NEWS UPDATE
COLAS RAIL
HAVING moved to Arley, on the Severn Valley Railway, for storage in July (see September issue), there has been some developments in Colas COTS pool Class 43s Nos. 43251, 43257, 43272, 43274 & 43277. A temporary covered area has been installed at Kidderminster and
Nos. 43251 & 43257 were both reported there in the second week of September. Meanwhile, Nos. 43272 & 43274 departed the SVR on the 8th, working a 0Z43 light engine move to the Derby RTC. On September 29 they were seen sporting Colas logos on their sides This leaves just No. 43277 at Arley awaiting attention.
No. 37025 was moved from Nottingham Eastcroft to Barrow Hill on September 16 to allow a wheelset swap to take place. It powered the first leg of a 0Z38 to Doncaster, with its partners, Nos. 56302 and 56113 continuing the journey to its end.
DB CARGO
TWO members of the Class 66 fleet were reinstated from WQAA at Toton in September, Nos. 66055 and 66088 transferring to the WBLE and WBAE pools, respectively. Moving in the opposite direction were Class 60s Nos. 60059 and 60091, which moved from WCBT to WQAA, while Nos. 60063, 60065 and 60100, went from WCAT to WQAA. All five of these previously active Brush Type 5s at Toton have fallen by the wayside over the last year, although notably
No. 60065 has been recorded in use as a depot shunter.
There was a major reorganisation of the long-term stored fleet with the downgrading of 32 Class 60s, 66s,
90s and 92s from their existing pools to the next rung down on the ladder.
The 14 Class 60s that were put up for tender in August (see Headline News, September issue), Nos. 60008/09/1 3/22/38/57/61/64/70/75/80/90/9 8/99, dropped from WQCA to WQDA.
No. 66182 went from WQAB to WQBA, while Class 90s Nos. 90017/22/23/2 5/27/30/31/32/33/38 and Class 92s Nos. 92004/08/09/16/17/35/37 were reallocated from WQBA to WQCA. All 17 of the electric locomotives are residents of Crewe EMD.
DIRECT RAIL SERVICES
HAVING been involved in a bogie/ wheelset swap at Eastleigh Works between donor No. 37038 and recipient No. 37218 during August, the pair returned to Crewe Gresty Bridge on September 2 behind No. 68007. Also included in the 0Z39 transfer were
No. 37407, which had received repairs, and No. 57303. The latter went on spot hire to Rail Operations Group in 2018 and joined the fleet on a more long-term basis the following year, although it has only now swapped its DRS compass livery for all over blue, ready for ROG vinyls.
Although the future does not look promising for No. 37038 (now allocated XHHP), No. 37218 was transferred from the XHSS storage pool to XHNC ready
for a return to service. It will hopefully follow No. 37401, which was back in action towards the end of September and a very welcome sight heading a
3Z52 York to Scarborough RHTT trial on the 27th, partnered with No. 37402. Interestingly, the latter was swapped for No. 66426 for the following day’s trip so it could undertake a route learning circuit via Hessle East Jn. Meanwhile, Nos. 37059, 37069, 37422, 37423 and 37425 are outbased at Stowmarket for the East Anglian diagrams.
Finally, DRS has created a new XHCE pool for Class 68s that are considered the standby locomotives for the Chiltern loco-hauled fleet. It currently consists of Nos. 68008 and 68009, both ex-XHVE.
FREIGHTLINER
THE Genesee & Wyoming-owned freight operator has continued its speedy progress of repaints with two further members of its fleet being outshopped in its orange, yellow and black corporate scheme during the period under review. No. 59202 departed Toton after its refresh on August 31, being replaced by No. 59204 on September 20, while No. 90009 left Wolverton on the 13th, swapping with No. 90006. Both were back in traffic within days of their return to Acton and Crewe Basford Hall respectively.
EUROPHOENIX/ROG
WITH four Class 37s in its COTS fleet unavailable due to maintenance or repairs, Europhoenix and Rail Operation Group’s No. 37611 has been hired to Colas to strengthen its fleet. The unavailable locomotives are Nos. 37025, 37099, 37421 and HN Rail’s No. 37610. No. 37611 has become a regular on the operator’s allocation to Network Rail infrastructure monitoring duties throughout September. On the 1st it was partnering No. 37116 on a 1Q43 duty around the North West, while two weeks later on the 15th it was in top and tail formation with No. 37175 on 1Q23 from Welwyn Garden City to Cambridge, ready for a jolly around East Anglia, having worked down from Derby RTC on the 13th.
In a similar hire, albeit much more short term, No. 37884 took some time out of its exceptionally busy schedule of rolling stock movements to cover a 5Z84 Derby RTC to Crewe test train, possibly on behalf of Loram Rail, whose headboard the train carried.
Meanwhile, No. 37207, famous as one of the two ‘Cornish Railways’ Class 37s (with No. 37181) and named William Cookworthy between May 1982 and May 1987, after the pioneer of the china clay industry in the South West, has been dispatched from Leicester to the new Dudley VLR (Very Light Rail) facility in the West Midlands. Now allocated to the EPUK pool (ex-MBDL), it was moved from UKRL’s depot to Knighton Junction on August 31 by Nos. 60028 and 60055 for onward road movement. It joins
No. 08649 as part of an ambitious battery/hybrid conversion project (see also Shunters, page 35) and has already been stripped of its roof and many engine components.
RAILADVENTURE
TWO of RailAdventure’s HST power cars, Nos. 43480 and 43484, temporarily left the UK in September for a promotional event in Germany – the ‘mobile Messe’ (travelling trade fair) – allowing their new owners to show off their latest
acquisitions to clients while enjoying the hospitality of RA’s ex-TransEuropExpress Luxon ‘vistadome’ car, the only working standard gauge panoramic dome car in Europe. The two Class 43s were transferred to low loaders on September 20, moving to Immingham Docks for onward movement across the North Sea. The pair joined the ‘mobile Messe’ on the 28th, being recorded on a Cologne to Bremen trip behind Nos. 111 210 (ex-DB) and 9903 (ex-Nederlandse Spoorwegen and Locon Benelux BV), with No. 183 500 (ex-MGW Service) bringing up the rear.
WEST COAST RAILWAYS
ACQUIRED by WCRC in early 2020,
No. 86401 Mons Meg has finally debuted on the main line with its new owner. Still in Caledonian Sleeper livery (see Feature, page 80), the former AC Loco Group machine was the rear locomotive in an 0Z37 three-unit light engine formation headed by No. 37706 and sandwiching No. 33029. The Class 37/7 was removed at Preston and carried on to Southall, while No. 86401 led the ‘Crompton’ back to Carnforth as a 0Z86 test run.
Meanwhile, No. 31128 visited Carnforth on September 17 to collect No. 47786, the Nemesis Rail Type 2 returning the long-stored Class 47/7 to Burton-upon-Trent for repairs.