DEVELOPMENTS
■ DB CARGO: This column likes to keep tabs on the classic former Railfreight Distribution WIA five-unit car carriers as they visit DB’s wagon facility at Stokeon-Trent for attention. There was a notable arrival on July 29 when
No. 85 70 4971 038-0 arrived on the rear of the ‘tripper’ from Warrington Arpley, this vehicle making its fourth appearance at the famed Marcroft Engineering site since August 2019. This WIA swapped with No. 85 70 4971 007-5, which returned back to active duty after five weeks on site, longer than the usual fortnight they spend undergoing maintenance. No. 85 70 4971 038-0 itself departed on August 12, being replaced at Stoke by
No. 85 70 4971 042-2.
August also brought news of another wagon type strongly associated with RfD as the clearout of vehicles from Neville Hill ahead of the TPE Leeds-Church Fenton-York upgrade project was almost completed. The West Yorkshire depot was home to 33 of the iconic Rover ‘cubes’ (TOPS code KSA) that had been stored there since they were evicted from Washwood Heath in January 2019 in HS2 clearance work. Incredibly, despite not seeing regular work since 2010, half of the original fleet of 100 wagons still exists, with a further 10 converted to timber carriers for NACCO/Colas Rail.
On August 14, Nos. 33 70 4739 004/007/018/030/035/037/038/ 040/047/054/057/058/061/064/ 080/085/094/095/097 were moved to Tees Yard behind No. 66161, while the following day (15th) saw Nos.
33 70 4739 017/020/021/028/031/ 045/046/050/055/067/087/088/ 089/093 transferred to Milford in a consist that also included BQA No. 81 70 4842 007-6, BTA No. 950524, FAA Nos. 609004/6/20/6/49/71/93 and VKA Nos. 210421/564/624. The same formation went north to Tees Yard on the 17th as a 6Z66 behind 66019. The status of the two KSAs at Wembley and 14 examples at Bescot is unchanged.
The final rake out of Neville Hill was on August 19 when No. 66019 was tasked with a 6Z77 09.30 to Tees Yard comprised of ex-National Power HKA hoppers Nos. 300613/20/6/9/31/ 3/4/9/42/7/9/52/62/4/6/70/3/8/84. This just leaves No. 300663 on site.
■ NEW WAGONS: The last week of July saw the arrival of two new batches of wagons that are becoming increasingly ubiquitous on Britain’s railways. The first was the latest tranche of VTG Railliveried JNA box wagons, Nos.
81 70 5932 521-550, which were delivered to Wembley Yard by No. 66706 on the 28th, working a 4Z27 from Tonbridge Yard. This is the third delivery of the Astra Rail-built vehicles in this number series for VTG in recent weeks and brings the total up to 90 from a planned order of 236.
These were followed just two days later by the latest FEA-W module flats for Network Rail as part of the Wascosa/GB Railfreight contract (see Wagons Special, p78).
No. 66793 was assigned to lift the
6Z66 07.15 Dollands Moor-Eastleigh Yard on July 30, the train comprising of Nos. 81 70 4524 016/054/ 161/162/164/179/180/182/185195/197. All were fitted with ‘Tench’ modules for carrying switches and general materials, the second such group to be delivered. This arrival highlights the mistaken identity of a vehicle reported to have arrived on
May 21. No. 81 70 4524 188-9 was incorrectly listed as part of that train made of vehicles installed with ‘Salmon’ platforms. It was actually No. 81 70 4524 144-2.
■ VTG RAIL: WH Davis has begun to make inroads into the final batch of
IIAs delivered back in 2012-3. The 48 wagons, numbered 37 83 6955 305352, were built by Davis at Langwith Junction for VTG and GB Railfreight. The first 22 were – somewhat surprisingly – released in September 2012 as coal hoppers, but were quickly returned to Davis for the installation of roof doors for biomass traffic. The remainder of the order were delivered in this configuration from new.
However, by 2016 the influx of 225 new purpose-built IIA Tafoos biomass hoppers for Drax Power, which offered an almost 25% increase in payload for negligible additional length, meant that the large fleet of conversions was no longer required. With coal traffic also in decline many were redeployed to aggregate flows, although it has taken until 2022 for the first examples to be actually repurposed (i.e. reduced in length) for this business. The first pair to be completed were No. 83 70 6955 337 – from that final batch – and No. 83 70 6955 227 (from the first delivery of 89 Davis-built IIAs).
The two former coal and biomass hoppers are notably also the first VTG-owned wagons to gain the GBRf blue livery that has been applied to the cutdown fleet since mid-2021, although they have not yet received logos other than those of the lessor. The pair went to Peak Rail at Rowsley for an event in the second week of
August, returning to Langwith Junction after a few days.
Another returnee to Davis’s workshops recently was almost brandnew GBRf FWA set Nos. 83 70 4520 330 + 83 70 4521 101 + 83 70 4520 331, which is back for damage assessment. This was immediately behind No. 66729 working 4E11 Felixstowe-Masborough on July 5, when it ran into the back of Freightliner’s 4E82 Felixstowe-Tinsley behind No. 66420 between Loversall Carr and Flyover West Junctions (see Headline News, August issue). The
FWA was one of five sets delivered as recently as April 13!
■ DISPOSALS: The cull of two-axle ballast/spoil wagons continues in the face of the growing numbers of brandnew Wascosa/Network Rail ‘Falcons’ in the UK. The last week of July saw the latest batch of obsolete vehicles arrive at CF Booth, Rotherham, as follows: MHA/MPA Nos. 394018/59/133/65/ 84/252/4/310/26/87/721/33/8/ 878/954/89, MTA Nos. 395022/ 133/9/83, MHA/MPA Nos. 396052/79/159.
A similar move of the once ubiquitous EWS conversions from merry-go-round hoppers and tank wagons took place in the second week of August. This saw MHA/MPA Nos. 394030/158/630/5/711/75/925/ 51/63, MTA No. 395180, and MHA/
MPA Nos. 396005/30/76/96/127 dispatched to the nearby Attercliffe scrapyard of EMR, the formation also including MFA Nos. 391396/402.
Finally, Nos. 394228/873, reported removed from DB Cargo at Stoke-onTrent in the last issue, were understood to be destined for scrapping at EMR in Liverpool.