World Railway News.... 22nd September 2012

NEW MINISTER TO ADDRESS WATTRAIN

Following the recent Cabinet Reshuffle, it has been agreed that Mr Matthew Hancock, the new Minister for Skills, will address the WATTRAIN Congress on Thursday 4th October at 1020. WATTRAIN is delighted that the new minister will be able to speak to delegates and give an insight as to how Government is helping in the retention of skill bases across our Heritage Industry.

Full schedule here....

Programme

WATTRAIN CONGRESS PROGRAMME 2012

September 29^th – October 6^th 2012

York and Leeds, England

Saturday 29/9/12 Delegates arrive in Leeds/
Sunday 30/9/12 Visit to Middleton Railway

There will be two Leeds built locomotives in steam, to celebrate 200 years since the very first steam locomotive left the Round Foundry in 1812. The visit will include guided tours of the workshops, and we also hope to have a vintage bus which will take us from our hotels via the various locomotive building factories in the area, with a speaker to give details of the rich history of the City’s locomotive building heritage. http://www.middletonrailway.org.uk
A special “Beer & Music” train to Sheffield via Penistone. This train will depart Leeds at 13.30 and travel to Barnsley, before reversing and proceeding via the “Penistone Line” to Huddersfield for a stop. At Huddersfield we will have a talk about Community Railways from Paul Salveson, who first created these some 20 years ago. As part of the train trip, we will be having our own, specially brewed, “Viaduct Beer” and Mallinsons’ Brewery are running a special competition, details later in this newsletter. http://www.southpenninesrail.co.uk/index.html
In the evening, we will be having the first of our “formal” dinners, a welcome dinner at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel. http://www.southpenninesrail.co.uk/index.html

Monday 1/10/12 Visit to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
We will have our own steam train from Keighley to Ingrow, to visit the Bahamas Locomotive Society and Vintage Carriages Trust. We then run non-stop to Oxenhope for a visit to the Exhibition Shed and Carriage Works, and also lunch, which will be served on the [static] Pullman cars.
The train will then proceed to Haworth for the loco depot and the famous Oakworth station, home of the “Railway Children”. http://www.kwvr.co.uk

In the evening we have a Civic Reception in the Civic Hall at Leeds, hosted by the Lord Mayor of Leeds.
Tuesday 2/10/12 Visit to the National Tramway Museum, Crich
In addition to seeing and riding on the very latest restoration, LUT 159, plus an iconic Blackpool Tram, delegates will have a full behind the scenes tour of the Museum, workshops, library and archives plus an excellent buffet lunch to be served in the Red Lion. http://www.tramway.co.uk

Great Central Railway, Loughborough [Evening Dining Train]
We will arrive at Loughborough in time to look at the locomotive facilities there, before riding one of their dining trains. A three course meal will be served during the journey and we will stop on the famous reservoir bridge and at Rothley station. Rothley is the only gaslit station and should be a wonderful sight in the evening light for photographs. http://www.gcrailway.co.uk
BUSINESS SESSIONS AT THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM, YORK
The main theme for the conference is sustainability of all areas of railway heritage. Speakers topics will cover the Environmental and Commercial Aspects, the People Issues including Skills, Training and Regulations and the Technical Challenges facing the industry in the 21^st Century).
International speakers are planned to include Lord Faulkner of Worcester, David Morgan, Steve Davies,( all from the UK) Tim Fischer (Australia), Bob La Prelle (U.S.A.), Sergio Zubietta (Argentina) and Ms Ella Ubaidi (Indonesia).
Wednesday 3/10/12 WATTRAIN Congress at the National Railway Museum, York http://www.nrm.org.uk

Thursday 4/10/12 WATTRAIN Congress at the National Railway Museum, York
Friday 5/10/12 WATTRAIN Congress at the National Railway Museum, York
Friday evening. A close of Congress dinner will be served in the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum.
Coach travel from and to the hotels is arranged for guests.
Saturday 6/10/12 WATTRAIN Congress Steam Train.
This very special train will depart Leeds around 10am and run via York, Durham and Newcastle, to Carlisle, where it will stop for approximately 2hours. From Carlisle, we will travel back to Leeds over the famous Settle to Carlisle Railway. The train is planned to be hauled by No 70013 “OLIVER CROMWELL”

Sunday 7/10/12 Delegates leave Leeds
For more information and to book places at Congress please go to
www.reg.istrations.com/delegate/events and use LDSWATTRAIN2012 to enter the booking site.
To book at one of the Congress preferred hotels please go to
www.conferencebookings.co.uk and use LDSWATTRAIN2012 to enter the bookings site.
To join as a member contact the membership secretary at wattrainmembership@talktalk.net

==================================

Siemens at InnoTrans 2012 - Highlights

How can we make mobility within and between our cities efficient and how can we network the individual modes of transportation without any difficulty? These are the questions that municipalities and transport operators face today. Siemens presents its solutions at the world's leading trade fair for transport technology InnoTrans in Berlin. =================================


Talyllyn Railway Official - A Society of Volunteers helping to keep the wheels turning (TalyllynRail on YouTube)



The Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society made The Talyllyn Railway the World's First Preserved Steam Railway. Sixty Years on and they continue to lay rails, cut hedges, fix steam engines, paint coaches and man the booking offices of The Talyllyn Railway. Why not support The Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society?  ( www.talyllyn.co.uk)

=====================================================

The making of Mainline (TheChilternMainline on YouTube)



A video from the launch of Mainline on 5 September showing how we did it. ==============================================================

Unique high-speed trains and locomotives on the Russian railways (TheRussianRailways on YouTube)




Sapsan (Velaro RUS) is Russian for the peregrine falcon, the fastest bird in the falcon family, so it was an appropriate name for this new train, which can reach speeds of up to 250 kmph. Produced with true German precision by Siemens, the Sapsan is fully adapted to the harsh climate of Russia.

The Allegro is equipped with safety features designed to work on both the Finnish and Russian railway networks. Its equipment meets the technical requirements in the EU and Russia. The train consists of 7 carriages and has a maximum operating speed of 220 kph.

GT1-001 gas turbine locomotive: on 23 January 2009 this locomotive became the first to pull a freight train weighing 15,000 tonnes (159 wagons), and on 7 September 2011 it set a new world record by pulling a 16,000 tonne train (170 wagons). On 12 October 2009 Russian Railways was awarded a Guinness Book of Records certificate for creating the world's most powerful long-distance gas turbine locomotive operating on liquefied natural gas.

Electric locomotive type 2ES10: the first Russian freight electric locomotive of direct current with the asynchronous driving unit. The locomotive was designed by Uralskiye Locomotivy Ltd. in cooperation with the Siemens (Germany) engineering team. The locomotive performance characteristics have no analogues in Russia. On August 4, 2011, the 2ES10 locomotive in the three-unit mode took the 9,000-ton train down the Sverdlosk-Pervouralsk distance of the Sverdlosvsk Railway. It will let the railways work without re-forming and cutting trains' payload and will let heavy trains service of the standard payload running along the Western Siberia-Northwestern Region route. JSC Russian Railways plans to purchase 221 locomotive before 2016.

Diesel locomotive type 2TE25A: the freight diesel locomotive with the asynchronous driving unit type 2TE25A was designed at the Briansk Machine-Building Factory in cooperation with the industry research institute VNIKTI using the Russian-made equipment and details. For the first time the diesel locomotive is equipped with the Kolomna Factory assembled diesel with the electronic fuel injection complying to the Euro 3 environmental standards. The locomotive has the bogies with the radial wheel pair arrangement and has better track contact performance. In Masrch 2011 the 2TE25A series engine took the standard 6,000-ton payload train along the Baikal-Amur Mainline proving its high power and economic capacity.

=====================================================

Passenger's Rail (TrainsFormingAmerica on YouTube)

A short film that was selected for the Rail~Volution film festival in Washington D.C. 2011 It was cut from footage we got in Europe filming for Trainsforming America

====================================================


More Railway News .......

Shedmaster Railway News
20 stories including arrival of WATTRAIN Congress delegates ...

World Heritage & Railway News
Including the National Railway Museum blog.....

Railway Engineering News
7 articles including ..The 2013 Base Plan and Outlook outlines strategic initiatives, transportation programs and services that TransLink will deliver between 2013 and 2015 using current existing revenue sources