News Archive: June 2007

 

30/06/07

Crompton 202...
33202 (CRRH) has returned to service and was to be found working the 5Z80 Old Oak Common to Gloucester this morning with one FGW coach in tow.

Disposal...
Having lain at Kingsbury devoid of its bodywork between the cab ends since late April the demolition of 37678, stored from Toton and the WKSN pool in December 2000, has been undertaken with the remains of the locomotive being chopped up into several sections in the past day or so, RIP.

MTU 071...
43071 (EFPC) has been released from re-engineering at Brush Traction and has been hauled to from Loughborough to Landore by 47828

Blue 57...
Scheduled to head to Carlisle under the cover of darkness, DRS evidently wanting to keep it out of the public view for the time being, what will probably be 57011 is set to make its way north from Crewe to Kingmoor on July 3rd so if anyone just happens to be in the vicinity of Crewe at 22:37, Warrington at 23:13, Preston at 23:45, Lancaster at 00:03, Penrith at 01:04 and Carlisle at 01:34 they might just see it en route.

29/06/07

Toton notes...
Due to move to Manchester shortly 08623 (WNTR) has been return to active use at Toton and has been engaged in shunting duties in the adjacent yard in recent days meanwhile 67030 (WNTR) from Allerton has arrived at Toton being brought in yesterday in the consist of the 6D99 from Bescot.

The convoy...
87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) have been on the move again today behind 47828 but still haven't reached Long Marston. After their overnight stop off at Oxley the quartet were taken south to Gloucester before heading back up to Worcester where, Long Marston being closed by this point, they have been left in the sidings adjacent to the station for the weekend.

28/06/07

Tug 40...
The active Class 60 fleet has been increased by one to 61 with he reinstatement from store at Toton to WCAK of 60040.

Shunter on the road...
Traditional Traction's 08511 (WNSO) is on its way south from Ayr by road, presumably to either Goodman's or to join the rest of their fleet on the Colne Valley Railway, being noted near Kilmarnock traversing the A69 late afternoon. Thomson's bound 08695 (WNSO) is now sat outside at Ayr awaiting collection.

Those 87s again...
The removal of 87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) from Wembley has at last taken place. Their transfer had initially been scheduled to go ahead during the afternoon, timed for a 15:00 departure from Wembley to Gloucester, for Long Marston, but this failed to happen. Instead an evening departure has materialised with 47828 and the four Class 87s being taken north to Oxley via the WCML being noted on the move through Harrow shortly before 20:30 and Milton Keynes shortly after 21:10.

DRS news...
37688 recently despatched to Kingmoor from Brush Traction, Loughborough has now been reinstated to the XHNC pool whilst 47501 (XHMW) has been released from repainting at Glasgow Works. In plain DRS blue, the decals to be applied at Kingmoor, 47501 was taken south to Carlisle this afternoon by 20313 and 20315.

The Germans are coming...
EWS have announced that the takeover of the company by Deutsche Bahn (DB) is set to go ahead now that plans to move in this direction have been approved by the DB board. Full details have been issued in a press release on the EWS website.

More MTU...
43128 and 43188 (both EFPC) have been released from Brush Traction today being hauled to Landore by 47813.

Cotswold returnees...
47375 (CRRH) is due for release from Barrow Hill whilst 33202 (CRRH) had been pencilled in for a return to traffic tomorrow being scheduled to haul the Class 87 quartet from Gloucester to Long Marston, that is of course, if they arrive there from Wembley.

Wembley Bluebirds...
66701 to 66727 inclusive have been reallocated en masse from Willesden to Wembley.

27/06/07

37705...
On the move by road from Motherwell to Stockton yesterday was 37705 (WNSO) noted heading east on the A69 near Hexham en route to TJ Thomson's.

Loughborough notes...
43029 and 43156 (both EFPC) have been released from re-engineering at Brush Traction being hauled away to Landore today by 47813. 43128 and 43188 (both also EFPC) are due to be collected tomorrow. It has been confirmed that 43127 (EFPC) has been deposited at Brush having being noted on the M5 some days ago whilst the former CR silver machine 43070 (EFPC) has also been taken to Brush by road from Plymouth Laira.

Farce (was Long Marston bound 87s)...
Yesterday's booked transfer of 87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) from Wembley to Gloucester for Long Marston fell at the first hurdle yesterday evening being cancelled before departure behind 47828 due to an 'incident' at Wembley.

Belated disposals...
The disposals of 08655, stored from Immingham's WSNE pool in January 2004, and 08740, stored from Stratford's EWSF pool back in September 1997, on site at LH Group Services, Barton under Needwood were carried out by a local contractor during April, RIP.

26/06/07

Long Marston bound 87s...
At the time of writing 47828 had been despatched to Wembley from Norwich to collect 87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) which are Long Marston bound. After departure from Wembley, originally timed at 16:30 but subsequently put back to 18:30, there will be a reversal at Willesden before the convoy is hauled westwards to Gloucester via the GWML. Reports indicate that the convoy is to be recessed at Gloucester with the 87s being forwarded to Long Marston at a later date.

Selected timings for 0Z87 Wembley to Gloucester are; Willesden 18:45-18:53, Acton Mainline 19:13, Southall 19:22, Slough 19:36, Reading 19:59, Didcot 20:46, Swindon Yard 21:24-21:58, Swindon 22:00, Kemble 22:23, Gloucester 23:00.

25/06/07

Long Marston bound 87s...
The proposed but deferred transfer of 87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) from Wembley to Long Marston is, by all accounts, set to go ahead tomorrow.

Anglia 90 at Toton...
90003 (IANA) has appeared at Toton, brought in from Crewe yesterday behind 37422, probably for repainting.

Disposal...
The cutting of 31200, the last of the three Class 31s from store at Throckmorton, stored from Wigan's LWNC pool back in January 1996, has been completed at Booth's, Rotherham, RIP.

Crash dummy number 2...
31420 was removed from Booth's, Rotherham by road on the 21st to an undisclosed location in Yorkshire.

24/06/07

Bulgarian 87s...
Glenn Edwards, Director of Electric Traction Services (ETS) is pleased to announce, in association with Romic UK, that the commissioning of 87019 has been completed in Bulgaria and the Class 87 design will soon be signed off and free to travel the entire (Bulgarian Railways) network. A number of changes have been made to the locomotive which includes the fitting of rear view mirrors, relocation of the headlamp assembly, cab modifications and fitting of a new speedometer system.
Livery design, planed routes and type of traffic are all still to be confirmed however the running number to be carried by number 87019 is confirmed as 87019 - 06. Further information regarding 87012 and 87019 is to be posted on the AC Locomotive Group website shortly.23/06/07

23/06/07

HNRC notes...
20901 and 20905 (both HNRL) at Barrow Hill are now OTMR fitted and a return to mainline running is on the cards. Besides being rostered for the tours from Barrow Hill to Hope as part of the Barrow Hill Open Weekend, Saturday & Sunday 13th & 14th July, they are to attend the East Lancashire Railway for the ELR Summer Diesel Gala scheduled to take place between July 4th and July 8th. Looking ahead to beyond the summer gala appearances it has been hinted at that there may be some mainline freight work coming up for the HNRC 20s, more on this later...

Mystery 08 confirmed...
It has now been confirmed that the shunter that appeared at Kingsbury a few days ago is indeed 08926 from Goodman's nearby.

22/06/07

08345, the last of the four coming down from Scotland, has been brought south from Deanside Transit Glasgow to Long Marston where it was noted parked by the gates awaiting entry last night.
66212 (WBEN) at Toton is ready for despatch to France.

Freightliner to release more Class 57s...?
It has been indicated that Freightliner are on the verge of releasing some more Class 57s for redeployment or store with talk of a couple of examples being despatched to Long Marston in the next few days.

21/06/07

37688 (XHSS) has completed its transfer to Kingmoor being hauled north this morning to Carlisle from Crewe.
60023 (WNTR) brought south from Thornaby to Doncaster a couple of days ago has been forwarded from Doncaster Carr to Toton.

Disposal...
The scrapping of 08867, stored from Allerton's WSNW pool in November 1999, has been completed at Thomson's, Stockton, RIP.

20/06/07

Brush arrivals & departures...
20312, reallocated to the XHMW pool today, was deposited at Brush Traction yesterday for attention. It was taken south by 66415 which stayed over to return north today with 37688 (XHSS) however due to being blocked in this morning thus missing its allotted departure time, 43056 which also left today was in the way, 66415 ran north to at least Crewe with 37688 in tow mid to late afternoon.
On the power car front 43194 (EFPC) was taken away to Landore yesterday, 43194 was the half FGW neon half VT red painted example and its departure leaves just 43078 on site from the 2006 influx. 43056 (IECP) for use with GNER but not re-engineered, it will be back for this at a later date, was removed to Neville Hill today by 47813.
43153 (EFPC), one already MTU equipped, has been returned to Brush, it was noted on the road en route on a low loader on the 16th meanwhile 43127 (EFPC) was observed near Worcester traversing the M5 yesterday and was quite probably en route to Loughborough. Due out by the end of the month are 43029 43071 43128 43156 and 43188 whilst 43174 (EFPC), released recently from re-engineering has been noted in service following re-commissioning at Landore.

Kingsbury arrivals...
37372 (WNSO) from Motherwell and 47780 (SDXL) from Barrow Hill have been off loaded at Kingsbury today.

19/06/07

08728 has been identified as the shunter recently relocated to Long Marston from Deanside Transit which leaves just 08345 to be brought south from Scotland.
47804 (now renumbered back to this from 47792) has been reinstated to the MBDL pool at Carnforth for use with WCRC.
86633 (DHLT) has been moved across from Crewe Basford Hall to Crewe LNWR.
92007 and 92034 have been stored WNTR, both at Crewe EMD.

Vans to go...
... Friday (22nd) at the earliest now by all accounts. Cotswold Rail are tasked with the removal of 87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) from Wembley to Long Marston.

18/06/07

Vans (were) to go...
The transfer of 87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) from Wembley to Long Marston had been scheduled to take place today, timed for a 12:30 or thereabouts departure from Wembley, booked to run to Long Marston via the GWML, Gloucester and a reversal at Worcester, but this has now been deferred until (possibly) the 20th.

Disposal...
The demolition of 08675, stored from Motherwell's LGML pool back in July 1999, has also been completed at Thomson's, Stockton in the last few days, RIP.

Mystery 08s...
A blue Class 08, possibly 08926 from Goodman's at Sutton Coldfield, has been offloaded at Kingsbury, it, 08414 and 08946 are now Kingsbury bound following assessment / component recovery at Goodman's meanwhile it has been established that another Class 08 from Deanside, either 08345 or 08728, has been transported south to Long Marston in the last few days.

16/06/07

60023 (WNTR) has been brought south from Thornaby, in convoy this morning with 66224 behind 60043, to Doncaster.

Booth's, Hull's and a disposal...
At Booth's, Rotherham 31420 has been in the cutting area but only for removal of its internals, the power unit is understood to be GCR bound for 31563 (D5830), and its roof sections were being replaced when viewed this morning. Bogie less 31200 has been craned into position for cutting which should be carried out in the coming days. Further to yesterday's notes about 31420 and a filming exercise it transpires that this is to take place partly on the NYMR and a closed site in Yorkshire where the actual crash scenes are to be created.
Up the road at Ron Hull's recent arrival 86620 is no more, cutting having taken place almost immediately after arrival, and the demolition of 86606 is well underway with only its cabs and frame on bogies in existence. 86615 is still intact.
86620 was stored from the Freightliner DFNC pool as recently as September 2005, after catching fire at Winsford, RIP.

15/06/07

37010 (HNRS) has completed its transfer by road from Long Marston to Barrow Hill.

Disposal...
The scrapping of 08768, stored from Motherwell's WSSC pool in March 2000, has been completed at Thomson's, Stockton, RIP.

More Peds on TV...?
It has been indicated that 31420 (and possibly 31427) currently languishing at Booth's, Rotherham are to be utilised for a filming exercise on the Battlefield Line in which a crash scene is to be created and staged.

14/06/07

37010 (HNRS) has been extracted from Long Marston by road and is to go to Barrow Hill where it is to be stripped for spares.
56128 at Long Marston recently advertised for sale has been withdrawn from sale. It would appear that it is now likely to be broken up for spares.

Disposal...
The disposal at Crewe DMD of 37713 has at last been completed, only part of its frame and some bulkhead were in evidence this morning. 37713 was stored from Toton's WKGN pool in March 2000, RIP.

13/06/07

31200 (QETS) devoid of bogies and internals has been transported from Derby RTC to Booth's, Rotherham for disposal.
47292 (DHLT) has been delivered into preservation making its move by road from Crewe to the GCR(N) yesterday as planned.
47802 returned to Kingmoor from Glasgow Works today following its repaint has been reallocated back to XHNC from XHMW. 47802 now sports DRS Class 66 style livery, complete with stripes and compass logo. Another new livery for the Class has appeared today with Victa Westlink's 47832 (VWLO), scheduled to be a static exhibit at the forthcoming West Somerset Railway gala, being released from Barrow Hill today in the company's black and white colour scheme.
87006 87007 87008 and 87026 (all SBXL) at Wembley have been prepared for removal away to Long Marston by rail. Transfer is scheduled to take place early next week.

12/06/07

08447, the second of the four shunters being brought south from Deanside Transit at Glasgow, was noted traversing the M6 near Crewe early evening en route to Long Marston. Consequently it, 08736 already transported to Long Marston, 08345 and 08728 still at Deanside are additions to the storage lists pending developments with Motorail Logistics at Long Marston.
43040 (EFPC) was deposited at Brush Traction yesterday for re-engineering and 43187 (EFPC) has been noted in service today following re-commissioning at Landore.
55022 (ELRD), back on two motors, has ran light engine from Bury to Barrow Hill where it is to be load bank tested by HNRC.

11/06/07

47145 recently removed from Carnforth and deposited at Carlisle Kingmoor has been reallocated to the DRS XHSS pool whilst 47501 is reallocated to XHMW whilst stopped for a repaint.
60065 has been reinstated from store at Thornaby and reallocated to WCAM swapping places in the active fleet with 60072 which has been stored WNTR at Toton.

10/06/07

60008 sidelined at Toton with a defective power unit has been stored WNTR whilst 60075, released into traffic from store at Toton on the 8th, is reinstated to the WCAM pool as a replacement for 60008.

09/06/07

33202 (CRRH) has been returned to Gloucester from the West Somerset Railway.
86620 (DHLT) noted traversing the M1 early this morning has been moved by road from Crewe EMD to Hull's, Rotherham.
92015 (WNTR) from Mossend completed its transfer by road to Crewe EMD this morning.

08/06/07

47145 (MBDL) was hauled north from Carnforth to Carlisle Kingmoor yesterday afternoon by 40145 which was en route to Bo' Ness.
47747 awaiting collection at Millerhill has been reallocated from WNSO to RTLO thus confirming Riviera's interest in the locomotive.
60008 (WCAM) which suffered what is understood to have been a serious power unit failure whilst working the Fiddlers Ferry MGR circuit a few days ago has been placed on decision at Toton. Its place in the operating fleet has been taken by 60075 (WNTR) released into service today from Toton.
66038 (WBEN) en route back to France was at Wembley Yard today awaiting shipment through the tunnel.
92015 (WNTR) has been brought south from Mossend. Destined for Crewe on a low loader it was noted at Tebay and on the M6 near Lancaster early evening en route.

07/06/07

Fastline Gronk...
On hire from HNRC 08527 (HNRL) has been deposited at Doncaster for shunting duties at Fastline's Roberts Road depot pending the fitment of TPWS equipment which will enable it to undertake trip duties in and around the Doncaster area.

Disposal...
At Booth's, Rotherham the demolition of 31319, stored from Crewe Diesel's LWNW pool back in January 1997, has been completed, RIP.

Work in progress...
Up at Thomson's, Stockton the scrapping of both 08675 and 08768 has begun whilst 37713 is still with us, just, at Crewe.

06/06/07

33103 (NRLO) returned to the fray today working a Derby to Derby via the East Midlands saloon special.
37713 is nearing oblivion, cutting has resumed on site at Crewe DMD.
43174 (EFPC) has been released from re-engineering at Brush Traction being hauled away to Landore by 47828.
47145 (MBDL) is to move to Carlisle Kingmoor shortly, according to reports which, if so, will confirm that DRS have been looking at buying up more Class 47s.
47792 at Carnforth has been repainted into WCRC maroon and looks set to return to service sporting its former identity of 47804.
60083 (WBAN) seconded to the Manchester Metrolink project as a super shunter of sorts at Bury Buckley Wells, it has been on site for the last few weeks, is due a B exam so should be swapping places with another Class 60 shortly.
92015 (WNTR), it transpires, wasn't at Crewe EMD as thought when it was put to store a few days ago, but up at Mossend, evidently with wheelset or traction equipment problems as a transfer south by road is in the pipeline.

05/06/07

37216 (WNSO) is now at Kingsbury having completed its move from Motherwell via a stop over at Heanor's, Langley Mill.
43091 (EFPC) was taken to Brush Traction today for re-engineering, haulage being provided by 47828.
47270 (DHLT) has completed its transfer to the Nene Valley Railway and preservation swapping places with 56057 which has been removed by road for delivery to RVEL at Derby. 56057, it should be clarified, has been bought privately and is to be placed with RVE.

04/06/07

47270 (DHLT) left Crewe late afternoon on a low loader for transfer to the Nene Valley Railway and into preservation.
66036 (WBEN) is back from Europe being noted traversing the West Midlands at lunchtime today behind 66019.

03/06/07

37216 (WNSO) has been transported south by road from Motherwell being noted en route on the M6 yesterday at both Westmorland Services in Cumbria and Charnock Richard Services near Wigan. An EMR purchase and presumably Kingsbury bound 37216 has been taken to Heanor at Langley Mill, 20154 from the Midland Railway Centre is also there at the moment, to await forwarding in due course.

Disposal...
The demolition of 08906, stored from Motherwell's LGML pool back in July 1998, has been undertaken at Thomson's, Stockton. Cutting was completed on the 1st and the bits were being tided up yesterday, RIP.

WFMU 66s...
Whilst the allocation has been fluid for most, swapping into and out of the pool as required, several Class EWS 66s; 66004 66027 66031 66039 66077 66103 66110 66114 66116 and 66131, have spent the past month or longer allocated to the WFMU pool without changing. Of these it has been noted that 66027 66039 and 66077 along with 66007 (WBAN) are undergoing G exams which are not a general overhaul in the classic sense but amount to a quite extensive going over all the same. 66004 and 66116 have been allocated to WFMU since its inception early April.

02/06/07

08573 and 08750 (both MOLO) latterly to be found at Ruislip have been transported north by road in recent days. Whilst it is understood that 08573 was Doncaster bound 08750 has been deposited at Hornsey.
08955 and 37897 (both WNSO) which had spent the past few weeks in or near to the road loading area at Bescot are evidently not going anywhere just yet having being returned to the yard area south of the shed.

Sister Dora...
37116 (Sister Dora) is to make its debut in preservation tomorrow on the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway who are holding their Summer Gala. 31113 & D8568 will also be on display. Further details can be found on the Chinnor & Princes Risborough web site.

01/06/07

37114 (WNTA) 37174 (WNTS) 37203 (WNTR) 37893 and 37895 (both WNTA) have been returned to the yard at Bescot.
43171 (EFPC) has entered traffic following re-commissioning at Landore whilst 43187 (EFPC) has been released from re-engineering at Brush Traction being hauled to Landore this afternoon by 47828.

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