Page 79 - Rail Express - September 2019

Gareth Bayer
Final GRBf ’92’ outshopped
AFTER receiving a£2million
refurbishment at Wabtec’s Brush
Traction site in Loughborough,
No. 92006 reentered service on
July2,having been out of use since
February 2006.
Previouslyone of the SNCF-branded
locomotivesand name Louis Armand,
the loco wasstored at Crewe IEMD until
2011 when it wassold to GBRf’s then
owner Europorte and movedtostorage
at CoquellesinFrance. Returningto
the UK in September 2014 by road,
andnow under GBRf ownership proper,
No. 92006 has been at Loughborough
ever since.
The ‘92’ is nowpainted in
Caledonian Sleeper teal and fitted
with special Dellner couplings. It
will be initiallyintroduced on the
CAFMk.5-operated ‘Lowlander’
sleeper route between Euston and
Edinburgh/Glasgow beforemoving
CAMERA PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY
Think youcan do better? If you’vetaken something newsworthy, artistic or technically GBRF’S Class 60 No. 60096 Impetus has THERE wasgood news forNo. 37667,
interesting on amobile device, send it in to railexpresseditor@mortons.co.uk and we’ll pay been hired to DCR forcrewtraining ahead which departed LoramatDerby on July4
our normal rates forany used in the magazine.
SAMSUNG S7: GBRf’s refurbished sleeper loco No. 92006 on atest run at Stafford
on July3,running from Crewe to Crewevia Staffordand Preston. James Windows
Class 70 trialled on
Somerset stone trains
OVERNIGHT on July18/19 saw
Freightliner’s No. 70003 haul a‘jumbo’
aggregates train from Merehead
(Somerset) to Acton (West London) that
weighed morethan 4,600 tonnes, which
is claimed to be the current heaviest to Southampton Maritime on July18
run in Britain.
The trial wasinpreparation for
Freightliner taking overthe bulk
haulageservice forMendip Rail,the
joint venturebetween Hanson UK and
Aggregate Industries, in November.
Currentlythese trains areoperated
by DB Cargousing Class 59 power, but
once the ‘green team’ takes overare
expected to see amixtureofClass 70s
and‘66/6s’.
The trial run saw46wagons loaded
NEWS ROUND-UP
to the ‘Highlander’ sleeper in due
course. Other modifications include
additional safetymeasures, improved
communication equipment and
powerupgrades.
No. 66704 wastaskedwith
dragging No. 92006, nowinthe GBSL
pool, to Crewe (as a0Z81 move), where
it reconnected to the overhead supply
forthe first move under its ownpower,
the short trip to the Down Holding
siding readyfor further testing.
On July3itwas outonits ownfor
aride to Staffordand Preston, while
notablyonJuly10itwas partnered with
its CS teal-liveried colleague No. 92033
forarun to Staffordand back. With
testing and afew minor issues
attended to at Crewe IEMD, it headed
to WembleyonJuly26asan0Z92
light engine move behind No. 92028,
the latter also returningtowork after
severalmonths out of service.
to 100 tonnes each leave Merehead as
the 7A91/22.50 to Acton. It left some
20 minutes late but arrival was30
minutes ahead of booked time at 02.25.
No. 70003 wasprepared at
before running light engine to Merehead
around lunchtime, then making a
round trip crew familiarisation run to
Westbury and back. After the trial it ran
back light engine to Southampton on
the 19th as the 04.28 from Acton, then
returned to its usual intermodal duties
laterthat day.
‘Jumbo’ trains bring combined loads
of stone to Acton foronwardworking
as portions to various locations in
London and the South East.
POWER BY THE HOUR
DB CARGO repairs began at Barrow Hill to return
FIVE moreClass 60s (Nos. 60006, 60050, the former Eastfield favourite Jimmy
60060, 60081 and 60086, all located at Shand to workingcondition, but this
Toton) have been offered forsale by DB. wascancelled and the locomotivesold
Notablycelebrity Corus silver-liveried to Europhoenix, who movedittoUKRL’s
No. 60006 (in storesince November Leicester depot in January of this year.
2004) and No. 60050 (in storesince June Having been stripped of parts it has now
2006) have both been put out fortender been broken up on site at the end of July.
twicebefore, in 2010 and 2016, while
GWR green No. 60081 –the most famous GB RAILFREIGHT
member of the Class 60 fleet –has also THE second of the SwedishClass 66s
been previouslyoffered in 2010. The that GBRf acquired from Beacon Rail
closing date forbidswas August 1. We has arrived in the UK in the form of No.
hope theyfind good homes. 66791, the former No. T66404. Offloaded
Nine locomotives movedbetween at Immingham DocksonJuly18, after
the stored and operational pools during being shipped from Gothenburg, it was
the period under review, with Nos. 66108, movedtoDoncaster Roberts Road on
90035, 90039 and 90040 all being stored the 23rdbyNo. 66749(as 0Z92). It
WQAA, while Nos. 60001 (to WCAT), eventually reached EMD Longport on
60020 (to WCAT), 66070 (to WBAT), July29via Peterborough (as 0M22) and
90019 (to WEDC) and 90029 (to WEDC) Hams Hall (as 0M70), the final leg being
were all back in service in July. Notably, behind No. 66786, which is another
the latter three locomotives had all been ‘second-hand’ member of the GBRf fleet
stored in June. (being ex-DB/EWS No. 66141).
DC RAIL/CAPPAGH LOCOMOTIVE SERVICES LTD
of the first of this operator’s ‘Super 60s’ by road after alengthyrepair, having
arriving later this year.Movinglight been on site since the middle of June
engine from Doncaster to Willesden on 2018. The former Direct Rail Services
July3(0Z60), it wasreported in service locomotive, which has swapped its
the following dayona6Z60/17.14to compass livery forundercoat grey,was
Chaddesden (Derby) conveying empty returned to LSL’sCrewe Diesel Depot.
JRA boxwagons readytowork a6Z61
service to MaltbyColliery the next WEST COASTRAILWAYS
day, the first train to visit this site for THE focus on preserved and heritage
some years. Aweek later the ‘Tug’ was main line Class 47 fleet in last month’s
recorded on driver training duties in Rail Express mentioned that the D05
South andWest London readyfor anew Preservation Group’s No. 47828 had
service to Angerstein Wharf,before movedtoCarnforth to takeupduties
running light to Toton on July16. with WCRonApril17. The InterCity
Swallow-liveried ‘Brush 4’ finallyworked
EUROPHOENIX its first train on July11, doubling up with
SCRAPPING of Class 37s has been rare AWCA pool colleague No. 47832 at the
in recent years, with only ahandful cut head of a1Z25/07.58 Carnforth to York
since the hugeculls of the 2000s. Initially ‘Scarborough Spa Express’, working via
the futurelooked promising for Prestonand CopyPit/Calder Valley.
No. 37188, having been acquired by Colas ‘Jubilee’ 4-6-0 steam loco No. 45699
Rail in 2015 forareturn to the main line Galatea then worked the train onward
after languishing at Peak Rail.Bodywork to Scarborough.
No. 70003 at Merehead late on July
18 ahead of its 4600-tonne trial run to
Acton. Freightliner
September 2019 RAIL EXPRESS 79