Farewell to ‘Grids’ in September railtour to Barrow Hill
FANS can bid farewell to Class 56s with the UK Railtours outing to Barrow Hill behind a GB Rail freight‘ Grid’ on Saturday, September 17.
Built between 1976 and 1984 at Doncaster, Crewe, and in Romania, the 56s were designed for heavy freight work. With a Rushton-Paxman power unit, 135 examples of the class entered traffic and proved comfortable with heavy traffic, being less prone to wheelslip.
However, maintenance costs proved to be high compared with other locomotives, such as the Class 58. Due to these costs, GB Railfreight announced in April 2019 that the 16 locomotives it owns would be rebuilt with new engines and various other modifications to the controls.
The rebuild is so extensive that the locomotives coming out of the works will be known as Class 69s, with the first having entered service in early 2021. The remaining locomotives are expected to enter the conversion programme at the end of 2022 and so this could be the last opportunity on the main line to travel behind the nicknamed ‘Gridiron’ locomotive or ‘Grid’, after the grid-like cover over the horn on the cab end.
UK Railtours, in association with GBRf, has planned a tour beginning at Finsbury Park behind a Class 66 on route to Leicester, where the locomotive will be exchanged for a Class 56. The tour will then continue north via Trent, Lenton Curve, Radford Junction, Trowell Junction, and along the Erewash Valley Route, where the 56 will get a chance to stretch its legs on the journey to Barrow Hill Roundhouse.
There will be a short break at Barrow Hill to experience the last operational roundhouse, historic locomotives and museum space.
On departing Barrow Hill, the tour heads north on a circular route around the Doncaster avoiding lines towards Hull Docks, taking in the Walton Street goods branch and the Anlaby Curve towards Selby. Heading back towards Doncaster after passing Castleford and Pontefract, the 56 heads south to Peterborough along the East Coast Main Line, where it is detached and a Class 66 takes over for the journey home.
Further details are at ukrailtours. com/product/the-class-56-farewell/