From The RM Archives
YEARS AGO
AUGUST 1921 New tea room for Waterloo
TRAVELLERS will appreciate the new tea room at Waterloo Station, London, opposite the escalator, opened during the second week in July by the London and South Western Railway.
The room is handsomely furnished and splendidly equipped, and one feature is an American Soda Fountain. The decorative scheme of the walls is in cream, with mirrors, giving an agreeable impression of coolness, brightness and cleanliness.
The floor is of polished oak parquet, and the counter fittings are of mahogany. The arrangement of the kitchen suggests that a speedy and efficient service will be provided.
YEARS AGO
AUGUST 1971 Warning lights for slow-speed diesel locomotives
SOME Class 47 locomotives equipped with slow-speed automatic remote control for loading and unloading “merrygo-round” coal hopper wagons have been fitted with yellow warning lights above the cab roofs.
These light up when the trains are moving under remote control at only ½mph to warn personnel on the track that the locomotive is in motion.
New Hunslet steam locomotive
THOUGH its principal work is the building of industrial diesel locomotives, Hunslet (Holdings) Limited has a new steam locomotive under construction in its Leeds works. This is an 0-4-2 saddle-tank of 750mm gauge for the Indonesian Forestry Commission. It is a wood-burner, and will replace diesel locomotives, which are expensive to run because of the cost of transporting their fuel.
Mayfield is modernised
CONVERSION into a modern parcels depot of the terminus at Mayfield, Manchester, has been completed. After it was closed to passengers in August 1960, parcels and mail traffic was concentrated there, and it has become one of a network of 25 handling centres covering the London Midland Region.
YEARS AGO
AUGUST 2001 Cullen blames Railtrack and Thames Trains over Ladbroke Grove accident
THE Cullen report into the Ladbroke Grove train crash on October 8, 1999, has been published and blames Railtrack and Thames Trains for much of the disaster.
The network owner was, said Lord Cullen, guilty of “lamentable failure” and “institutional paralysis”, while Thames was heavily censured for “incompetent management” and “inadequate drivertraining procedures”.
The condemnation of Railtrack came just eight months after it was blamed for slack working practices which led to the Hatfield derailment.
Stop West Coast Upgrade 2 scheme before it hits £1bn
THE Rail Freight Group is urging new Transport Secretary Stephen Byers to scrap the 140mph West Coast Upgrade 2 scheme before its cost tops the £10 billion mark.
The original £2.2 billion cost has tripled in four years, yet still has another four years to go before completion. The RFG points out that years of disruption and diversion will have to be suffered and that even after its implementation, it will not only provide insufficient freight paths south of Crewe but provide even fewer than at present north of Crewe.
The group suggests that the upgrade scheme should be abandoned once the first 125mph phase (formerly PUG1) has been completed.