Tug Boat 60044 on Marple Viaduct on April 14, 2014

I wasn’t really a big Class 60 fan in my youth, and it pained me to see them replace the tripleheaded Class 37s on the Ravenscraig Ore trains back in the early 1990s, which would set the tone for the big heavy freight workings across the BR network.

However, the Class 60 has grown on me in more recent years. I now look back in time with regret for not taking as many photographs of them as I should have because I was too narrow-minded; 30 years on, there are probably more active Class 37s in service on the main line in 2022 than the Class 60s that were set to replace them.

Can we finally call the Class 60 a heritage piece of kit? I think we probably can!

DB Cargo red-liveried 60044 takes a fully loaded 6H52, the 13.05 Dowlow to Ashburys, across Marple Viaduct while a canal barge negotiates the tight squeeze of the 1808-built Marple Aqueduct. These two structures both cross the River Goyt below, and it is a great area to explore, with plenty of walks in different directions from this point.

Photo details: Canon 6D mounted on a seven-metre Carbon Fibre Pole – 1000/1 sec, F8, ISO 250.