NEWS ROUND-UP

BEACON RAIL

THE latest Class 18 to be released from the Clayton workshops at Burtonon-Trent is No. 18005, this moving to Wolverton in the second week of July to join Nos. 18003 and 18004 in store and awaiting deployment.

HNRC

INACTIVE for several weeks, GB Railfreight’s No. 08934 was recovered from Whitemoor Yard on July 5 and taken to the HNRC workshops at Worksop for repairs. Meanwhile, the latest Thomas Hill ‘Vanguard’ to go on hire to Porterbrook at Long Marston is No. 01543, this departing Barrow Hill on June 30.

Like other examples, the machine now carries Porterbrook mid-blue in place of the previous Defence Logistics Organisation purple and white. Sister loco No. 01546 was collected from the East Kent Railway on June 28, being delivered to Worksop two days later.

HUNSLET

WITH repairs to its fire damage completed, No. 08401 was sent on its way to Craigentinny on July 20, it going on hire to Hitachi at the Edinburgh depot. This in turn allowed No. 08596 to be brought back south to the yard of Reid Freight Services to await likely forwarding to LH Group Services for repairs.

RMS LOCOTEC

THE contract to provide shunters to Loram at Derby has been taken over by RMS Locotec, replacing RSS. Fresh from overhaul, No. 08756 was the first of the new order to arrive at the Railway Technical Centre on June 23, resuming its operational career after a five-year hiatus.

The preceding two weeks had seen the loco repainted in RMS colours at Independent Rail, Chesterfield, gaining a standard dark blue bonnet, but with a bright green cab instead of the usual grey. Support arrived a month later on July 25, No. 08871 transferring to Derby from Wolsingham after a year out of traffic for an overhaul.