GBRf charter
GBRf announces itinerary for September’s four-day charity charter, and aims to surpass £125,000 raised by 2016 event.
AN electric-hauled arrival at London Paddington, another at Blackpool North, and a Class 56 hauling a rake of 12 Mk 1s to Fort William are among the highlights planned for this year’s GB Railfreight four-day charity charter.
‘GBRf 2018 - Out of the Ordinary’ plans to use extensive examples of the company’s fleet, along with some hired traction, to visit various destinations across the UK - including ’08’ haulage at Cardiff Celsa Works and Class 73/1s across the Forth Bridge.
Class 08s, ‘20s’, ‘47s’, ‘66s’, ‘73/1s’, ‘73/9s’ and various AC locomotives from the freight company’s fleet will all feature, while there are plans for a Colas Railfreight Class 56, a pair of ‘50s’ and two Freightliner ‘86/6s’ to also be used on various legs of the tour.
GBRf General Manager Paul Taylor said: “Following the success of GBRf15, we wanted to keep the successful format of that tour, but do something even more interesting and unusual. We hope that the planned highlights of AC locomotives to Paddington and Blackpool North, Class 73s over the Forth Bridge and a Class 56 to Fort William, plus a few unusual yard visits, will provide something for everyone.”
GBRf Contract Manager Dale Williams said: “We have looked to capitalise on help from our industry colleagues and acknowledge the offers of assistance from Colas, Freightliner and the Fifty Fund in providing locomotives to make this massive tour a success.”
GBRf Contract Manager Ian Grey said: “The aim is to beat the £125,000 we were able to donate to charity from running GBRf15, which is a challenge in itself. This tour will be driven, guarded, stewarded and managed by a whole army of volunteer staff from GBRf, giving their time for free.”
Funds raised from the train will be donated to GBRf’s chosen charities Headway and Macmillan Cancer Support, which were selected by staff and confirmed on January 27.
The charter will leave London Victoria at 0943 on September 20 behind a Class 66/7, which is expected to be one of the ten bought from DB Cargo at the end of 2017.
The ‘66/7’ will run to Bristol Temple Meads, where a pair of Class 73/9s will take over for a trip to Cardiff Celsa Works. Class
08s used there will then haul the charter into sidings, before the ‘73/9s’ continue the journey to Didcot Chester Lane Junction. From there, an AC locomotive (likely to be either 86101, 86401 or 87002) will haul the train to London Paddington non-stop. It is hoped this will be the first passenger train to arrive at the Great Western Main Line terminus hauled by an electric locomotive.
Friday September 21 starts at London Euston at 0715, with a pair of Class 20s which will take the train to Wellingborough Yard, running via the Bletchley-Bedford route. In Wellingborough Yard a ‘66/7’ will take over for a trip along the Midland Main Line to West Hampstead Thameslink, where the ‘20s’ will then haul the train to Acton Lane Reception via Dudding Hill, Dartford, Tonbridge West Yard and Kensington Olympia. A pair of ‘73/1s’ will then take the charter into Waterloo International.
An overnight trip on September 21/22 is planned, with several firsts in the itinerary. As-yet unspecified traction will take the charter from Waterloo International to Wembley, from where an AC locomotive will haul the charter to Blackpool North, becoming the first electric locomotive-hauled passenger train to arrive at the resort. This will run via the West Coast Main Line, Crewe (Independent Lines), Warrington (via Helsby Lines) and Preston (Down Goods Line).
After a quick break, a pair of ‘73/1s’ (covering new ground for the class on passenger duties) will haul the charter back to Preston, before the AC locomotive then takes the charter to Motherwell (via Carlisle’s through lines) for an 0440 arrival on September 22.
The third day begins with the AC locomotive running to Mossend Yard, from where the Colas ‘56’ and one ‘73/1’ will head for Fort William in tandem. For shunting reasons the ‘56’ needs to be removed at the final signal before the West Highland terminus, so the ‘73’ is planned to haul the final stage into Fort William (again a first).
After a 90-minute break, the ‘56’ will head for Rosyth Down Loop, running via the West Highland Line, Hamilton Circle, Mossend and Falkirk Grahamston.
At Rosyth, a pair of ‘73/1’s takes over to haul the charter over the Forth Bridge to Edinburgh Waverley. An AC locomotive will then take the charter to Glasgow Central, running via Falkirk Grahamston, Cumbernauld and Carmyle.
The final day (Sunday September 23) features an 0810 departure from Glasgow Central with two ‘73/1s’ (again a first) as they head to Paisley Canal, hauling the first diesel-hauled charter on the branch since it was wired in 2012. A GBRf Class 47 will then take the charter to Polmadie Down Holding Sidings before the ‘73/1s’ haul the train back into Glasgow Central.
At 0945, the ‘47’ heads for Carlisle, running via the Glasgow & South-Western route through Lugton, Kilmarnock and Dumfries. At Carlisle, a pair of Freightliner Class 86/6s will take over for a trip to Crewe.
At Crewe, a pair of Fifty Fund Class 50s take over, running to Hanwell Loop via Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Bescot, Stetchford, Coventry, Leamington Spa, Banbury, High Wycombe, Neasden Junction and Acton Wells Junction.
The final leg, from Hanwell Loop into London Paddington via Acton Relief Dive Under, will be hauled by Class 73/1s.
The stock will be a rake of 12 Mk 1s. GBRf said it plans to announce on-train catering in the near future, and is looking to improve upon GB15’s offering following customer feedback.
Tickets go on sale on March 30 via the website www. gbrfcharityrailtours.co.uk. The organisers told RAIL that those on the mailing list will be able to book first using a special link.