CLASS 387 ‘ELECTROSTAR’
THE first day of ‘Electrostar’ passenger workings between Paddington and Heathrow on December 29 saw three pairs units, Nos. 387130/133, 387132/141 and 387136/139, in action on ‘Heathrow Express’ services.
CLASS 442 ‘5-WES’
RETURNING to its former stamping ground, ‘AC’-powered No. 442419 spent much of January based in the ‘Desiro’ compound at Weymouth, from where it undertook night-time testing to Dorchester South.
January 18 saw No. 442416 moved from Bournemouth to Wolverton for work in connection with fitting its new traction package, Nos. 37601 and 57305 being employed on its transfer.
CLASS 455
JANUARY 16 saw No. 455821 return from Wolverton to Stewarts Lane behind No. 57312 following overhaul. The ‘57’ then formed the 5Q70/11.10 Stewarts Lane-Wolverton with No. 455822 in tow.
CLASS 701 ‘ARTERIO’
TWO new units emerged from Bombardier, Derby in January. The first was No. 701016, which was taken to Eastleigh TMD by Nos. 66752/755 on January 7. Six days later, the 6X24/07.35 Derby Litchurch Lane-Eastleigh was operated by Nos. 66704/724, conveying No. 701018. Appearing out of Derby on January 22 was No. 701020, which was moved to Worksop by Nos. 66704/765.
CLASS 707 ‘DESIRO CITY’
SOUTHEASTERN took delivery of its first two Class 707 units in the early hours of January 9 when Nos. 707003/004 arrived at Grove Park following their release by South Western Railway. The pair travelled from Wimbledon Park via Waterloo the previous evening. January 10 saw SouthEastern’s two new additions head to Ashford Down Sidings, from where they are undertaking crew training duties to Sevenoaks on two days per week. Nos. 707005/006 similarly transferred across on January 16.
CLASS 720 ‘AVENTRA’
NEW into passenger service in recent weeks have been Nos. 720543/548 (December 23), 720537/538
(December 31) and 720556 (January 13).
It brings the number of units in traffic to 11. Arriving at Ilford from Wembley on January 9 were Nos. 720551/558, with Nos. 720549/552 following on January 25.
Following its return to Bombardier, Derby on December 11 after a spell based at Crewe for West Coast Main Line testing, No. 720546 emerged again on January 4, being taken from Derby to Bletchley by Nos. 47727/739.
No. 720560 was released three days later, being taken south as the 5Q70/11.53 Derby Litchurch LaneWolverton by Nos. 47727 and 56081. Another set that had returned to Derby in December following trials on the WCML, No. 720545, re-emerged on January 22, Nos. 47727/739 taking the unit to Wolverton. Also arriving at Wolverton from Derby was No. 720564 on January 26.
Units returned to Derby from storage at Worksop have been Nos. 720555 (December 22), 720527 (January 5), 720521 (January 6) and 720535 (January 21). Also returning to Derby, but from Wolverton, was
No. 720542 on January 25, Nos. 47739 and 56081 officiating over its transfer (see photo on page 20).
CLASS 769 ‘FLEX’
RELEASED from Brush, Loughborough on December 23 was No. 769946 (ex-319446), which was hauled to Nemesis Rail’s Burton site by
No. 37800. It was followed on
January 22 by No. 769944 (ex319444), which was taken from Loughborough to Burton by No. 57312.
January 13 saw No. 37884 bring No. 769930 south from Burton to Reading, the ‘37’ returning to Burton with No. 769943, which has been at Reading for several months for staff familiarisation but requires further work before it can be put into use.
The ‘37’ also hauled the 5Q98/09.47 Burton Wetmore-Reading with
No. 769936 in tow, giving GWR two sets for training purposes.
CLASS 777 ‘STADLER’
FOLLOWING a spell at Crewe (Arriva Traincare) undergoing modifications, No. 777001 arrived at Kirkdale depot (Merseyside) on January 4. Its transfer was handled by Nos. 66789/791 running in ‘top and tail’ formation.
■ Shed Talk for Units is on page 19 this month.
THE Welsh Railways Trust at the Gwili Railway has taken delivery of Cowans Sheldon 75-tonne diesel-hydraulic breakdown crane No. ADRC 96714 (previously DB 966093).
While this was previously stored at Wigan Springs Branch since 2015, it was appropriately based in South Wales for most of its career - being allocated to Cardiff Canton in the mid-1980s, moving to Margam TMD and then Newport ADJ between 2005 and 2008.
It was originally designated by the Railway Heritage Committee as historically significant in the late 1990s, and thus worthy of permanent preservation at the end of its working life. When Network
Rail indicated a desire to remove this and its three surviving colleagues (Nos. ADRC 96710/3/5) from its books last year, the Railway Heritage Designation Advisory Board confirmed the importance of this vehicle and negotiated its transfer to the Science Museum Group/NRM, which then placed a notice for interested parties to take over custodianship. Of note is that expressions of interest were also sought for BLA No. 910318 and SPA Nos. 460487/774 at the same time.
BR HISTORY
Built at Cowans Sheldon's St Nicholas Works in Carlisle, by then owned by NEI Clarke Chapman Cranes Ltd, six heavy duty 75-tonne 75mph breakdown cranes were built for British Rail between 1977-80. They were the last such vehicles built for the UK, and the only breakdown cranes with telescoping jibs and no requirement for runner vehicles.
Nos. DB 966089-966094 (later
Nos. ADRC 96710-96715, TOPS code ZIB) were deployed to all regions with the exception of the Southern, with Glasgow Eastfield's No. ADRC 96711 unique in being modified by the removal of weight to give it greater route availability in Scotland. The other five were allocated from new to Bristol
Bath Road (DB 966089/ADRC 96710), Old Oak Common (DB 966091/ADRC 96712), Springs Branch (DB 966092/ ADRC 96713), Leeds Holbeck (DB 966093/ADRC 96714) and Carlisle Kingmoor (DB 966093/ADRC 96715).
Scottish oddball No. ADRC
Crane No. ADRC 96714 after arrival at the Gwili Railway. 96711 was the first to be withdrawn, succumbing at the end of 1997 to apparently become a spares donor for the rest of the fleet. It was cut up at Gateshead in 2000.
The remaining fleet was extensively refurbished during 19992000, being completely stripped and new Cummins diesel engines installed. However, as dedicated breakdown cranes, their lack of flexibility and the increasing use of road-based cranes where possible made the expense of using and maintaining them ever more difficult to justify. This resulted in the retirement of No. ADRC 96712 in 2000 and after lingering in store at Derby Etches Park and York Holgate, it was scrapped at Ron Hull Jr, Rotherham, in 2008.
MOVE TO GWILI
The Gwili Railway, which operates a 4.5mile section of the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line as far as Danycoed Halt, was the successful recipient of No. ADRC 96714. The crane's move from Wigan Springs Branch was intended to be entirely by road, but
roadworks and the discovery of a weak bridge on the proposed route resulted in the majority of its final journey into preservation taking place on rails.
After being made fit for travel after half a decade of captivity at Wigan, West Coast Railways' Class
37s Nos. 37706 and 37518 did the honours, working a 6Z20/07.53 Wigan LIP-Margam TC on December 14 (see Headline News last month), after which the crane was separated from its bogies for the final road journey on the back of a Moveright International low loader from Port Talbot Up Sidings to Bronwydd Arms. This took place on December 16 and 17.
■ The other three cranes have found new owners. Although their identities have not yet been released, it has been indicated that at least two will be transferring out of the country. The first indications of this took place on January 13 with the move of No. ADRC 96710 from Wigan behind another pair of WCRC Type 3s. No. 37706 was joined by No. 37669 for a 6Z30/10.38 Wigan LIP-Burton Wetmore Sidings, for attention at Nemesis Rail.
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