Rail (Enthusiast) Magazine - No.294 Dec 1996

Rail (Enthusiast) December 1996. Issue No.294

- Front Cover:  Class 47 No.47817, one of only two locomotives in the distinctive Porterbrook purple and white colours, passes Hasland, south of Chesterfield, with the 1143 CrossCountry Trains York-Poole working on October 26 1996. This franchise has just been won by the Virgin Group.

- New Trains from Old:  Howard Johnston investigates the refurbishment programme being implemented by GWT for its HSTs.

- Permanent Battles - The Forth Bridge:  In the first of a two-part feature, Mel Holley details Railtrack's strategy for this famous landmark.

- High Speed to Europe:  Steven Knight looks at the options for a high speed  rail link from London to the Channel Tunnel.

- Modern Images Special:  The first of two exclusive selections of creative railway photography from the Railway Picture Library, where a wide range of top-class railway photographs is held on file.

- Comment:  The first railway magazine in the Channel Tunnel after the fire.

- Lead News:  Virgin wins the franchise for CrossCountry Trains.

- News:  First views of the charred Chunnel, 'Deltic' railtour hits problems.

- Around the Regions:  Job losses at Doncaster as work goes to Crewe.

- Wolmar:  Vital pointers for Labours would-be transport team.

- Privatisation:  Steven Knight highlights ticket routeing problems.

- Reviews:  More gift ideas for Christmas.

- PDQuiz!  You could win £100 by entering our festive quiz.

- Fleet News:  Pioneer '37' visits South Wales, 'Cromptons' lose names.

- Railtours:  More day excursions planned for 1997.

- Heritage News:  An ambitious plan to return No.18000 to traffic.

- Open Access:  Reader's comments for and against privatisation.

- Insider:  Lessons to be learned from the Virgin franchise.

- Arrivals and Departures:  New boss announced at Cardiff Railways.

- CrossCountry Trains Card Offer:  Details of Loyalty Card offers for 1997.

- Stop and Examine:  Cornwall suffers from militants altering signs!