LNER puts remaining ‘91s' into warm store
The ongoing pandemic restrictions and major engineering works have resulted in the complete withdrawal of the last remaining ‘Electras' from passenger service, although the plan is to resurrect them in the summer.
AFTER the retirement of 19 members of the class between July 2019 and July 2020, there were 10 Class 91s still in service in the East Coast IECA pool at the start of 2021 – Nos.
91101, 91105, 91106, 91107, 91109, 91114, 91119, 91124, 91127 and 91130, plus two other Nos. 91110 and 91111 undergoing G-exams at Wabtec, Doncaster.
However, January proved to be their final month of action, at least until East Coast service levels start to increase back towards normality later in the year. June is being mooted, although this is far from certain at this point.
In the final week there were just three diagrams remaining for the class, none taking the fleet north of York. The final day was January 15 when Nos. 91105, 91124 and 91130 were in charge, sadly without much of a sendoff because of the pandemic.
MOVEMENTS TO STORE
This was not the end of the story, however, as the Class 91s and remaining Mk.4s sets still had to be moved into their warm storage locations. The first such move was on the 14th with No. 91107 working a 5Z09/08.23 from Bounds Green to Neville Hill with set BN12. One curiosity of these moves north is that most are travelling via Newcastle to turn the set so the electric locomotive will be at the correct end to receive current in the sidings at Belmont Yard, Doncaster.
The following day (January 15) it was the turn of No. 91127 to transfer itself into storage, the unnamed ECML
racehorse working another 5Z09, this time making it to Belmont with set BN17 (departing Bounds Green at 08.24). On January 26, No. 91101 was partnered with set BN13 for a 5Z09/08.22 Bounds Green-Doncaster Belmont, while the same duty the next day (27th) involved No. 91114 and set BN15, which was the last full rake of Mk.4s to move away from the London depot.
The penultimate Class 91s to depart Bounds Green were Nos.
91106, 91119 (InterCity livery) and 91130, which all left together (with No. 91130 leading) on January 28 under a 5Z50/10.11 headcode, the trio running to Neville Hill – the new home base for the fleet – with Mk.4 TSOE No. 12214 and ‘Flying Scotsman’ DVT No. 82205.
With Nos. 91105 and 91125 having completed their diagrams at Neville Hill on January 15, this left just No. 91109 in London waiting to head north, a move that was expected to take place in the first few days of February.