Headline News

Crossrail stock order deferred; ‘Fab Four’ gala postponed until spring; Football club joins Bombardier fight; All six surviving A4s to be reunited?; Fares to rise by another 8%; Franchise changes outlined; Big boost to branch lines; Boulder derailed train; Edinburgh tramway crisis.

Track Record

62 Steam & Heritage
King Edward II?to miss Great Central gala; Heritage line bid to carry Olympic flame; Isle of Wight sees red.

73 Railtours
End of the line for barrier vehicles?; NRM?links sites with shuttles; Tornado and ‘King’ for ‘Help for Heroes’ special.

79 Freight

80 Traction & Stock
London Midland launches Class 172; ‘Chiltern Mainline’ gets ready; Six Class 57/3s for Network Rail.

85 Traction Update
Scrapped, repainted, named or sold? Full details here.

88 Network
Chaos after water main bursts; Chiltern unveils simple fares; East-West link could generate £38million.

91 Narrow Gauge
Chevallier returns to Whipsnade; Chaloner steams full length of WHR; Kirklees fusible plug incident.

93 Miniature

94 Classic Traction
Gas-turbine delived to Didcot; Class 73 50th anniversary approaches; APT power car sent to Coventry.

97 Metro

98 World
Belgian Class 18s finally enter service; Ex-Union Pacific locos on Estonian charters; China builds for Australia.

100 Operations News
A round-up of news from the train and freight operating companies.

Features

14 The Tracks of our Years
John Stretton looks at the £70m project to redouble sections of the Cotswold line, reversing the ill-thought-out policies of previous years.

18 Death in Captivity
In the first part of an exclusive survey, Paul Bickerdyke presents a guide to main line diesel locos scrapped after being earmarked for preservation. In a couple of issues, we will deal with betrayed steam.

24 If at first you don’t succeed...
Former RM?editor Peter Kelly unearths an interview written 25 years ago but never published.

27 The Feisty 43s
Passenger or freight, the GWR?43XXs were gutsy performers, as Keith Farr explains in this month’s Practice &?Performance.

40 Thriving... five years after closure
Phil Marsh visits Arlington Fleet Services and Knights Rail at Eastleigh Works to see how the site is flourishing, five years after it was closed.

44 Inside a Steam Loco Works
Nick Pigott recalls his coup 25 years ago when he visited Datong Loco Works in China - without a permit!

48 The Windermere Line
In the third of our Branch Line Focus series, Chris Milner puts this popular Lake Distric line under the spotlight.

Regulars

32 Subscriptions Offer

34 Time Traveller

36 Reviews

53 Readers’ Platform
Your own page - as lively as ever.

56 Panorama
This month a Colour Rail special to mark the launch of their new catalogue.

107 100 Years Ago
What Britain’s senior rail tile was reporting 20, 50 and 100 years ago.

108 Meetings
Details of railway society meetings near you.

109 Heritage Diary
A comprehensive listing of dates when heritage railways and steam centres operating this summer.

113 Reader Services

114 Prize Crossword

114 Where Is It?