GB's £125k charity tour
MORE than £125,000 was raised by GB Railfreight’s GB15 charity railtour that ran on September 8-11.
The train used 19 locomotives and visited London, Swanage, Great Yarmouth, Harwich, Edinburgh, Inverness, Liverpool and Doncaster before returning to London. The money raised will be split between the operator’s chosen charities: British Heart Foundation, Woking Homes and The Ripple Project.
The charter was operated to mark the 15th anniversary of GB Railfreight running trains, and offered passengers the chance to ride behind all members of the company’s fleet, as well as a Class 47 hired from Colas Rail.
Business Manager for Infrastructure and Rail Services Paul Taylor, Account Manager for Rail Services Dale Williams and Train Planner Richard Owen organised the charter. More than 30 staff volunteered their time.
GBRf locomotives visited unusual locations, with Class 73s making a debut for the class at Great Yarmouth and Harwich, Class 20s returning to Scotland, and the use of a Class 59/0 on passenger duties.
This was the main line passenger debut of 59003 Yeoman Highlander, despite it being delivered to the UK in 1986 (it was exported to Germany in 1997
and repatriated by GBRf in 2014). The charter was also hauled into London Paddington by 66779
Evening Star - the final Class 66 built for the UK market, which was making its passenger debut.
The coaching stock was provided by Riviera Trains, although the plan to have a full rake of blue and grey air-conditioned Mk 2s was not possible.
Locomotives used on the charter were 09009, 20096, 20107/118/132, 47739, 59003, 66706/707/715/735/779, 73128, 73213, 73961/964, 86401, 87002, 92043.
The charter was crewed over the four days by 20 stewards, 16 drivers and four guards, all of whom donated their time for free.
Organisers expect to be able to confirm the full total raised in the coming weeks, once final donations have been received and all the monies raised from on-board sales from catering and merchandise (as well as collections) are counted.