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Marcus' Model Railway Journey
- Thread starter Marcus Antonius
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My Birthday present to myself - with some funding from Neo and Cleo
AMD 5600X 16GB Workstation PC
AMD 5600X 16GB Workstation PC
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10 Dec 2025
TfW Julie James visit
Transport for Wales has now electrified 99% of the railway lines in South East Wales as part of the South Wales Metro.
Overhead wires across the Rhymney railway line were switched on this past weekend, signifying another major milestone for the project, as well as the recent official opening of the South Wales Metro depot at Taff’s Well by His Majesty King Charles.
Since 2023, the Rhymney, Treherbert, Aberdare, Merthyr, Coryton and Caerphilly railway lines have all been electrified, with the final section of railway along the Cardiff Bay line planned to go live from early 2026.
Dubbed the ‘Welsh Tube’, the one-billion-pound project brought electric train services to the South Wales Valleys for the very first time last year and fully electric tram-trains will be introduced next year, providing more rail services and more capacity.
Over 90% of trains running on the Core Valley Lines ran to time (within 3 minutes) in October 2025.
99% of South Wales Metro now electrified
TfW Julie James visit
Transport for Wales has now electrified 99% of the railway lines in South East Wales as part of the South Wales Metro.
Overhead wires across the Rhymney railway line were switched on this past weekend, signifying another major milestone for the project, as well as the recent official opening of the South Wales Metro depot at Taff’s Well by His Majesty King Charles.
Since 2023, the Rhymney, Treherbert, Aberdare, Merthyr, Coryton and Caerphilly railway lines have all been electrified, with the final section of railway along the Cardiff Bay line planned to go live from early 2026.
Dubbed the ‘Welsh Tube’, the one-billion-pound project brought electric train services to the South Wales Valleys for the very first time last year and fully electric tram-trains will be introduced next year, providing more rail services and more capacity.
Over 90% of trains running on the Core Valley Lines ran to time (within 3 minutes) in October 2025.
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TfW Julie James visit
Ken Skates, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales said: “I am delighted that our investment of more than £1bn to deliver a metro system fit for the future has reached another significant milestone.
“Electrification of our core valleys lines is helping to create better access to jobs, healthcare, and education with brand new trains offering a faster, more reliable, greener and more accessible transport system.”
Julie James, Counsel General and Minister for Delivery in Welsh Government, on visiting the Rhymney railway line said: “This is a game changer for many valleys communities, improving connectivity and making it easier for people to get to where they need to go quicker and without any hassle.”
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TfW OLE
Dan Tipper, Chief Infrastructure Officer at Transport for Wales added: “The electrification of the Upper Rhymney railway line signifies another major milestone for the South Wales Metro and delivering real change for the people of South Wales. It means that we’ll be able to introduce our Class 756 tri-mode trains on services between Caerphilly and Rhymney from 2026.
“Our infrastructure teams have worked intensively for the past eight months installing 903 steel structures, supporting 33km of overhead wires and laying 30km of high-voltage cable. This is a huge achievement for our teams, who have worked throughout the day and night to deliver these improvements.
“We’ve already introduced the first electric trains to the region and will continue next year, with the introduction of our Class 398 tram-trains.”
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London Overground train at Stonebridge Park
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Metrolink tram at St Peter's Square stop
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10th December, 2025
Lawley loco on arrival at Aberystwyth
The Vale of Rheidol Railway has welcomed another locomotive for Collection X, which is based at the railway.
No. 266 ‘M’Dundo’ is a 4-4-0 Lawley loco that was built by Falcon Engine and Car Works in Loughborough back in 1897.
The locomotive was built for the Beira Railway in Mozambique and became famous for reliability across Southern Africa.
M’Dundo joins the growing Collection X in Aberystwyth, where it will form part of the extraordinary legacy that was formed by the late Peter Rampton
Mozambique locomotive arrives in Aberystwyth to join Collection X
Lawley loco on arrival at Aberystwyth
The Vale of Rheidol Railway has welcomed another locomotive for Collection X, which is based at the railway.
No. 266 ‘M’Dundo’ is a 4-4-0 Lawley loco that was built by Falcon Engine and Car Works in Loughborough back in 1897.
The locomotive was built for the Beira Railway in Mozambique and became famous for reliability across Southern Africa.
M’Dundo joins the growing Collection X in Aberystwyth, where it will form part of the extraordinary legacy that was formed by the late Peter Rampton
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10th December, 2025
45491 at the Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway are arranging the sale of LMS Black 5 No. 45491, which is based at the railway.
The locomotive, which arrived at the Great Central Railway in 2011, was built in 1943 at Derby Works.
The locomotive has been at the railway for 15 years, but the railway has had no role in the restoration.
The disposal of the locomotive comes as it is believed there is still substantial work to do before it can be considered fit for use.
The Great Central Railway say that the sale is being conducted with reference to Section 12 and Schedule 1 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.
Great Central Railway announce disposal of steam locomotive 45491
45491 at the Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway are arranging the sale of LMS Black 5 No. 45491, which is based at the railway.
The locomotive, which arrived at the Great Central Railway in 2011, was built in 1943 at Derby Works.
The locomotive has been at the railway for 15 years, but the railway has had no role in the restoration.
The disposal of the locomotive comes as it is believed there is still substantial work to do before it can be considered fit for use.
The Great Central Railway say that the sale is being conducted with reference to Section 12 and Schedule 1 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.
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45491 at the Great Central Railway
Interested buyers are being asked to email the Great Central Railway for more details available from richard.patching@gcrailway.co.uk
Offers need to be submitted before the end of January 2026.
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Preparing for the Jingle Bells Express at Ruddington
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11 Dec 2025
Cardiff Central
Latest figures show Transport for Wales continue our improvement journey as more services are running on time across the Wales and Borders network.
The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) quarterly figures for July to September, published today, shows TfW had the biggest improvement in punctuality of all UK train operators, with a 4.9 percentage point increase to 84.1%.
The second biggest increase was East Midlands Trains’ 1.4 percentage point improvement.
Overall TfW has moved up to 12th out of the 24 companies for performance.
It follows the ORR figures for the previous quarter – April to June 2025 – in which TfW also had the biggest improvement in punctuality of all the UK train companies.
The industry-leading growth in performance was delivered while also seeing a significant increase in passenger numbers over the summer for several major events including Oasis’ opening two gigs of their highly-anticipated reunion tour.
Customer satisfaction figures also released today by Transport Focus show TfW achieved the highest overall satisfaction score among train operators serving Wales scoring 88%, up from 84% in June.
TfW placed 2nd out of all the UK operators for value for money and performed strongly on crowding on board (83% satisfaction) and personal safety on board (91%), both above regional and national averages.
Marie Daly, Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is the second quarter of significant improvement in our punctuality performance as we focus on delivering the best-possible service for our customers.
“There is a lot of hard work being put in by TfW and our industry partners at, Amey in Wales and Network Rail to drive continuous improvement in how quickly we get things moving when there is a delay and identifying regular issues and hotspots so we can fix them.
“We are now regularly delivering the best performance in the industry on the Core Valley Lines and we are focussed on replicating these brilliant results right across the Wales and Borders network.
“We know there is still work to do, but as more of our £800m fleet of brand-new trains come into service we are aiming to improve performance and the customer experience across the network.”
TfW’s cancellation figures also improved by 1.4 percentage points for the period from July to September, which was the 4th biggest improvement in the industry.
Overall TfW has moved up to 16th out of the 24 companies for cancellations.
This was despite a number of incidents of cable theft on the Rhymney Valley lines in September, which caused a significant number of cancellations and damage costing more than £750,000.
Transport for Wales delivers continued improvement in punctuality
Cardiff Central
Latest figures show Transport for Wales continue our improvement journey as more services are running on time across the Wales and Borders network.
The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) quarterly figures for July to September, published today, shows TfW had the biggest improvement in punctuality of all UK train operators, with a 4.9 percentage point increase to 84.1%.
The second biggest increase was East Midlands Trains’ 1.4 percentage point improvement.
Overall TfW has moved up to 12th out of the 24 companies for performance.
It follows the ORR figures for the previous quarter – April to June 2025 – in which TfW also had the biggest improvement in punctuality of all the UK train companies.
The industry-leading growth in performance was delivered while also seeing a significant increase in passenger numbers over the summer for several major events including Oasis’ opening two gigs of their highly-anticipated reunion tour.
Customer satisfaction figures also released today by Transport Focus show TfW achieved the highest overall satisfaction score among train operators serving Wales scoring 88%, up from 84% in June.
TfW placed 2nd out of all the UK operators for value for money and performed strongly on crowding on board (83% satisfaction) and personal safety on board (91%), both above regional and national averages.
Marie Daly, Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is the second quarter of significant improvement in our punctuality performance as we focus on delivering the best-possible service for our customers.
“There is a lot of hard work being put in by TfW and our industry partners at, Amey in Wales and Network Rail to drive continuous improvement in how quickly we get things moving when there is a delay and identifying regular issues and hotspots so we can fix them.
“We are now regularly delivering the best performance in the industry on the Core Valley Lines and we are focussed on replicating these brilliant results right across the Wales and Borders network.
“We know there is still work to do, but as more of our £800m fleet of brand-new trains come into service we are aiming to improve performance and the customer experience across the network.”
TfW’s cancellation figures also improved by 1.4 percentage points for the period from July to September, which was the 4th biggest improvement in the industry.
Overall TfW has moved up to 16th out of the 24 companies for cancellations.
This was despite a number of incidents of cable theft on the Rhymney Valley lines in September, which caused a significant number of cancellations and damage costing more than £750,000.
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Northern train at Whitby
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c2c train at West Ham
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Shakespeare Express at Stratford
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Tyne & Wear Metro train
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A new Metro train
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11th December, 2025
61306 Mayflower
Two steam locomotives will feature on the train to the Bath Christmas Markets tomorrow (12th December 2025).
The train will depart from Three Bridges with 61306 Mayflower at 08:00 and will head to Bath via Haywards Heath (08:15), Burgess Hill (08:22), Hove (08:39), Shoreham-by-Sea (09:07), Worthing (09:18), Barnham (09:40), Chichester (09:53), Hedge End (10:43), Salisbury (11:54), Westbury (12:33) and Bath Spa at 13:05.
Two steam locomotives to feature on Bath Christmas train tomorrow
61306 Mayflower
Two steam locomotives will feature on the train to the Bath Christmas Markets tomorrow (12th December 2025).
The train will depart from Three Bridges with 61306 Mayflower at 08:00 and will head to Bath via Haywards Heath (08:15), Burgess Hill (08:22), Hove (08:39), Shoreham-by-Sea (09:07), Worthing (09:18), Barnham (09:40), Chichester (09:53), Hedge End (10:43), Salisbury (11:54), Westbury (12:33) and Bath Spa at 13:05.
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71000 Duke of Gloucester
After time in Bath, 71000 Duke of Gloucester will join 61306 for the return trip. Departing Bath Spa at 15:55, the train will pass through Trowbridge (16:15), Salisbury (16:59), Fareham (18:18), Chichester (18:53), Barnham (19:08), Worthing (19:35), Shoreham-by-Sea (19:46), Hove (19:57), Preston Park (20:05), Burgess Hill (20:30), Haywards Heath (20:38) and Three Bridges (21:13).
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