NEWS UPDATE
COLAS RAIL
HST power car No. 43277, which moved from Arley on the SVR to Loram Derby in December, has been on the move again, being dispatched by road to Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway, arriving on March 11.
SDR Engineering, the contract engineering business of the heritage line, has signed a deal with Colas to return the Class 43 to working order in an arrangement that also includes component renewal and a repaint.
No. 56105, which has been stranded north of the border at Grangemouth since November with wheelset issues, has finally begun its journey south for rectification.
The errant ‘Grid’ was moved by rail to Bo’ness for onward movement by road. Surprisingly, this is not the first time that No. 56105 has visited the Bo’ness & Kinneil, it having provided excellent diesel gala enjoyment on the five-mile route during events in both 2013 and 2014.
GREAT WESTERN
HAVING been moved to Laira in April 2021, in a convoy with three other
HST power cars, No. 43078 has been returned to the Warwickshire storage location by road. The other three Class 43s, Nos. 43069, 43086 and 43196 that moved south west at the same time all remain at Plymouth.
DB CARGO
STOPPED for maintenance in January 2021 and downgraded from WCBT to the WQAA storage group the following September, No. 60059 has been returned to active service and its original pool following repairs at Toton. This leaves four Class 60s allocated to WQAA (Nos. 60054, 60063, 60091 and 60100) and gives DBC an active fleet of 18 of the Brush Type 5s.
In paintshop news, No. 66099 is the latest Class 66 to turn DB red, while No. 90021 has become the second Class 90 to gain vinyls related to the logistics company Malcolm Group after No. 90024 (outshopped in June 2016). The newly reliveried electric – which is presently still in the stored WQAA pool – wears a commemorative centenary scheme complete with Donald Malcolm name (currently on one side only).
FREIGHTLINER
EX-NATIONAL POWER and DB Cargo No. 59201 – still wearing debranded DB red – was back in service in midMarch following repairs at Merehead, having been out of action since just before Christmas. Ironically, the other DB red survivor, No. 59205, was stopped earlier in the month, having been damaged in a derailment not far from its destination on March 6 while working the 7O43 21.07 WestburyEastleigh loaded aggregates. It is now at Arlington Fleet Services, with No. 59203, which suffered traction motor issues on March 4 at Botley. Also not available for traffic are Nos. 59001 at Merehead and 59005 at Leeds Midland Road, the latter still on accommodation bogies after arriving in West Yorkshire in November 2020.
GB RAILFREIGHT
THE operator’s latest acquisitions, ex-Colas Nos. 67023 and 67027, have both been traversing various parts of the network during the period under review. No. 67027 was released from Toton on March 9, running under its own power to the Progress Rail/EMD facility at Longport (0Z67). After just under two weeks at the site it departed, working an 0D01 move to Doncaster Decoy light engine.
Class mate No. 67023, which was at Craigentinny for staff familiarisation, dragged No. 73970 to UKRL at Leicester for rectification work on March 14 (0E15). It was back in Scotland to continue its training duties, being recorded heading north as a 0Z67 light engine move from Craigentinny to Inverness on the 21st.