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BREL
British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance subsidiary of British Rail. It was established on 1 January 1970 by the British Railways Board to operate its 14 rolling stock maintenance centres and to provide construction, maintenance, and repair services to Britain’s railways. A key activity of BREL was the manufacturing of new rolling stock, such as the InterCity 125 trainset, the Mark 3 carriage, and the British Rail Class 58 freight locomotive. Both domestic and international sales were pursued; rolling stock produced by BREL was exported to various nations, including Ireland, Kenya, Gabon, Taiwan, Sweden, Malaysia, Yugoslavia, Thailand, and Bangladesh. Numerous projects were undertaken on a collaborative basis with private sector manufacturers, including Brush Traction, Metro-Cammell, and Metropolitan-Vickers. BREL also built numerous prototype rail vehicles, such as the Class 140 and Class 210 DEMUs and the experimental hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shildon Railway Works
Shildon railway works opened in 1833 in the town of Shildon in County Durham, England. Originally built to serve the Stockton and Darlington Railway the works grew to cover ( roofed), employing 2,750 staff. History Shildon was the terminus of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR), when it opened in 1825. Its first locomotive superintendent was Timothy Hackworth, who maintained their locomotives at the Soho Works. Thomas Hackworth (Timothy's brother) was works manager at the Soho Works. The beginnings of the works were small - In 1827, Timothy Hackworth built the locomotive Royal George at the Soho Works. It was also in this period that the works received an order from the Tsar of Russia for a locomotive. Shildon produced the engine and Hackworth's son John Wesley Hackworth was dispatched with drivers and mechanics to deliver it to Russia. These works were to be purchased by the S&DR company in 1855 and closed in 1883. Hackworth was the first of 22 managers of the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board. British Railways was formed on 1 January 1948 as a result of the Transport Act 1947, which nationalised the Big Four British railway companies along with some other (but not all) smaller railways. Profitability of the railways became a pressing concern during the 1950s, leading to multiple efforts to bolster performance, including some line closures. The 1955 Modernisation Plan formally directed a process of dieselisation and electrification to take place; accordingly, steam locomotives had been entirely replaced by diesel and electric traction (except for the narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway tourist lin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privatisation Of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industry was in part motivated by the enactment of EU Directive 91/440 in 1991, which aimed to create a more efficient railway network by creating greater competition. British Railways (BR) had been in state ownership since 1948, under the control of the British Railways Board (BRB). Under the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher elected in 1979, various state-owned businesses were gradually sold off, including various auxiliary and supporting functions related to the railways – Sealink ferries and British Transport Hotels by 1984, Travellers Fare catering by 1988 and British Rail Engineering Limited (train manufacturing) by 1989. It was under Thatcher's successor Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail Class 58
The British Rail Class 58 is a class of Co-Co locomotives, Co-Co diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight. The narrow body with cabs at either end led to them being given the nickname "Bone" by railfan, rail enthusiasts. Their design represented a major departure from British conventions of construction; amongst the innovations was the adoption of the American practice of Modular design, modularisation. The first locomotive of the class was delivered to British Rail during early 1983 and entered service that same year. Despite expectations of a lengthy service life, during 2002, DB Cargo UK, EWS decided to withdraw all examples of the type after only 19 years in service. Subsequently, 32 were hired abroad – four to the Netherlands, eight to Spain and twenty to France. A few examples have also been scrapped or have entered preservation. History During the mid-1970s, British Rail operated several different diesel locomotives that had been categorised as British Rail locom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trafalgar House (company)
Trafalgar House was a British conglomerate with interests in property investment, property development, engineering, construction, shipping, hotels, energy and publishing. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. During its later years of operation, it was routinely referred to as being the largest contracting organisation in the UK. The entrepreneur Nigel Broackes, who would be the chairman of Trafalgar House throughout much of its existence, played a key role in the company's emergence during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Broackes worked with the ''Eastern International Investment Trust'' and Commercial Union to build a portfolio of assets that would be the initial footings of the company. Shortly after its floatation during 1963, Trafalgar House leveraged the issuing of shares to fuel its acquisition of various other businesses, which included The Cementation Company, John Brown Engineering, Cleveland Bridge, Redpat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail Mark 3
The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger railway carriage, carriage developed in response to growing competition from passenger airline, airlines and the automobile, car in the 1970s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the InterCity 125, High Speed Train (HST). Originally conceived as locomotive-hauled coaching stock, the first coaches built were for the prototype HST in 1972. Production coaches entered service between 1975 and 1988, and multiple-unit designs based on the Mark 3 bodyshell continued to be built until the early 1990s. Most of the surviving fleet of the Mark 3 and its derivatives were still in revenue service on the British railway network in 2020, however, as of 7 April 2021, 300 carriages have been sent for scrap. Introduction Under the chairmanship of Stanley Raymond, it was decided to reduce journey times further on long-distance trains by increasing line speed to , where practical – the maximum considered possible on Britain's Victor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was a tilting high speed train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, for use on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The WCML contains many curves, and the APT pioneered the concept of active tilting to address these, a feature that has since been copied on designs around the world. The experimental APT-E achieved a new British railway speed record on 10 August 1975 when it reached , only to be surpassed by the service prototype APT-P at in December 1979. Development of the service prototypes progressed slowly, and by the late 1970s the design had been under construction for a decade and the trains were still not ready for service. The election of Margaret Thatcher brought matters to a head and she alluded to funding cuts for the project. Facing the possibility of cancellation, BR management decided to put the prototypes into service, with the first runs along the London–Glasgow route taking place in December 1981. The p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail Class 210
The British Rail Class 210 was a type of diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) passenger train designed and constructed by British Rail Engineering Limited's Derby Litchurch Lane Works. The Class 210 was developed during the early 1980s to be a modern replacement for the ageing 'first generation' DMUs in use on the Southern Region of British Railways, such as the Class 201 and Class 207. It was designed around a particularly ambitious set of requirements defined in a specification produced by British Rail (BR), construction of the first unit commenced during 1982. While several prototypes were built and subject to extensive testing during the 1980s, the process did not result in a production run for the type. It can be considered an alternative to, or spiritual precursor of, the highly successful ''Sprinter'' family of DMUs that were produced during the 1980s. The pair of Class 210s that were built were only operated for a few years before being withdrawn in the 1980s. Carri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Railway Of Thailand ASR Class
The State Railway of Thailand ASR class is a diesel multiple unit operated by the State Railway of Thailand. Built by British Rail Engineering Limited at Derby Litchurch Lane Works in England, it is based on the British Rail Class 158. Twenty carriages were built in 1990/91. All were painted in the same Regional Railways livery as the Class 158s.More than just a Sprinter ''Today's Railways UK ''Today's Railways UK'' is an English-based monthly magazine covering rail transport in Great Britain. It was founded by Platform 5 in January 2002 as ''Entrain'' as a sister publication to '' Today's Railways Europe'', in January 2006 it was ...'' issue 148 April 2014 References External links {{Rail transport in Thailand, state=collapsed BREL products Rolling stock of Thailand Train-related introductions in 1991 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swindon Works
Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835, Parliament approved the construction of the Great Western Main Line between Paddington railway station, London and Bristol Temple Meads railway station, Bristol by the Great Western Railway (GWR). Its Chief Engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. From 1836, Brunel had been buying locomotives from various makers for the new railway. Brunel's general specifications gave the locomotive makers a free hand in design, although subject to certain constraints such as piston speed and axle load, resulting in a diverse range of locomotives of mixed quality. In 1837, Brunel recruited Daniel Gooch and gave him the job of rectifying the heavy repair burden of the GWR's mixed bag of purchased locomotives. It became clear that the GWR needed a central repair works, so in 1840 Gooch identified a site at S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail Class 140
The British Rail Class 140 was the prototype of the ''Pacer'' diesel multiple unit. It was constructed between 1979 and 1981 in response to a desire within British Rail to develop a capable railbus for its smaller branch line services. Much of the bodywork was constructed using Leyland National bus components, with the exception of the cabs. Based on the single car railbus prototypes, the Class 140 was built to BR's then stringent regulations regarding crashworthiness and resistance to end loading; as such, much of its intention lightweight 'bus on a wagon' look was lost, becoming a more substantial vehicle. Throughout the 1980s, the sole member of the class functioned as a trials and demonstration unit, acting as a herald to the closely related Class 141. Since its withdrawal, the unit has been preserved at the Keith and Dufftown Railway. Background By the beginning of the 1980s, British Rail (BR) operated a large fleet of first generation DMUs, which had been construct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashford Railway Works
Ashford railway works was a major locomotive and wagon construction and repair workshop in Ashford, Kent in England. Constructed by the South Eastern Railway (UK), South Eastern Railway in 1847, it became a major centre for railway works in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After years of decline, it closed in 1982. History South Eastern Railway Ashford locomotive works was built by the South Eastern Railway (UK), South Eastern Railway on a new site in 1847, replacing an earlier locomotive repair facility at New Cross in London. By 1850 over 130 houses had been built for staff (called Alfred Town by the railway but New Town by everybody else). The works employed about 600 people in 1851 increasing to about 950 by 1861, and around 1,300 by 1882. A carriage and wagon works was opened on an adjacent site in 1850. The works led Ashford to be the largest industrial town in east Kent. South Eastern and Chatham Railway On 1 January 1899, the railway entered into a working union wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
