FM Rail

Class 31 31128 Charybdis at Bristol Temple Meads on 23 July 2004. This locomotive was previously hired to Wessex Trains to operate trains from Bristol Temple Meads to Brighton and Weymouth.

FM Rail Limited was a railway spot-hire and charter company based at Derby, United Kingdom. The company was formed in January 2005 following the merging of spot-hire company Fragonset Railways Limited with charter train operating company Merlin Rail Limited. By December 2006 the company was recognised as being insolvent, an Administrator was appointed, the company broken up and the parts either sold or closed down, but many of those previously employed by FM Rail reappeared in 'new' companies, Rail Vehicle Engineering Limited (RVEL), Mainline Rail and Victa Westlink. The latter two have, like FM Rail, ceased trading.

Fragonset Railways Limited

Fragonset was formed in 1997. Its first purchases were five Class 47/7 locomotives, which were hired to Virgin Trains due to the poor availability of their own fleet. The locomotives were soon repainted into a new livery of black with a broad maroon mid-bodyside stripe.

In 1998, Fragonset purchased several redundant Class 31 locomotives from EWS. The first of these, 31452, was quickly repaired at the company's base at Tyseley Locomotive Works. A further four Class 31s quickly followed. They were initially employed on Silverlink services on the Marston Vale Line, operating in top and tail mode with two carriages. The use of the Class 31s continued until 1999, when Class 150/1 diesel multiple units replaced them. Following this, the Class 31 fleet was employed on a variety of duties, including hire to WAGN to haul electrical multiple units between depots for maintenance.

In 1998-2004 Fragonset acquired many redundant locomotives from EWS, mainly of classes 31, 33, 47 and 73. Many of these locomotives were purchased for spare parts, and several have since been scrapped.

Fragonset has had many customers:

• Virgin Trains - hired Class 47s in 1997-2002 to cover for the non-availability of their own fleet.
• Wessex Trains - hired Class 31s to haul passenger services from Bristol-Weymouth and Bristol-Brighton. 31601 was repainted into Wessex Trains "Heart of Wessex" pink livery. Services were regular worked on Fridays and summer Saturdays. Booked services ceased in 2004, but Wessex Trains continued to use them for special events and for bank-holiday traffic until 2006.
• First North Western - hired Class 31s to work passenger trains from Blackpool-Manchester-Chester. These services ceased in 2004.
• Railtrack - hired 31190 and 31601 to haul test trains. Both locomotives were repainted into Railtrack's blue and lime green livery. Network Rail (Railtrack's successor) now has its own fleet of 31s, so no longer requires the Fragonset locomotives.
• FirstGBRf - hires Class 73s to supplement their own fleet.
• South West Trains - hired Class 33s and 73s to act as "Thunderbird" rescue locomotives.
• West Coast Railway Company - hired 31190. It was repainted into Royal Scotsman maroon livery.
• Midland Mainline - hired Class 47s and Mk2s to cover for a shortage of HSTs, running a morning Nottingham to London service and an evening London to Sheffield.

Some locomotives, notably 47355 and 73107, were repainted into a "freight" livery of all-over black with large "Fragonset" lettering.

Unfortunately, by 2004 the special niche that Fragonset had been servicing by providing spot-hire locomotives and carriages was in decline for a number of reasons, including:

• Better utilisation by the customers of their own fleets.
• Search by the customers for more reliable and more modern stock.
• Competition from other locomotive and carriage suppliers.

Merlin Rail Limited

Merlin received its train operating licence in July 2002. It was originally very decentralised, considering itself to be a "virtual company" operating over the internet with no central office, although the control office was initially in Maidstone, Kent. As the business grew the need for a central location became apparent and offices at Wyvern House, by Derby Station, were rented from mid 2003.

Merlin saw itself as an operator of specialist, individually planned trains, and felt that such trains were not the core activity for conventional train operating companies and therefore did not always enjoy the best of operational and organisational arrangements. Merlin passionately believed that a dedicated specialist train operator in this niche market could provide a high quality total service for all potential clients requiring individually planned trains.

Merlin was the first train operator to receive approval through the stringent Railway (Safety Case) Regulations, 2000. Merlin held one of the widest Railway safety cases, allowing full geographic coverage of the network with all classes and types of conventional locomotives, passenger rolling stock and loaded and unloaded freight vehicles. Merlin was specifically authorised to operate new, unusual and novel vehicles.

With its website, Merlin set out to differentiate itself from its competitors. There was a complete section on "Inspiration", with quotations ranging from Rudyard Kipling to Niccolò Machiavelli, and a section on "How We Think", explaining the company's special philosophy on matters ranging from World Class Values to Strength of Character.

Merlin expected to make a loss for the first few years as business was built up and was expected to be profitable in 2005.

FM Rail Limited

Fragonset Railways Limited and Merlin Rail limited merged in January 2005 to form FM Rail Limited. In a speech to the staff to announce the merger, Bob Gordon, the Managing Director (who had been the old Merlin Managing Director) assured everyone that under his management the new company would be very profitable and everybody's job was secure. Even though Bob Gordon had promised a strong, profitable company, the merged company made £1,500,000 loss during 2005. Bob Gordon left during 2005 and Andy Lynch, who had been the old Fragonset Managing Director, took over.

FM Rail launched its new livery in September 2005, when 47832 was repainted for the Crewe Works open day.

In an attempt to increase turnover, in mid-2005, FM Rail purchased railtour operator Hertfordshire Rail Tours. In January 2006, the "Blue Pullman" was launched, and two Class 47 locomotives were repainted into a Nanking Blue livery to match the coaching stock. In 2006, FM Rail purchased the assets of Pathfinder Tours, another railtour operator, in conjunction with Riviera Trains. From the FM Rail point of view, this deal seems to have been bungled as most Pathfinder trains continued to be operated by EWS.

During this period FM Rail experienced a series of bad failures, with locomotives running out of fuel on the main line, locomotives breaking down and carriages poorly turned out, with WCs and heating regularly not working. All of this was reported in detail in the railway press and they gained themselves a very poor reputation that they could not shake off.

In 2006, FM Rail concluded a deal to lease the former depot site at Coalville in Leicestershire. It was planned to move most of its withdrawn stock there to reduce reducing costs. Other locomotives had been disposed of once they have yielded spare parts.

FM Rail Ltd Insolvency

Even though Bob Gordon had promised a strong, profitable company, instead of a good profit the insolvency Administrators later reported that the merged company made £1,500,000 loss during 2005 and that the company was poorly managed and the financial administration was very poor.

It became clear that FM Rail's management were unable to properly control the company and it continued to make big losses, £2,300,000 up to September 2006. It had borrowed heavily, up to £2,000,000 from a combination of asset finance, director and shareholder funds and Barclays Bank. The company came to the end of its banking facilities and several County Court Judgements were received demanding payment. The company was badly in arrears to the HM Revenue and Customs in respect of unpaid PAYE and NIC and the landlord to the premises where FM Rail operated was owed circa £150,000 and was threatening legal action. On several occasions the company was not able to pay wages to its staff.

On 19 December 2006 a firm of insolvency specialists, Begbies Traynor, were appointed as Administrators. The Administrators sold the Fragonset maintenance business to Rail Vehicle Engineering Limited, a business run by Andy Lynch, the former FM Rail Managing Director. The Merlin Rail train operating licence and railtour operator Hertfordshire Rail Tours was sold to Victa Westlink Rail. Several locomotives have been sold or put up for sale.

Begbies Traynor reported to the creditors in a report dated 9 February 2007 and a Creditors Meeting held at the Midland Hotel, Derby, on 26 February 2007. The meeting was very well attended, especially by disgruntled FM Rail staff who asked searching questions regarding the unpaid wages. Bob Gordon, the original FM Rail Managing Director who had promised so much, and Jyoti Ferguson, the Finance Director from November 2005 to November 2006 were conspicuous by their absence.

Fleet details

Key:	Not in Use	Preserved	Sold for further use	Scrapped

Number	Class	Name	Livery	Year Acquired	Previous Operator	Status
31105	31	-	Trans-Rail	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Network Rail in 2003
31106	31	Spalding Town	Unspecified	1999	ex-EWS	Owned by Howard Johnston
31107	31	-	Black	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped Rotherham in 2009
31128	31	Charybdis	Fragonset Black	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Mainline Rail
31154	31	-	Civil Engineers	2001	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
31190	31	-	BR Green	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Network Rail in 2006
31233	31	-	Civil Engineers	2000	ex-EWS	Sold to Network Rail in 2003
31285	31	-	Civil Engineers	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Network Rail in 2003
31289	31	-	BR Blue	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Northampton & Lamport Railway
31301	31	-	Railfreight Grey/Red Stripe	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
31407	31	-	Mainline Freight Blue	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
31411	31	-	Departmental Grey	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
31412	31	-	Civil Engineers	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
31415	31	-	BR Blue	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
31417	31	-	Departmental Grey	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
31422	31	-	InterCity Mainline	1999	ex-EWS	Stored serviceably - used as static generator.
31423	31	-	InterCity Mainline	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
31426	31	-	Civil Engineers	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
31433	31	-	Civil Engineers	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
31437	31	-	Civil Engineers	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
31439	31	-	Regional Railways	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
31452	31	Minotaur	Fragonset Black	1998	ex-EWS	Sold to Mainline Rail
31454	31	The Heart of Wessex	InterCity Swallow	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Mainline Rail
31459	31	Cerberus	FM Rail Black	1998	ex-EWS	Sold to Network Rail in 2006
31460	31	-	BR Blue	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Stockton-on-Tees in 2006
31461	31	-	Civil Engineers	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Cotswold Rail in 2007
31462	31	-	Departmental Grey	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
31468	31	Hydra	Fragonset Black	1998	ex-EWS	Sold to Mainline Rail
31524	31	-	Civil Engineers	1999	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
31549	31	-	Civil Engineers	1998	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
31558	31	-	Civil Engineers	1998	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
31601	31	Gauge O Guild	Wessex Trains Pink	1998	ex-EWS	Sold to Mainline Rail
31602	31	-	Network Rail Yellow	1998	ex-EWS	Sold to Network Rail
33019	33	Griffon	Civil Engineers	2003	ex-HNRC	Sold to the Battlefield Line Railway
33021	33	Eastleigh	Fragonset Black	1999	ex-EWS	Sold to Nemesis Rail
33103	33	Swordfish	Fragonset Black	2002	ex-EWS	Sold to Nemesis Rail
33108	33	Vampire	Fragonset Black	1999	ex-EWS	Preserved on Swanage Railway in 2005
33202	33		Fragonset Black	2002	ex-EWS	Sold to Cotswold Rail
37255	37	-	Civil Engineers	2002	ex-EWS	On loan to Great Central Railway
47053	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47186	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47201	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47211	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2001	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Eastleigh in 2004
47219	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47226	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47228	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47229	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Stockton-on-Tees in 2006
47236	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47280	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47285	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2000	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
47293	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47307	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47313	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47314	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47335	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47348	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2001	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
47355	47	Avocet	FM Rail Freight Black	2000	ex-EWS	Reactivated by WCRC 2010
47360	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47363	47	-	Railfreight Distribution	2000	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47368	47	-	Trainload Grey	2000	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47375	47	-	Fragonset Black (Freight)	2000	ex-EWS	Sold to Cotswold Rail, 2007
47471	47	-	InterCity Executive	2002	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
47488	47	-	BR Two Tone Green	1997	ex-EWS	For Sale & Requires TPWS
47489	47	-	Parcels Red	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47525	47	-	Railfreight Distribution (Revised)	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47526	47	-	BR Blue Large Logo	1999	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47547	47	-	Network SouthEast	2002	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
47550	47	-	InterCity Mainline	2000	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47574	47	-	BR Parcels Red	2002	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
47628	47	-	Rail Express Systems	2000	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
47640	47	-	BR Blue	2003	ex-EWS	On loan to Battlefield Line Railway
47701	47	Waverley	BR Two-tone Green (with silver roof)	1997	ex-EWS	Purchased direct from EWS by The Lear Family, based (2011) at Dartmoor Railway
47703	47	Hermes	Fragonset Black	1997	ex-EWS	Sold to Cotswold Rail in 2007
47704	47	-	Rail Express Systems	2000	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
47707	47	-	Rail Express Systems	2000	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47710	47	-	Fragonset Black	1997	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47709	47	Dionysos	Blue Pullman	1997	ex-EWS	Sold to Direct Rail Services, 2007
47712	47	Artemis	Blue Pullman	1997	ex-EWS	Sold to Direct Rail Services, 2007
47715	47	Poseidon	Fragonset Black	2000	ex-EWS	Sold to Cotswold Rail, 2007
47716	47	-	Rail Express Systems	2000	ex-EWS	On loan to Dartmoor Railway
47717	47	-	BR Parcels Red	2000	ex-EWS	Sold for scrap in 2007
47744	47	-	EWS	2005	ex-EWS	Stored
47767	47	-	EWS	2005	ex-EWS	Stored
47780	47	-	Rail Express Systems	2004	ex-EWS	Stored
47803	47	-	Infrastructure	2000	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
47832	47	Driver Tom Clark OBE	Victa Westlink Rail Black & White	2004	ex-FGW	Sold to Victa Westlink Rail
47972	47	-	Central Services	2000	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
56011	56	-	EWS	2005	ex-EWS	Stored at Coalville
56021	56	-	Trainload Freight	2005	ex-EWS	Stored at Coalville
56022	56	-	Trans-Rail	2003	ex-EWS	Stored
56061	56	-	Trainload Metals	2005	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Stockton-on-Tees in 2006
56066	56	-	Trans-Rail	2004	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2005
56125	56	-	Fastline	2003	ex-EWS	Sold to Fastline
73103	73	-	InterCity Executive	2002	ex-EWS	Withdrawn
73104	73	-	InterCity Executive	2002	ex-EWS	Stored
73105	73	-	Civil Engineers	2002	ex-EWS	On loan to Battlefield Line Railway
73107	73	Spitfire	Fragonset Black (Freight)	2002	ex-EWS	Sold to RT Rail, 2007
73114	73	-	BR Blue Large Logo	2002	ex-EWS	On loan to Battlefield Line Railway
73117	73	-	InterCity Executive	2002	ex-EWS	On loan to Dartmoor Railway
73132	73	-	InterCity Executive	2004	ex-EWS	Scrapped at Rotherham in 2006
73134	73	-	InterCity Executive	2002	ex-EWS	On loan to Dartmoor Railway
73139	73	-	InterCity Executive	2002	ex-EWS	Stored
86212	86	-	Virgin Red/Black	2004	ex-Virgin Trains	Stored serviceably
86217	86	-	Anglia Railways	2004	ex-'one'	Stored serviceably
86223	86	-	Anglia Railways	2004	ex-'one'	Stored serviceably
86229	86	-	Virgin Red/Black	2004	ex-Virgin Trains	Stored serviceably
86231	86	-	Virgin Red/Black	2004	ex-Virgin Trains	Stored serviceably
86233	86	-	BR Electric Blue	2004	ex-Virgin Trains	Stored serviceably
86235	86	-	Anglia Railways	2006	ex-'one'	Stored serviceably
86250	86	-	Anglia Railways	2004	ex-'one'	Stored serviceably
86251	86	-	Virgin Red/Black	2004	ex-Virgin Trains	Stored serviceably

References