, among other cities, Duisburg, Hamburg, Wuhan, Chongqing, Harbin and the Chinese province of Hefei. DB said that around 40,000 containers were transported by train along the legendary Silk Road in 2016. The volume is expected to increase to some 100,000 containers by 2020.The service is used in particular by customers with time-sensitive commodities, including special promotional clothing items and capital-intensive goods, such as automotive parts and electronics. On the return journey it is hoped that the train will be carrying British-made goods, and produce including cars, machinery and food items from around the UK. There will also be hams, cheeses and wine from Spain and beer from Germany. East Coast Main Line (ECML) performance costs Stagecoach Just before putting this newsletter to bed I read that Stagecoach has pumped in a further £34 million to support its struggling East Coast Main Line franchise as passenger numbers continue to be disappointing. They have promised to pay the Government £3.3 billion over the eight years of their franchise. Stagecoach said that the cash injection would support efforts to increase passenger numbers. Do they mean subsidise fares? What next for Great Western? In the same article I read that the Department of Transport are exploring the possibility of splitting Great Western when its current deal expires in three years' time. This includes considering how to get the franchise operator to work more closely with Network Rail apparently. Maybe a separate Devon and Cornwall franchise is on the horizon? Next the Duchy will be wanting independence. West Coast/HS2 franchise 'once in a lifetime opportunity'

A new prospectus for the next Intercity West Coast franchise has been published by the Department for Transport (DfT) confirming that the next operator will also be expected to manage the introduction of services on HS2. Phase 1 of the high speed line is due to open in 2026. and the De-partment has described the combined project as a 'once in a lifetime opportunity'. Known as the West Coast Partnership franchise, the contract will run from 2019, and the DfT has described its ambitions for the route, as setting a new international standard for rail that other countries admire and seek to emulate.

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HS2 train procurement launched

The Government has started the procurement process for the first generation of trains on HS2. The contract is valued at £2.75 billion and will involve up to 60 new trains capable of travelling at 360km/h. The work to build the new fleet will create 'hundreds of jobs', according to the Department for Transport. The winning bidder will maintain the fleet at Washwood Heath in Birmingham alongside the HS2 Network Control Centre. The award of the contract is expected at the end of 2019.

NORTH NORFOLK AUTUMN BREAK (PART THREE) DAVID BRACE Our final morning required a leisurely start at Dereham station on the Mid Norfolk Railway in order to catch the 10.30 to Wymondham and back. There is only a single train operating a limited service midweek at this time of year. The station is fairly substantial with 2 through platforms and a bay. At the northern end there are semaphore signals, a signal box and a level crossing. None of this is in regular use at present. There is an excessive amount of rolling stock stored in the station area including some locos such as a class 45, a class 37 and two class 47s. Our train consisted of a former BR DMU No 101695, previously from Corkerhill in Glasgow. The driver and guard were friendly and chatted to us throughout the 11½ mile journey. Within the first mile there were two busy main roads to cross with modern half barriers and a further 4 crew-operated crossing gates requiring the guard to leave and re-join the train each time. We stopped at 3 intermediate stations, one of which at Thuxton has a passing loop enabling two trains to operate when necessary.

The substantial red brick Dereham Station, headquarters of the Mid-Norfolk Railway.

Dereham North with all its traditional features: a water crane, semaphore signals, level crossing and crossing box.

At Wymondham Abbey Class 101 dmu 101695 awaits its next turn of duty. All pictures David Brace

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The terminus is at Wymondam Abbey, obviously close to the abbey but a 10 minute walk into the town. There is then a siding where trains can be positioned to allow passing movements. The line continues onto the national network a further ½mile beyond the terminus and this enables charter trains to visit this heritage line. Our return journey had a coach group occupying 1 carriage and they were provided with drinks and biscuits at Dereham in a carriage located in the bay platform. We also brought back a spare driver who was going to supervise a driving experience in one of the Class 47s.

A REAL CHEW CHEW TRAIN? COURTESY OF ED’S BROTHER JOHN

A train made entirely of chocolate has set a new Guinness World Record as the longest chocolate structure in the world!

The chocolate sculpture is on display at the busy Brussels South station. It is 112 feet long and weighs over 2,755 pounds. Maltese chocolate artist Andrew Farrugia spent over 700 hours constructing the masterpiece. He had previously built a smaller train of 12 feet for an event in Malta, which he said gave him insight about how to build this much larger version.

There are two parts to the train. The first seven wagons are modelled after the new Belgian trains, and the rest of the train is modelled after old train wagons, including a wagon with a bar and restaurant on board.

Three days before the event, Mr. Farrugia transported the chocolate train by truck in 25 wooden boxes from Malta to Belgium unfortunately incurring considerable damage en route. Several of the train's walls had completely collapsed but, with hard work and little sleep, the chocolate artist was able to fix all the damages before presenting the train to the public.

After measuring the length of the train and confirming no material other than chocolate was used, officials from the Guinness Book Of World Records added a new category to the collection of world records and declared the train to be the longest chocolate structure in the world.

In this image taken from the Internet, the chocolate locomotive and tender present a mouth-watering picture. The two people, can you find the second by the way, give an idea of the scale of the sculpture.

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REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS 11January - The Re-opening of the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) with Andy Savage Our speaker in this, our first meeting of the New Year, was Andy Savage, former Deputy Chairman of the Welsh Highland Railway and Vice President of the Ffestiniog Railway Society. Andy is a central figure in the story of the Welsh Highland and he came with a truly awesome armory of facts and figures illustrated with a collection of excellent slides illustrating the numerous phases as the reopened line crept south from the terminus in Caernarfon, first to Dinas in 1997, then Waunfawr, Rhyd Ddu, Beddgelert and finally Porthmadog, completing 25 miles of reconstructed 2 foot gauge railway in 2011. Andy gave a brief history of the WHR, explaining that it came from the amalgamation in 1922 of the existing Croesor Tramway, the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways, and the uncompleted Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway. All these lines were moribund or bankrupt by the beginning of the first World War. The railway, then known as the Welsh Highland Railway (Light Railway), was not a success, the last passenger trains running in 1936 and the last freight train in June 1937. The track was taken up for the war effort in 1941-2 and the track bed lay abandoned until the mid 1990's when efforts started to reopen it. The speaker went on to describe how the fortuitous acquisition of withdrawn Beyer-Garrett locos from South Africa provided just the powerful engines needed to haul 10 coach passenger trains up the 1 in 40 gradients to the summit of the line. The refurbished railway workshops at Boston Lodge showed amazing skills in building new rolling stock, the envy of many other heritage railways. Andy completed his presentation with an illustrated description of the new Harbour station at Porthmadog that can accommodate Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog trains at the same time . His last slide provided probably the only contentious item of the evening, the architects’ illustration of the

THE FIRST CLASS 88 HAS ARRIVED ED. In the middle of January the first Class 88 locomotive arrived at Southampton. The locomotive, numbered 88002 and named 'Prometheus', was soon on its way to Carlisle Kingmoor by road transport. The Class 88 is intended as a fully dual mode locomotive, with the diesel engine powerful enough to haul a train on its own, although with only 20% of the power in electric mode. The Class 88s will be the first dual mode locomotives in the UK to use the 25kV AC electrification. The only other electro-diesel locomotives to have entered service on the British network were those in Class 73 and Class 74, which operated in the Southern Region using third rail electrification. The Class 88 is intended to serve as a mixed-traffic locomotive, capable of operating both passenger and freight services. Primarily they will be used to enable DRS to haul freight using electric lpower without the need to hire in such traction from other operators. However, as with their diesel ‘twin’ Class 68, they will also be capable of operating passenger trains.

Courtesy of Allelys Group Website

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new “contemporary” station at Caernarfon, work on which has just begun. Opinion on its merits is deeply divided. Looking to the future the WHR is now fund raising in order to achieve a “Sustainable Railway”. Peter Wells 25 January: AGM followed by THE HEDJAZ RAILWAYS OF JORDAN AND SYRIA with Doug Cross Part One The Society's Annual General Meeting occupied the first part of the evening. John Clark was re - elected Chairman with yours truly continuing as Vice - Chairman and Newsletter Editor. Tony Wright was re-elected as Secretary and Wally Stamper as Treasurer. Below is the Committee for 2017 but if you would like to contribute to the running of the Society by joining the Committee then please do not hesitate to contact any of us: Membership Secretary - Graham Lambert Programme Organiser - Roger Smith Overseas Trip Organiser - David Brace Programme Support - Jeff Proudley Publicity - George Porter Raffle - Richard Stumpf Information Technology - Iain Henshaw Website Coordinator - Andy Fewster Part Two Society member Doug Cross had twice visited this railway, first in 2003 and again in 2004 taking part in railway based tours which took in several of the ancient sites including Petra and Bosra, to complete our evening, We were treated to an excellent selection of what, given the current state of affairs in that part of the world, may now be historic photographs of steam locomotives in the desert. Manned and maintained by senior citizens (the travelling fitter was 72 years of age) the trains ran largely to the tune of the travelling tourists, stopping here for a run past, or there on a viaduct for impact and so on and belching oily exhaust on request. It seemed that without rubbing a magic tail lamp, your wishes would be granted. The Hedjaz Railway was a narrow gauge railway (1,050 mm/3 ft 5 11

⁄32 in) running from Damascus to Medina, through the Hedjaz region of Saudi Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea. (Damascus to Aleppo was standard gauge.) The Hedjaz Railway was a part of the Ottoman railway network built beyond Damascus to the holy city of Mecca. It got no further than Medina, 250 miles short of Mecca, however, due to the interruption of the construction works caused by the outbreak of World War I. Damascus to Medina is 825 miles. The main purpose of the railway was to establish a connection between Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the seat of the Islamic Caliphate, and Hedjaz in Arabia, the site of the holiest shrines of Islam and the holy city of Mecca, the destination of the Hajj annual pilgrimage. Another important reason was to improve the economic and political integration of the distant Arabian provinces into the Ottoman state, and to facilitate the transportation of military forces. However, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1920 the railway did not reopen south of the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border. As well as the tourist specials there was, at the time of Doug's visits, freight to be found on the Aqaba Railway with phosphate trains running 8 or 9 times daily behind GE diesel locomotives from

phosphate mines near Ma'an to Aqaba. Otherwise there were no scheduled services. Locomotives could be seen abandoned in the desert but not rusting away in the dry climate. Those still operating included British, German, Belgian and Japanese tender locomotives with 2-8-2 or 4-6-2 wheel arrangements and it was noticeable that, in built up areas, the railway had priority over motorised and pedestrian traffic. Some of the locations which Doug had visited would now be completely out of bounds and, for me, it was the comparison with what one might find there now that set me thinking. Although Doug had experienced some security issues with armed guards on board in Jordan, the visits did enable him to make an impressive record of this Middle East railway relic. I was particularly amused that there had been times when travelling across the desert where the tracks had been covered by sand giving the impression that the train was on the loose! Surreal.

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MEETINGS OF OTHER SOCIETIES Meon Valley Locomotive Society: 7.45pm, Church Hall, Free Street, Bishop’s Waltham 14 February – The East Coast Main Line in Diesel Days with David Peel 14 March - Life at Winchester Station in the good old days with Rod Youngman Newbury and District Transport Group: 7.30pm, Kennet School Library, Stoney Lane, Thatcham 20 February: The Southern around Reading with Paul Joyce 20 March: Buses around Bristol with James Freeman Railway Club of the New Forest: 7.30pm, Mclellan Hall, Lymington Community Centre, Cannon Street, Lymington 24 February: Bletchley Park with Valerie Young 24 March: The Rhaetian Railway [die Rhätische Bahn] with John Fissler Oxfordshire Railway Society: 7.30pm, Seacourt Day Centre, Seacourt Road, Botley, Oxford 8 February ; AGM, Members' Talks and photo competition 8 March: A History of the London Underground with Chris Caddy RCTS Solent Branch: 7.30pm, Railway Institute, Romsey Road, Eastleigh SO50 9FE 15 February: Three Rivers Partnership with Mark Miller 15 March: Organising a heritage railway with Liam Kenchenton. RCTS Surrey Branch: 7.00pm, United Reformed Church, White Rose Lane, Woking 28 February: The Role of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch with Neil Gove, Inspector of Rail Accidents, RAIB 9 March: The Life and Times of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway - A Personal Perspective with Philip Benham, former Chairman, North Yorkshire Moors Railway Reading Transport Group: 7.45pm, Church House, Church Street, Caversham, Reading For programme visit - readingtransportgroup.weebly.com/ Southern Counties Railway Society: 6.45pm, Friends Meeting House, Ordnance Road, Southampton 18 February: (1) Planning a Railtour; and (2) Locomotive Services Ltd's Locomotives in Action with Mathew Mills 18 March: Railway Infrastructure at Night with Stephen Bigley

WHERE AM I ?